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|By PR Newswire||
|January 8, 2014 04:02 AM EST||
FREIBURG, Germany, January 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
99 percent of floor space is already booked
Leading representatives of the international jewellery and gemstone industry has expressed the need for an appropriate and commercially focused jewellery sourcing platform in Europe. With the Jewellery & Gem Fair Europe, UBM has responded by providing such a platform, at the cross roads of the industry's most important hubs, such as Antwerp, Idar-Oberstein, Pforzheim, or in Switzerland and northern Italy. UBM, one of the world's leading organisers of jewellery fairs will launch the highly anticipated Jewellery & Gem Fair Europe on 1-4 April 2014 at Messe Freiburg.
Antonio Jakubowski, CEO of Vilma GmbH comments "We are expecting the jewellery & Gem Fair Europe to create a shining platform for international and European buyers, sellers and manufacturers. So far this form of framework has been absent in the industry, except on a highly illustrious level and not for the broader jewellery market at an international level. The positioning as the first jewellery sourcing even in Europe, which showcases exhibitors from luxury and mid-level jewellery, was developed to meet these industry's vital demands".
"To date, 400+ exhibitors, from 25 countries and regions have confirmed their participation for the fair. We have already booked 99 percent of the floor space," said Celine Lau, Director of Jewellery Fairs, UBM Asia.
Among the exhibitors are names such as Richard Hans Becker GmbH & Co KG, Friedrich Binder, Dily's Collection, Emil Weis KG, Herbert Giloy & Söhne GmbH & Co KG, Gustav O Hahn OHG, Karp Jewellery Mfg HK Ltd., Ph cock sons, Pranda Jewelry Public Co Ltd, RMC Gems HK Co. Ltd., Thien Po Ltd, plus many more.
"Jewellery & Gem Fair Europe is an important platform for sourcing jewellery, combining the entire industry, under one roof, while also learning industry knowledge and current trends," praises Giloy, Herbert & Soehne GmbH & Co. KG. "The concept for the exhibition's location was to establish the event in the three-country triangle of Germany, bordering France and Switzerland. Europe, and especially Germany, has exceptionally high appeal for exhibitors from all over the world, due to its sustained economic power. Germany and this entire region are also internationally renowned for quality of the jewellery produced, quality and innovations of designs and the distinguished craftsmanship."
Michael Thiel, Head of Sales at Giloy, Herbert & Sons, explains, "The training and skill development in Germany and surrounding regions is extremely high, making design, product development and manufacturing in this region internationally recognised. In addition to this, the technical capabilities, precision and qualifications of employees are becoming increasingly important. All of these things have a direct impact on trends, such as sustainability, and making quality jewellery in Germany and Europe unmistakeable. For so long the label 'Made in Europe' or 'Made in Germany' has been held with very high esteem."
"With Jewellery and Gem Fair Europe, held at Messe Freiburg, our hope is to establish a high quality and valuable fixed date to the jewellery industry's calendar. We aim to fill a gap in the market by offering a professional jewellery sourcing platform alongside the experiences of the world renowned Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair," explains Celine Lau. "Freiburg is the ideal location for this show, with its high ease of transport to Freiburg and the fair grounds, and also being located at the heart of Europe."
About the organiser
UBM Asia, organiser of highly professional, international, global jewellery trade fairs creates possibilities for business in the jewellery industry throughout the world. More than 100,000 commercial agents visit the UBM Asia jewellery trade fairs, where more than 9,500 exhibitors from around the globe are registered. The Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair, which took place in September 2013, is the world's leading trade fair with over 3,500 exhibitors and around 5,2000 visitors. The regular trade fair taking place in June is Asia's biggest international mid-year trade fair in the jewellery industry. Furthermore, UBM Asia organises jewellery trade fairs in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai in China; Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata und Mumbai in India; Japan; Istanbul in Turkey; Singapore; Taiwan; Freiburg in Germany and Moscow as well as St Petersburg in Russia.
You can find more information about the Jewellery and Gem Fair Europe here: http://www.JGF-Europe.com
Kathleen Goy, M. A.
DEDERICHS REINECKE & PARTNER
Agentur für Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
e-mail: [email protected]
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text: As the Mobile World Congress is a platform for the technology giants to announce new launches as well as showcase their products, it may occur to some that it is only meant for the big names, but it is really not that as several not so big companies also use this platform to showcase their innovation to the world market, this makes the MWC 2013 a truly global platform for innovative new products. As far as innovation is concerned, last year, the Samsung Galaxy Note and Asus Padfone had managed to merge the boundary between a smartphone and a tablet and this trend is still followed in the ongoing MWC. However, this time it is still more apparent that the tablets are here to stay. The recently completed MWC 2013 is a stage which is crowded by high profile announcements as well as the emerging ground of the first mobile device manufacturers making their debuts in this year’s tablet lineup. Generally, outside Apple’s iPad, the tablet market is ruled by Google’s Android mobile operating system. The latest and the most popular being the 4.2 “Jelly Bean,” it is expected to power most of this year’s major tablets. Even HP has caught up with the Android bandwagon as its experiment with WebOS failed on the HP Touchpad. On the other hand, LG has taken the opportunity to gain its rights on WebOS to use its technology, but the company contemplates to use it for the smart TVs and not tablets. Needless to say, there are innumerable devices on display at MWC Barcelona and sometimes it can really get puzzling. The new and innovative devices at this year’s MWC are pushing the boundaries, and some can really make one wonder whether it is a phone or a tablet or an amalgamation of both. There are tablets that can make voice calls such as the Asus Fonepad and phones that can act as tablets like the Asus Padfone. Name it and you have it all at the MWC.

domain: news


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CAUTIOUS customers are putting aside Christmas cash more than a year in advance as the economy turns sour, voucher and savings club Park said yesterday.
The Birkenhead-based group has already begun to take orders for Christmas 2009, in “a very encouraging sign for the future”.
Park has more than 440,000 customers and 102,000 agents, allowing savers to spread the cost of Christmas hampers and other goods through monthly payments.
Chairman Peter Johnson said: “Park remains resilient against the economic downturn given that the very nature of our business is to help customers save efficiently, a prudent trend in the current economic climate.”
The latest trading update also underlined the group’s continued recovery from the high-profile collapse of rival Farepak in 2006.
This shook confidence in the Christmas savings sector and halved Park’s pre-tax profits to £5.2m in the year to March 31. But the firm said it currently held cash balances of £101m – £25m more than the previous year – which will result in higher interest receipts for the business.


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Two new senior staff members at a leading Suffolk motoring group, with 24 years’ experience at the company between them, are set to strengthen its regional profile.
Robert Rolfe, formerly a brand manager at Bury St Edmunds Volkswagen, has been appointed Volkswagen brand director for leading retailer in Norfolk and Suffolk the Marriott Motor Group Ltd.
With 15 year’s experience at the group, he will be responsible for its dealerships in Bury, Stowmarket, Ipswich and King’s Lynn.
In his five years at the Bury dealership Mr Rolfe helped it to become one of the region’s top-performing Volkswagen retailers, ranked 15 out of 207.
Meanwhile Bury’s Volkswagen Van Centre has taken on its first dedicated sales manager, Shaun Barlow, who has worked for the Marriott Group for nine years.
Mr Barlow, 36, will also be the sales manager of the Wolsey Van Centre, in Ipswich.


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PVH Corp. laid out plans on Tuesday evening to streamline its North American operations to better align its business with the evolving North American retail landscape, which has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company’s actions include exiting its 162 outlet store Heritage Brands retail business and reducing its office workforce by approximately 450 positions or 12 percent. The North America office workforce reductions are across all three brand businesses and corporate functions and are expected to result in annual cost savings of approximately $80 million. The Heritage Brands retail stores are expected to operate through mid-2021.
“The structural changes occurring in the North American retail landscape have required us to take a hard look at our North American operations and identify where we can optimize costs across our business model,” said Manny Chirico, chairman and CEO of PVH. “As a result, we are making the incredibly difficult decisions to close our Heritage Brands retail business and eliminate a significant number of positions throughout our North American organization to align with the lower revenue base. We did not take these decisions lightly, as our Heritage Brands retail business is our oldest retail business yet no longer met appropriate return metrics. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all of our impacted associates for their support, loyalty, and contributions over the years.”
Stefan Larsson, president of PVH, added, “While these decisions are always challenging, they are strategically important for the long-term health of PVH. The COVID-19 crisis is dramatically reshaping the retail landscape in ways that we believe will be long-term in nature and far-reaching in terms of consumer purchasing behavior. We are adapting our businesses and rebalancing our cost base to improve our competitiveness and financial profile and, where appropriate, are reallocating resources to our businesses that drive greater returns. We continue to focus on delivering sustainable, profitable long-term growth for all of our stakeholders, and we will continue to advance our business by looking for additional efficiencies.”
The company expects to incur pre-tax charges of approximately $80 million over the next 12 months in connection with these actions, of which approximately $10 million is expected to be noncash. The remaining cash outflows are expected to occur over the next 12 months. The charges primarily consist of severance, lease termination costs, inventory markdowns, and non-cash asset impairments.
PVH Corp.’s Heritage Brands business includes the Izod, Arrow, and Van Heusen labels. PVH has over 40,000 associates operating in over 40 countries and $9.9 billion in annual revenues in 2019.


