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London is experiencing its highest hotel occupancy levels for a decade but a weak Euro is putting constraints on growth, according to analysis by PWC.
London hoteliers saw a record 2014 but so far 2015 hasn’t replicated this “stellar performance” with the pace of growth in the capital in the first half of 2015 “mixed”, the research showed.
PWC’s UK hotels 2016forecast found that demand in London is still strong but “the falling Euro is a key issue”.
Overall for 2015, PWC expects London to see occupancy growth of 1 per cent taking occupancy to 84 per cent. ADR growth is forecast to be 1.8 per cent taking ADR to £142. It found the increase in occupancy and ADR is partly due to the Rugby World Cup in the second half of 2015. This drives RevPAR growth of 2.7 per cent taking RevPAR to £119.
“London occupancies have averaged 80 per cent or above since 2006 and our annual forecast for 84 per cent this year and next would be the highest this decade,” said PWC head of hospitality and leisure research, Liz Hall.
She added: “Growth isn’t being experienced evenly by all market segments. The recent variable performance in London in the first half of 2015 has shown some polarisation in performance with the middle segments hurting the most. Is the increase in budget rooms upsetting the apple cart in London and creating this middle market squeeze?”
Elsewhere in the UK Aberdeen’s occupancy levels have been hit by the fall in oil prices. Occupancy levels fell by 12.9 per cent, with RevPar dropping by 21.4 per cent.
PWC forecasts further growth in 2016, but just not at the same pace with a 0.6 per cent gain taking occupancy to 77 per cent. ADR growth is predicted to fall to 3.5%, taking rates to £69. This means RevPAR growth of 4.2 per cent, taking RevPAR to £53.
The research showed that the rise of shared accommodation platforms for business and leisure has meant more travellers are aware of the brands and the opportunities of experiencing staying in shared space.
Hall said: “In London, the numbers of Airbnb listings are increasing and this trend is likely to continue and cause localised issues for hotels, around pricing pressure and/or underutilisation, especially for undifferentiated products. Such an impact is likely to be felt more strongly by hotels in a downturn.”


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AOL has acquired e-commerce tool provider Personalogic, to make online shopping easier and more customised.
In the latest in a wave of moves by portal companies to boost their e-commerce efforts, AOL will offer Personalogic?s interactive consumer buying guides. These help customers make decisions about a wide variety of products and services to suit their individual needs and tastes.
Members are asked questions to determine their needs and preferences, then these are evaluated to return a ranked list of best matches. The software also creates unique, personalised preference profiles that can be compared, saved or modified at a later date, covering a range of products from cars and computers to colleges and pets.
?We expect decision guides will be an important personalisation enhancement for millions of AOL members, making the interactive experience an even greater part of their daily lives,? said AOL's interactive services president Barry Schuler. ?Personalogic?s decision guides will give us additional, high value, targeted inventory for our advertising partners.?
Schuler also said key creative and technical staff from Personalogic will join AOL to help build new content and programming.
AOL will continue to develop Personalogic technology to make it compatible with search engines and other e-commerce tools and will seek new e-commerce applications to reap more revenue.
The guides will be integrated into key AOL products including its portal site aol.com, Digital City and Compuserve, plus international services including the UK.
"Already, members in the UK should be able to access PL guides such as 'Find the Ideal Dog Breed for You', which they can get to by going to the Lifestyle and Interests channel on AOL UK and then to 'pets'," explained Jim Whitney, vice president of corporate communications at AOL.
"As to when we'll roll out PL decision guides in other languages, that is still to be determined," he added.
Source: VNU Newswire
Warming was most pronounced in Siberia region
The tank will be subjected to high stresses and loads via dozens of hydraulic cylinders during testing
'Sunlit wet sidewalk' provides evidence of methane rainfall on the north pole of Saturn's moon Titan
Methane rainfall indicates the start of the summer season in Titan's northern hemisphere
Scientists believe there could be other hydrides or superhydrides with super conducting properties

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Lower CAD cushioning India from global shocks: Moody's
The sharp fall in India's current CAD will limit its vulnerability to global financial market volatility, though persistently high inflation remains a major risk, credit rating agency Moody's has said in a report.Updated: Mar 26, 2014 23:38 IST
The sharp fall in India's current account deficit (CAD), a broad measure of the gap between dollar outflows and inflows, will limit its vulnerability to global financial market volatility, though persistently high inflation remains a major risk, credit rating agency Moody's has said in a report.
"With India, signs of a decline in its high CAD as a percentage of GDP and the make up of the government's debt profile limit the extent of sovereign exposure to global financial market volatility. But continued higher inflation poses risks," the report said.
India's CAD dropped sharply to $4.2 billion or 0.9% of GDP during October-December 2013 from $31.9 billion or 6.5% of GDP in the same quarter of the previous year. Plunging gold imports and a rebound in exports have helped bring in dollars and rein in the deficit.
CAD stood at $5.2 billion or 1.2% of GDP during July-September. India looks on course to contain the deficit within $45 billion in 2013-14, down from $88 billion last year.
The gap tapered sharply over the last two quarters after the government and the Reserve Bank of India launched a string of steps including gold import curbs.
Budding signs of recovery in the US and Europe, two of India's biggest export markets, resulted in a surge in shipment orders from the country.
Wholesale inflation rate eased to a nine-month low of 4.68% in February from 5.05% in the previous month, while retail inflation eased to a two-year low of 8.10% in January from 8.79% in the previous month.
First Published: Mar 26, 2014 23:36 IST


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Avoid the summer slide and keep your kids learning and moving! Families now have more ways to enjoy the company’s healthy and educational adventures at home.
NEW YORK, NY – (May 25, 2017) – This week, Adventure to Fitness launched new streaming options for homes with access available via Amazon, Roku, and the company’s website (www.adventuretofitness.com). Website subscribers have increased access to streaming videos, as well as access to new content each month. Viewers can begin a one-week trial for only $1 and receive access to over 1,000 hours of content.
Additionally, website subscribers will be able to link their memberships to the Adventure to Fitness channel on Roku, providing another way for the whole family to view adventures on their televisions at home.
Lastly, Adventure to Fitness episodes are now available for 1-day rentals on Amazon Instant Video. Viewers can simply search “Adventure to Fitness” to find a listing of all titles currently available.
CEO Michael Rhattigan stated, “Our goal is to use digital entertainment to start kids early on a lifelong journey of learning and healthy living. For years, we’ve taken millions of school children on imaginary adventures around the world. With today’s announcements, we’re excited to respond to continued requests from parents and teachers to increase the ability for kids to take these same adventures at home.”
All three options provide fun and exciting ways to teach kids and keep them moving over the summer break.


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The team developing Switzerland’s coronavirus contact-tracing app says it has become the first to have launched a product.
So in this article, let’s have a look at some of the top Android App Development Tools that can help in creating unique apps.
13 Feb 2020.
Some of the efforts Google has made over the past few years to bolster the security of Android app users as well as the mobile apps available.
26 Sep 2008.
With the Google Play Store app, download apps and games for your Android phone or tablet. The Play Store also serves as an entertainment.
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How your app is ranked in Google Play Store. Search Queries in Google Play Store are the most common way, how users find relevant android apps. In order to be.
Google will soon launch Stadia on Android TV, according to code found in the latest Stadia app. That means it could be.
The conspiracy falsely suggests that secret agents in the US government are trying to undermine the president, according to a.
Flutter is Google's UI toolkit for crafting beautiful, natively compiled applications for.
icons and fonts to provide full native performance on both iOS and Android.


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“This was mainly due to the demand slowdown witnessed in the economy and the corresponding lack of earnings growth in most of the companies. Any negative developments, high leverage, regulatory, corporate governance issues, and muted earnings or revenue growth, etc., were punished heavily. It is not that all those stocks are a value buy since a lot will depend on the future outlook of their businesses.” … [Read more...] about Small & midcaps back in spotlight as FIIs raise stake in 122 BSE companies
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Get access to India's fastest growing financial subscriptions service Moneycontrol Pro for as little as Rs 599 for first year. Use the code "GETPRO". Moneycontrol Pro offers you all the information you need for wealth creation including actionable investment ideas, independent research and insights & analysis For more information, check out the Moneycontrol website or mobile app. … [Read more...] about More than 100 stocks fell 10-50% from September 20; time to buy?
Budget shall lay huge focus on farmers credit, incentives through DBT for assisting farmers get their share for inputs required for farming, improved mechanisation/better irrigation facilities, better yield for their products and access to the direct market mechanism, Mayuresh Joshi, Head of Equity - India, William O’Neil India, said in an interview with Moneycontrol’s Kshitij Anand. … [Read more...] about Doubling of farmers income by FY22 could be focus area in Budget: Mayuresh Joshi
"The current quarter performance has been good across all our businesses and we achieved strong EBITDA margins. The profits were impacted due to trigger based impairment charge taken on a few products including gNuvaring. We continue to focus on execution and have made significant progress on quality systems and operational efficiencies," Co-Chairman and MD, GV Prasad said. … [Read more...] about Dr Reddy’s posts Rs 569.7 cr loss in Q3 on impairment of generic Nuvaring drug
Computers are already riding along. Since 2017, the federal government has required commercial trucks to be outfitted with an electronic logging device (ELD) to monitor and enforce safety requirements, such as limiting the number of hours truckers can drive per day, and ensuring that they take prescribed breaks with adequate time for sleep. ELDs are also a rich source of data for trucking dispatchers, insurance underwriters, and autonomous tech developers, Sankar says. Data includes not only where and when truckers drive, but how they drive—in terms of braking, acceleration, and how long they go between breaks. “All of that’s really, really interesting because the fleet manager has an understanding of just how that driver does their job,” Sankar says. … [Read more...] about In 20 years, your boss may track your every glance, keystroke, and heartbeat


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Astro Empires Announces Major New Update, Astro Empires v1.5
The space strategy browser game Astro Empires is preparing the largest update in its history. Recently Cybertopia, the company behind Astro Empires, released full details of the upcoming new features and changes.
The update brings a fresh interface, better tutorial, lots of new media graphics, a new ingame technology, improvements to the game interactive map and several tweaks on the game mechanics.
“The changes are definitely the largest since Astro Empires was launched and the player’s initial feedback has been very positive. We hope they will enjoy the final product as much as we did developing it.” – Colin Palin, Community Manager at Astro Empires.
Astro Empires v1.5 updates are due to be released in October.
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text: When Apple Pay launched in the UK back in July, Barclays was a notable absentee. It didn't take long for the bank to change course, however, as it took only a couple of hours for it to confirm that it would enable support for the NFC payment technology in the future. In the months that have passed, the bank hasn't offered any clues as to when it will launch -- until today. Disgruntled customer Mike Jobson took it upon himself to email the CEO of Barclays Retail Banking, Ashok Vaswani, to ask how long the wait might be. Vaswani swiftly replied, confirming that the bank would enable Apple Pay functionality "very early in the New Year."


