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CI Games’ Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 has been officially announced and will release this Fall for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Not many details were provided on the game or its premise, save for the “Seek justice” line in a recent tweet. But there is a landing page where more details should be released soon.
The sequel doesn’t come as a huge revelation – CI Games confirmed its development back in March. At the time, president Marek Tyminski said it would have a new story in a new region along with “many other improvements”. There’s also a “large new feature” that will appeal to both newcomers and fans of the series.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts released last year for Xbox One, PS4 and PC and returned to the series’ roots of sniping missions in set levels. There will still different ways to tackle various missions along with several gadgets and bonus objectives to complete. Check out our review of the base game here for more information.


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Black Friday hangover? Retailers report drop in early December traffic
Data on shopping trends suggest that consumers are going to make retailers work a little bit harder - and discount a little bit more - to meet December sales targets.
So far this year, according to ShopperTrak:
â€¢ Foot traffic in U.S. stores fell 6.1 percent in November over November 2008. â€¢ Sales fell 0.1 percent in November. â€¢ Sales for the week ending Dec. 5 fell 0.3 percent over last year. â€¢ Weekly sales fell 18 percent during the week of Dec. 5, signaling what experts call a "Black Friday hangover."
What does this all mean?
“Our data suggests smart consumers held off visits to various retail locations early in the month, then very economically planned trips to specific stores later in the month during Black Friday weekend to take advantage of door buster sales and other holiday promotions,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, in a release on his website.
Martin also suggests that shoppers may soon feel reduced inventories in stores as momentum picks up as expected.
But with shoppers attuned to discounts - and researching their purchases to find the cheapest deals - it may take more discounts or special promotions to keep that momentum building toward Saturday, Dec. 19.
That's the day retailers call "Super Saturday" as shoppers make their last big push for holiday gifts.

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A Vancouver councillor is worried about crime and public health after a local business began online sales of psilocybin, or magic mushrooms, and wants the city to research its options for dealing with the illegal shop.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Coun. Melissa De Genova said she wants a report on any effect on public safety, including possible criminal activity, money laundering and harm from the promotion of “unsubstantiated health benefits of potentially harmful substances” arising from the sale of the hallucinogenic.
She said she’s concerned that the city will face big expenses in future trying later to control or shut down copycats.
“We can learn from our mistakes from the cannabis shops,” said De Genova, who said she’s still waiting to hear how much the city spent dealing with bylaw violations by dozens of shops illegally selling marijuana before and after the drug was legalized last October.
De Genova has drafted a motion calling for the study, which notes psilocybin is illegal under federal law.
De Genova said dispensaries, such as the recently opened Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary, which sells psilocybin online and plans to open a Vancouver storefront, can only get their product from illegal sources.
She said in light of the provincial report on money laundering concluding that “large quantities of illicit drug money also transit through Vancouver” and there is “involvement of homegrown outlaw biker gangs in the illegal drug trade,” a shop selling illegal drugs could contribute to criminal and gang activity and money laundering.
She also said Health Canada warns that illegal drugs aren’t tested and could contain dangerous substances.
And she said if one illegal drug shop opens and isn’t immediately shut down, it could be copied by others. Then the city will be on the hook for the expense of policing them and enforcing bylaws, as it was for illegal cannabis shops.
“All it takes is one shop to start the process,” she said. “We may end up in the same place as we were with cannabis dispensaries.”
The owner of the store didn’t return a request for comment by deadline. The website said it dispenses 25 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg “microdoses.” It makes claims of medical benefits at these doses and says it takes 1,000 to 3,000 mg to produce hallucinations.
Dr. Patricia Daly, the Vancouver Coastal Health chief medical health officer, said her agency is concerned about “unfounded health claims” by the mushroom outlet. “Referring to this as a ‘medicinal dispensary’ is completely inappropriate,” she said.
“The proprietor … acknowledges that promoting ‘medical use’ appears a useful tactic to drive legalization,” she said. “Our experience so far from legalization of cannabis is that dubious health claims can in fact be used as a marketing tool, potentially increasing the population’s demand for cannabis —- and this trend might extend to other substances.”
But she said use for hallucinogens, including mushrooms, is low, about 1.5 per cent of all Canadians, and “mushrooms overall have a lower set of harms than many other illegal drugs, and we would not make the case for increased general enforcement.”
The best way to address money laundering and criminal activity around drugs “is to legalize and regulate all drugs,” she said.
VPD spokesman Const. Steve Addison said police are aware of the business and are looking into it.
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ICMAD Beefs Up Lobbying To Deter 'Wrong Decision' In Congress
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Pam Busiek, head of the Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers and Distributors, discusses the trade group's ongoing work in Washington where multiple, differently sized bills for updating cosmetics regulations are under consideration. Notably, ICMAD's roster of advocates now includes former FDA Cosmetics Director John Bailey.
You may also be interested in...
California is the poster child for regulation in excess of federal requirements, but the biggest challenges it poses to cosmetics companies will be difficult – if not impossible – to resolve via “national uniformity” provisions in legislation before Congress.
At the trade group's annual meeting in Palm Beach, Fla., leadership emphasized the importance of pushing cosmetics reform legislation over the finish line before November midterm elections. PCPC's support of a bipartisan proposal released by the Senate Health Committee largely hinges on preemption, the group indicated.
Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers and Distributors membership is up 26% since 2012, reflecting the trade group’s education offerings for members, program benefits and advocacy, according to President and CEO Pamela Busiek.


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Staples said Thursday it will close 225 stores by the end of 2015 amid falling fourth-quarter revenue as sales increasingly shift online.
in morning trading, its stock is tanking, down nearly 16% to $11.27.
"With nearly half our sales generated online today, we're meeting the changing needs of business customers and taking aggressive action to reduce costs and improve efficiency," Staples CEO Ron Sargent said.
For the fourth quarter ended Feb. 1, total company sales fell 10.6% to $5.9 billion a year ago, the nation's No. 1 office supply chain said. Earnings were $212 million, or 33 cents per share, compared to $78 million, or 14 cents a share in a year-ago period that included substantial one-time charges. Wall Street analysts expected net income of 39 cents a share in the fourth quarter.
The store closings will affect nearly 15% of the company's 1,500 U.S. outlets and are part of a plan to save $500 million in costs by the end of next year.
Like other retailers, Staples last quarter was hurt by soft consumer demand for electronics and heavy discounting, says analyst Scott Tilghman of B. Riley & Co. Also, its business customers are disproportionately located in the Northeast, which was battered by cold and stormy weather.
Staples is snaring a healthy share of online sales, but must trim its base of stores accordingly, Tilghman says. The retailer also has been hobbled by technological shifts at the office and home that have sharply reduced the need for bread-and-butter Staples products such as paper, ink and toner.
The company is responding with an increased emphasis on technology products, as well as new product lines for businesses, including industrial and medical supplies. Staples today said it's adding eight new product categories and 1,600 items to its stores, representing 20% of its offerings. They include break-room supplies, gifts and cards for office parties and early education toys and learning aids.
"We think they're taking the right steps," Tilghman says. "It will take a little while before it shows up in the numbers."


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Kmart closure leaves void in Greater Lafayette
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Lafayette Kmart will shutter its doors by the end of the year, the Illinois company announced Friday.
"We can confirm that we are making the difficult, but necessary, decision to close the Kmart store at 3530 State Road 38 East in Lafayette," said Howard Riefs, director of corporate communications for Sears Holdings, which owns the chain of discount store.
"The store will close to the public in mid-December," he wrote in a news release. "It’s important for you to know that until then, the store will remain open for customers. The store will begin its liquidation sale on Sept. 22."
Customers greeted the news with various reactions, but no one seemed surprised.
"I thought it needed to close for a long time,” said Gail Peterson of Lafayette as she got into her car after shopping at the Kmart late Friday afternoon. “I hate to see a store close, but you go to Kmart now, and it’s like a ghost town.”
A few minutes later, John Marx and his family arrived from Burnettsville, between Logansport and Monticello, to shop at the store.
“When we come down (to Lafayette), a lot of times we come over here,” he said of his occasional visits to the store that anchors a mostly vacant strip mall.
“They got a Kmart in Kokomo, and that’s the closest one we got,” he said after receiving the news of the closing. “We’re going to miss it.”
The decision leaves Greater Lafayette without a Kmart. The West Lafayette store closed its doors in 2003, and the site at the southeast corner of Salisbury Street and Sagamore Parkway has since been redeveloped.
"We have been strategically and aggressively evaluating our store space and productivity, and are accelerating the closing of unprofitable stores as we have previously announced," Riefs wrote. "We often hear from our members who are disappointed when we close a store, but our Shop Your Way membership platform, websites and mobile apps allow us to maintain these valued relationships long after a store closes its doors."
Riefs declined to disclose how many people worked at the Lafayette store, but said most of them were part-time hourly employees.
"Those associates that are eligible will receive severance and have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Sears or Kmart stores," Riefs wrote in an email to the Journal & Courier.
J&C breaking news reporter Ron Wilkins can be reached at 765-420-5231; follow on Twitter @RonWilkins2.
For other Lafayette area news, check out these stories:
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HUNTERTOWN, Ind. (WANE) A Huntertown woman is accused of using a credit card from the company she works for to rack up more than $94,000 in charges for personal use between April 2016 and August 2017.
Kathryn E. Mitchell, 52, used the credit card from her employer in Noble County to make several online purchases that were delivered to her home according to Indiana State Police which began its investigation back in September. She also is accused of using the same credit card to pay for plastic surgery for herself.
Police arrested Mitchell Tuesday and she faces a single felony charge of theft.