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Co-op to give £15 million in rewards to members
The Co-op is set to give £15 million to shoppers through its new membership plan.
Members receive a 5% reward when they buy own-branded products and services under a scheme launched in September.
An additional 1% is donated to local good causes under the scheme, with more than 4,000 community groups UK-wide currently benefiting.
A member spending £40 a week on own-branded groceries would earn more than £100 in a year - and see more than £20 go directly to local causes.


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Victoria meals truck proprietor sees 90 per cent decline in gross sales, on the lookout for new methods to function
Andrew Paumier is struggling to keep his food truck profitable in the middle of a pandemic.
Normally, he and his wife would be serving their deep-fried risotto balls to a lineup of customers down a busy street corner or preparing their stock for an upcoming festival, but instead, they’re strictly limited to take-out or delivery apps.
So far, he’s lost 90 percent of sales compared to last year.
“In the first two days of the provincial lockdown we lost $4,000 dollars in event bookings,” said Paumier, the co-owner of Indecent Risotto. “If we come out at the end of the year with 10 per cent in sales compared to last year, I’d be really happy.”
READ MORE: Royal Roads students launch quarantine cookbook, all proceeds benefit Our Place Society
Though he longs for the days before COVID-19, he said the business is waiting for the green light from the provincial government – and in the meantime, he’s helping lead a forum about it.
The BC Restaurant and Foods Association will be hosting Indecent Risotto and nearly 25 Greater Victoria food businesses in a Zoom meeting to discuss their ideas on how to re-open safely when time allows.
“The big piece is customer confidence,” Paumier said. “It will be our biggest stumbling block if we don’t get it right and show the public that our operations will be safe going forward.”
ALSO READ: No samples, live music or craft vendors allowed at upcoming West Shore farmers’ markets
When the couple’s food truck was hit by the COVID-19 regulations in March, Paumier and his wife immediately stopped their daily operations and self-isolated for two weeks to ensure they didn’t catch the virus.
Recently, Paumier sent a letter on behalf of Indecent Risotto to most CRD municipalities, asking to lighten their bylaws in order to allow their food truck to operate in public areas, specifically ones with high visibility areas “such as the Juan de Fuca Rec Center parking lots.”
Even though the whole success of food trucks rely on the abundance of crowds, proper social distancing measures can be taken, said Paumier.
The forum, which took place on Monday, will give the chance for smaller businesses to voice their concerns, which can differ significantly from large restaurant corporations, Paumier noted. Most small businesses run on a small profit margin, sometimes between three to five per cent. When they don’t have enough of a buffer, small mom-n’-pop shops begin falling through the cracks.
As far as it goes for the food truck, Paumier said he’s glad he won’t have to deal with fixed overhead during the pandemic – but that can’t be said for most brick and mortar shops.
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CARS applications exceed $2.8B
WASHINGTON — The CARS program came to a close Tuesday night with nearly 700,000 clunkers taken off the roads, replaced by far more fuel efficient vehicles, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Rebate applications worth $2.877 billion were submitted by the 8 p.m. deadline, under the $3 billion provided by Congress to run the program.
Cars made in America topped the most-purchased list, from the Ford Focus to the Toyota Corolla to the Honda Civic.
The DOT reports that according to a preliminary analysis by the White House Council of Economic Advisers, the CARS program will boost economic growth in the third quarter of 2009 by 0.3-0.4 percentage points at an annual rate thanks to increased auto sales in July and August, will sustain the increase in GDP in the fourth quarter because of increased auto production to replace depleted inventories and will create or save 42,000 jobs in the second half of 2009.
Ford and General Motors recently announced production increases for both the third and fourth quarters as a result of the demand generated by the program, according to the DOT. Honda also said it would be increasing production at its U.S. plants in East Liberty and Marysville, Ohio, and in Lincoln, Ala.
In addition, the program provides good news for the environment. Eight-four percent of consumers traded in trucks and 59 percent purchased passenger cars. The average fuel economy of the vehicles traded in was 15.8 miles per gallon and the average fuel economy of vehicles purchased is 24.9 mpg. a 58 percent improvement.
With the end of transactions under the program, the DOT said it is augmenting a team that already includes more than 2,000 people processing dealer applications for rebates.
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PlayStation 4 Launches In Japan On February 22, 2014
For the first time ever, a new PlayStation console will launch later in Japan.
The PlayStation 4 has been given a November 15 release date for the US and November 29 for Europe, but Japanese gamers won't be able to purchase it until 2014.
During Sony's pre-TGS conference, it was revealed that the PS4 would launch on February 22, 2014 in Japan. They also announced the PS4 First Limited Pack for the region, which features the new system and a digital voucher for the first-party exclusive, Knack. This will retail for 41,979 yen. Another pack that includes the PlayStation Camera will be available as well; this will be priced at 46,179 yen. As for games, Japanese consumers can start pre-ordering PS4 titles as of October 5.
Having grown up in a world where all video games and game systems were made by Japanese developers, this news seems exceedingly odd. But hey, I think we all know that times have changed.
9/9/2013 11:17:51 AM Ben Dutka


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Study provides insight into impacts of home shopping on vehicle operations and greenhouse gas emissions
Logic suggests that online shopping is "greener" than traditional shopping. After all, when people shop from home, they are not jumping into their cars, one by one, to travel to the mall or the big box store.
But a multi-year regional study at the University of Delaware suggests that home shopping has a greater impact on the transportation sector than the public might suspect. The results of the research are documented in a paper, "Impacts of Home Shopping on Vehicle Operations and Greenhouse Gas Emissions," in the International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology.
The study, which focused on the city of Newark, Delaware, was led by Arde Faghri, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of the Delaware Center for Transportation (DCT).
The project included data collection through a survey to identify shopping behavior and summary of the survey results by product category, followed by simulation and analysis.
"Our simulation results showed that home shopping puts an additional burden on the local transportation network, as identified through four measures of effectiveness -- travel time, delay, average speed, and greenhouse gas emissions," says co-author Mingxin Li, a researcher at DCT.
While it's true that e-stores require less space and use less energy, Faghri points out that online shopping puts more delivery trucks on the roads, which translates into more wear-and-tear on pavements and increased environmental pollution through the emission of fine particulate matter from diesel engines.
An additional problem is that residential and downtown streets were not designed to accommodate frequent truck stops, parking, loading and unloading, so trucks can interfere with through traffic, causing delays and compromising safety.
But what may be the most surprising finding of the study has nothing to do with increased truck traffic.
"We found that the total number of vehicles miles traveled hasn't decreased at all with the growth of online shopping," Faghri says. "This suggests that people are using the time they save by shopping on the internet to do other things like eating out at restaurants, going to the movies, or visiting friends."
Faghri cautions that his study looked only at residential commerce, not purchases made by commercial and industrial businesses, and that the data his team collected was limited to a very small geographic area.
However, he emphasizes that local, state, regional, and national planners need to keep a close eye on the impacts of the home shopping trend when planning and budgeting for infrastructure needs.
"The increase in online shopping also affects land use patterns such as the number and size of stores in large shopping malls with vast parking spaces, as well as changes in labor markets, with, for example, less demand for sales personnel and more for truck drivers," he says.
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Reusable carbon nanotubes could be the water filter of the future, says RIT study
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Staphylococcus aureus is a feared pathogen (MRSA, multi-resistant S. aureus) due to frequent resistances against many antibiotics, especially in hospital infections. Researchers at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut have identified immunological processes that prevent a successful immune response directed against the pathogenic agent. The delivery of bacterial proteins with RNA adjuvant or messenger RNA (mRNA) into immune cells allows the re-direction of the immune response towards an active defense against S. aureus. This could be of significant importance for the development of an effective vaccine. PLOS Pathogens has published these research results online on 25 May 2017.
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a bacterium that colonizes by far more than half of the skin and the mucosa of adults, usually without causing infections....
Physicists from the University of Würzburg are capable of generating identical looking single light particles at the push of a button. Two new studies now demonstrate the potential this method holds.
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An international team of physicists has monitored the scattering behaviour of electrons in a non-conducting material in real-time. Their insights could be beneficial for radiotherapy.
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Two-dimensional magnetic structures are regarded as a promising material for new types of data storage, since the magnetic properties of individual molecular building blocks can be investigated and modified. For the first time, researchers have now produced a wafer-thin ferrimagnet, in which molecules with different magnetic centers arrange themselves on a gold surface to form a checkerboard pattern. Scientists at the Swiss Nanoscience Institute at the University of Basel and the Paul Scherrer Institute published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.
Ferrimagnets are composed of two centers which are magnetized at different strengths and point in opposing directions. Two-dimensional, quasi-flat ferrimagnets...
An Australian-Chinese research team has created the world's thinnest hologram, paving the way towards the integration of 3D holography into everyday...
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text:
Friday Business Report: A New NAFTA
KPBS anchor Ebone Monet and SDSU marketing lecturer Miro Copic discuss some of the week’s top business stories.
This week’s topics:
President Trump Negotiates Major Trade Deal
The North American Free Trade Agreement will be scrapped for a new trade agreement reached this week between the United States and Mexico. President Donald Trump said it will replace NAFTA, which has been in place since the 1990’s. The U.S. is also negotiating with Canada to join the deal.
Consumer Confidence Highest in Nearly 20 Years
The New York-based Conference Board reported this week that consumer confidence is the highest it has been since October, 2000. Criteria in the rankings include the number of consumers planning to make a major purchase and overall perception of the job market. Consumer confidence rankings are seen as a marker for the nation’s economic health.
Uber Invests in Electric Scooters
Ride-hailing app Uber is reportedly building its own line of electric scooters. While Uber was ahead of the curve in changing the way people get around by car, it’s playing catch-up in a market dominated by companies like Bird and Lime.
Record Labor Day Weekend for Air Travel
Industry analysts say a record 16.5 million people will get on a plane during the Labor Day travel period. The strong economy and affordable ticket prices are credited for the surge.