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Just a month after installing ex-Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) Right Media head Ramsey McGrory as CEO, content distribution engine Clearspring has acquired social data specialist XGraph. The deal is meant to build Clearspring’s existing social reach on one of the primary trends influencing online advertising right now: mining the social graph for targeted advertising.
The deal, the amount of which was undisclosed — though it involved equity as well as cash — follows through on a plan Clearspring’s former CEO and co-founder Hooman Radfar (he’s now executive chairman) told paidContent about in May, when the company raised a huge $20 million round: that is, to develop and market more tools around social media and real-time data for publishers and advertisers.
The company is generally known as a provider of content and analysis of content and advertising that are distributed through social media tools and apps. Among its various analytics services, Clearspring’s main product is the AddThis sharing tool, an orange box with white “plus sign” icon that is available on more than 10 million websites globally. The tool lets users to share content with people they know through more than 300 different social networks in 70 languages.
Although behavioral targeting is considered the holy grail in some ways, many in the industry also recognize that it may be terrific for creating models based on what people have previously done on the web, it doesn’t necessarily mean these services can accurately predict when a users’ activity may change. Instead, the social graph is often considered just as essential in understanding consumers’ online behavior.
To some extent, companies as various as RadiumOne, SocialTwist, Lotame and Media6degrees are among the many companies that have been drawn to positioning themselves as social ad targeters. Given the growing crowd in the social marketing arena, McGrory told paidContent that Clearspring wanted to get ahead of the consolidation that will very likely take place over the next year.
Clearspring and XGraph have been working together for two years. While the deal had been put in motion before McGrory arrived at Clearspring last month, completing the purchase of XGraph one of the first things he concentrated on.
“We’re entering a period right now that looks a lot like 2007, when all there was a wave of consolidation in the ad tech marketplace: Google bought DoubleClick, WPP bought 24/7 Real Media, Microsoft had bought aQuantive and AdECN. Over the past few months, you’ve seen announcements like the creation of a remnant ad sales consortium among AOL, Yahoo and MSN. When you have dozens of marketplaces operating at the same time, having the data in-house, as opposed to outside, becomes crucial. The personalization of content, as well as targeted advertising, is now essential to media companies’ operations.”
Three-year-old XGraph, which raised about $3.75 million first round last year, Venturebeat reported at the time, will bring all its 15 staffers to the 70-person Clearspring, including CEO Key Compton, who will take on a new role within his company’s new owner. It will retain the XGraph brand, for at least the time being.


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Yoko Ono has designed a menswear capsule collection for Opening Ceremony that's slated to debut Tuesday. The designs are inspired by her late husband John Lennon's "hot bod," she says. The collection includes a jockstrap, knee pads with eyes on them and a...
Tags: Yoko Ono, Coca-Cola Co., Old Navy, Fashion Shows, John Lennon
Lena Dunham of "Girls" TV show fame will appear in the next issue of V magazine, due out Jan. 10. She was shot by photographer Terry Richardson. [The Cut] Target's holiday collaboration with Neiman Marcus seemed to leave shoppers cold, and Time magazine...
Larry A. Thompson has long been fascinated with celebrity couples who "fly so close to the sun." Sonny and Cher, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor are duos featured in several television movies developed by the veteran...
Liz Smith"If women ruled the world and we all got massages, there would be no war!" said the TV writer Carrie Snow. Oh, I don't know if that's true or not, but it sounds good. It seems I returned to New York after a week in post-Christmas Barbados to find that...
Shona C. Gilbert, an artistic couture jewelry designer, is bringing her designs via a trunk show to Neiman Marcus at Fashion Island on Dec. 14-15. Her handmade line, SHONA, features glass-beaded bracelets, tourmaline gemstones and vintage stones,...
Vintage-inspired and antique costume jewelry never really goes out of style. If anything, it's hotter now than ever. Both avid collectors and trend-conscious fashionistas covet statement pieces of jewelry that evoke the charm and nostalgia of bygone eras....
Tags: Libraries, Christian Dior
There's nothing like getting a deal on exclusive labels. With that in mind, Affluent Goods boutique has opened at Newport Coast Shopping Center. Cleveland native Abbey Said, 28, dreamed up the concept. Consignment shop Affluent Goods sells new and...
Los Angeles Times Fashion CriticSexy as hell in a body-baring, cream lace long-sleeved Zuhair Murad gown, Jennifer Lopez gave us the slack-jawed fashion moment we've been waiting for, and one to rival that famously low-cut leafy print Versace gown she wore to the Grammys in 2000. The...
Sometime between Melanie Griffith as "Working Girl" and Hillary Clinton as presidential contender, the pantsuit retired from the ranks of high fashion, as well as from most women's closets. Make room for its resurgence. Pantsuits commanded designer...
Lauren Conrad isn't just a celebrity. The blond from Orange County, with her trademark cat-eye makeup, is a cottage industry. Conrad, 26, hasn't appeared regularly on television since exiting the MTV reality show "The Hills" in 2009, but off-screen, she'...
Los Angeles Times Fashion CriticIn 1954, when Marilyn Monroe was asked what she wore in bed, she famously replied, "Why, Chanel No. 5, of course." And sales of the perfume skyrocketed. That was a free endorsement, back when there was such a thing. Hollywood and the fragrance industry...
Tags: Drive (movie), Blake Lively, Movies, Marketing, Gucci Group NV
Los Angeles TimesShopping centers, department stores and boutiques all over Southern California are gearing up for the fourth annual observance of Fashion's Night Out, the worldwide shopping event created by Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour to stimulate sales in the...
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Patrick Ewing may be Jamaican, but this week he’s Irish. The Ewing 33 Hi “St. Patrick’s Day” celebrates the holiday of the endorser’s namesake, styling the silo in a themed colorway. A green suede upper avoids pinches, while orange accents and white lining provide contrast. Check out Kin Kwan’s photos of the upcoming release below, and look for the Ewing 33 Hi “St. Patrick’s Day” to launch online on March 12th at shopnicekicks.com.
Ewing 33 Hi “St. Patrick’s Day”
Release Date: March 12, 2014


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PerkinElmer to buy Caliper for $600M
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- Rodney Brown
Hopkinton’s Caliper Life Sciences Inc. will be acquired by Waltham life sciences instrumentation giant PerkinElmer Inc. for approximately $600 million in cash, according to a release.
PerkinElmer (NYSE: PKI) reports it has signed a definitive agreement to buy Caliper (Nasdaq: CALP) for $10.50 per share, Kevin Hrusovsky, CEO of Caliper Life Sciences is expected to join the PerkinElmer senior leadership team once the sale close, but the release did not state in what capacity. Robert F. Friel, chairman and CEO of PerkinElmer, cited Caliper’s “proven leadership” and the talent of the Caliper team in a statement.
At $10.50 per share, stockholders will receive a 42 percent premium over the closing price of $7.39 per share as of Wednesday, PerkinElmer officials said. The sale has already won unanimous support of the boards of directors of both companies, and should close in the fourth quarter of 2011.
One month ago, Caliper settled two patent infringement lawsuits with Rochester, N.Y.-based Carestream Health Inc. The first lawsuit was filed in February 2010 by Caliper and its wholly owned subsidiary Xenogen, as well as Stanford University. That suit alleged that Carestream infringed on seven imaging patents that Stanford licensed exclusively to Xenogen through its instrument systems marketing and sales. The second suit by Carestream, filed in July 2010, alleged that IVIS Lumina XR System from Caliper infringed on a multimodal in-vivo imaging patent from Carestream.
Caliper reported in July that its LabChip Dx, a microfluidic-based diagnostic chip, received CE Mark registration in Europe.
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Musée Christian Dior to launch 'The New Look Revolution' exhibition next month
With accompanying book
The Musée Christian Dior, in Granville Normandy is paying homage to the indelible footprint that Christian Dior has left on the fashion landscape, with a new exhibition titled – Dior the New Look Revolution. The exhibition is accompanied by a book of the same name, published by Rizzoli, which will be released in tandem with the June 6 opening of the exhibition.
Both the book and the exhibition retrace the story of the iconic bar suit, the design that became the manifesto of Christian Dior's first collection, and silhouette that would revolutionise the fashion world. February 12 1947 was the fateful day that Monsieur Dior presented his debut couture collection and this iconic white jacket with fluted hips and black skirt became a blueprint that would bring about a 'new look,' and women's fashion would never be the same again.
Fashion historian Florence Muller has curated the exhibition in three parts; The bar suit, a revolution, which looks at the iconic creation that started it all; Savoir-faire, line and construction, which explores the theme of the Dior created silhouette and finally, The spirit of a style, looking at the influence this early identity has had on the body of the house's designs ever since. Florence Muller also curated the book, which was written by Laurence Benaim.
Dior the New Look Revolution will be on display at Musée Christian Dior in Granville, France from June 6 - November 1.