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One Finance now has access to CRIF’s wide range of services through this partnership
CRIF, the global powerhouse in credit bureau provision, management, and operation, has partnered with One Finance, an integrated consumer financing platform. By partnering with CRIF, One Finance has access to CRIF’s wide range of credit bureau services, credit scoring models, data analytics tools, as well as global expertise in business intelligence and credit risk management.
In order to improve financial inclusion and empower individuals to plan and save in the face of rising prices, One Finance utilizes CRIF’s credit rating models and powerful data analytics tools, particularly the digital assessment models based on customer behavior and social data. As a result, the company is able to support consumer finance, which has seen significant growth in recent years.
One Finance has been able to utilize CRIF’s strong resources in nearly 50 countries around the world as part of this strategic partnership. Using One Finance, One Finance is able to assess creditworthiness accurately, streamline credit decision-making, and optimize financing strategies with maximum efficiency and accuracy, a revolutionary step forward in consumer finance.
Hazem Madani, One Finance’s deputy chairman, MD and CEO, declared that this partnership emphasizes the vision of both organizations to benefit their services as a major player in consumer finance in Egypt. The collaboration plans to provide a larger selection of consumer finance options for more people. Furthermore, it endeavours to secure and improve the financial health of various groups affected by decreased buying power, thereby pushing financial inclusion on an extensive level in Egypt. This alliance will further boost One Finance’s rank as a dependable consumer finance ally that can extend its customer base.
Together, the companies intend to foster the consumer finance ecosystem through this first-of-its-kind partnership. One Finance, one of the largest integrated consumer finance solutions providers known for its exceptional systems and tailored programs tailored to meet the specific needs of each individual and catering to a wide range of consumers, has partnered with CRIF, a global leader in credit information.
Egyptian customers have access to the highest credit limit available on the market with financing options ranging from a minimum of EGP 10k to a maximum of EGP 6 M. In addition, they can enjoy flexible payment and installment plans, diverse financing terms of up to 84 months, and diverse facilities.
The Italian company CRIF specializes in the management of credit information, credit ratings, data analysis, value-added services, and loan management. With more than 10,500 financial institutions and banks using the company’s services around the world, 600 insurance companies, 82,000 commercial customers, and 1,000,000 consumers using it on a daily basis across four continents, the company has a strong presence internationally.


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It seems to be a Beats Pill, right? That device looks like a Beats Pill.
It looks that a special edition Beats Pill+ speaker is featured in a new video on the brand’s YouTube page
According to the company’s website, Stüssy is a clothing brand that was “formed from the Southern California surf culture.”
When a brand emerged from the Southern California surf culture in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it raced acro


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With the release of VMware vSphere 4.1 this week, VMware hopes to lure the elusive and price-conscious small and midsize businesses that are still, in many cases, in the early stages of trying to figure out their virtualization strategies.
Among the laundry list of new features in VMware vSphere 4.1 are changes to VMware's licensing at the low end of its product line -- changes designed to appeal to the small-business market that has been complaining about high prices and missing features. While VMware has the lion's share of the enterprise virtualization market, the SMB market is splintered among VMware, Microsoft, Citrix, Parallels, and other Xen and KVM offerings. Microsoft Hyper-V and Citrix XenServer have been gaining a lot of attention in the small-business market because of their free and low-cost small-business offerings that include such customer feature favorites as live migration and high availability (HA).
[ Check out the InfoWorld Test Center's first look at VMware vSphere 4.1 | And find out more about breaking through the second phase of virtualization and getting beyond VM stall ]
With vSphere 4.1, VMware answers that challenge by making its vMotion live migration feature available for the first time in the VMware vSphere Essentials Plus and Standard editions. As a bonus, VMware has upgraded its vMotion technology to deliver a five-fold increase in migration speed while supporting up to eight simultaneous migrations between two physical servers.
In an effort to entice small-business customers, the company has been running a promotional price on its entry-level Essentials license, lowering the price from $995 to $495. Evidently it helped because VMware now says it is going to make the price cuts permanent. At a price of $495 for six CPUs, that brings the price down to $83 per processor -- a very affordable price for a small-business shop. The only problem is that this edition doesn't offer live migration or HA capabilities, both of which can be found in the free version of Microsoft Hyper-V R2.
But adding new features such as vMotion comes at a cost. The price of the VMware Essentials Plus bundle, which offers virtualization across three machines or six processors, has gone up 15 percent from $2,995 to $3,495. The Standard Edition, which was $795 per processor, has gone up 20 percent to $995 per processor. Will that make a difference to small businesses?
VMware also announced it was going to modify its pricing model to offer a more pay-as-you-go style of pricing for its VMware vCenter management solutions. Under the new pricing plan, VMware would charge on a per-virtual-machine basis rather than on a per-processor basis as it does today.


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With growing subscriber losses, digital pay TV provider Sling TV is changing its top senior executive.
Warren Schlichting, president of Sling TV, is being replaced by Michael Schwimmer, who has been leading Dish Network’s international business development and strategy since June 2019.
Schwimmer will have the title of group president of Sling TV, reporting to Erik Carlson, chief executive officer of Dish Network.
Sling TV -- the first major digital pay TV provider, which launched in February 2015 -- has increasingly seen
subscriber declines, like many other digital pay TV services.
In the first quarter of this year Sling TV witnessed accelerated net losses, amounting to 281,000. In the previous quarter, Sling posted its first decline -- a net loss of 94,000 accounts.
As of March 31, Sling subscribers were down 4.7% year-over-year to 2.3 million.
Last month, during its first-quarter earnings release, the company said: “The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the economic environment generally, and on us specifically, have adversely impacted our business.”
At that time Dish also pointed to increased competition from virtual pay TV providers, subscription on-demand services, and delays/cancellations of TV sporting events.
Sling TV’s sister pay TV service, Dish Network, had net subscriber losses of 132,000 versus 266,000, now totaling 9.01 million subscribers.