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Binance USD (BUSD), a stablecoin issued by Paxos, won’t be able to be traded on the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase starting on March 13 at noon. In short, Coibase will delist BUSD.
Coinbase Will Delist BUSD
On Monday, the exchange made the delisting of the stablecoin created by Paxos official on Twitter.
For the exchange’s four main platforms—Coinbase.com, Coinbase Pro, Coinbase Exchange, and Coinbase Prime—all BUSD-related trade will continue to be suspended. After conducting internal monitoring and review procedures, Coinbase stated that the stablecoin BUSD’s suspension of trading was due to its inability to meet the exchange’s listing requirements. However, there will be no halt to user withdrawals from Binance USD even after it is delisted.
Chaos for Binance USD (BUSD)
The regulatory attention caused BUSD to take the lead in a volatile period in the cryptocurrency market. First of all, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared BUSD to be an “unregistered security” in the Wells notice.
Following that, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued strict instructions to its issuer Paxos to halt the creation of new BUSD tokens. As of February 13, no novel BUSD tokens were minted or distributed.
The third-largest stablecoin was eventually removed from the top 10 cryptocurrencies ranked by market cap as a result of this crucial stage and mass burning. In parallel, Binance, the stablecoin’s brand sponsor, was embroiled in disputes over BUSD and large withdrawals.


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Since the Great Recession companies that handle food, all along the supply chain, have been taking a harder look at their food waste numbers in an effort to boost profits, or in some cases survive.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association, working in conjunction with food manufacturing, food retailing and restaurants formed the Food Waste Alliance to help companies take a harder look at what they’re throwing out and make reductions. Meghan Stasz, Director of Sustainability for GMA:
“It was formed in 2011 and it’s a joint venture between food manufacturing, retailing and restaurants. The goals are: reduce the amount of food waste that is generated; increase the amount of healthy food that is being donated; and for the waste that is unavoidable (plate waste) find other alternatives than landfills.”
Stasz explains the areas of focus of the alliance:
“The first is assessment; we do a series of surveys to the three industries about how much food waste they generate and where it goes. Also how much food they are donating. We are getting more and more participation in those which means that more companies are thinking about this issue. We also work around emerging solutions and put out a best practices guide to help companies start a reduction program. We also have a policy arm that looks around the country where there are really good infrastructure options for food waste that is an alternative to landfills and then see if we can implement those policies in other parts of the county.”
While it’s easy to point to restaurants or grocery stores as the primary wasters of food, Stasz says food wasted at home is the biggest contributor:
“The data we have seen from studies by reputable agencies like EPA and USDA, indicates that of the food waste that is sent to landfill, up to 40% is from the consumer. We are working toward more studies on what consumers are throwing away and why. We want to know how to educate consumers about what to buy and how to shop smarter.”
We’ll be hearing more from Megan Stasz on food waste reduction, later on Inside Agriculture.


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Recent survey found that there was more demand than supply for women’s sports merchandise
The GIST: On Monday, the Sports Business Journal (SBJ) and the Wasserman Group released a study highlighting the dearth of women’s sports merch, especially when it comes to soccer. The lack of women’s soccer merch is heavily juxtaposed by fans’ rapidly growing interest in repping women footballers. Receipts don’t be looking like phone numbers.
The background: The study was conducted as part of Wasserman’s The Collective Think Tank initiative, which was launched in 2020 to share research from professors and education professionals at academic institutions and sports organizations. It surveyed American, English, and Aussie fans about merchandise for their countries’ national teams and pro leagues.
The results: The survey found (surprise, surprise) more demand than supply for women’s sports merchandise. It also captured complaints from fans about available merch, citing undesirable styles, fits, and sizing. Respondents also mentioned wanting to financially support their teams but being unable to do so, exposing a massive roadblock in the growth of women’s soccer. Road work ahead.
Fan support: Despite these issues, recent numbers show that fans are still trying to support their favorite teams where they can. The USWNT’s home kit became the top-selling soccer jersey on Nike.com during their 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC) title run and the Lionesses’ online merch sales increased 710% (!!!) after this year’s tournament.
- The 2023 WWC also saw Matildas jerseys outsell older versions of the kit 13 to 1, surpassing sales of the men’s.
Zooming out: The results of the study emphasize an issue that could be remedied through market research, upgrading production quality, and ramping up distribution. Improving these aspects would require more investors in the space, but the numbers promise a high return — women’s sports fans are 25% more likely to buy than fans of men’s sports.
- And the promising returns of investing in and supporting women’s sports doesn’t just apply to brands that sell merch, it holds true for companies across the board. There is room for everyone at the table, no RSVP needed.


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Travel marketing campaigns that appeal to customers’ emotions are poised to become more mainstream, this week’s Travolution Summit was told.
Tracey Follows, chief strategy and innovation officer at The Future Laboratory opened this year’s summit with a session exploring the emerging ‘emotional economy’.
“We are seeing the signals of a much more humanised technology,” she said. “It’s not just about behaviour anymore, we are starting to see mind and body working together now.”
Follows said the rise of new industries, such as Wet Sounds – an underwater sound art installation and performance – shows how technology is being used to address the six main human emotions of happiness, anger, fear, sadness, disgust, and surprise.
“There are 15 states that combine those six basic emotions,” she said. “So you might be sadly angry or fearfully surprised.
“Nobody is happy all the time, or wants to be happy all the time. What we are seeing now is that brands are being much more realistic.”
The important thing for the travel industry, Follows added, was to be ahead of the curve and using innovative adverts that play on the emotions before everyone else follows the early adopters.
Follows said those early adopters are perhaps in other sectors, such as the Department Store for the Mind which allows shoppers to browse by collection or mood.
However the travel industry is showing signs of keeping up with this trend, according to Follows.
Expedia is behind a new marketing campaign for Hawai’i which is using facial recognition software to help create tailor-made packages for customers.
“I think, in the next five years, we are going to see more of these adverts in the mainstream,” Follows added. “We are moving into an era which is much more evoking.”
Follows used an advert by Klarna promoting easy payment transactions which depicts a fish sliding across a laminate floor as an example if a firm using melancholy to reach their consumers
Some travel firms are following suit with Thomas Cook’s ‘Be More Shark’ advertising campaign cited as an example of an operator appealing to holidaymakers’ emotions.
“Travel and holidays are completely about emotions,” said Follows. “This industry has to work on a theme and ways to restructure it and there’s always scope for experimentation.”


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Keith Pitt leading a business mission in India
KEITH Pitt is leading an Australian delegation in India this week as part of a series of events to mark Australia Business Week 2017.
Mr Pitt will meet with Indian businesses and officials and says this is an important opportunity to meet Indian business contacts in person.
"India is the world's fastest growing major economy and our trade and investment ties with this important partner are becoming stronger each year,” Mr Pitt said.
India was Australia's fifth biggest export market for goods last year with two-way trade valued at $20.7 billion.
By 2030 India is forecast to be the third largest economy in the world, and will also have one of the youngest populations.
"The opportunities for Australian businesses are profound and I congratulate the large number of delegates for joining Australia Business Week in India 2017,” Mr Pitt said.
"The opportunities for Australian businesses are profound and I congratulate the large number of delegates for joining Australia Business Week in India 2017. They will have a unique opportunity to meet important contacts face to face.”
The business mission will be led by Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister, Steven Ciobo, and Australian Government Ministers will visit cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bhopal.
Mr Pitt will play a major role in the energy and resources sector delegation across both New Delhi and Kolkata.
Australia is a major supplier of energy to India.
Its exports of coal help to underpin India's goal of energy security and Australian firms in the mining, equipment and technology services, or METS sector, are also helping to improve the safety and efficiency of India's mines.