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A Largo area marketing firm has agreed to pay $350,000 to settle a complaint by the Florida Attorney General's Office that the firm obtained stolen consumer information and did not take proper steps to ensure data was acquired legitimately.
Although VICI Marketing LLC agreed to the settlement filed April 8, the firm's attorney said the company is not sure it even obtained stolen information in the first place.
"We don't have proof of that," said VICI's lawyer, Robby Birnbaum, a partner with Greenspoon Marder law firm, which has offices statewide.
VICI did not admit it broke the law, but agreed to take steps to confirm sources of information in the future and to ensure that data it acquires is obtained legally. The settlement was signed by company officers Scott G. Roix, Neil C. Williams and Robert Poitras.
"The judgment sets a new standard for telemarketers by requiring them to ascertain the legitimacy of their data sources through due diligence," the Attorney General's Office said Tuesday.
VICI complies with all applicable state and federal laws, Birnbaum said. But it agreed to the settlement because it "didn't want to fight with the Attorney General's Office," he said.
The civil settlement reimburses the Attorney General's Office for investigative costs related to the case and for future enforcement efforts.
VICI, based at 11515 66th St. N between Bryan Dairy and Ulmerton roads, indirectly acquired data stolen from Certegy Check Services, a St. Petersburg check verification company, according to the Attorney General's Office.
Last year, a former employee of Certegy was sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison for stealing millions of Americans' personal financial information from a database and selling it.
The man, William "Gary" Sullivan, sold the information to a broker, who resold it or somehow disseminated it to VICI, the Attorney General's Office said.
From 2004, VICI obtained consumer data leads, including data stolen from Certegy, without taking the proper steps to make sure it was obtained legally, the Attorney General's Office said.
VICI "did not conduct any meaningful due diligence to ascertain the source of the consumer data, how and from whom the consumer data was lawfully obtained, and whether the source possessed any legal right to license or use the data," the Attorney General's Office said in the case.
VICI claims it stopped telemarketing to consumers on or about Dec. 30, 2007, according to the Attorney General's Office. The company, which now specializes in business-to-business sales, will be required to take certain actions if it decides to resume telemarketing to consumers.
VICI also paid $46,500 in fines after the Florida Department of Agriculture's Division of Consumer Services found 93 unlicensed salespeople working for VICI in 2007, according to the Attorney General's case. Some of the telemarketers had criminal backgrounds, including felony convictions for fraud and identity theft, the case said.
VICI also allegedly used consumer information in a telemarketing campaign that used deceptive tactics to enroll consumers in third-party membership programs, the Attorney General's Office said. Monthly fees ranged from $14.95 to $69.95, if consumers failed to cancel the memberships.
The Better Business Bureau, which gave VICI a C rating, processed eight complaints against the company in the last 36 months, according to its Web site.
Lorri Helfand can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org or (727) 445-4155.


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Greenacres Police Blotter: Homeowner reports second incident of graffiti on fence
Greenacres Public Safety
A woman reported that someone was trying to break into her Toyota in the first block of North Eric Circle. An officer arrived to find an intoxicated man, who was bleeding from his head and with dirt marks on his shirt, leaning against the car. The drunken man told the officer he was trying to get his girlfriend out of the car. There was no one in the car. The woman said the man damaged her car. The man was not arrested because of the lack of evidence.
Someone damaged the back window of a Honda Accord parked in the 1800 block of 18th Lane.
Someone threw a rock through a bedroom window in the 3700 block of Mil Lake Court.
A man reported that someone spray-painted gang symbols on his fence in the 3000 block of Broward Avenue. This was the second incident.
A 23-year-old man was arrested and charged with retail theft at a store in the 6200 block of Forest Hill Boulevard. The man removed electronic devices from their packages and hid them in his pocket.
At a store in the 6200 block of Forest Hill Boulevard, a man was arrested and charged with retail theft. The man stole a mat, two shirts, a porcelain plate set and a bath lid cover and then put them in shopping bags he had in his pocket.
A woman was caught stealing $180 worth of over-the-counter medication from a store in the 6700 block of Forest Hill Boulevard. She was arrested and charged with retail theft.
Police Blotter is compiled by Sheaon Monlouis from area law-enforcement records.


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GPS veteran Magellan announced the SmartGPS system back at CES, touting its social networking integration and "cloud" stuff. The device has just gone on sale in the US for $249, but along with that comes the SmartGPS app. This is a free download that lets your smartphone talk to the GPS unit. If you don't want to buy a $249 GPS unit that duplicates the functionality of your phone, the app includes additional features for a price.
Texting and driving is a pretty heinous crime. Bad enough that it's spawned entire ad campaigns devoted to educating the public on the dangers of such acts. Of this, you are no doubt aware. What you may be less aware of is the fact that figuring out where you're going is exactly as dangerous as sending someone a message that says "Doesn't the Peachoid look like a giant..."
California, despite having no known Peachoids, knows this very well and a court has ruled that using a mapping application is just as bad (and illegal) as texting behind the wheel.
Being a huge fan of keyboard shortcuts (I have most of Gmail's keys memorized and use them exclusively for maximum productivity every day), I jumped at the opportunity to add similar functionality to AndroidPolice.com itself.
On various pages of the site that contain multiple posts, like the homepage, category, author, and tag pages, you can now:
- press "j" to jump to the next article in the list
- press "k" to jump to the previous article in the list
- press "o" or "Enter" to go to the article that's closest to the top of the visible browser area
- (new) press "O" to do the same as above, except in a new browser tab/window
- (new) press "c" or "C" on a post page to zoom to the comments box
Furthermore, if you're at the end of a list, pressing "j" will advance to the next page.
Can we be honest with ourselves for a bit? Notifications on Google+ have sucked for a while. It's never clear what's new and what's old, they're cluttered with information, and up until recently, they've been tucked away in the app underneath the sidebar navigation. Well at least one of those problems is getting fixed today as the Android app gets an update that creates a special new section for notifications on the right-hand side of the app.
In times past, we've seen Google add new countries to its list of supported territories for Google Maps Navigation shortly before we see the update itself rollout. Today, there's been a pretty huge change to that document that added 10 new nations including Bulgaria, Estonia, Ghana, Iceland, Ivory Coast, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Senegal and Slovakia (for some reason Singapore appears to have been added to the list, even though that nation already has Navigation).
Update: Many of you in the comments along with @GoogleMexico have confirmed that navigation went live earlier today. Congratulations!
Google Maps Navigation(Beta) ahora disponible para Android en México. Descarga la versión más reciente en Google Play: goo.gl/DgNq8
— Google México (@googlemexico) November 28, 2012
Original story below:
It doesn't mean anything yet, and we'd be hard-pressed to tell you when it will mean something, but if you were to take a look at this help file listing countries where Google Maps Navigation is available, you'll see a relative newcomer to the crowd: Mexico.
To call Rdio's latest beta a complete overhaul might be a bit of a misnomer. The feature set is largely the same, even if the design has gotten a facelift. However, seeing as the music streaming wars are heating up, it seems like a perfect time to take a second look at the service that always seems to play second fiddle to the behemoth that is Spotify.
Update: This version of the app is now live.
If you've ever found yourself lost in Singapore or Hong Kong, then I'm sorry. I hear that if you run into the wrong part of town things can get... bad. It's a shame you didn't have Google Navigation to save you the trouble of ending up somewhere you shouldn't be. The good news, though: future wanderers won't have to suffer your potential strife, because Google Nav should now be available in the aforementioned places.
I imagine there was a meeting at TomTom some months ago where it was decided, for whatever reason, that there was a need for them to bring their own maps and navigation apps to Android. Now, after who knows how long, those apps have come to fruition. Only they're quite expensive ($38-$60), and not compatible with, well, any modern device. Not the HTC One X, Galaxy Note, Galaxy S III, or Galaxy Nexus.
We've all been there: you looked up the directions to the restaurant at home, and forgot them while you sat at work. Now your significant other is somewhat miffed because you're half an hour late, so you search for the address on your phone... and can't remember the French name with all the extra punctuation. Google's got your back: the latest version of Google Maps for Android remembers the searches you've made on the Google Maps website, and brings them up as you begin to type.


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Google is expected to launch a cheaper version of the Pixel 3 soon, the Pixel 3 Lite that we’ve seen featured in several leaks including an actual review of a prototype unit. But the most exciting Pixel phone of the year will be the Pixel 4, which is probably going to launch In October just like every Pixel model so far. That means it’s too early for Pixel 4 leaks, although we do have an early benchmark for a mysterious Google device running Android Q on what could very well be the Snapdragon 855 processor.
A gadget that goes by the name of Google Coral scored 3296 and 9235 in Geekbench single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. The results are very much in line with benchmarks for other phones powered by the Snapdragon 855 processor, the chip that will be found in the Galaxy S10 and most other 2019 flagship Android phones this year, Pixel 4 included.
This Coral device has a Qualcomm processor on board, although it lacks the “msmnile” identifier we’ve seen in other Snapdragon 855 benchmarks. The listing also reveals the device has 6GB of RAM and runs Android Q. The only devices Google could be using to test early Android Q builds would be the existing Pixel 3, the next-gen Pixel 4 phones, or some other unreleased Pixel hardware.
Google will release the first Android Q beta in the coming months, and it’ll first be available on Pixel phones, as well as select devices from other Android device makers. As for that Coral codename, Google’s phones do have fish-based internal codenames. Coral partly qualifies since it’s sea life, even though it’s not the name of a fish.
That said, assuming this isn’t a spoofed listing, we may be looking at an unreleased Pixel-branded device of some sort. It could be the Pixel 4 that Google is testing very early, but it could also be something else made by Google that will be released alongside the Pixel 3 Lite.