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LATELY, some New York restaurants have been offering a fish of unparalleled richness that, miraculously, is hardly fattening at all. It's called escolar, and it would be a dream come true except for one problem:
For a significant number of people, the flesh of this fish acts like a laxative.
So restaurateurs have found themselves in a predicament -- go with it anyway, even if a few customers suffer, or give up on a food that other customers crave.
''People call from out of town to see if we have it,'' said Jeremy Marshall, the chef and owner of Aquagrill, who likens escolar to foie gras.
''It has a great balance of flavor, and it's very delicate,'' said Henry Meer, who serves it at the Cub Room in SoHo. ''And I love the whiteness of it.''
This is the same fish that has been banned in Japan since 1977 because the Japanese Government believes it is toxic. In this country, enough people complained about escolar's purgative effect for the Food and Drug Administration to issue an import bulletin in the early 1990's that recommended not selling the fish, which is found in the Gulf of Mexico, the South Pacific and tropical waters around the world. Early last year, the alert was canceled because the agency, unlike the Japanese Government, decided escolar was not toxic.
The fish had virtually disappeared from markets and menus, but now it's back. And so are the complaints.Continue reading the main story
Escolar (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum) and its West Coast cousin, walu (Ruvettus pretiosus), have been available across the country since the 1980's. The two fish, members of the snake mackerel family, are sometimes called white tuna. They are a by-catch of long-line fishing for tuna, which means their availability is erratic. They were once considered practically worthless. Now they retail for about $10 a pound.
What gives these fish their desirable taste is actually a component similar to those used to produce Olestra, the fake fat found in some snack foods: a fatty substance called wax esters, in this case, gempylotoxins. Humans cannot digest these wax esters because they lack the enzymes necessary to break the large molecules into smaller, absorbable components.
Harold McGee, the author of ''On Food and Cooking'' (Scribner, 1984), described the process elegantly in a paper he delivered at the 1997 Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery: ''The wax esters therefore pass intact, their lubricating properties undiminished, from the small intestine into the colon, where a sufficient quantity will defeat our normal control over the ultimate disposition of food residues.''
Joseph R. Gurrera, owner of the Citarella markets on the Upper East and Upper West Sides, said he had heard no complaints. ''The fish flies out of here,'' he said.
Chefs who are serving escolar seem aware of the potential problem, in some cases thanks to information from their suppliers. ''It has been a controversial fish,'' said John McGuire, president of Gotham Seafood in Manhattan. ''The first time someone got diarrhea, we stopped selling the fish. We talked to the F.D.A. and found out it was nontoxic, not dangerous, and there was not much pain with the diarrhea, but we said we'd rather not sell it.''
Gotham Seafood still does, on request. But Mr. McGuire said last week that he might give it up completely. ''There have been enough cases of diarrhea so I don't think we'll be selling it,'' he added.
That will not make one of his customers, Mr. Meer, very happy. Although he serves escolar at the Cub Room, it is not on the menu at his newer restaurant, City Hall, in TriBeCa. ''It's extremely, extremely popular, but we've had a couple of calls from people who ate at City Hall and reacted to it,'' Mr. Meer said. ''They had hot flashes and sweated for about an hour. That's one of the reasons we took it off the menu.''
Mr. Meer, who has no problem consuming six or eight ounces of escolar, said he was very disappointed that he had to take it off the City Hall menu.
Don Pintabona, the chef of TriBeCa Grill, had a fling with escolar early on but also gave it up with great regret. ''It was hugely popular when we first opened in 1991,'' he said. ''We'd serve 60, 70, 80 portions a night, but I had one or two people who felt queasy and had headaches.'' Then, after Mr. Pintabona saw an article warning about adverse effects, it was goodbye escolar at TriBeCa Grill.
''With all the great fish out there, it seems silly to go with fish that may cause problems,'' he said.
''Wonderfully succulent,'' Charlie Trotter, the Chicago chef, raved in the cookbook ''Charlie Trotter's Seafood'' (Ten Speed Press, 1997). ''A spoon is all you really need.''
So far, there have not been any complaints at Aquagrill. ''It's so rich and decadent,'' Mr. Marshall said. ''We tell the customers that it is extremely high in natural oil and that it melts in your mouth.''
But will patrons construe such a description as a warning?
In 1990 the Hawaii Health Department warned people not to eat large quantities of it -- anything more than a six- or eight-ounce serving. (Mr. Trotter's recipe calls for three-ounce portions.)
But John Rowley, a seafood marketing specialist in Seattle, said: ''You can't predict who will be affected. I counseled restaurateurs I worked with not to serve it.''
On the other hand, there are those for whom discreet servings of these fish may be a blessing -- those who do not have enough fiber in their diets.
Mr. McGee said that the fish are used in folk medicine in the Canary Islands. The earliest written reference to them was in 1841, when escolar's purgative powers were already recognized.
Mr. McGee also noted that the fish is mentioned by Charles B. Nordhoff, the co-author of ''Mutiny on the Bounty,'' who fished for it and was moved to write: ''The celebrated effects of eating Ruvettus are somewhat exaggerated, but the fish is so good that one is likely to eat too much of it, when of course the purgative effects are bound to be felt.''
As if the purgative effects of escolar were not enough to make people wary, mishand ling presents another, far more serious problem.
Snake mackerel belong to a family of fish that can cause scombroid poisoning, the result of delayed refrigeration, which increases the histamine levels in the fish through bacterial decomposition.
The family includes tuna and mackerel, and scombroid poisoning, which causes diarrhea, vomiting and edema, cannot be cooked away.
Recently, there were cases of scombroid poisoning from escolar sold at Balthazar, said Michael LaHara, the downtown restaurant's general manager. One person went to the hospital.
Escolar is no longer on the menu.Continue reading the main story


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- October 18, 2019 / 6 min readFlipkart is entering into the food retail segment with its new entity called Flipkart FarmerMart. This move will help the platform to directly compete with its rival Amazon in this segment.
E-commerce platform, Flipkart is entering into the food retail segment with its new entity called Flipkart FarmerMart. This move will help the platform to directly compete with its rival Amazon in this segment. With an equity capital amount of Rs 1,845 crore, FarmerMart will be selling the produce locally.
“In line with the Government of India's FDI (foreign direct investment) policy, which allows 100 per cent FDI in food retail for food produced and manufactured in India, Flipkart is applying for the appropriate licenses from the government,” Kalyan Krishnamurthy, the company’s group chief executive officer, said.
“We’ve secured all internal approvals for the same already. We’re looking forward to invest more deeply in local agri ecosystem, supply chain and working with small farmers, farmer producers’ organisations (FPOs) and the food processing industry in India, helping multiply farmers’ incomes and bring affordable, quality food for millions of customers across the country,” Krishnamurthy said.
The Franchise India report had suggested that the online grocery market is expected to be worth Rs 2.7 billion by 2019. Walmart which already has cash and carry stores and connections with the farmers across the country will help Flipkart in running its new entity.
Search for top Restaurant Suppliers in your city


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New Delhi. Biryani among the food lovers in the country (Biryani) Doesn’t require any identification. Now online food delivery platform Swiggy (Swiggy) annual data of (Annual Data) I have come to know how much people like Biryani as a dish in the country. According to Swiggy data for the year 2021, Indians ordered 115 biryani almost every minute throughout the year, ie approximately 2 times every second.
On the other hand, samosas have also been very popular when it comes to snacks. According to the data, people ordered samosas almost equal to the population of New Zealand through the app. Talking about Biryani, it has been at number one in the charts for the 6th consecutive year. According to the cities, the figures show that Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Kolkata have the highest order of Chicken Biryani. This was the second favorite dish in Bangalore. At the same time, the second favorite dish in Pune was Dum Biryani.
Chicken Biryani is more ordered than Veg Biryani
At the same time, the number of people ordering veg biryani is also good. However, people ordered almost four times more chicken biryani than veg biryani. Biryani has not only been the most popular in general, but it has also been the fourth most popular dish on Swiggy’s meat store.
In the case of snacks, samosa number one, pav bhaji number two
In the case of snacks, samosa won. After that comes the number of Marathi Pav Bhaji. Let us tell you that in a recent data released by Google, it was revealed that Indian people have consumed the most enoki mushroom this year. (Enoki Mushrooms) Searched the dish. Indian people who are fond of food and drink, search dishes fiercely on Google and YouTube.
Tags: biryani, Swiggy
(This is an auto-generated article from syndicated news feed. TEAM BEPINKU.COM may not have modified or edited the article).


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Brick-and-mortar retailers are opening experiential concepts by working with other brands as they look to engage consumers with experiences instead of products. Macy’s, for instance, is collaborating with DICK’S Sporting Goods and landscaping brand Miracle-Gro for Outdoor STORY, which is said to offer customers an “outdoor-inspired playground.”
The concept has a presence in 36 Macy’s locations ranging from Union Square in San Francisco to Herald Square in New York City. Amid the offerings, the areas will feature a hydroponic unit from Miracle-Gro that is intended to grow foods such as lettuce and basil while purportedly blending into home décor. At the same time, Macy’s customers can buy various live plants “to highlight favorite spots in their home and living spaces.” The installation will also be an experiential teaser campaign for a new online brand called Greendigs that is said to debut in the fall following its STORY run.
The installation also reportedly marks a “first-of-its-kind partnership” for Macy’s and DICK’S Sporting Goods. The retailer will “come to life” within the spaces with a mix of hard goods and apparel from its private brands Field & Stream and Alpine Design. According to the announcement, the occasion marks “their first debut at another major retailer.” DICK’S Chairman and CEO Ed Stack said in the announcement that he sees the work between the retailer, Macy’s and Miracle-Gro “as a way to showcase how three very different American-made companies can come together to create a unique shopping experience for all customers.”
Macy’s Brand Experience Officer and STORY Founder Rachel Shechtman said in the announcement, “We want to show both consumers, as well as businesses, that collaboration is the new competition; bringing together brands as storytellers to add authority and authenticity to a subject matter, like we are doing with DICK’S and Miracle-Gro, benefits both the customer and the business.” Shechtman also noted that, with the retail industry constantly evolving, “The timing felt right to lean on each brand’s respective strengths to empower new modes of collaboration and learning.”
The move comes as Macy’s has revamped its inventory, gotten rid of stores that are underperforming and reduced floor space. It now is said to be betting on the ability of STORY to connect with shoppers who are looking for experiences instead of products — and many times need extra inducement to pull them away from eCommerce per Footwear News. With the help of experiential spaces and collaborations, then, Macy’s is bringing narrative brand experiences to life in the age of retail innovation.
In Other Brick-and-Mortar News
Kohl’s has announced that Amazon Returns is now available at over 1,100 Kohl’s of its locations across the country. “The nationwide rollout of the Amazon Returns program is our single biggest initiative of the year,” Michelle Gass, the retailer’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “Our top strategic priority is driving traffic, and this transformational program does just that. It drives customers into our stores, and we are expecting millions to benefit from this service.”
The two merchants experimented with the program in 100 stores in the Chicago, Los Angeles and Milwaukee markets before announcing in April plans to launch the service in all stores this summer — in time for the back-to-school shopping season. With the service, the retailer will take “eligible” Amazon items without a box or label. Kohl’s then packages the purchases before sending them to a return center of the eCommerce retailer.
And Microsoft plans to open its first European retail store as it looks to bolster its physical presence and compete with other firms that offer unique brick-and-mortar experiences for consumers. The 21,932-square-foot Oxford Circus location will be close to Apple’s flagship Regent Street store. Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela said, according to reports, “This is our very first foray into Europe, and we couldn’t be more pleased to be in London.”
The United Kingdom city is said to be the third flagship destination for the company, in addition to Sydney and New York City. The location will have meeting rooms, a customized McLaren sports car, an Xbox gaming room and a digital classroom. Microsoft U.K. CEO Cindy Rose said the store holds appeal for general consumers in addition to targeted clientele like businesses as well as gamers. The store is said to feature Surface computers as well as tablets from the tech company.
On another note, 7-Eleven Japan had to suspend the mobile payments feature on its 7Pay app because of a security flaw that impacted approximately around 900 people. The payments feature, which was rolled out on July 1, let consumers scan a barcode with the app and charge a linked debit or credit card. But the company received a complaint on July 2 when a customer noticed a charge that he or she didn’t make. It was then discovered that the app had a flaw that let hackers make $500,000 (or ¥ 55 million) worth of charges on roughly 900 accounts of customers.
To keep tabs on the latest retail trends, check next week’s Retail Pulse.