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Eight out of 10 shoppers want a watchdog appointed to monitor and penalise supermarkets which treat suppliers unfairly, according to a poll commissioned by Traidcraft, the Christian-based fair trade organisation.
As local action associated with fair trade and labour practices continues, Topshop is facing a day of protests from its core customers, with students across Britain staging demonstrations today at the company's stores.
Big-name, mass supply high street store Topshop is facing increasing criticism from its core customers, with students and young people protesting over charges about sweatshop conditions in the company's supply chain.
Manufacturing giant Tate & Lyle's decision to switch its retail cane sugars range to Fair Trade has been welcomed by development campaigners and church aid agencies - but the need to move the social justice agenda in economics remains.
Britain’s appetite for Fairtrade produce is higher than most – UK shoppers are the second largest global customers of fairly traded products. But is this news quite as positive as we’ve been led to believe?


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It is Thanksgiving week and the official start of the 2018 holiday shopping season. All this week we're partnering with the online tech reviews and news site CNET to talk about the big trends in consumer technology. This year's CNET holiday survey reveals what users are thinking about when it comes to tech. And the research bears out what the retail industry keeps saying: It's going to be a big, big year for shopping, especially in tech. Molly Wood talked with Lindsey Turrentine, editor-in-chief of CNET Reviews. She said it's not just about giving gifts, either: 60 percent of the survey's respondents plan to do at least some shopping for themselves. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Lindsey Turrentine: Things are cheap. I mean, that's really it. You know what you want. Everybody knows what they want. And then you see this parade of Cyber Week, Black Friday, Cyber Monday deals. It's really hard not to be like, "Well, actually, I kind of want that expensive television, and I'm not going to ask Mom and Dad for that. This is the moment. It's never going to be less expensive. So I'm going to buy it for myself."


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In early August, a consortium of the largest German automakers including Audi, BMW, and Daimler (Mercedes) purchased Nokia’s Here mapping unit, the largest competitor to Google Maps, for \$3 billion.
It is no longer easy to get lost. Quite the opposite, we expect and rely on maps for our most common Internet tasks from basic directions to on-demand transportation, discovering a new restaurant or finding a new friend.
And the battle is on between the biggest public and private companies in the world to shore up mapping data and geo-savvy engineering talent. From there, the race continues to deliver the best mapping apps.
Recently a story on the talent war among unicorn private companies noted
Amid a general scramble for talent, Google, the Internet search company, has undergone specific raids from unicorns for engineers who specialize in crucial technologies like mapping.
Wrapping our planet in mobile devices gave birth to a new geographic landscape, one where location meets commerce and maps play a critical role. In addition to automakers like the German consortium having a stake in owning and controlling mapping data and driver user experiences, the largest private companies like Uber and Airbnb depend on maps as an integral part of their applications.
That is part of the reason purveyors of custom maps like Mapbox have emerged to handle mapping applications for companies like Foursquare, Pinterest, and Mapquest. Mapbox raised \$52.6 million earlier this summer to continue its quest.
Mapbox and many others in the industry have benefitted from the data provided by Open Street Maps, a collection of mapping data free to use under an open license. Of course some of the largest technology companies in the world besides Google maintain their own mapping units including Microsoft (Bing Maps) and Apple Maps.
Investment in the Internet of Things combined with mobile device proliferation are creating a perfect storm of geolocation information to be captured and put to use. Much of this will require a analytics infrastructure with geospatial intelligence to realize its value.
In a post titled, Add Location to Your Analytics, Gartner notes
The Internet of Things (IoT) and digital business will produce an unprecedented amount of location-referenced data, particularly as 25 billion devices become connected by 2020, according to Gartner estimates.
and more specifically
Dynamic use cases require a significantly different technology that is able to handle the spatial processing and analytics in (near) real time.
Of course geospatial solutions have been around for some time, and database providers often partner with the largest private geospatial company, Esri, to bring them to market. In particular, companies developing in-memory databases like SAP and SingleStore have showcased work with Esri. By combing the best in geospatial functions with real-time, in-memory performance, application makers can deliver app-specific maps with unprecedented level of consumer interaction.
Google’s balloons and Facebook’s solar powered drones may soon eliminate the dead zones from our planet, perhaps removing the word “lost” from our vocabulary entirely. Similarly, improvements in interior mapping technology guarantee location specific details down to meters. As we head to this near-certain future, maps, and the rich, contextual information they provide, appear to be a secret weapon to delivering breakout application experiences.
Download SingleStore today to try a real-time database with native geospatial intelligence at: singlestore.com/free.


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Starbucks just brewed up some big changes to its Rewards program, which launched on Tuesday. Their plan was to make it easier for coffee loyalists to get freebies faster and offer more modest perks for occasional Starbucks visitors who enroll — but many customers aren't happy about the change, saying that it's now more expensive to get some of the chain's popular rewards.
For the past 10 years, the chain has been running a program that lets guests earn points (known as “stars”) every time they grab a coffee or snack. According to Starbucks, over 16 million people are enrolled in the current program, which underwent significant changes three years ago. The chain also says its rewards members account for a substantial portion of its business — about 40 percent.
How Starbucks Rewards used to work:
Since 2016, Starbucks has been giving every rewards member two stars for every $1 spent at the chain. To become a green level member, coffee lovers must collect at least 1 point (up to 299), which grants perks like free in-store refills and birthday rewards. After 300 stars are collected during a calendar year, the member acquires gold status. Gold members can get a drink of any size, or a single pastry, for 125 stars. They can also earn double stars on certain days every month. The status also comes with a personalized membership card.
How the program just changed:
As of April 16, all Starbucks Rewards members are able to start redeeming the stars they earn for free drink additions, beverages, food and even Starbucks merchandise. So you don't need to earn a certain level of stars in order to be able to enjoy the perks of membership.
After earning 25 stars, members will be able to score a free drink "customization" on any order, like an extra espresso shot, a different milk substitute, or even a dash of flavored syrup. At 50 stars and above, members will be able to get a free brewed coffee, hot tea or bakery item. They can redeem 150 stars for a "handcrafted" drink (like a specialty macchiato), hot breakfast item, or a yogurt parfait. At 200 stars, members can cash in for a sandwich, a protein box or even a salad, where available. At the highest tier (400 stars) members will be able to redeem points for Starbucks merchandise or at-home coffee products, like ground coffee or K-Cup pods.
The company removed the green and gold levels entirely — and that change isn't sitting right with people who have already achieved the higher-tier status. They feel their hard-earned stars have decreased in value.
And with the roll out of the new program, many loyal Starbucks fans were shocked to find their stars had been wiped clean.
Starbucks also changed the conditions of when stars expire. Stars used to burn out if you didn't use or redeem them within six months. With the new system, members who pay for their drinks and food using either a Starbucks Rewards Visa credit or prepaid card will not lose their stars after six months.
While Starbucks is making it easier for most coffee consumers to score perks — except, it seems, its most devout drinkers — the tiered plan isn't as cheap as Burger King's recently announced $5 unlimited coffee deal, which launched last month.


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China Watch Blog has learnt that Beijing is unveiling new measures almost daily to shore up growth that slowed to 8.1 percent in the first quarter and is expected to decline further.
Gasoline and diesel prices have been cut for the second time in a month amid growing government efforts to reverse a sharp slowdown in the economy.
The reduction came after an interest rate cut on Thursday — the country’s first in nearly four years — prompting analysts to suggest that data due this weekend will show May trade and industrial activity was even weaker than pessimistic forecasts had suggested.
“Markets are bracing for a potentially bad set of May economic data for China,” said Moody’s Analytics economist Alaistair Chan in a report.
The National Development and Reform Commission said on Friday the country will cut its retail fuel prices by more than 5.5 percent on Saturday, the deepest since December 2008, in tandem with the global slump crude oil prices.
It lowered retail gasoline prices by 530 yuan ($84) a metric ton, or 0.38 yuan a liter, to be capped at 8,320 yuan a ton.
Diesel prices were down by 510 yuan a ton, or 0.43 yuan a liter, to 7,510 yuan a ton.
Gasoline prices were down 5.5 percent, while diesel dropped by 5.8 percent, down from a previous cut on May 10 when prices were reduced about 4 percent.
China had raised fuel prices in February and March.If you think China Watch Blog's information is useful, click on cup of coffee on left hand side and make a small contribution via PayPal


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San Francisco is projected to miss out on $10.7 billion in tourism spending in 2020 and 2021, staggering losses after a decade-long boom in travel, according to the city’s tourism bureau.
Business and leisure visitors are expected to spend $3.1 billion this year and $5.5 billion in 2021, down from a record $9.6 billion in spending last year, San Francisco Travel said. (Spending was $10.2 billion last year including convention vendor fees, which haven’t been estimated for this year.) Tourism is the city’s biggest industry and supported 86,111 jobs before the coronavirus pandemic, according to the bureau, but conventions and leisure travel have been frozen following shelter-in-place orders in March.