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There is no question Amazon has been a disruptive force in the economy, finding ways to sell more things to consumers, often using technology to do it as efficiently as possible.
The online behemoth is now going about disrupting music, announcing a new service, Amazon Music Unlimited. It's a direct shot across Apple's bow, which itself disrupted the music industry more than a decade ago.
The company says Amazon Music Unlimited will provide users with tens of millions of songs and thousands of curated playlists and personalized stations, played on Echo, the Amazon speaker, controlled by voice commands through Amazon Alexa.
Subscriptions start at $7.99 a month or $79 a year for Prime members and $9.99 a month for non-members. The company is offering an exclusive “for Echo” subscription plan for $3.99 a month, with full access to Amazon Music Unlimited on a single Echo, Echo Dot, or Amazon Tap.
“And if you want a sense of the future of voice-controlled music, go ahead and ask Alexa for a free Music Unlimited trial, and play around on your Echo,” said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. “If you don’t know the name of a song but know a few lyrics, if you want to hear songs from a specific decade, or even if you’re looking for music to match your mood, just ask.”
That last part – the intuitive voice command response – may be the most truly groundbreaking aspect of the service. If you want to hear a particular song, a particular artist, or a particular genre, you just ask. Those of us who can only identify a song by a few words of the lyrics only have to repeat those words and the system will find the song, Amazon says.
Convenience stores too
If shaking up the music industry weren't enough for this week, The Wall Street Journal quotes knowledgeable sources as saying Amazon plans to open a number of brick and mortar convenience stores, with the first slated for Seattle.
The stores will reportedly carry only perishable items – things like milk and meat – but while in the store you can use your phone or a kiosk to order non-perishable items that will be delivered to your door the same day.
According to the report, Amazon will even introduce a feature allowing shoppers to order the items from their smartphones ahead of time, and have the purchases ready for pick-up when they arrive. A license plate reader at the store, according to the sources, will cut the wait times.
The Journal says Amazon hasn't commented on the report, but very few doubt it sounds like something a disruptive enterprise would do.


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Stocks ended narrowly mixed in lackluster trading on the final day of November, as investors were reluctant to make big bets ahead of the weekend amid ongoing "fiscal cliff" discussions.
Stocks have been choppy in the recent weeks as investors reacted to a chain of mixed remarks from lawmakers in Washington on the progress of the fiscal cliff talks.
The S&P 500 squeezed out a gain of 0.23 points to end at 1,416.25, while the Nasdaq slipped 1.79 points, to finish at 3,010.24. Both indexes ended in positive territory for the month. The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, finished near 16.
For the month, utilities lagged, while consumer discretionaries gained.
"This is still a market that's focused on headlines from Washington," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial. "But you're not seeing any big selloffs given all the headlines, so investors suspect that despite headlines suggesting the gulf is widening between the two parties, negotiations are still going on behind the scenes."
President Obama traveled to a factory Pennsylvania to press his case on raising taxes on the wealthy to narrow the deficit. The president is still negotiating with Republicans on how to avoid the steep automatic tax increases and spending cuts that will kick in soon without a deal. (Read More: Millions at Risk of 'AMT Shock')
Meanwhile, Speaker John Boehner said at a press conference that Republicans are "right now, almost nowhere" in regards to the fiscal cliff talks with the White House.
"In terms of seasonality, the first two weeks of December bodes well for the market and if Washington can assuage fears that they'll get something done, you could still see a nice move for the market," added Krosby, telling investors to keep an eye on the 10-year yield for "confirmation from the treasury market that the economy is improving and gaining traction."
On the economic front, consumer spending slipped in October, falling for the first time in five months, according to the Commerce Department. The decline suggested slower economic growth for the fourth quarter. Economists polled by Reuters expected spending to be flat last month.
Meanwhile, business activity in the Midwest expanded for the first time since August, with the the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer gaining to 50.4 in November. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the regional economy.
European shares ended near a 17-month high after Germany's parliament approved new aid measures for Greece, including the reduction of interest Greece pays on loans and the release of bailout funds.
Zynga fell after the online game maker and Facebook revised their two year-old agreement. Facebook will now be able to develop its own games after the end of March, while Zynga no longer has to display Facebook ads or use Facebook payments on its own properties.
For the month, Facebook shares are up more than 30 percent.
Yum Brands tumbled after the parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut handed in a 2013 earnings growth guidance that was below expectations, adding that sales in China have softened. Barclays cut its price target to $68 from $72, while UBS downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy."
Whole Foods became the latest company to announce a special dividend ahead of expected higher dividend tax rates next year. So far, nearly 100 companies with a market cap greater than $250 million have declared special cash dividends since the beginning of the fourth quarter. The total dollar value of those special dividend is over $20 billion dollars.
Many companies have also moved their dividend payment dates forward to December. Heinz accelerated its quarterly dividend payment to late December from early January.
Apple's latest iPhone has received final clearance from Chinese regulators, paving the way for a December debut in a highly competitive market where the lack of a new model had severely eroded its share of product sales.
Johnson & Johnson announced CEO Alex Gorsky will succeed chairman Bill Weldon when he steps down from his position at the end of next month. The drugmaker had named Gorsky as CEO earlier this year, replacing Weldon.
—By CNBC's JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC)
On Tap Next Week:
MONDAY: ISM manufacturing index, construction spending, Fed's Bullard speaks, auto sales; Earnings from PepBoys
TUESDAY: Earnings from AutoZone, Toll Brothers, Pandora, Mattress Firm
WEDNESDAY: Weekly mortgage apps, ADP employment report, productivity & costs, factory orders, ISM non-mfg index, oil inventories; Earnings from Men's Warehouse
THURSDAY: BoE announcement, Challenger job-cut report, ECB announcement, jobless claims, quarterly services survey, Apple/Samsung hearing; Earnings from H&R Block, Lululemon, Smithfield Foods, Cooper Cos.
FRIDAY: Employment situation, consumer sentiment, consumer credit
More From CNBC.com:


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Pocket-Lint: Nokia has announced the return of the Nokia Communictor with the Nokia E7.
The new handset is a side slider with a tilting touchscreen, offering a full QWERTY keyboard and pitched at business users, running on the company's new Symbian 3 platform. Nokia highlighted the Exchange support as well as mentioning ongoing collaboration with Microsoft to bring more business-focused support to the device.
According to a recent statement by Pekka Lundberg, the CEO of Nokia, people are likely to get 6G technology by 2030.
Nokia C21 Plus, C21, and C2 2nd Edition Android Go phones revealed at MWC 2022. On the back, the Nokia C21 has a single 8-megapixel camera. The Nokia C21 Plus
Nokia Oyj is heading several organizations and universities in a EU-funded wireless project named Hexa-X to provide help to 6G development


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PopCap turns to GREE to tailor Bejeweled for Japanese push
EA-owned PopCap is to take an all new, exclusive version of Bejeweled to both iOS and Android in Japan through GREE's platform, with the firm looking to crack the lucrative social gaming market in the region.
A legend is born
Bejeweled Legend has a mission based structure that builds on the gem-matching set up of the original game, with social elements built around play rather than fused into its core.
The game is currently due to be released in Japan only, but has to be downloaded via a separate app from either the App Store or Google Play rather than playing from within the browser version of GREE.
"We're delighted to see our collaboration with PopCap Games culminate in the release of such a globally popular title," GREE's senior VP of marketing and developer relations Sanku Shino.
"This game has the potential to be a great addition to the lineup of available titles on the GREE platform. We want to build a global platform serving more than a billion users, and teamwork with partners like PopCap is key to achieving that goal."
PopCap claims GREE worked "closely" with its development team to tailor the game for the Japanese market, with the firm looking to introduce a "new audience" to the Bejeweled brand, which has been a massive hit across multiple platforms in the west.
Bejeweled's move east, however, comes as GREE itself is looking to expand its presence in the west.
The social giant is currently attempting to make waves at E3 in Los Angeles ahead of the full launch of its global mobile gaming platform later in 2012.


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French group Le Bistrot Pierre has revealed its 'big plans' for a new restaurant in the heart of Birmingham's historic canals.
Set to welcome its first customers in spring 2016, it will be the independent group's 15th eatery and its third to open in 12 months.
The new dining spot is part of Le Bistrot Pierre's UK expansion following a £9.8million investment from private equity firm Livingbridge at the end of last year.
The Birmingham bistro is set to open in a Grade II listed building in Gas Street, which has been empty for several years. The co-owners have "big plans to refurbish the historic building to bring it back to its former glory."
"Having acquired the premises in a prime location on Birmingham’s canals about three years ago, we always knew we wanted to open in the city," explained Rob Beacham, co-owner of Bistrot Pierre.
"This opening is particularly exciting as it’s been a long process to secure planning approval and it’s such a unique premises to be developing.
"We have been working closely with our architects to make best use of the stunning building, which will have original features throughout, and will give diners a real sense of its heritage which is all part of the experience we want to create."
Each bistro has a unique interior and the group prides itself on creating "an exceptional yet affordable dining experience" for customers at every location. The images here give an idea of what the Birmingham eatery might look like when completed.
Rob added: "The restaurant itself will be a light, bright space, independently furnished with an outside seating area next to the canal.
"We want to create the ideal place for customers to come and enjoy our authentic food and drink anytime of the day.
"We look forward to introducing our great value lunch and pre-theatre menus, as well as our recently launched children’s menu and activity pack, to the city.
"Our recipes and produce are sourced from France to give diners an authentic bistro experience."
He continued: "As more investment is secured in Birmingham we know the time is right to bring our affordable French cooking to the city and we are looking forward to growing a loyal customer base in the city, much like we have with our other bistros.
"With more than two decades of experience in the food and drink industry we know we have an offering that works and we are always listening to feedback from our customers."
Bistrot Pierre was set up by school friends Rob Beacham and John Whitehead more than 20 years ago.
The pair have further plans for 2016 and are working towards an opening in Swansea later in the year.
The privately-owned restaurant group currently has 14 bistros across the UK in Bath, Cardiff, Derby, Harrogate, Ilkley, Leicester, Leamington Spa, Newport, Nottingham, Sheffield, Stockton Heath, Stratford, Plymouth and Torquay.