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At this point we know nearly everything about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note III
flagship smartphone phablet. Set to be formally announced up on stage Wednesday at the Samsung Unpacked event. Today though, we're still getting a flood of rumors, details, and even leaked
"about phone" screenshots. The latest, a confirmation by one Korean carrier of the device internals.


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Jolene de Vries wins Fitness Leadership Award
August 28, 2023, 10:34 am
Sierra D'Souza Butts, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
On Aug. 18, Jolene de Vries was awarded the Canadian Fitness Industry Leadership Award—the Fitness Industry Council of Canada’s (FIC) most prestigious award——in recognition for her contribution of preventing the proposed provincial sales tax for gyms and fitness centres.
de Vries also won the award for her efforts on showcasing why gyms should be recognized as essential services’, during the pandemic.
“During Covid, we were very vocal trying to get the government to say gyms are part of healthcare and open them back up,” said de Vries.
“Also, to reduce the restrictions that we had because we actually didn’t have our last restriction lifted until last June, for gyms.
“Then with that last gym restriction lifting, they wanted to add tax when gyms had been permanently closed and we were all trying to still recover.”
Every year the award is given to a FIC member who has, throughout the years, proven to be an industry leader while operating a fitness facility.
de Vries is the owner of the Anytime Fitness in Yorkton, Esterhazy, and the soon to be built location in Moosomin.
She spoke about the actions she took to help get the proposed PST on gyms removed.
“We got on the media, we talked to many of our local representatives in government,” said de Vries.
“We went to the legislature which helped us get more into the media. They went forward with the tax on the entertainment end, but did not on the fitness end.
“That was fantastic. It was a big win because the concern was if that tax went through in Saskatchewan, then it would end up going across the board, then usually other provinces follow. If they added it to us then Alberta might be next, then B.C., and so on.”
Once the Government of Saskatchewan announced that PST would not be added to fitness centres, de Vries was happy to know her contributions made the change possible.
“We were pretty ecstatic. It was a big win,” she said.
“People think ‘oh well it’s only six per cent,’ but when your industry has been decimated and we’re trying to recover, six per cent could be someone cancelling their membership because of the costs. Everyone was dealing with more costs, they still are with inflation going up.
“It could mean people not buying a membership to the gym, or maybe not doing personal training. Six per cent is significant in our businesses.”
Importance of gyms being an essential service
de Vries explained why she, and others who are a part of FIC, felt it was important to advocate for fitness centres being an essential service.
“We saw over the last couple of years that the government was leaving liquor stores open, they were leaving cannabis stores open, and in Saskatchewan we weren’t as affected as other provinces, but we completely closed (gyms) for three months, and then were severely restricted after that,” said de Vries.
“We help with people’s health, whether it’s mental health, whether it’s their physical health, problems with diabetes, blood pressure, we see bipolar disorder, all of those which is controlled by going to a gym and doing physical activity.
“When we were shut down, we saw mental health problems starting to pop up again, where people were very well controlled (before), we saw people who had very well controlled diabetes starting to have issues again, so we left the other services open because they felt they couldn’t handle the draw on the medical system if they had closed the liquor stores and closed the cannabis shops, but didn’t feel the same way about us (gyms).”
“That’s our next fight, is to get them to recognize we are a part of healthcare.”
Proud to be a leader in the fitness industry
Aside from being the Saskatchewan representative for the Fitness Industry Council of Canada, de Vries is also the owner of three Anytime Fitness locations in the province with her husband.
She spoke about what inspired her to join FIC.
“During Covid when we had the shutdown, I decided to sort of rally the gyms together to hopefully get our doors back open, and through that, we found out there was already a council in Canada, the Fitness Industry Council,” said de Vries.
“I ended up joining that as the Saskatchewan Lead. The nice thing about FIC is it’s one organization across the country, and we’re all moving in the same direction.
“We’ve been able to get our voice at the table now politically, federally, provincially, and we’re starting to make some headway now.”
She was asked how it feels to be the representative for Saskatchewan.
“It was tough during Covid, but it’s been worth it. We’re making some headway, and I do believe in the next couple of years we’ll be getting some more recognition on the healthcare front.”
de Vries spoke about some of the other goals FIC has planned for the future.
“I have another letter drafted to the government,” she said.
“There’s a couple things happening in Alberta and in B.C. that are pretty exciting, that FIC has been able to get the government to take the next steps forward on.
“We’re going to be approaching our provincial government on those same fronts, to potentially do some tests, whether it’s with a group of nurses or giving residents of Saskatchewan a wellness credit or tax credit. We’ll be pushing on that front.” Tweet


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Mobile search and advertising solutions provider JumpTap has announced the opening of a Stockholm office. The company has also appointed Rickard Ebersj as Director of Sales, Steve McVeyas Director of Ad Sales, Fredric Andersson as Sales Manager, Ati Serpoushan as Account Manager, and Rickard Nordberg as Senior Campaign Manager. JumpTap says the expansion comes in response to explosive market growth across Europe.
Advertisers in Sweden are benefitting from lower costs and higher rates of return from their mobile advertising campaigns, says Mike Kent, Vice President and General Manager of Europe for JumpTap. Increasing levels of consumer recall, interaction and receptivity reinforces the validity of the mobile marketing medium and is a key indication of future growth throughout the rest of the world.
JumpTap operates a mobile search and advertising network, and has a number of key operator partnerships across the globe. These include a partnership with TeliaSonera, which is deploying search and advertising solutions across seven different network operators in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Estonia and Lithuania; and Telefonica, Spain, for whom JumpTap manages on-portal search and display advertising.