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Low gas prices and rising household incomes mean lots of Americans will travel this holiday weekend.
Here’s a commuter car that can literally turn on a dime or fit into the tightest parking spots.
New car quality has risen three percent over the last year, with Korean brands leading the industry and Japanese makes struggling.
With the U.S. senior population growing dramatically, the nonprofit Meals on Wheels program has found itself short of volunteer drivers to make their deliveries.
A new study finds that the vast majority of American drivers don’t shop around for car insurance, even though they may be able to get a better deal elsewhere.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau has warned that cars damaged in the recent Texas and Midwestern floods are likely to be sold to unsuspecting car buyers.
NHTSA has added more cars to its recall database affected by the Takata air bag recall and has added a VIN look-up tool for consumers.
While prices of used cars are higher on average, some used car prices are actually on the decline, according to Edmunds.com.
Cadillac helps explain what Ari Gold did in his short-lived retirement in a new short film produced in conjunction with “Entourage” creator Doug Ellin.
Car loans for consumers with the worst credit, so-called subprime and deep subprime, have fallen to its lowest share of auto loans overall since 2012.


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Hubbard Radio Washington DC, LLC. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Thursday:
Salesforce Inc., up $6.42 to $221.46.
The customer-management software developer raised its profit forecast for the year.
Okta Inc., up $9.94 to $83.51.
Join us for a panel discussion on Oct. 10 with Tom Temin, agency leaders and Illumio's Gary Barlet who will discuss the latest thinking in achieving mission assurance and data protection using zero trust, segmentation and monitoring strategies. Register today!
The cloud identity management company raised its financial forecasts for the year.
CrowdStrike Holdings Inc., up $13.85 to $163.03.
The cloud-based security company reported strong second-quarter financial results.
Veeva Systems Inc., up $16.11 to $208.70.
The provider of cloud-based software services for the life sciences industry raised its profit forecast.
Five Below Inc., down $10.99 to $171.96.
The discount retailer trimmed its profit forecast for the year.
Academy Sports and Outdoors Inc., up $4.63 to $54.57.
Read more: Business News
The sporting goods retailer reported strong second-quarter financial results.
Hormel Foods Corp., down $1.07 to $38.59.
The maker of Spam canned ham, Dinty Moore stew and other foods trimmed its profit forecast for the year.
Dollar General Corp., down $19.16 to $138.50.
The discount retailer slashed its profit forecast for the year.
© 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.


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DENVER, Sept. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Blinker, a free mobile app that empowers people to buy and sell their used cars easily, safely and privately without visiting auto dealerships or banks, officially launches today in its home state of Colorado.
The Blinker app transforms the used car market by guiding users through a few easy steps to complete their auto transactions independently, quickly and securely—all from a smartphone. With just one photo, users learn a car's year, make, model, equipment, value and miles—in seconds. With another photo of their driver's license, a seller can list their car and a buyer can get approved for financing—in minutes. The Blinker app handles purchase offers and payments, ensures the seller is paid in full and also completes official title documents.
Blinker is completely free to use for both buyer and seller, and also includes a free CARFAX™ Report, ensuring Blinker buyers are fully informed about a vehicle's condition and history before deciding to purchase. Blinker also offers the option of buying a service contract. And soon, car owners will be able to use the app's patent-pending, image recognition technology to refinance their cars, as well as to purchase parts, service and car insurance.
As a 35-year veteran of the auto industry and founder of the John Elway Dealerships and Summit Automotive Partners groups, Rod Buscher, CEO and also a founder of Blinker, brings a wealth of experience to the app's creation. "The process of selling and buying used cars privately creates a lot of anxiety for most people," Buscher said, "but Blinker solves all that by making the process quick, easy, much safer and fun." And for the first time, sellers can advertise their cars for a monthly payment, just like a dealer. Blinker takes the payments and within 24 hours, the seller gets paid 100 percent of the sales price.
Although it will be next year before Blinker launches the full transactional app nationally, car owners and auto enthusiasts in all 50 states can download Blinker now to snap and instantly learn about their car or about any of the other 250 million cars on the road. Today, the company was recognized by the Denver Office of Economic Development as one of the Denver Startup Week 2016 Gazelles for its high growth and job creation potential.
Blinker uses its own marketplace and many other listing sites to sell Blinker-listed vehicles. The app also promotes social selling to family, friends and friends-of-friends through Facebook and Twitter. Blinker can be downloaded today, free from the App Store or Google Play.
Blinker is a free mobile app that empowers people to buy, sell and finance cars themselves with the snap of a photo. Using patent-pending, image-recognition technology, Blinker makes it quick, easy and safe to buy and sell without middlemen. Founded in 2013, Blinker is headquartered in Denver and is led by a team of auto and finance industry veterans. For more information, visit www.blinker.com or download the app from the App Store or Google Play Store.


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Turkey raises tax thresholds for some vehicles
“The annual sales could exceed our forecast of 775,000-825,000 with the amendment,” Hayri Erce, the head of the Automotive Distributors’ Association (ODD) said, adding that prices could fall in some models and brands.
He added that any depreciation in the value of the Turkish Lira against foreign currencies could affect pricing of vehicles.
According to the presidential decree the price threshold for vehicles was raised in some lower tier tax brackets. The special consumption tax rates were kept unchanged.
Prices of vehicles worth below 320,000 liras ($37,455) could decrease between 40,000 liras ($4,680) and 53,000 liras ($6,200), the head of the Authorized Automotive Dealers Association (OYDER) said.
Shares in Turkish auto manufacturer Tofaş, Ford Otosan and automotive importer and distributor Doğuş Otomotiv were up around 1 percent at market opening while the bluechip Borsa Istanbul index (BIST 100) traded flat.
The combined sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles declined by 45.3 percent on an annual basis to 47,850 units in July, according to ODD data.
On the back of the July data, total automotive sales in Turkey amounted to 442,550 units in the first seven months of 2021, pointing to a 29.6 percent rise from the same period of 2020.
On a related note, the automotive industry’s shipments to foreign markets stood at nearly $2 billion in July, capturing more than 12 percent share in Turkey’s overall export revenues, the latest foreign trade figures showed.
The industry’s exports, however, declined by 9.3 percent on an annual basis from last July’s $2.2 billion, according to data from the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TİM).
From January to July, automotive exports amounted to $16.4 billion, accounting for 13.5 percent of the country’s exports.
In January-July last year, the sector’s export revenues stood at around $13 billion, according to data from TİM.


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The day after Verizon Wireless announced plans to sell the Wi-Fi version of the Apple iPad, AT&T said Friday that it will market the popular tablet to it business customers.
AT&T will sell the three Wi-Fi + 3G versions of the iPad to business customers starting Oct. 28. The offer is open to any AT&T customer whose wireless bill is paid by their employer or companies with an AT&T corporate service subscription. The provider said it will offer post-paid mobile broadband pricing plans, but did not elaborate on how much those would cost.
"[The] iPad is a great fit for our enterprise customers across a wide range of industries who are looking for ways to increase business productivity and offer greater flexibility," Michael Antieri, president of Advanced Enterprise Mobility Solutions at AT&T Business Solutions, said in a statement. "This new offer further strengthens AT&T's commitment to provide businesses with the tools they need to accelerate mobility-led productivity."
AT&T announced Thursday that it will also sell the Wi-Fi + 3G versions of the iPad in its retail stores starting Oct. 28.
Verizon, meanwhile, will also get the Wi-Fi iPads in 2,200 of its stores on the same day. It will sell the tablet with its own Verizon MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot. The iPad will be available via Verizon in three bundles: the 16GB + MiFi for $629.99; the 32GB + MiFi for $729.99; and the 64GB + MiFi for $829.99.
As far as data plans for the iPad, Verizon will offer one: Up to 1GB of data for $20 per month.
|Complete Apple iPad Coverage:
Apple iPad Review
Apple iPad 3G Review
Video Review: Apple iPad, an In-Depth Look
Unboxing the Apple iPad: The Photos
The 25 Best iPad Apps
iBooks for iPad Review
Apple iPad Keyboard Dock Review
More Apple iPad Coverage