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Xiaomi’s latest flagship phones pack Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 processors, 5G modems, and multi-camera setups including a 108MP shooter that can capture 8K video, among other things.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 will be available in China starting February 24th for about $575 and up, while the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro launches the same day for about $715 and up.
Xiaomi had scheduled a global launch announcement for later this month at Mobile World Congress. But now that the show has been cancelled the company has postponed that event.
In addition to the specs listed above, both phones feature 6.67 inch, 2340 x 1080 pixel, 90 Hz AMOLED displays with support for peak brightness of 1200 nits, although Xiaomi says “typical” brightness will be 800 nits.
For memory, the Xiaomi Mi 10 series phones pack LPDDR5 RAM, which is faster and more energy efficient than the memory used in most smartphones to date. And the phones use UFS 3.0 storage, which Xiaomi says supports maximum sequential write speeds up to 730 MB per second thanks to the company’s “Write Turbo” technology.
Other new features include support for WiFi 6 (802.11ax) with 8×8 MU-MIMO tech for faster speeds and a vapor chamber for improved heat dissipation.
Xiaomi says the 108MP primary camera on both new phones supports optical image stabilization and electronic image stabilization and allows users to capture video at 7680 x 4320 resolutions while also saving 33MP photos by tapping the screen while recording an 8K video.
So those are the similarities. Let’s talk about the differences between the two phones.
In addition to the 108MP camera, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro has:
- 12MP 50mm portrait camera with 2X optical zoom
- 8MP Telephoto camera with 10X hybrid zoom
- 20MP ultra wide-angle lens
The phone also has a 4,500 mAh battery and supports 50 watt fast charging (wired) or 30 watt wireless charging.
Interestingly, Xiaomi is also introducing a new 65W Fast Charger with GaN technology alongside the new phone — even though the phone can’t support its top charging speed. But Xiaomi says even at 50W, the charger can take a Mi 10 Pro battery from 0 to 100-percent in 45 minutes.
The cheaper Xiaomi Mi 10 lacks any telephoto cameras, and instead has 108MP primary + 13MP ultrawide + 2MP depth and 2MP macro cameras.
Like the Pro model, the Mi 10 supports 30W wireless charging, but tops out at 30 watts when charging via a USB cable. Interestingly, it has a larger battery, and 4,780 mAh.
The other differences that help explain the price gap between the Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 pro come down to the memory/storage configurations. Here’s a run-down of prices for the Chinese market:
Xiaomi Mi 10
- 8GB/256GB for RMB 3,999 (~$575)
- 12GB/256GB for RMB 4,299 (~$615)
- 12GB/512GB for RMB 4,699 (~$675)
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro
- 8GB/128GB for RMB 4,999/ (~$715)
- 8GB/256GB for RMB 5,499 (~$785)
- 12GB/256GB for RMB 5,999 (~$860)
via Mi Blog
After last year’s Samsung s10 (first phone I am aware of with 1000 gb solid state storage) very unfortunate to see them not going forward with higher storage options. I DO NOT CARE about a 100 Mega Pixel camera… Please manufacturers offer the following;
#1. Standard 5 G, and Wifi 6 and BT 5.1 – the best networking bandwidths;
#2. “Best” solid state storage UFS 3.1 – 1000 gb and more doubling it every year.
#3. Much better batteries -5000 Mah and keep improving them from there.
#4. Much better screen ideally looking for the Z fold 6″ phone folding 3 ways out to a 9″ tablet.
#5. Do it at a decent price – Samsung improved some specs on their phones this year but not good enough for a $1400-$1600 price tag. It seems like the manufacturers have been holding out on better tech for a long time. Then they wonder why sales are going down. I won’t be spending $1000 on a new phone every year – try $750 every 6-7 years.
I still remember how troublesome it was to carry a 6″ mobile phone in my pocket 2yrs back (my previous phone). I think it’s only for those who use mobile phones as their STATUS symbol rather than as PDA or communication device.
By the by, who is stopping them to increase the display size to make it a good multipurpose tablet, at least a foldable one!
I think you have the prices backwards. You have the pro ad the cheaper of the two.
Yup, thanks! I’ll fix that now.
Comments are closed.


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Nicola Peltz steps out for the 2016 Daily Front Row Fashion Los Angeles Awards on Sunday night (March 20) at Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood, Calif.
The 21-year-old Transformers: Age of Extinction actress was joined by her older brother Will Peltz and his longtime girlfriend, model Kenya Kinski-Jones.
FYI: Nicola is wearing a Saint Laurent jacket, a Chanel dress, and Versace shoes. Will is wearing a Dolce&Gabbana suit and a Sandro tee. Kenya is wearing a Sass & Bide jumpsuit.
Nicola Peltz looks chic in black and white while attending Chanel’s I Love Coco Backstage Beauty Lounge event at Bar Marmont on Thursday (February 25) in Los Angeles.
The 21-year-old actress was joined at the event by Dakota Fanning, Ashley Benson, model Jesse Jo Stark, and Deadpool‘s Brianna Hildebrand.
Nicola also appeared at the WME Pre-Oscars Party with her friends!
New year opens for Nicola with the attending The 2016 InStyle And Warner Bros. 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards Post-Party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 10, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. She had her gorgeous brother Will as a date for that night.
Nicola wore a Tom Ford Spring 2015 mini dress to the party.
More updates! We want to congratulate Nicola with her gorgeous appearance on Paris Fashin Week, she killed it and we all are so proud of her! Good job, girl! Now according to justjared.com:
Nicola Peltz, Zoe Kravitz, and Riley Keough walk the runway in the Balenciaga fashion show held during Paris Fashion Week on Friday (October 2) in Paris, France.
Also walking the runway to support designer Alexander Wang were model Suki Waterhouse and actress Bella Heathcote.
“CONGRATS ALEX! YOU INSPIRE US ALL! Thank you for including me tonight! I love you! ❤ @BALENCIAGA,” Nicola tweeted after the show.
All of the ladies gathered for a group photo backstage, which was posted on Riley‘s Instagram account. See the image below!
More updates! Back to August, according to justjared.com:
Nicola and Will Peltz pose for a photo while attending the Teen Vogue x Simon Back to School Saturdays Kick-off Dinner on Wednesday (August 5) at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, Calif.
FYI: Nicola is wearing a Giamba dress and Jimmy Choo shoes.
Will and Nicola Peltz attented the Givenchy fashion show held during New York Fashion Week Spring 2016 on Friday (September 11) at Pier 26 in New York City.


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At Conde Nast’s first-ever participation in Art Basel Miami Beach, (December 6-9), the company will exhibit a specially curated show of photographs from the new book and global exhibition Coming Into Fashion: A Century of Photography at Conde Nast.
The accompanying exhibit within the “Art Collectors Lounge” will bring together a selection of rare photographs and original prints from the Conde Nast archives in New York, Paris, Milan and London. It is the first project of this scope and magnitude to present early work by Conde Nast contributors who went on to become some of the biggest names in the history of fashion photography.
The 28 photos shown at Art Basel Miami Beach will provide a sneak peek of Coming Into Fashion, which will hit U.S. shores in 2014 as part of its global tour. The exhibition kicked off this past August at the C/O Berlin museum to record-setting crowds and will next appear in Milan, beginning January 2013.
Conde Nast‘s freshly curated show at Art Basel Miami Beach will be divided into four chronological “chapters” and will showcase work originally published in Vogue, British Vogue, Glamour and Vanity Fair from such renowned photographers as Edward Steichen, Cecil Beaton, Horst P. Horst, John Rawlings, Constantin Joffe, Erwin Blumenfeld, Serge Balkin, Diane Arbus, Clifford Coffin, Bert Stern, David Bailey, Deborah Turbeville, Denis Piel, Herb Ritts, Ellen von Unwerth, Corinne Day, Raymond Meier and Sebastian Kim, among others.
“Many of our brands have been attending Art Basel Miami Beach for years, and after experiencing it for myself firsthand, I was inspired by its breadth, scope and import in the art and design community,” said Chuck Townsend, CEO of Conde Nast. “I encouraged my creative team to come up with an exhibit that is global in scale and of timely significance. Given the unique influence of the Conde Nast brands, we are the only magazine publisher that could find its home at Art Basel Miami Beach.”