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Guinea-Bissau’s Finance Minister João Fadiá recently said that the economic impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the country will be “very negative” because it has strongly affected the cashew nut marketing campaign.
“Trade has been operating within a very narrow geographic limit. Markets have been closed. Transportation and movement of people between regions have been suspended. International trade (import and export) was greatly reduced. In addition, the most serious reduction happened in the cashew nut sector, the country’s main export product,” João Fadiá said in an interview with Lusa.
Find out more details about the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on Guinea-Bissau’s economy and read the latest economic news in the world, with the Born2Invest mobile app.
IMF downgraded the Guinea Bissau’s GDP growth for 2020
“All this explains the downward revision of our GDP growth projections for 2020, but in fact nobody knows yet, with any accuracy, the effects that this situation will effectively have on the economy,” the Finance Minister said.
With economic growth forecasts of 4.5% of Gross Domestic Product for 2020, before the pandemic began, the International Monetary Fund now predicts a contraction of -1.9% for Guinea-Bissau.
In relation to the marketing of cashew nuts, the minister explained that in addition to the measures to halt the new coronavirus pandemic, delays at government level and a decrease in international demand also contributed to a weak campaign.
“The late announcement by the Government of the reference price to the producer, as well as the conditions of export (costs to be borne by exporters), meant that the price charged to the producer was very low in relation to the expectations created before the pandemic,” said João Fadiá.
The price of the kilogram of cashew nuts bought from the producer was $0.43 (250 cfa), about 0.38 euro cents compared to $0.87 (500 cfa), about 0.76 euro cents in 2019.
“The low demand on the international market for crude chestnuts (India and Vietnam) continues to constrain national operators to buy the chestnuts still available from producers,” said the minister.
That situation occurs throughout the sub-region, which still has important stocks to export.
“Finally, the arrival of the rainy season, makes it very difficult to evacuate the product to Bissau, in addition to contributing to its low quality, given the degree of humidity in this period,” he stressed.
More than 80% of the Guinean population depends directly or indirectly on the marketing campaign for cashew nuts, which also represents a contribution of 11% to state revenue and 90% of the country’s total exports.
“This situation has and will have a very negative impact on the economic life and people of Guinea-Bissau in 2020,” he said.
To revive the economy, the Guinean government recently presented an emergency development program, budgeted at around $300 million (€263 million), which needs assistance from international partners.
“We believe that this program is absolutely necessary to reverse the current negative trend of economic activity. But more than responding to the conjunctural effects of the COVID-19 health crisis, this program has a reformist stamp and intends to carry out a set of reforms in the economy, for a reorientation based on formalization and with a stronger business fabric, capable of contributing to increase our productivity and make our economy stronger and more competitive,” explained the minister.
DISCLAIMER: This article was written by a third party contributor and does not reflect the opinion of Born2Invest, its management, staff or its associates. Please review our disclaimer for more information.
This article may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “estimate,” “become,” “plan,” “will,” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks as well as uncertainties, including those discussed in the following cautionary statements and elsewhere in this article and on this site. Although the Company may believe that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, the actual results that the Company may achieve may differ materially from any forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of the management of the Company only as of the date hereof. Additionally, please make sure to read these important disclosures.
First published in Africa 21 Digital, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.
Although we made reasonable efforts to provide accurate translations, some parts may be incorrect. Born2Invest assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions or ambiguities in the translations provided on this website. Any person or entity relying on translated content does so at their own risk. Born2Invest is not responsible for losses caused by such reliance on the accuracy or reliability of translated information. If you wish to report an error or inaccuracy in the translation, we encourage you to contact us.
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Google Adds Podcasts - 100 Million New Potential Listeners
Podcasting has reached 57 million monthly listeners with one app tied behind its back. That starts to change with yesterday's announcement that Google is finally bringing podcasts to its Google Play Music service in the U.S. and Canada.
Up till now, podcasting has largely been an Apple thing with a native app on every phone. In fact, according to Libsyn, IOS listening has dominated Android by a ratio of 5 to 1. Android listeners had a far more difficult experience listening to podcasts via third-party apps.
The launch doesn't come as a surprise. Google opened a portal for podcasters last October and is developing contextual playlists. “Similar to our contextual playlists for music, you can now listen to podcasts based on what you’re doing, how you’re feeling or what you’re interested in,” the company writes in yesterday's announcement. If you are looking to run Google Play on IOS, you will have to wait, right now the roll out is only for Android.
Adding podcasts will most certainly help the company get more people to try Play Music, and for podcasting it opens up more than half of the smartphone market --- that's 100 million potential new podcast listeners. Let the plays begin.
Steven Goldstein, CEO, Amplifi Media