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Founded less than a decade ago in 2005, Pinkberry has already captured the zeitgeist, boasting cult-like followers that swear by the chain’s frozen yogurt’s flavor—and by its relative healthiness in comparison to that of more pervasive iced treats. From regular celebrity sightings at West Coast locations to an entire Pinkberry-centric episode of HBO’s acclaimed Curb Your Enthusiasm, the frozen yogurt company has cemented itself in popular culture.
It’s all part of the bigger plan, according to Ryan Patel, the director of global real estate and business development for Pinkberry. For himself, for the myriad companies that have employed him, for the people he works with, and for the future leaders he speaks to at US business schools, both work and life are all about growth. Now he’s applying his philosophies to the well-known frozen yogurt brand, and he has already taken it from fewer than 95 locations to more than 250 in 21 countries since he first joined in 2011. He has pushed Pinkberry into new markets by using the skills and lessons he learned from both a worldly business school and the numerous other brands he has worked with since graduating.
Recalling his time as an undergrad at the University of California–Berkeley, Patel feels fortunate to have been exposed to not only a diverse student campus but also an educational environment with a global perspective. Courses on Asia and Latin America, while having no direct bearing on Patel’s business degree, laid important groundwork for his current international role.
After graduation, he first joined the fast-casual restaurant chain Panda Express, part of Panda Restaurant Group, Inc., where he learned the legal side of the food industry as well as how leases work. “I learned backwards from a normal person,” says Patel, who learned the intricacies of lease negotiations solely through his experience. He saw the outcomes, identified where deals could be improved, and developed a foundational understanding of how to negotiate a lease from its inception because he knew the vision of the end product.
From there, Patel went to California-based casual-dining operator BJ’s Restaurants, Inc., where he became more involved with the development side of business, helping put together layouts and pro forma alongside the company’s CFO. When Patel first arrived at BJ’s, it had approximately 30 restaurants and was on the cusp of launching a new prototype beyond the Golden State into Arizona, Washington, Nevada, Colorado, and the west side of Texas. He simultaneously took classes at the University of California–Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business and helped put together more than 65 new restaurants for BJ’s.
He had returned to school to earn his MBA because he felt he was becoming savvier and wanted to further enhance his financial skills. In grad school, he was the only student out of the 54 that were accepted into his class that had worked in his field. And, once again, he was able to take advantage of his peers’ disparate points of view.
Afterward, Patel was subsequently recruited by restaurant retailer Jamba Juice, his first category-leading brand. The company’s size allowed Patel to quickly get into its systems and understand how to structure a business that has a lot of units. Unfortunately, Patel joined Jamba Juice during the 2008 recession, and he ended up killing more deals than he created, but he did learn how to take a step back and form a new market plan when business isn’t going well.
Lastly, before joining Pinkberry, Patel moved into the retail market, joining Wet Seal, Inc. He helped grow the clothier to more than 500 stores while concurrently cutting occupancy costs down.
Ultimately, across all industries, Patel looks for ways to thrive and to build and evolve a brand, even when there are lots of competitors, which is typically the case in the restaurant markets. At Pinkberry, that hasn’t changed. “Yogurt is a low-barrier venture,” Patel says, “so it’s not just competitive; it’s hypercompetitive.”
To give the company an edge, Patel has helped Pinkberry create a more flexible footprint that can still employ a full-service model. The brand can now fit locations into stand-alone structures, kiosks, and stores-within-a-store, which allows it to populate both airports and retail giants such as Macy’s. “You have to have the flexibility to create a vehicle to push out there but still be Pinkberry,” Patel says.
Additonally, the brand is adapting to local tastes. For instance, locations in Peru now peddle a lúcuma flavor, derived from a fruit that is native to the South American country and is
a staple in its cuisine. “Our growth is based on the demand from our consumer,” Patel says. “We’re not going to grow just to grow.”
Amid all this, Patel is quick to deflect praise, instead focusing accolades firmly on the leaders and team members he has worked with. “It’s not just what you do, but it’s how you can help others,” Patel says. “If they’re successful, you’re successful, and the whole company is successful.” This is one of the lessons that Patel seeks to impart to budding business students, and he continues to lecture at various business schools, including those at USC, Oxford, and UPenn. “It’s about paying it forward,” Patel says. “And, if you give behind-the-scenes information to those people, they’re going to make it better for everyone.”
Officially, Patel is in charge of growing the Pinkberry brand globally, but for the 15-year expansion expert, team confidence is just as—if not more—important. “When you empower people,” he says, “that builds the culture where you can be innovative and creative.”


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Facebook has released a standalone app aimed at allowing users to talk about shared interests anonymously.
Rooms is Facebook’s answer to the craze around posting and sharing online without having to use your real name. “Rooms is all about building identity, but outside of Facebook,” the company says.
Rooms allows users to use any name they want and they don’t have to use a Facebook account. Providing an email address is optional, for the purposes of having accessed rooms restored if the user decides to delete the app. Information users share on Rooms will never be posted to their Facebook account and vice versa, Facebook says.
The app that lets you create tiny message boards (rooms) for posting text, photos, and videos. The rooms are geared around various topics, all of which require an invite link to enter via QR codes. Users gain access to rooms by taking photos of QR codes with their smartphone. The codes may be provided by the app itself, or by users' friends, or anywhere else on the web.
Like on conventional message boards, users can set moderators, pin posts, set age restrictions, type out some ground rules for posting, and boot bad members. Users can set a wallpaper and theme, and alter the "Like" button that appears below posts to be another verb.
The app was developed as part of Facebook's Creative Labs project, which has also released stand-alone apps like Slingshot and Paper.
Rooms is perhaps most like Reddit, the web's town square for discussing specific interests. Rooms forces you to create a different identity for each room you're in, and offers no front page or ranking system. Rooms will have chronological feeds, just like Instagram and Facebook.
Rooms won't have much content on day one, and Facebook says it refuses to leverage any of Facebook's massive distribution network, or even a user’s phone's address book. "You can’t connect a Facebook account. We don’t ask for address book access. We don’t ask for names. The only thing that’s optional is connecting email in case you lose your account," says Facebook’s Josh Miller.
Currently the app is only available on iOS. Plans for other platforms like Android or Windows Phone were not disclosed. There’s also no desktop version. While countless message board communities already exist, Facebook says they don’t on mobile.
While Facebook stresses that Rooms allows users to create a unique identity separate from their Facebook account, they may share information about Room users within the companies and services operated by Facebook, which would include Facebook itself and other apps like Instagram and WhatsApp, according to the Rooms terms of service.


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The Criminal Investigation Department of the General Command of Sharjah Police managed to seize a gang consisting of 12 people of Asian nationality
The Criminal Investigation Department of the General Command of Sharjah Police managed to seize a gang consisting of 12 people of Asian nationality, who specialized in selling and distributing fraudulent goldsmiths as original pieces, after observing a unified criminal method based on fraud and fraud on relatively separate dates to remove suspicion from It is an organized process.
Colonel Omar Ahmed Abu Al-Zoud, Director of Criminal Investigations and Investigations Department at Sharjah Police, explained that a number of reports have been received stating that their owners have been subjected to fraud and fraud at the hands of unidentified Asian nationals, as the perpetrators stop the victims from going to the shops in order to buy some household necessities. At first, the offender offered phones for sale to the victims at low prices, and in a evasive manner, the offender offered the victim a sample of the original gold coins with Islamic inscriptions that were not available in the local market, in addition to displaying these pieces at an appropriate financial value to convince the victim to acquire them, and it is an opportunity not to compensate.
Colonel Balzod indicated that in order to complete the scheme in its full form, the offender asks the victim to examine that piece or some of the pieces in his hands, at the gold shops to ensure its authenticity, and thus the offender has implanted confidence in the same victim to complete the deal, and upon completion of the delivery of the quantity in return The amount of money that was agreed upon, the victim discovers that the amount received is fraudulent, and it is nothing but gold-colored ornate metal pieces, and that he has fallen victim to fraud.
The Director of the Department of Criminal Investigation and Investigation stated that it was noticed that the reports were on relatively separate dates, to remove the suspicion that it was an organized process, and that it was not linked, noting that after the criminal method was monitored and the reports were linked to each other, the investigation teams were able to perpetrate the gang formation one by one. After the identities of the 12 perpetrators were identified and arrested, they all confessed to their participation in the fraud, which is based on the distribution of roles, starting with a team that monitors the victims, and others negotiating and completing sales and purchases, and a group communicating with people outside the country to send shipments of parts The metallic painted gold color to deceive the victims, and others to receive it and deliver it to the customer and receive the money, and then the gang members distribute the amounts to each other according to the roles agreed upon in advance, and the case was referred to the Public Prosecution to take legal action against them.