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The launch of Cyberpunk 2077 seems to continue to be talked about in the coming months. Recently the journalist Jason Schreier, author of the book Blood, sweat and pixels, published a report on Bloomberg that details the various problems that occurred in the development of the latest CD Projekt RED title, such as the crunch or the lack of communication between management and employees. Adam Badowski, CEO of the Polish studio, has decided to respond to the report on Twitter.
The first point is the demo of the game that was seen at E3 2018, described in the report of Bloomberg as “fake«. Badowski alleges that the development of a video game is not linear and that most of what was seen in that demo was included in the final game. Another point to highlight is that Cyberpunk 2077 was not going to be ready for its launch in 2020 and the numerous delays suffered by the title during that same year are highlighted and the CEO considers that this part of the report is not reliable since Badowski only spoke with 20 of the 500 workers in the study.
Adam, I appreciate the responses. As I’m sure you’re aware, the team declined to respond to my specific questions or provide an interview before my article went live. But if you’d like to give your perspective on the topics you didn’t cover here, I’d be happy to chat any time
– Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 16, 2021
One of the parts that were removed from the original report was the one that revolves around lack of communication within the study among workers who did not speak Polish. Badowski says that all of the company’s electronic messaging is written in English and that its employees are from more than 40 different nationalities. However, there has been no response from the manager regarding the crunch or overwork in the development of a video game. Schreier later responded to Badowski on his Twitter account, claiming that he contacted CD Projekt RED several times before publishing the report for clarification but they did not refuse.
Cyberpunk 2077 is for sale for Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC with compatibility in Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. Despite everything, in recent weeks patches have been released that allow the gaming experience to be more bearable and a roadmap has been drawn up with the same purpose for this year 2021.
▪ Release date: 12/10/2020
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Loss of tourist spending enforced a severe contraction on sunglasses in 2020, as branded sunglasses, especially luxury brands, used to be essential purchases by mainland tourists, trading up. For the local market, buying sunglasses is closely linked to travel.
With gyms and indoor sports venues remaining closed during the early part of 2021, the popularity of outdoor activities, such as hiking, trekking and cycling have further grown since the onset of COVID-19. Similar to dynamic consumption of sportswear and equipment, sports sunglasses have also been perceived as an essential purchase among consumers engaging in outdoor activities, given the average high temperature in Hong Kong.
Luxottica retained its leadership of sunglasses in 2020, with its Ray-Ban brand. Other than its existing popularity in the market, it has maintained engagement with consumers to keep up the brand’s desirability.
Though consumption of sunglasses slowed down in 2020, it is expected to pick up again over the forecast period. Tourist spending, especially those from mainland China, will still be a significant share of buyers, as luxury sunglasses brands in Hong Kong still enjoy the price advantage created by the VAT difference between mainland China.
Benefitting from the home-seclusion economy, optical goods saw a sharp increase in online availability via brands’ direct-to-consumer sites and third-party e-commerce sites. Consumers are expected to maintain their digital purchasing habit in the post-pandemic world, especially for sunglasses as there is no need for a prescription.
Sunglasses manufacturers engaging in crossovers with technology companies is not new, as tech phones aim to showcase the growing importance of smart life while traditional sunglasses also engage with young and tech-driven consumers more. Back in 2019, Ray-Ban was in talks with Facebook to develop smart glasses which it said would be released in 2021.
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News Limited has announced the launch of its Victorian sales team.
The move sees the publisher’s community, regional and metropolitan sales operations pooled into one team – called News Australia Victoria. A number of redundancies will result.
The team will sell across brands including Herald Sun, Sunday Herald Sun, GeelongAdvertiser, The Weekly Times and mX.
News Australia Victoria’s general manager of advertising, Paul El Deir, said: “Each week, our brands reach over 3.7 million Victorians. The launch of News Australia Victoria means local advertisers can more efficiently engage this network – the largest in the state – with increased opportunities and in more creative and innovative ways.”
“In addition, our ability to identify target audience segments such as young women, job seekers and sports fans in Victoria, through our many brands and platforms, allows advertisers to engage with their audience more intimately and ultimately providing them with a better result,” he said.
“For example, if a property advertiser wants to target home owners in Victoria, we can not only tell them how many home owners they can reach – 2.9 million – but also the breakdown of that audience between realestate.com.au, Herald Sun and our Leader community titles. We can then work with them to create a campaign connecting with this audience at the right time and in the right environment,” he said.
The News Australia Victoria launch comes a month after the launch of News Australia’s NSW team. News Limited announced the launch of News Australia Sales at the beginning of April.


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INVEST IN US MARKET
Apple Watch Series 7 does not support fast charging in India at launch
Fast charging is currently not supported on the Series 7 in India at all, even with the right cable.
Oct 16, 2021
Apple Watch Series 7 first impressions: It’s screen time
A bigger, brighter display. A more durable body. And an updated chip. But is it enough?
Oct 15, 2021
Apple Watch Series 7 coming to India in first wave; pre-orders start October 8
The seventh-gen Apple Watch will be available for buying in India from October 15
Oct 04, 2021
About time: How Fossil made smartwatches look good and why the Samsung-Google partnership doesn’t bother it
Fossil is launching its next-gen smartwatch—the Gen 6—in India at the same time as global markets. Something like this has never happened before.
Sep 28, 2021
Realme launches Dizo Watch 2, Dizo Watch Pro smartwatches in India; Here’s everything to know
Realme has priced the Dizo Watch 2 at Rs 2,999 but will be available for Rs 1,999 as a special launch offer.
Sep 15, 2021
Apple Watch Series 7 launched with bigger, brighter screen and faster charging; to be available ‘later this year’
The Apple Watch Series 7 is possibly the first Apple product in years to buck the trend by looking nothing like the ‘leaked’ renders we’ve been seeing across the internet.
Sep 15, 2021
Xiaomi becomes world’s top wearable band brand, Apple rules roost in wristwatch market: Report
The development comes as a surprise as India, one of the company’s strongholds, was missing from the Mi Smart Band 6's global launch list at the start.
Sep 06, 2021
Apple Watch Series 7 said to bring new design with flat sides, bigger screens and more
New watches are usually announced by the tech giant in September and therefore, this reveal might not be way off.
Aug 30, 2021
Market research shows this is the most popular smartwatch in the world
Apple holds a 52 per cent market share in the segment, followed by Samsung, and Garmin.
Aug 29, 2021
Realme Dizo Watch: हाथ की यह घड़ी बताएगी ऑक्सीजन का लेवल, कोरोना काल में रियलमी ने लॉन्च की सेहत पर नजर रखने वाली स्मार्टवॉच
Aug 03, 2021
Zebronics Zeb-Fit 4220CH smartwatch: Good-looking watch with SpO2 sensor & Bluetooth calling feature
A budget wearable with good specs and Bluetooth calling functionality
Jul 05, 2021
Samsung could preview its new smartwatch tech with Google during MWC 2021 on June 28
This collaboration could be a solution to the problems that both the companies face with regard to the smartwatch segment.
Jun 22, 2021
Mi 11 Lite with slim and light design, Mi Watch Revolve Active with SpO2 tracking launched in India: specs, price, other details
Both products in typical Xiaomi fashion, punch above their weight in terms of specs and pricing.
Jun 22, 2021
Realme Watch 2 Pro, Watch 2, Robot Vacuum launched; Realme Book laptop, Pad tablet set to arrive in ‘coming months’
The flagship Realme GT with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC is also launching globally alongside.
Jun 16, 2021
Apple working on new Apple Watch lineup for 2021; developing body temperature, blood sugar sensors for future models
The main Apple Watch and the budget model Apple Watch SE would be updated next year along with a new version for extreme sports athletes.
Jun 15, 2021
Redmi Note 10S with Helio G95 and MIUI 12.5, Redmi Watch launched in India: Specs, features, price and everything to know
Redmi Note 10S India price starts at Rs 14,999 while Redmi Watch will be available for Rs 3,999.
May 13, 2021
Xiaomi to launch Redmi Watch, Redmi Note 10S in India on May 13
Xiaomi's Mi brand already sells a smartwatch, the Mi Watch Revolve, in India.
May 04, 2021
Apple maybe working on a rugged smartwatch for extreme sports, launch tipped for later this year
The watch, if it is released, might look at hikers and athletes as target audience, along with some other people who might be spending time in conditions that the Apple Watch is unable to endure in its current form.
Mar 28, 2021
OnePlus Watch: Everything we know about the “most-requested” OnePlus device so far
OnePlus is set to launch its first smartwatch, OnePlus Watch, on March 23.
Mar 18, 2021
Apple Watch is not just a global best-seller, it is probably the only smartwatch that matters today; here’s why
A deep dive into the Apple Watch, its history, growing feature set, and why it matters.
Mar 02, 2021
Apple Watch Series 6 review: Better than the best
There’s no other smartwatch in the market quite like the Apple Watch Series 6.
Dec 29, 2020
Realme Watch S Pro, Watch S and Buds Air Pro Master Edition launched in India: Check features, price, availability, other details
Realme VP and Realme India and Europe CEO Madhav Sheth said that the company has entered into the AIoT segment this year.
Dec 23, 2020
Honor Watch GS Pro, Watch ES launch: भारत में लॉन्च हुई दो नई स्मार्टवॉच, हर्ट रेट मॉनेटरिंग के साथ कई फिटनेस फीचर्स
भारत में हुवावे (Honor) के सब ब्रांड Honor ने दो नई स्मार्टवॉच लॉन्च की हैं.
Oct 08, 2020
Mi Watch Revolve launched: Xiaomi की नई स्मार्टवॉच भारत में लॉन्च, हर्ट रेट ट्रैकिंग का फीचर मौजूद
Mi Watch Revolve launch: Xiaomi ने मंगलवार को Mi Watch Revolve लॉन्च की है.
Sep 29, 2020
Fitbit ने लॉन्च किए भारत में नए फिटनेस प्रोडक्ट्स, हर्ट रेट मॉनेटरिंग के साथ कई फीचर्स
Aug 26, 2020
Samsung का बड़ा एलान, अब सभी गैलेक्सी स्मार्टवॉच होंगी मेड इन इंडिया
Jul 09, 2020
Amazfit Bip S स्मार्टवॉच भारत में लॉन्च; 4,999 रु कीमत, 40 दिन की बैटरी लाइफ
भारत में Xiaomi के समर्थित बैंड Huami ने अपनी लेटेस्ट स्मार्टवॉच Amazfit Bip S को लॉन्च किया है.
Jun 03, 2020
US Stock Market
Microsoft closes on Apple in race for world’s most valuable listed firm
US stocks rise amid positive early earnings results
Tesla’s market cap now more than top 5 BSE companies combined; Elon Musk’s wealth grows $36 billion
Made gains in US stocks? Here’s how to report your foreign earnings in ITR
Inflation, supply chain hiccups hit Wall Street but retail investors remain net buyers of stocks
Iran hosting a multilateral meeting to discuss Afghanistan; Six countries invited
Nykaa IPO opens tomorrow, grey market premium strong; should you subscribe or not?
Experience a 5-star hotel like stay with Indian Railways' Buddhist Circuit Train; See features & other details
Share Market HIGHLIGHTS: Sensex tanks 434 pts from day's high, Nifty gives up 18250; Axis Bank top drag
Policybazaar IPO to open next week; Check dates, issue size, price band, other bid details
An Indian teacher building bridges in Ethiopia
What is La Nina and why India may witness coldest winters in January, February 2022
Coronavirus News Highlights: COVAXIN added to approved list of vaccines for travel to Oman without quarantine; 7 cases of Delta Plus variant reported in Karnataka
Jefferies increases target price of this Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-owned stock; share gains 5%
Maruti Suzuki, Zee Entertainment, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea stocks in focus
U.S. Stocks: Solid earnings lift mood on Wall Street ahead of Apple, Amazon results
New land border law will not affect existing boundary treaties: China on India's concerns
Supreme Court sets aside Delhi HC order on Bharti Airtel's GST refund
Redmi Note 11 series launched with MediaTek chips, up to 120W fast charging and more: Everything to know
Ad volumes dipped marginally during IPL 14 compared to IPL 13: Report
Here's how you can gift yourself a new phone at a reduced price
Corona LIVE: Covid restrictions extended across country till November 30 to curb virus spread; Kerala reports 7,838 new cases
F&O expiry day: Sensex tanks over 1100 pts, Bank Nifty tumbles 3.3%; Nifty support at 17800
Cheers, Delhi! Upcoming swanky liquor vends can place alcohol orders from Nov 11, retail sales to begin Nov 17
Anarock sells housing properties worth Rs 8,084 cr on behalf of builders in Apr-Sep; 82% annual rise
Apple macOS Monterey rollout today but Intel-powered Mac users will miss out on these features
Apple vs Epic Games: iPhone-maker updates App Store payment rules
Apple confirms ‘High Power Mode’ for intensive workloads in 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max
Elon Musk pokes fun at Apple over near Rs 2,000 ‘polishing cloth’
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Netflix extends licensing deal with Universal's animated films
By Ray Ampoloquio
July 14, 2021
Netflix and Universal just came to an agreement that will extend the streaming platform's already existing licensing deal.
This new partnership grants Netflix users in the United States access to all the upcoming animated films from the studio.
This will include highly anticipated sequels such as Minions: The Rise of Gru, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, as well as The Bad Guys.
The aforementioned films will now head straight to Netflix following a 4-month window on Peacock.
The streaming giant is elated knowing that the deal allows it to expand its library of children's animated films.
The deal with UFEG also gives Netflix access to live-action movies from the studio for roughly four years after they premiere in theaters.
As Netflix finds itself being the targeted of every other streaming platform, it makes sense that it's trying to divest.
On top of the rumored video game venture, Netflix will welcome a slate of video game series' and films for the rest of 2021 and beyond.
Here's to hoping that these platforms continue putting out quality content.
This way, we all can continue enjoying access to better movies and TV shows right from the comforts of our homes and on the go.
Stay tuned to
for more streaming news.