text: Bitcoin Cash 3 possibilites that can happen during the bitcoin cash hardfork Published 3 months ago on November 15, 2018 By Layla Harding Share Tweet As the bitcoin cash hardfork is coming closer, investors and traders are worried about which cryptocurrency would perform better in terms of investment: BCHABC or BCHSV? BCHSV performed quite good yesterday but fell down towards $170 just a few hours before the bitcoin cash hardfork. The BCHABC is currently trading above $290 while BCH trades around $436. Graig Wright’s new version BCHSV has just 182 nodes for running against 1103 nodes of BCHABC. Here are 5 possibilities to keep in mind while the bitcoin cash hardfork happens: 1. The death of BCH: BCH becoming a cryptocurrency with two different ledgers. Right now, there is nobody who is certain about which of the two new cryptocurrencies would survive. 2. One coin may surrender over the other: The ongoing hash wars may end if one of the blockchains surrenders over the other. There is no certainty as to which of the chains would produce the longer chain. Some Cryptocurrency Exchanges are accepting BCHABC while others are accepting BCHSV. A specific timeframe does not exist as to decide which of the chains would be longer than the other. 3. Both Versions Survive: There are possibilities that both of the new versions of the Bitcoin Cash can survive. The BCHSV believers seem to believe that BCHSV will pose as the original Bitcoin Cash. Also, BCHABC believers may not accept their defeat which could end up in creating a new cryptocurrency in which case, the owners of the original Bitcoin Cash would be entitled 2 new cryptocurrencies. Related Topics:BCH ABCBCH blockchainBCH forkBCH forkingbch hard forkBCH hardforkBCH SVBCHABCBCHSVBitcoin CashBitcoin Cash ABCBitcoin Cash AnalysisBitcoin Cash ForecastBITCOIN CASH FUTUREBitcoin Cash hard forkBitcoin Cash hardforkBITCOIN CASH PREDICTIONBitcoin Cash priceBitcoin Cash SVbitcoin cash tradingBlockchainhardfork Up Next Bitcoin Cash Price Analysis: BCH post fork downfall Don't Miss Cryptocurrency Market losers of the day: BCH, XLM, IOTA, ETC and ADA Continue Reading You may like German’s Giant Derivatives Exchange to launch BTC, ETH and XRP futures. STO: Thailand set to legalize Security Token Offerings Alert: CME Bitcoin Futures Experiencing Record Breaking Volumes Brief: How do smart contracts work? Ripple Price Analysis: XRP going to fall down? Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH to $160 or $130 today? 1 Comment 1 Comment Pingback: 3 possibilites that can happen during the bitcoin cash hardfork – The Coinage Times Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment Name * Email * Website #Bitcoin Is Bitcoin.com misleading people to buy BCH instead of Bitcoin? Published 3 weeks ago on February 2, 2019 By Janet F. Sanchez Let us start this article with the innovation of a cryptocurrency which shaken the world with its value. It was named as bitcoin. The value of this cryptocurrency reached an unexpected, nothing less than a miraculous height in the year 2017. In the same year, no of expected transactions for this digital currency started to be very high. However, bitcoin has very low scalability. While Visa is capable of doing around 24000 transactions in a second, bitcoin is capable of doing only 7! Soon, the bitcoin community started two argue for its scalability. It divided the community into two groups. While one group was admired that scalability should be increased, the other was focussed that bitcoin was not born for high scalability. This conflict in ideas gave the rise of BCH i.e. Bitcoin Cash in August 2017. So, basically, bitcoin.com diverged into two cryptocurrencies: BTC (Bitcoin) and BCH(BItcoin Cash). It should be noted that both bitcoin and bitcoin cash are completely two different cryptocurrencies. If you buy BCH and transact it in the misconception of BTC, you might lose all of your money. It is common doubt that both BTC and BCH are common but always keep in mind, this two although resembles same but is two completely different digital assets. In simple words, these two assets are as different as US Dollar and Euro! How bitcoin.com is misleading people? As stated above bitcoin and bitcoin cash are two different assets. They resemble and pronounce similarly, hence most of the people are in the misconception that both are same. Bitcoin.com is taking advantage of this confusion among the people. It is selling fake bitcoin. It is also misleading people to buy BCH instead of the original bitcoin. It is using various false and irrelevant information in media through various medium to appreciate bitcoin cash and attract people to buy it in assumption as they are the real bitcoin. But this is completely wrong. If a person is buying a BCH, he/she is definitely not buying the original bitcoin. Bitcoin is taking advantage of the similar names of the two crypto assets and misleading the consumers to buy BCH instead of the original bitcoin. The reason for this misleading information is quite simple. The value of BTC on February 2, 2019, is around $3434.40 whereas the value of BCH on the same date is around $ 117.99. Clearly, Bitcoin is having a higher value than the BCH. So, bitcoin.com is trying to sell as much as BCH it can. It will lead to more economic benefit for the company. This is the reason, it is misleading to buy BCH instead of BTC. Let us look at the misleading facts spread by bitoin.com using Roger Ver. Roger Ver making people fool to buy BCH: Before, how this person is making fool to inspire to buy BCH rather than BTC, we must know who he is. Roger Ver is a famous personality in the crypto space. He is one the early supporter of bitcoin. He aimed that it could be an economic lifeline currency. He is the owner of bitcoin.com and he was the leading face for gaining the support of people for buying bitcoin. He is also known as ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ due to his contribution to bitcoin during the initial innovation of bitcoin. But nowadays, he is promoting BCH (Bitcoin Cash) rather than BTC. He is misleading people to buy the BCH and making them fool by convincing them to trust on BCH more than BTC. No one has ever expected such a misleading contribution by the person, they treat as the Jesus of Bitcoin. Let us have a small fact supporting us. We will be concentrating with two of statements of Roger Ver “I bought thousands of BCC with my BTC so far, how about you?”. Date of statement: 10 August 2018 “I haven’t sold a single Bitcoin for Bitcoin Cash up until yesterday and I sold about a dozen Bitcoins for Bitcoin Cash”. Date of statement: 25 August 2018. Wait, did you get confused? You would have surely in disbelief after reading the above statements. I first statement given by Roger Ver on 10 August 2018, he said that he had bought 1000 of bitcoin cash with his bitcoin and asked to have others did so? In the next statement made by him on 15 days later, he refused that he hadn’t sold any of his BTC for BCH till 24 August and he had bought BCH only worthy on 12 BTC. Well, this is completely misleading. This is completely a false move done by the owner of bitcoin.com in perspective for the business’s own profit by misleading people. This is surely not expected from a person like Roger Ver In this article, we got to know how Roger Ver is misleading people to buy BCH rather than BTC for his own profit. We also get to know how bitcoin.om is selling false bitcoin. So, before buying bitcoin from the bitcoin.com, make sure that you are buying original bitcoin, not BCH i.e. Bitcoin Cash otherwise, you could lose all of your money. Be aware of Roger Ver and bitcin.com as for them, it is only the profit of business matters and for this, they could misguide their customers. Continue Reading #Bitcoin Cash $1.25 million offer by Roger Ver to Opennode for accepting BCH rejected Published 2 months ago on December 29, 2018 By Coinnounce - Coin Announcements According to the latest tweet by a software engineer working with Opennode, a company which claims to be the world’s first multi-layered bitcoin payment processor for businesses, Roger Ver had offered the company $1.24 million to switch their service to bitcoin cash but the company has openly rejected the offer calling bitcoin cash ‘inferior money’. No amount of money will make us service inferior money. https://t.co/unBoSX2zpZ — Rui Gomes (@ruigomeseu) December 30, 2018 Roger Ver is the founder of Bitcoin Cash and one of the earliest investor of bitcoin who is criticized by many cryptocurrency enthusiasts for misleading investors by glofifying bitcoin cash as the real bitcoin. Roger Ver also owns the bitcoin.com domain name. Opennode Tim Draper, a well-known venture capital investor had recently invested 1,25 million into OpenNode which is a blockchain development company building bitcoin platforms on the lightning network. Roger Ver had recently posted a video criticizing the lightning network and offered to match Tim Draper’s investment into Opennode if the company switches to BCH rather than bitcoin. Opennode had tweeted on their official Twitter page today thanking Roger Ver for his offer and openly rejecting it. According to Opennode, an open financial system is only possible with bitcoin: Thanks for the $1.25MM offer @rogerkver, but we’re going to have to turn it down. Our vision of a better, more open financial system is only possible with Bitcoin. #bitcoin4everydayhttps://t.co/4tbavwnXXb — OpenNode (@OpenNodeCo) December 30, 2018 Continue Reading #Bitcoin Bitmain fires entire team: Bitcoin crashes to $3720 in 1 hour Published 2 months ago on December 24, 2018 By Joyce Lang After a good week for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies which traders were calling a ‘Santa Rally’ has gone in vein with Bitcoin crashing to $3720 from over $4000 in just an hour after the news of Bitmain, the cryptocurrency mining giant firing all their employees came out. Right on the Christmas eve, the cryptocurrency market has crashed down with bitcoin falling down over 10% and bitcoin cash over 25% in just an hour of time. EOS is back over Bitcoin Cash again (according to market capitalization). Now all top cryptocurrencies are in the red zone. BTCUSD 24 hour chart Bitmain Firing: The rumor which flashed in the crypto space about Bitmain firing its Bitcoin Cash development team has contributed to the bear market trend. Samson Mow tweeted recently about Bitmain laying off their entire Copernicus Team with just a week of notice: Bitmain has quietly laid off their entire Copernicus team (#Bcash GO client). Only 1 week notice. Some had just joined the company. Layoffs just in time for Christmas. #BitmainIPO @HKEXGroup @SCMPNews pic.twitter.com/Kt2Ce90sBW — Samson Mow (@Excellion) December 23, 2018 Miners going broke Due to the recent market crash, Bitcoin miners all around the world have been facing massive amounts of losses as some of these are not even being able to cover up their expenses in the bearish trend and as such had to completely shut down their operations. Bitmain which is one of the largest ASIC manufacturing companies based in China had to fire all its employees who worked on the development of Bitcoin Cash. A youtube video by Digital Gold shows how terrified the miners are due to the current market situation: Continue Reading Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Latest Crypto News #Exchange5 hours ago German’s Giant Derivatives Exchange to launch BTC, ETH and XRP futures. #STO5 hours ago STO: Thailand set to legalize Security Token Offerings #Scam21 hours ago Bitconnect Scam: How to receive $2.5 Billion Refund from FBI? #Bakkt22 hours ago Bakkt: How will it affect Bitcoin Price? BTC to the moon? #Bitcoin23 hours ago Alert: CME Bitcoin Futures Experiencing Record Breaking Volumes #Ethereum1 day ago Guide: How to get started with Ethereum? #Blockchain1 day ago Brief: How do smart contracts work? #Ripple Price Analysis1 day ago Ripple Price Analysis: XRP going to fall down? #Ethereum Price Analysis1 day ago Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH to $160 or $130 today? Banking2 days ago Mizuho Financial Group: Giant Japanese Bank to launch its Stablecoin #Apple2 days ago Apple crashes down from #1 to #7: Most Innovative Companies Ranking #Blockchain2 days ago Be ready to login into Facebook using Blockchain Technology. #Bitcoin Price Analysis2 days ago Bitcoin Price Analysis: BTC to $4200? #Blockchain2 days ago What is a decentralized application? Top 3 decentralized applications. #Ripple Price Analysis2 days ago Ripple Price Analysis: Will XRP Rise or Fall? Trending #Bitcoin5 months ago Bitcoin BTC ETF 101, October 2018 #Bitcoin5 months ago Bitcoin ETF: Latest updates and all you need to know Adoption5 months ago SWIFT will use XRapid to process payments using XRP. Here is the proof #Blockchain7 months ago What is Aeternity Token and its future? Fully Explained. #Blockchain6 months ago What is Mithril coin? Trade MITH on Blockonix exchange. #Blockchain7 months ago What is Maker Token? Fully Explained. Is MKR overpriced? #Blockchain6 months ago What is DigixDAO coin? Trade DigixDAO on Blockonix Exchange. Altcoins8 months ago Can ripple reach $1000 by 2019?


text: WeChat has launched a new search feature within its app. The new feature, imaginatively named 'Search', allows users to search through all of WeChat's brand accounts, music pages, articles and more. However, speculation has been rife since before the announcement that the feature will be extended to include Tencent's Zhihu service, which would allow people to search outside the WeChat app. This extended service is now in the beta stage of testing. A spokesperson from the WeChat-focused marketing firm WalktheChat, has said that WeChat currently has more data than Baidu, and that if “WeChat users start to make search queries inside the app, the combination of social data, payment data, and search data, will kill Baidu”. Currently, the search market in China is dominated by Baidu, with companies such as Sogou and 360 Search taking the rest of the share, whilst Google is banned in the country. However, with this recent announcement from WeChat, which has 930 million users, that could be about to change.


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United States and European Union officials agreed Tuesday to ratchet up economic pressure on Russia as fighting escalated in Ukraine.


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*Kelly Rowland has hit back at claims that she is bleaching her skin and she attempted to dispel the chatter and speculation in a video, which some believe actually proves the singer’s skin is noticeably lighter.
Fans of the Destiny’s Child icon were left with more questions than answers after viewing a video she posted on Instagram Live on Wednesday in which Kelly responds to skin bleaching rumors by denying she’s bleaching.
As noted by SandraRose, Rowland “appears very light in the video clip. At one point she even blamed her bright skin tone on a ray of sunlight shining through the window of an Uber car she is riding in.”
OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: The Oprah Effect: Weight Watchers Changes Name to WW, Shifting Focus to Overall Health
“I never answer questions like this because I think it’s so stupid,” she said in the video. “I am not the one to bleach my skin, and nor do I want to bleach my skin, nor do I have to bleach my skin,” she laughed.
Continuing, Rowland added: “Have you ever thought that it could be the lighting, like this light — like this streak bleaching like crazy right here,” she said pointing at a ray of sunlight that washed out part of her face.
She concluded: “Im still chocolate, forever chocolate and proud to be chocolate. Shout out to my chocolate girls!”
But her fans were not convinced.
Watch the clip above … and tell us if you think Kelly Rowland is bleaching her skin.