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Samsung Galaxy M22 has visited US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) website. This signals an impending launch in the US. The Galaxy M22 is listed on the FCC site with 25W fast charging support. The upcoming Galaxy M22 bears a model number SM-M225FV/DS and is most likely to be Samsung’s first affordable phone that supports 25W fast charging.
The Samsung Galaxy M22 with SM-M225FV/DS model number supports 9v/1.67A and 9V/2.77A fast charging speeds. While the Galaxy M22 would support 25W fast charging, it could still be bundled with a 15W charger. In most cases, you will have to buy the 25W separately. Furthermore, the Galaxy M22 is said to be backed by a massive 6,000mAh battery.
The US FCC certification also reveals details about connectivity options. For instance, the Galaxy M22 would arrive with Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, WiFi 802.11, and dual-SIM LTE support. It looks like the Galaxy M22 would be similar to the recently launched Galaxy A22 5G. The only difference being a larger battery on Galaxy M22.
The Samsung Galaxy M22 is expected to feature a 6.4-inch AMOLED display. It will be powered by MediaTek Helio G80 SoC paired with RAM of unknown capacity. On the software front, Galaxy M22 will run Android 11 with the latest OneUI overlay. Previous rumors have hinted at a 48MP rear camera sensor.
As per the listing, Samsung Galaxy M22 has visited FCC on June 21. Samsung could take more time before pulling the wraps from Galaxy M22. On a related note, Samsung recently launched M32 with Helio G80 SoC. Own a Galaxy M Series smartphone? Here is how you can record calls on Samsung Galaxy M10, Galaxy M20, Galaxy M30, and Galaxy M40.[via MySmartPrice]


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There are still a couple of months left before Apple announces the next iPhone lineup. While the upcoming lineup was generally believed to be named iPhone 13, there were also some claims that Apple may skip the number 13 and simply go by the name ‘iPhone’. Others suggested that Apple might name the device lineup as iPhone 12S. But as per the supply chain, the name of the 2021 iPhone is going to be iPhone 13 only, as per a report by 9To5Mac.
As per the report, “Apple’s new iPhone this year has entered the countdown stage of stocking, and the supply chain has reported that this year’s new phone will be named iPhone 13.”
The report adds that Foxconn will get the bulk of the iPhone 13 orders while Pegatron will have the onus of assembling the iPhone 13 mini.
Apple iPhone 13: Expected features
While there have been several rumours about one of the most awaited phones of this year, one has been constantly repeated: the 120Hz display. The iPhone 13 is rumoured to come with a 120Hz ProMotion display which could be an Always-On Display. As per the rumours, the Always-On Display will only show time, battery percentage, and incoming notifications. The device is said to preserve the design philosophy of the recent iPhones and not come with a lot of heavy design changes. Also, the iPhone 13 could come with a smaller, taller notch, with the earpiece getting shifted into the bezel area. As for the colour, rumour mills have predicted two new colour variants for the iPhone 13. One could be Rose Pink and the other could be a black colour which is darker than the Space Grey of the Apple iPads.


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Ford is piloting an on-demand Dynamic Shuttle service for its Dearborn, Mich., employees this month, providing a new mobility solution featuring smart ride-hailing technology with premium customized shuttles, applying insights from earlier experiments and research with global urban commuters.
Dynamic Shuttle — a Ford Smart Mobility experiment announced in January — supports the company's broader effort to change the way the world moves. Ford Smart Mobility is the company’s plan to take connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience, and data and analytics to the next level.
Providing a platform to test new ideas, the pilot ultimately could help Ford develop mobility solutions to improve the lives of people in cities struggling with traffic gridlock and few public transit options.
The company is piloting Dynamic Shuttle with four Ford Transit vehicles. The program is expected to expand to more shuttle vehicles in Dearborn to potentially increasing ridership as Ford tests the performance of the software and gathers fleet data.
The Ford shuttle service will begin processing customer ride requests on the new platform as it gradually migrates from its dispatch-based platform. A mobile-friendly Web portal and smartphone application will be available to riders next quarter.
The convenience of Ford’s Dynamic Shuttle will allow people to summon point-to-point rides on-demand.
Once a mobile-based ride request is made, the Ford-developed software immediately determines the shuttle best suited to address the request without extending the travel time of riders already aboard.
It then sends the rider an offer detailing proposed pick-up time and maximum duration of the trip, which the requester can accept or decline. If accepted, the request is dispatched to the shuttle driver’s navigation interface, along with the most efficient route to complete the requests of all riders in the timeliest manner.
In developing the software, Ford’s technology team also crafted the ideal shuttle vehicle.
Each Ford Transit shuttle has been adapted to carry six to eight passengers. Customer findings shaped the best vehicle height for easy on-boarding and off-boarding, as well as rider-requested amenities including complimentary Wi-Fi, USB charging ports for each seat and personal storage space.
Research teams surveyed people in various cities around the world to understand how consumer attitudes and needs vary from region to region. In the United States and United Kingdom, this included conducting research in different-sized cities – Atlanta, New York, Edinburgh and London. They also took into account growing national economies, studying Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in Brazil, along with Chennai and Mumbai in India.
Researchers found that many people requesting pick-up at their residence were willing to walk a short distance to a neutral location – both to make the service more efficient for others and to afford greater privacy for themselves.
The concept sounds simple enough. But to operate seamlessly, Dynamic Shuttle requires global collaboration among Ford teams – groups studying people’s commuting behaviors, developing software and designing vehicles to craft the ultimate ride-sharing experience.
Initially available exclusively for Ford’s Dearborn campus, Dynamic Shuttle benefits could one day extend to other locations and to more applications, including delivery services, emergency medical transportation and beyond.


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A walking, talking robot that you can 3D print. A laptop with 3D-sensing capabilities for more lifelike video chats. An intelligent car that slows itself down automatically if it senses you're upset and driving erratically.
This is Intel's vision of the future – and the technology is closer to a reality than you might have thought. The chip giant on Tuesday held an event in New York City to show off some of the most cutting-edge Intel-powered technologies hitting the market later this year – such as "Jimmy the Robot" and 3D-sensing devices – along with some stuff it's working on for the more distant future – like intelligent cars.
The technology runs the gamut from solar-powered charging stations to embedded security systems for cars and wearable computing devices, but one theme kept popping up: in Intel's future, technology is personal. And this goes way beyond changing your phone's ringtone or the wallpaper on your desktop.
"The boundaries between technology and people are blurring," Intel said in a statement. "The best technologies now will be aware of the full context of our respective preferences and provide us with experiences tailored to what we want while we work, rest, and play."
Take, for instance, the company's new mobile messaging app Pocket Avatars. Launched this week for iOS and Android, the app uses regular smartphone and tablet hardware to map your facial expressions, head movements, and voice onto 3D characters, letting you essentially become an animated blowfish, if you like.
And that's just the beginning. For a look at some of the futuristic technologies Intel is working on, check out the slideshow.
1. Jimmy the Robot
Based on Intel Core i5 technology, Jimmy is a "humanoid robot" that can walk, talk, make hand gestures, use social media, and even be customized with apps. A Jimmy research kit geared for universities is currently available for a $16,000, which is apparently an absolute steal compared to what it would cost to develop on your own. (Image: Intel)
2. Jimmy the Robot
A more consumer-friendly Jimmy should be hitting the market by the end of the year for a more affordable $1,600. Launching alongside the cheaper Jimmy will be a new robot app store.
3. Galileo and the Internet of Things
Launched earlier this year, the Galileo microcontroller development board is basically a maker's dream. It can be connected to practically anything -- from home lighting to air conditioning. You're only limited by your imagination, a spokesman said. (Image: Intel)
4. Galileo and the Bubble Maker
For its Galileo demo, Intel hooked the tiny board up to a bubble maker so that the toy turned on and started blowing bubbles every time someone tweeted the hashtag #IntelFutureShowcase. (Image: Intel)
Intel spent three years and hundreds of millions of dollars developing a tiny 3D-sensing device that will be embedded in laptops and tablets shipping this year from companies like Dell, HP, Asus, and Acer, a spokesman said. (Image: Intel)
6. Save the Hoplites
The RealSense technology has a variety of uses from gaming to videoconferencing. Intel showed off a new PC game called Save the Hoplites that takes advantage of the sensor to let you manipulate objects by just moving your hand. (Image: Intel)
7. 3D Scanning
On tablets, RealSense can be used to create a 3D scan of a person or object, which can later be printed on a 3D printer.
8. Personalized Vehicles
Intel envisions a future where cars are intelligent enough to know who you are, learn your behaviors, offer suggestions based on your personal preferences, and adapt to your driving environment in real-time.
9. Personalized Vehicles
Imagine if your car could let you know how long it'll be before the light turns green, and display an important email if there's enough time to read it. Or, the car might be able to sense that your child is in the backseat, and automatically start playing Winnie the Pooh to keep junior occupied. (Image: Intel)
10. Embedded Security for Cars (And Other Things)
With everything from cars to wearable computing devices connected to the Internet these days, hackers have a new and vulnerable entry point. In its demo, Intel showed how a hacker could use a simple command get a toy car to drive too fast around a curve, causing it to crash. Next, it showed off technology it’s working on that could help safeguard connected cars (and drivers) from hackers. (Image: Intel)
11. Embedded Car Security
In the demo, Intel's technology was able to detect the malicious code and then change the command, telling the car to stop instead. The tech still needs some work, though, since you wouldn't just want your car to stop on the highway.
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TracFone Gets $8M Deal To End Phone-Flipping Suit Approved
By Christopher Cole (August 17, 2020, 9:53 PM EDT) -- TracFone won a Florida federal judge's final approval on Monday for an $8 million deal to end a suit against two cellphone distributors that allegedly bought its devices in bulk and sold them overseas to the detriment of the company's brand.
U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles signed papers bringing an end to the litigation, agreeing to order not only the multimillion-dollar settlement but an injunction blocking CellnTell Distribution Inc. and CNT Wireless LLC from repeating any such sales of the branded discount phones.
TracFone Wireless Inc. claimed in the suit filed last year that the distributors were using "runners" to buy...
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Written by James Melton for Internet Retailer. For roughly $700 per month, the owner of VapeSociety.com and VapeMood.com eliminated chargebacks of up to $5,000 per month. Cesar Campos thought chargebacks for fraudulent credit card purchases of $3,000-$5,000 per month were going to be a regular cost of doing business. Campos, marketing director of Campos Inc…. Read more »
Month: January 2017
Article originally posted on CPI Financial, written by Isla Macfarlane. A survey conducted by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International suggests that banks and payment organisations are finding it difficult to manage online financial fraud in today’s connected and complex technological landscape. The explosive growth of e-payments, combined with new technological developments and shifting business needs,… Read more »
Today’s Tidbit: “We estimate that in the U.S. alone, the value of false declines is more than 13 times the total amount lost to actual card fraud” Al Pascual, senior vice president, research director and head of fraud and security at Javelin Strategy & Research.