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(WXYZ) — If you're looking to get the all-new Ford Bronco, you may be waiting a long time. According to Car & Driver, some customers may be waiting a year and a half to get the vehicle.
Ford unveiled the all-new Bronco earlier this month and first deliveries were expected to happen in spring 2021, according to Car & Driver. The 2021 Bronco Sport is expected to be delivered later this year.
According to Car & Driver, the wait list for the new Bronco continues to grow, and some people may not get their car until 2022. Car & Driver reports
that customers with reservations will be built ahead of orders.


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FalconStor posted results for Q3 2012 last Wednesday. The company, a provider of data protection solutions for the enterprise, saw weakened demand for its products in the quarter ended September 30, but managed to cut its losses.
FalconStor made$17.1 million in the past three months compared with the $18.9 million it reported for the third quarter of 2011, a 9 percent decline that CEO Jim McNiel blames on a “a difficult macro environment” in the global marketplace.
“The uncertainty surrounding the global marketplace continues to cause disruptions in our business, specifically with budget freezes, elongated sales cycles, or, in some cases, lost deals due to competitive pricing and sales strategies.” McNiel said during the earnings call. “Finally, we believe that the steps we took during the third quarter to reduce our operating expenses in response to the current environment have left us well-positioned to execute on our plan to invest in our existing and our new product initiatives.”
FalconStor posted a GAAP net loss of $3.6 million or 8 cents a share, much lower than the $5.4 million it reported 12 months ago. Non-GAAP loss stood at $3.1 million in the last quarter.
Enterprises are getting smarter about their IT budgets, and vendors such as FalconStor are investing a lot of resources to make sure they get their share of this growing market opportunity. HP and IBM have been doing something similar in the storage space.
The two vendors both unveiled new SMB storage products this week, with an emphasis on budget-friendliness. Hewlett-Packard introduced two new StoreVirtual machines, as well an entirely new line up called StoreEasy that’s tailored for large amounts of data rather than virtualization. And Big Blue unveiled a scaled-down Storwize box that offers small to medium businesses enterprise functionality for only $10K.


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Paytm Money expects the number of mutual fund investors in India to more than double from the current 20 million to 50 million by 2023
Bengaluru: Paytm Money Ltd expects the number of mutual fund investors in India to more than double from the current 20 million to 50 million by 2023 and hopes that around half of them will be using its mutual funds app by then. The company has launched its mutual funds app, which enables customers to buy and sell mutual funds and manage their portfolio from a mobile phone. Investors will be able to download and start using the app from today.
Initially, the app will offer all schemes and direct plans from 25 mutual fund houses, including all large fund houses, that cover around 90% of the industry’s ₹ 22 trillion worth of assets under management. “Eventually, and very soon, we will have the rest of the fund houses on board," said Pravin Jadhav, whole-time director at Paytm Money.
Jadhav said Paytm Money will acquire new customers at a pace faster than the Indian mutual funds industry and will quickly enter smaller towns. Around 65% of the customers who have registered for the app so far come from ‘Beyond the Top 15’ (B15) towns, a mutual fund industry term used to describe smaller towns.
According to the Prime Mutual Fund database, ₹ 2.08 trillion—or 27% of assets in equity funds as on March 2018—belonged to B15 towns, up from ₹ 89,302.05 crore or 26% of equity mutual funds in March 2015.
Paytm Money will sell only direct plans of all mutual fund schemes. Direct plans come with a lower expense ratio as they do not have distributor commissions embedded in them. These are essentially meant for those who wish to invest with the fund house directly or on their own through third-party apps. As Paytm Money is a registered investment adviser (RIA) with the capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), it is also mandated to offer only direct plans.
Over the past month or so, Paytm Money has been allowing customers to register on its website to get a chance for early access. Of the 850,000 customers who have registered for the app so far, the firm will start providing access to more than 2,500 customers per day, and eventually more than 10,000 customers per day, Jadhav said.
Initially, Paytm Money will not charge fees from their customers, even though it does not earn any commission as it is selling direct plans. Typically, RIAs who sell direct plans are eligible to charge fees from investors. Jadhav declined to reveal when Paytm could start charging fees. “We do not have any plan to start charging fees for now", he said.
Investors must complete Know Your Customer (KYC) formalities and create their risk profiles, which is stored in the app. These will be displayed every time the investor checks out a scheme, before actually buying it.
Despite being an RIA, Paytm would just facilitate buying and selling of schemes at the moment. However, in a few weeks, it would launch a feature called ‘investment packs’ whereby it would recommend a basket of schemes, depending on the client’s profile. A first-time investor, for instance, would be recommend a set of low to moderate risk prone schemes.
Nilesh Shah, managing director, Kotak Asset Management Co. Ltd, said Paytm could double the customer base of the mutual fund industry much sooner than anticipated. “It took us around 58 years since UTI started US-64 scheme in 1964, to build a customer base of 1.8 crore. Paytm can double that in a couple of years," he said.
For now, Paytm will sell just mutual funds. Jadhav refused to comment on when and which other products would Paytm sell in future.
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UK: Investment pushes Ocado back into the red despite sales growth
- Credit: PA
Internet retailer Ocado slumped back into the red today despite rising half-year sales as it took a major hit from the opening of new warehouses.
Ocado, chaired by former Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose, said growing customer numbers boosted revenues by 15% to £382.7 million during the 24 weeks to May 19.
But the cost of opening distribution centres in Dordon, Warwickshire and Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire helped drag it to pre-tax losses of £3.8m from maiden profits of £200,000 a year earlier.
Its expanded operations will be used to support a tie-up with supermarket Morrisons, which plans to begin delivering groceries to customers’ homes by the end of this year.
Ocado recently struck a 25-year deal for the UK’s fourth-biggest supermarket to use its technology and operations, including delivering groceries from Dordon through a Morrisons-liveried fleet.
Ocado is also developing a new online pet store, Fetch.co.uk, and recently started testing the website.
The company’s active customers increased to 360,000 from 337,000 a year earlier, while average orders rose to 139,000 per week from 122,000.
- 1 Is this tearoom near Ipswich one of Suffolk’s best-kept secrets?
- 2 Plans for two drive-through takeaways in Suffolk town
- 3 New landlord hopes to make Suffolk pub 'centre' of village community
- 4 What time will the Red Arrows be flying over Suffolk this weekend?
- 5 WATCH: 'Unplayable' delivery from Suffolk bowler goes viral
- 6 The former Ipswich players looking for new clubs this summer
- 7 Woman in hospital with life-threatening injuries after serious A143 crash
- 8 New landlords take over award-winning pub and brewery in Suffolk village
- 9 Man caught in undercover police sting trying to meet '13-year-old girl'
- 10 Town boss McKenna adds ex-Manchester United player to coaching staff
Chief executive Tim Steiner said that while the grocery market remains tough the company was well placed to take advantage of structural changes in the industry as more customers choose online delivery for their grocery shopping.
The group now stocks more than 31,000 products, including some of its own label goods. Customers’ average basket size grew to £114.90 from £113.10 a year earlier.
Bradford-based Morrisons has lagged behind its major rivals because it lacks a meaningful presence in the two fastest growing sectors of the market - online and convenience stores.
Morrisons will make an initial payment of up to £170 million to Ocado to buy Dordon and associated handling equipment, as well as a licence and integration fee.
A further £46 million will be invested to expand Dordon to accommodate the Morrisons range, integrate with Morrisons systems and establish a network of delivery spokes.
On an annual basis, Morrisons will pay service costs and a contribution to research and distribution expenditure. Ocado also has a distribution site at Hatfield.
Mr Steiner said the tie-up leaves Ocado well placed to grow and is an “endorsement of our business model”.
However, the Morrisons deal has proved controversial because Ocado is already linked with Waitrose, exclusively delivering the supermarket’s products.
Ocado today insisted its rights and obligations to source products from Waitrose “remain unaffected” by the new deal.
Shareholders will vote on the Morrisons agreement at a meeting on July 18.
Shares in the group have more than quadrupled over the past year and Shore Capital analyst Clive Black said Ocado has just gone through its most successful reporting period as a quoted company.
He said: “Such a performance will have come as a welcome relief for what has been a long-standing saga of disappointment and let down.”
But he added: “This remains a business that continues to be valued on unsubstantiated potential rather than cash flows with high visibility.”