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The government’s message on controlling coronavirus while leaving lockdown is fatally unclear, and only expert intervention can avoid a disastrous failure.
As consumers are forced to shop online rather than in-store, Dixons Carphone is innovating on its customer experience to “embrace” changing buying habits.
Brands that avoid generic messages about staying at home, togetherness or looking to the future with optimism are more likely to resonate with consumers during the pandemic.
The latest IPA Bellwether data finds the worsening pandemic and Brexit reality took a toll on marketing budgets during the fourth quarter, but optimism is growing that the sector will bounce back.
From the digital after-life to the growth of synthetic media, futurist Tracey Follows sets out the key trends that will shape the marketing industry over the next five years.
The School of Marketing is launching Mentoring Gen Z, which aims to connect young people with marketing leaders from brands including Boots and Direct Line in a bid to avert the “ticking timebomb” of youth unemployment.
Tom Fishburne is founder of Marketoon Studios. Follow his work at marketoonist.com or on Twitter @tomfishburne See more of the Marketoonist here


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The recently organised business forum between Nigeria and Indonesia was a wake up call for interested Nigerians who are looking for a business opportunity. The forum which was well attended and commendable had trade mission delegation from Indonesia consisting of seven companies that embraced the business forum which was organised by Indonesia Trade Promotion Centre, Lagos held at Eko Hotel, Lagos.
Before now, Indonesia with numerous quality products ranging from pharmaceutical, textile, agriculture, consumer goods etc. has remained in Nigeria creating jobs and business opportunities as well as contributing immensely to the growth and development of the Nigerian economy despite the challenging operational environment. To further boost already existing trade relationship with Nigeria, the visiting companies across different sectors in Indonesia were in the country for business negotiation, partnership and for economic benefits of both countries.
Speaking at the forum, Director, Indonesian Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC), of the Embassy, Republic of Indonesia in Lagos, Nino Wawan Setiawan, said, ITPC Lagos is committed to actively raise the quality and standard of investment in Nigeria and Africa regardless of the type of business, together we can work, build and achieve our goals.
Setiawan stressed that this is the time for a new generation of Indonesian investors and Nigeria business executives to step forward to make the Nigerian economy buoyant again, saying, it is time to ensure that enough jobs are created for Nigerian youths.
According to him, the trade mission from Indonesia has goals to further develop, improve and continue the bilateral trade relationship which existed long ago between our two countries, saying further that they are more than ready to do serious, prosperous business with Nigerian business persons.
In addition, Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Harry Purwanto, said during the forum that his country’s government supports business relationship with Nigeria and other African countries.


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The World Dairy Expo is coming to Madison, and set-up for the event is in full swing. The area sees a $50 million boost from the event, making the "Super Bowl" of the dairy industry a success for both dairy farmers and the state's economy.
Preparing for big cows, big bucks at World Dairy Expo
- The new line on your milk check — spore counts
- Cropp: October dairy situation and outlook
- 2014 Dairy Herd Management Innovation Awards announced
- Commentary: A beef with yogurt
- 24 robots will soon be operating under one roof in New Zealand
- Chobani's search for non-GMO fed herds could require 225,000 cows


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Oslo’s Sapa AS announced an award and a change to its management team yesterday.
Ford Motor Company chose Sapa’s Cressona plant in Pennsylvania to be one of the first plants in the aluminium extrusion industry to receive the firm’s Q1 award.
“This is an awesome achievement by our employees in Cressona and our Ford program team,” says business area president Charlie Straface who leads Sapa’s extrusion organization in North America.
According to the press release, the plant was notified in March that it had won the award. Q1 status is awarded by Ford to suppliers who display excellence in quality, service and on-time delivery. The award’s presentation is scheduled for July 20.
Sapa’s Cressonia plant has been supplying extruded aluminium to Ford for two years. It has worked with the company on producing the F-150, and it expects its volume to increase by one-third thanks to this model year’s Super Duty trucks. It also works with Ford in a research and development capacity, developing new products and alloys.
“I have no doubt that the work we have done with Ford has made us better as a whole, and that we will continue to improve as a supplier to Ford as well as to all our other customers,” explained Straface.
Sapa also announced that Katarina Nilsson and Rafael Fuertes had been named to the firm’s executive management team. Nilsson will succeed Lene Trollnes as Executive Vice President (EVP) Human Resources, and Fuertes will become EVP Strategy & Innovation, as Tolga Egrilmezer steps down. Both Nilsson and Fuertes will begin their respective duties on September 1.
“I am very pleased that Katarina and Rafael will take on these challenging and important positions in Sapa,” said President and CEO Egil Hogna. “There is an excellent fit between their capabilities and the needs of the company going forward.”


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Speaking at the digitised ICE North America conference in mid-May, Simon Holliday, Founder of H2 Gambling Capital, offered a nuanced projection for how the industry is likely to recover through 2020 and beyond.
Three months on since the first casinos began to lockdown, the coronavirus pandemic has become more consequential for the gambling sector than any event in living memory.
Speaking at the ICE North America conference mid-May, H2 Gambling Capital’s founder, Simon Holliday, said his 2020 forecast is only the second one to feature a downgrade in 25 years.
“We’ve been asked many times whether there are any precedents or benchmarks to look back at that have affected the industry like this,” Holliday explained. “The only similar events in my time in the sector were the outbreaks of SARS, Ebola and MERS – but between them they only had five percent of the deaths we’ve already seen from Covid19.”
Notwithstanding, the most consequential of these (the SARS outbreak of 2003) was isolated to a region which, at the time was only the eighth largest gaming market worldwide – and so had no “real material impact on the global industry.”
In stark contrast, after just 14 weeks since H2’s first downgrade in January, the forecast for 2020 is already 20.6 percent down on its pre-covid projections – with global GGY expected to be closer to that of nine years ago.
Moreover, much of this analysis is “underpinned” by the IMFs GDP forecast, Holliday conceded, “who we believe are quite bullish: they’re only forecasting global reduction in GDP of three percent this year, and a bounce back of 5.7 percent next year.”
“It could be better or it could be much worse,” Holliday warns. A lot hangs on the prospect of second waves, and for gambling and the wider leisure sector, the materialisation of safety regulations and consumer behaviour.
“Some people are referring to a rebooting of the economy, others have been talking about a return to normal or a new normal,” Holliday adds. ”If we look back 100 years to the global pandemic then, social distancing lasted a year, or 18 months in some places, after the outbreak finished.”
“I think when we reboot we will find we have a completely different operating system. Your software is not going to simply update. If you were using windows before, you’re going to reboot your computer and find you have a Mac.”
Initially H2 is projecting a short term surge in land-based gaming as restless consumers flock to social environments. “But don’t be fooled: this is pent up demand and probably still a minority of people. In the longer term, we think more people will be hesitant to go to public spaces.”
Travel restrictions may also lag, as will the recovery of the airline sector, both of which will asymmetrically affect those businesses further from their customers. Even if and when customers do arrive, the experience they were accustomed to pre-lockdown is likely to be tarnished by social distancing and other health requirements.
“Then there’s the economics,” says Holliday. “The positive side for the online industry is that for every recession we’ve looked at before, more consumer spend happens in the home.
“However there is less of that consumer spending to go round.”
While the online industry has been picking up some of the slack through lockdown, the long-term benefits will likely vary from region to region. “The industry has always been more successful in terms of positive regulation momentum during downturns,” Holliday considers. “The US is in offense mode. We expect to see an acceleration of sport betting, and additionally of igaming bolted on to that because states need taxes.”
In Europe, however , where the industry is “on a more defensive footing” – it needs to “return to the front foot.” “Even since the start of this covid outbreak, we’ve seen a number of regulations come into place to curb the online side of the industry. There is a danger that they could stay, and of continued regulatory creep. “In the meantime players could be driven underground. There’s a need to define the optimum market in the meantime, change the conversation, and put forward something that works for all: governments, players and operators.”


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Broadcom, a global innovation leader in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications, announced that Haier has chosen Broadcom’s Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded (WICED) platform to power its latest smart appliances. Featured at the 2014 CES, Haier’s latest “Smart Living” appliances provide simple and seamless connectivity with a broad selection of mobile devices, allowing consumers to manage and control home appliances from anywhere in the world.
The air conditioner, wine cooler, refrigerator, water heater and washing machine displayed at CES are part of Haier’s “Smart Living” solutions. With Smart Living appliances, users are able to retrieve information and remotely control their appliances either from home or on the go. The Haier “Smart Living” system includes home appliance controls, lighting and curtain controls, multimedia entertainment, security alarm monitoring and other features that together form a full wireless-controlled network home appliance system.
Selective Haier’s smart appliances are built on Broadcom’s WICED platform. The WICED platform provides original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with a simplified implementation of wireless connectivity, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, enabling an array of consumer devices for the rapidly expanding IoT market.