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Discover more from Rise & Shine ☀
Zomato Q4 results🍅, Marico 🤝🏻 True Elements, Funding hurts IPL ads🏏
Zomato Q4 Results: loss jumps to Rs 360Cr, Marico picks up 54% stake True Elements, Startup funding woes hurt IPL ad prospects, Funding Deals & more.
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Zomato Q4 Results: net loss jumps to Rs 360 crore🍕
Zomato said on Monday that net losses in the fourth quarter of FY22 stood at Rs 359.70 crore, a 2.5x jump from Rs 134 crore in the same quarter of FY21. It had reported a net loss of Rs 67.20 crore in the third quarter of FY22.
On a sequential basis, Zomato saw its total revenue grow to Rs 1,350 crore for the fourth quarter, a 7% jump from Rs 1259.70 crore in the third quarter.
The company also announced that its total revenue more than doubled to Rs 4,687.3 crore in FY22 from Rs 2,118.4 crore in the previous fiscal year. Revenue from operations also more than doubled to Rs 4,192.4 crore for the fiscal.
Marico picks up 54% stake in D2C health food brand True Elements🥗
Marico Limited, maker of Parachute and Saffola oil, has acquired a 54% stake in HW Wellness Solutions, owner of health food brand True Elements through a primary infusion and secondary buyouts. It did not disclose the size of the deal.
True Element, a digital-first brand in the healthy breakfast and snacks segment, clocked sales of Rs 54 crore in FY22. Its products include Western breakfast items such as oats, quinoa, muesli, granola and cornflakes, and Indian breakfast dishes such as poha, upma and dosa. It sells these products on more than 90 online platforms and more than 12,000 physical stores.
Seclore, a data-centric security platform provider, has bagged $27 million in Series C funding round led by Oquirrh Ventures and Origami Capital.
Technology startup 1K Kirana has raised $25 million in its Series B round led by Alpha Wave Ventures.
NextBillion.ai, a Singapore-based artificial intelligence (AI) spatial data and location mapping platform, has raised $21 million in a funding round led by Mirae Asset Capital.
Celcius, a cold chain marketplace, has raised $4.5 million in its Series A round led by Mumbai Angels.
Ras Luxury Oils, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) luxury skincare and personal care brand, has raised $2 million in a funding round from Sixth Sense Ventures.
Minus Zero has raised $1.7 million led by Chiratae Ventures, with participation from Jito Angel Network.
➡ Check out our LinkedIn space for more on the funding deals.
Startup funding woes may hurt IPL ad prospects🏏
The funding tap is running dry at startups, and one major casualty could be the Indian Premier League (IPL).
According to trade pundits, over 50% of IPL advertising is from new-age companies.
“The last four-five years of IPL advertising has been fuelled by the funding frenzy of these tech start-ups, with VC-backing. Now, the funding is gone and there is no silver bullet,” said a senior executive at a consulting firm.
For these companies, the only option is to reduce marketing spends, which will directly impact the IPL. “At any time, Rs 1,000-Rs 1,200 crore of advertising money can vanish from IPL,” the executive added.
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THE HUAWEI-BUILT Nexus 6P is near-impossible to repair, the first teardown of the device has revealed.
The teardown comes courtesy of iFixit, naturally, which had a pretty tough time pulling the metal-clad Nexus to pieces.
This struggle was down largely to the smartphone's aluminium unibody case, which required a "curved razor blade, safety glasses and prayers" to pull apart and risked damaging the glass camera cover in the process.
"It's very difficult, although not impossible, to open the device without damaging the glass camera cover," iFixit said. "Because of the unibody design, this makes every component extremely difficult to replace."
iFixit said: "The display assembly cannot be replaced without tunneling through the entire phone. This makes one of most common repairs, a damaged screen, difficult to accomplish."
Getting all the components out to do so a chore too, thanks to Huawei's use of huge amounts of glue in constructing the device.
The Nexus 6P does have some redeeming features, though. iFixit said in the teardown that the internal design is pretty impressive, and that both camera modules and the USB-C port are all relatively easy to remove once you get inside.
The teardown also revealed that the Nexus 6P’s fingerprint scanner is actually square, despite the circular cut-out on the smartphone's rear.
Still, these positives weren't enough to gain the Nexus 6P a good overall score. iFixit gave it a two out of 10 repairability grade, compared with seven out of 10 for the cheaper Nexus 5X, although noted that its solid construction should make for a durable device. µ
Might need to come up with a better name though
There's an app for *that*
American as Apple Spy


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China's food export grew at a slower rate in October, due largely to September's tainted milk powder scandal and chemical-related egg contamination thereafter, the General Administration of Customs said Friday.
In October, China exported 2.89 billion U.S. dollars worth of foodstuffs, a growth of 15.6 percent on the same month of last year. But the growth rate was 13.4 percentage points lower than September level.
From January to October, the nation's foreign sales of foodstuffs were 27.98 billion U.S. dollars, up 16.1 percent.
Of the total, 43.3 percent, or 12.1 billion U.S. dollars worth, were sold by foreign-funded companies, up 11.3 percent.
Aquatics and vegetables were the nation's main food exports, accounting for 14.9 percent and 11.9 percent, respectively, of the total.
In the first 10 months, China sold abroad 1.43 million tons of aquatic products, down 2.6 percent, and 5.09 million tons of vegetables, up 0.9 percent. The former was valued at 4.18 billion U.S. dollars, up 11.14 percent, and the latter, at 3.32 billion dollars, roughly the same as the same period of last year.
Japan remained the largest market for China-made foodstuffs, receiving19.1 percent of China's total food exports. China sold 5.34 billion U.S. dollars worth of foodstuffs to Japan in the Jan.-Oct. period, down 8.9 percent. The customs administration said a tainted dumpling scandal that broke out earlier this year was also a factor in the decline.
China's food export value to the European Union and the United States were 4.47 billion U.S. dollars and 3.73 billion dollars, respectively, up 19 percent and 18.5 percent.
In a related development, China imported 20.59 billion U.S. dollars worth of foodstuffs between January and October, up 34.2 percent.
ASEAN members, the United States, the European Union and Argentina were the major sources for China's food imports.
(Xinhua News Agency December 19, 2008)


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Ever wondered what it’s like to be in the Anfield change rooms listening to Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp rouse up the lads?
Standard Chartered’s ‘Inside Anfield’ campaign, by Octagon’s APAC team, allows you to do just that with a unique VR perspective into England’s greatest football club.
The digital video, which utilises 360 degree storytelling, has won Campaign of the Year at the prestigious BT Sports Industry Awards and Octagon was shortlisted for Agency of the Year.
Liverpool FC legend John Barnes takes fans on a back room tour of the famous ground, which also features a cameo by Robbie Fowler and a look inside the home change rooms, where Klopp delivers a ‘live’ team talk.
The video then follows the team down the tunnel as the players make their way onto the field welcomed by a stirring Anfield rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
The campaign breaks new ground by providing a rare insight into what goes on in the change rooms, which is very unusual in British football culture and the way the sport is covered.
“Our team started with the insight that 99% of Standard Chartered’s audience would never visit their team’s home ground. So, we brought Anfield to the fans,” Octagon’s APAC managing director Ben Hartman says.
“The Inside Anfield campaign is a perfect example of a how brands can integrate technology and content into their marketing campaigns in order to deliver a consumer experience that earns attention.”
The Singapore-based agency beat global sports marketing powerhouse brands Carlsberg, McDonald’s, Samsung and Fox Sports to win the award.
It’s a must watch for the millions of international LFC fans who may struggle to get to Anfield’s hallowed grounds.