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Aggrecycle has invested more than £100,000 in new vehicles and branding as it relaunches from its urban quarry in Leicester.
The recycling firm has developed a new offering for small local operators as it aims to provide the full range of recycled, decorative and quarried aggregates for Leicestershire building trade.
Based at its urban recycling quarry in Syston St East, the company recycled more than 150,000 tonnes of material in 2020, as AR Aggregates.
Almost half of the relaunch funding has been spent on a tipper lorry for small deliveries up to four tonnes, with the rest spent on branding activity including new livery for Aggrecycle’s large lorries.
The latest investment comes
link source - The Business Desk SME's


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An investigation by telecoms regulator Ofcom found the firm – owner of the Orange and T-Mobile brands – did not provide certain customers with accurate or adequate information about their right to take complaints to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme.
The watchdog said that EE failed to write to a number of customers to tell them about their right to take their complaint to an ADR eight weeks after they first raised their concerns.
In addition, between July 2011 and February 2014, EE sent paper bills to Orange customers and written notifications to Orange, 4GEE and T-Mobile customers that did not reference that they can use its ADR scheme for free.
Claudio Pollack, Ofcom’s consumer and content group director, said: “It’s vital that customers can access all the information they need when they’re pursuing a complaint.
“Ofcom imposes strict rules on how providers must handle complaints and treats any breach of these rules very seriously. The fine imposed against EE takes account of the serious failings that occurred in the company’s complaints handling, and the extended period over which these took place.”


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Back in 2015 (I couldn’t find a more recent study with the same data), The Information released a study of the percentage of US tech IPO’s in a given year where the company going public was profitable at the time of the IPO. The graph shows that 11% of tech IPO’s in 2014 were from profitable companies. This is the lowest level in history, even lower than that in 2000 before the dotcom bubble burst.
Since this percentage is unlikely to have grown much in 2015 and 2016, The Information uses this figure as a potential signal that we’re facing a bubble similar to 2000.
Looking at the data as a tech investor in Turkey, I think there’s a much more interesting takeaway. Specifically, the percentage of tech companies in the US which were profitable at the time of IPO has averaged around 50% since 1980, and around 30% since 1995.
This data shows that even US public market investors who invest in large and mature tech companies don’t look for profitable income statements. We already know that early stage investors don’t, but the fact that public market investors don’t either is a very strong statement. The reason is because what matters is not a company’s current profit level, but that it has a path to profitability.
For example, a tech company that can acquire customers much more cheaply than the gross margin that it produces from serving these customers during their lifetime may be spending a lot on customer acquisition to take advantage of this positive unit economics dynamic. The result is that although the company is unprofitable for the time being, it has a clear path to profitability in the future.
Investors in Turkey often dismiss tech companies because their income statements show that they’re not profitable. This is the case not only for large and mature companies but even early stage companies that are growing very fast. This can be short sighted. There’s a difference between companies that are unprofitable without a path to profitability and those that are only unprofitable for the time being because they’re investing heavily in their future.
US public market investors show that even large tech companies that are unprofitable can be very attractive investments when you examine the reasons behind their unprofitability. If this is the case, the same must be true to an even greater extent for smaller and faster growing tech companies.
Also published on Medium.


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Four-star constellation lights up Emirates
Talk to any designer, and they’ll tell you the same thing; true innovation is one of the most challenging parts of the job. That’s particularly true of the automotive industry, where some of the fundamental principles of car design have remained untouched for decades. But playing it safe only gets you so far.
The era of EVs has allowed for some “out of the box thinking” in the world of car design. Maximilian Missoni, Head of Design at Polestar, says “The shift to electric vehicles, and the architecture they employ – we no longer have to package bulky engines, fuel tanks and complicated drivetrain components – allows us greater freedom to explore the proportions and form of our cars. And here at Polestar, without the legacy and history to be adhered to that you see from some other established brands, we have greater freedom than most to really do things differently.”And so our decision to launch five performance EVs by 2026 was born out of this desire to break free from these established conventions. By rolling out four new products in the next three years, we can create and innovate on our own terms. Technology, first introduced in our concept cars, is already featured in these recently launched production vehicles. When viewed side-by-side, our model line-up is a bold yet fluid homage to design evolution. And displayed together for the first time in Abu Dhabi last month, our ambition for the future of electric mobility was front and center for the world to see. Missoni continues “We are now launching a new car every year, establishing our brand identity at the same time. We have gone from a blank sheet of paper, to a cohesive and progressive line-up that spans price brackets and vehicle sectors in just a few short years. This is a unique opportunity, but not without a real sense of responsibility to create something iconic, intelligent and pure.”But it's about more than just establishing a unique visual identity. Form has no value without function. We take many of our design cues from the Scandinavian philosophy of minimalism. And as such, we simplified the way driver and passenger interact with a car - enhancing experiences by removing unnecessary barriers between user and vehicle. No more start buttons. No rear windows. And, of course, no more exhaust pipes. We've introduced the "SmartZone". Reengineered air purification systems. And redesigned the SUV concept. “Alongside this pure minimalism we want our designs to be iconic, with bold exterior and sophisticated interior design, taking big steps in sustainability in the materials we use while offering a unique digital experience that the current tech-savvy consumers demand,” reveals Missoni.And on a stage in Abu Dhabi in late May, that vision shined the brightest.Don't believe us? See for yourself.
Polestar and Bcomp: The making of our signature interior weave
The car industry is undergoing seismic shifts. Powertrains, autonomous driving, and infotainment systems are completely transforming our understanding of mobility. Not to be outdone, interior designers and fabric manufacturers are making their own innovations – racing to find materials that are sustainable while still retaining an exclusive feel. And in the middle of the Swiss Alps, we think we've found just that.
What's in my frunk: with Antti Autti
In the northern reaches of Finland, where the winter winds howl and the snow-covered landscapes stretch as far as the eye can see, we find a man who has carved his own path through the powdery slopes. Antti Autti, a professional snowboarder from Rovaniemi, Finland, has not only conquered the peaks but has become a passionate advocate for the sport, blending his love for snowboarding with a commitment to sustainability.


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In the past year, YouTube has faced an onslaught of issues around objectionable content and misinformation, including pedophiles “hiding in plain sight,” pervasive harassment, and accusations that it’s radicalizing viewers.
But in a keynote at the 10th annual VidCon—a conference for digital video creators and their fans—YouTube’s chief product officer Neal Mohan focused not on contrition but opportunity, announcing a handful of new ways for YouTube’s top stars to make money.
YouTube is rolling out new options for channel memberships (creators can now make multiple subscription tiers between $0.99 and $49.99 per month, where they could previously only have a single $4.99 membership), custom stickers that users can pay to make appear in video chats, and several new merchandising partners.
“We’re really focusing on rewarding the creators that are generating value,” Mohan told Forbes in an interview before the keynote. “It’s an ongoing process.”
The openness of the massive video platform, which reaches more than 2 billion viewers per month, is both the key to its success and its biggest struggle. YouTube exists on massive amounts of user generated video (500 hours are uploaded per minute), yet failing to coral that content—through its frequently refined policies and moderation efforts—are what earn it scathing headlines and sense of toxicity.
Mohan’s message on stage on Thursday was that giving top creators ways to increase their revenue would encourage more quality posts as the site continues to fight controversial content. It's a strategy YouTube has been following for several years (with mixed success and often sparking outrage), as it has raised the bar regarding which creators can earn advertising revenue and used "demonetization" as a punishment for bad behavior. YouTube's latest money-making tools will also require channels to pass certain eligibility requirements, like minimum subscriber counts, and creators can lose access based on a strike system.
There’s Something Fishy About ‘The Little Mermaid’ Audience Review Scores — Update — The Critics Must Be Crazy
While he declined to give hard figures, Mohan said that the number of YouTube creators earning between five and six figures a year grew more than 40% and Super Chats are the top YouTube revenue stream for nearly 20,000 channels (a 65% increase from last year).
Mohan also said that the amount of revenue made from non-advertising products like memberships, paid chats (called Super Chats), and merchandise has taken off. YouTube takes a cut of both the advertising and non-advertising revenue it pays creators so the boom in user spending is a boon for Google, too. (Despite investor entreaty, neither Google nor parent-company Alphabet have revealed YouTube’s revenue figures.)
Beyond the new monetization tools, Mohan also announced new “Learning Playlists” that will let a select group of YouTubers create topic-based video sequences and said that it's rolling out its donation button to more YouTubers.
YouTube’s not the only platform dangling new money-making tools to entice talent. Facebook just announced fresh ad products and direct payments and Snapchat launched an upcoming slate of star-studded shows.