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German automaker Volkswagen (VW) will officially unveil the all-new Polo hatchback tomorrow. To whet appetites ahead of the official reveal, VW has put out a couple of teasers, showing the Polo’s front and rear. The new hatchback will dump the PQ25 platform to move into the MQB platform that VW now uses for almost all of its mass-market global cars. Meanwhile here are the teasers of the all-new 2018 Polo.
As the pictures show, the new Polo will get a completely revised exterior design. The headlamps will look much sharper than ever before and the tail lamps will go LED while retaining the classic lines of the outgoing Polo. The new car is expected to be curvier than before.
The car’s reportedly longer (by 81 mm) and wider (by 69 mm) than the current version. Wheelbase also goes up by a full 94 mm. This should address the issue of cramped interiors that plagued the outgoing version.The new Polo could sit lower though, by nearly 97 mm. Sporty, anyone?
Under the hood, turbo power will be at the forefront given the fact that emission norms around the world are tightening. Both petrol and diesel engines – turbocharged – will be offered on the new car. Expect the entry-level motors to be the 1 liter-3 cylinder TSI petrol and the 1.6 liter TDI diesel. These motors are likely to have multiple states of tune.
While VW could also offer the 1 liter non-turbo MPI petrol engine to keep costs low, that model’s likely to be called the ‘Captain Slow’ special. For those who seek performance, 1.6 liter and 2.0 TSI turbo petrols in powerful states of tune are expected to be offered, however at a later date. Yes, with the GT badge and all.
Manual and twin clutch automatic gearboxes are likely on both petrol and diesel engines. On the inside, expect both comfort and looks to go up by a few notches given the extra space the new car will bring in. A tech packed infotainment unit with Smartphone connectivity and boosted safety features are highly likely on the new car. Stay tuned for more after tomorrow’s unveil, and that includes this car’s Indian prospects!


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Remember CES? It feels like an age since Sprint went official with the Google flagship, but now it's finally -- almost -- here. Yep, anyone unhappy with the Verizon variant can now lay claim to the Now Network's version of the Galaxy Nexus, which is up for preorder now, priced at a smidgen under $200, and set to arrive next week. As an added incentive, Google Wallet dabblers will get $10 credit from the start, with an additional 40 bucks given after three weeks. Commence throwing that physical money at the screen once you've hit up the source below.
It boasts a Pure Google experience, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED™ contour display and dual cameras.


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Innotribe plots rise of new fintech hubs
A decade ago, cities fought to be financial hubs; today they fight to be financial technology (fintech) hubs. While London, New York and Silicon Valley claim strong status as fintech hubs, Sibos has proved that there are plenty of emergent centres snapping at their heels.
Innotribe’s Startup Challenge, which brings fintech companies to the attention of Swift members, has been considerably expanded since it was launched in 2011. This year delegates saw presentations from Challenge winners in Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Next year Innotribe will launch a Startup Challenge for Russia.
“Since 2011, a plethora of similar startup ‘competitions’ and fintech accelerators have launched, meaning the time was appropriate to evaluate ‘where to go next?’ with the Challenge in order to make it still relevant and impactful in today’s world,” said Fabian Vandenreyd, global head of securities markets, Innotribe and the Swift Institute. “After Sibos last year, we decided to develop the Challenge from a global competition to a local programme focused on supporting emerging fintech ecosystems where demographic trends, economic growth and integration initiatives are creating fertile ground for new technologies to emerge.”
For example, for the past two years, Innotribe has partnered with Swift’s Africa Regional Conference to tap into the high potential African start up market (see below). Africa has a healthy fintech landscape and at law firm Hogan Lovells’ Africa Forum in London earlier this year, delegates heard that fintech is not a new concept in the region. Suzanne Prosser, group general counsel at MicroEnsure, a developer of emerging markets insurance products, said: “Innovation is part of the DNA of Africa.” Mobile payments technology was embraced by African consumers well before it gained traction in more developed economies, for example. One of the most high-profile examples of fintech disruption in Africa is M-Pesa, a mobile money transfer service. Originally designed to address financial inclusion, at least 40 per cent of Kenya’s GDP now flows through the M-Pesa system, said Edward George, head of group research at pan-African bank Ecobank.
There are “endless start-ups” investigating the application of technology to address unbanked people in the region, said George. Companies that are using disruptive technologies such as blockchain are forging ahead in financial services in Africa and “unless banks get their heads around this” they could lose around one third of their business in the region during the next five years.
Next up on the Innotribe Startup Challenge starting blocks is Russia, which will gain its own Challenge next year. Vandenreyd said the reasons for this are twofold: “First, the Swift community in Russia has asked Innotribe to help foster collaboration between financial institutions and fintechs; second, we feel that the Russian fintech ecosystem has the right ingredients to become a strong global fintech player.” He believes the Russia Startup Challenge is also “a natural progression for the initiative” and goes back to the roots of why the challenge was first created – to build bridges between the fintech and financial services communities. “The challenge will enable Innotribe to connect the Swift community in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States with innovative fintechs, which will also be core to the economic development of the region.”
An array of exciting fintechs are emerging from the region, he said, including a significant number of payments, lending, personal financial management and blockchain-related startups. “By engaging with Russian fintech, Innotribe will gain a greater understanding of local innovation in Russia and share those insights with the wider Swift community,” he added.
Lev Khasis, chief operating officer and first deputy chief executive of Sberbank, told Daily News at Sibos that many Russian banks began innovative fintech developments in the early days of the internet era, unburdened by the significant legacy IT investments that Western financial institutions faced.
“There are quite a few banks in Russia that may be considered state of the art in technology and innovation. Sberbank probably was the only Russian bank facing legacy issues and a massive non-digital infrastructure. During the past eight years we have been catching up, aggressively investing in technology and building up digital banking,” he said.
An attitude of ‘mobile first’ was in the technology DNA of Russia since the beginning of the internet and mobile era, he said, and is one reason Russia is one of the most “internet addicted” countries in Europe.
Africa day at Innotribe
African startups “are leapfrogging” in terms of their progress and are not hampered because “they don’t have legacy systems”, said Denis Kruger, regional account manager Africa south at Swift.
The three Africa Startup challenge winners presented their solutions to the Innotribe audience.
For Cedric Atangana, chief executive of WeCashUp, a universal mobile money API, a personal experience drove him, after his father fell ill and a frantic search ensued for money for hospital fees, leading to questions about the current state of transferring cash.
Abraham Cambridge, founder of The Sun Exchange, wants to “close the finance gap for clean energy projects”, by offering lending for such projects in South Africa.
Ahmed Cassim, chief commercial officer at Hello Paisa said his money transfer solution is targeted at the migrant community in South Africa, where there is no formal or legal way to send money home “and so they used illegal means fraught with problems”.


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Glamping is alive and expanding at the Fernie RV Resort! The Resort is pleased to announce the addition of tiny homes for your glamping experience in Fernie. One ZeroSquared tiny home has been added and is available to rent, and several more will be coming this June. The tiny homes complement the five yurts that were added in Autumn of 2018.
The FRVR is again answering the call of campers who want outdoor adventure combined with a few home comforts. Luxury camping or ‘glamping’ in tiny homes or yurts is a great option to escape on vacation to recharge, unwind, decompress and focus on family, fun and good friends.
“Not everyone has all the necessary gear to camp, or the space in his or her vehicle for it. “That’s where our glamping comes in,” said Shelley Barrington, FRVR manager. “Our yurts offer comfy beds, nearby running water, dish wash station and toilet facilities, lights and heat, all while enabling the campfire-roasted marshmallows that make camping so enjoyable.”
ZeroSquared is a tiny home manufacturer of the highest standard based in Calgary, Alberta. Scott Wilson, ZeroSquared Design Director & Co-Founder, commented, “We created ZeroSquared as a solution to give you comfort, functionality and freedom. We are a group of designers and fabricators who are constantly thinking up the impossible—we wanted to create something that we would want to live in.”
The Resort’s current tiny home is an Aurora 26 featuring two RV like slides, engineered into a tiny home solution, creating the space for comfort and privacy. The tiny home can accommodate two couples or a family of four. The Aurora offers the comforts of home, this is glamping at its finest. Read more on the tiny home here.
The tiny home is available to book on our reservations page, come stay with us. For timely updates on our new products and specials follow us on Facebook, Instagram or sign up for our newsletter below.


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A total of 621 public-sector organisations in the US have been subjected to serious ransomware attacks so far this year, according to security firm Emisoft. The news comes as the group behind the GandCrab...
A patch for the bug affecting Echo and Kindle devices was released by Amazon earlier this year
Tuning into the BBC iPlayer or Netflix when you're overseas can be a challenge. The solution? A UK IP address
The worm moves in small bursts, but remains relatively inept overall
Government will instead focus on protecting children through wider 'online harms' regulation
Data on 26 million compromised credit cards 'rescued' following hack of black market website BriansClub
BriansClub is estimated to have earned around $126m in bitcoin between 2015 and August 2019 by selling data on 9.1 million debit and credit cards


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Viz Media Europe SAS (Société par Actions Simplifiées or simplified joint-stock company) announced on Thursday that it has changed its name to Crunchyroll SAS. The announcement noted that all of the former brands of Viz Media Europe SAS are in the process of rebranding under Crunchyroll.
The website for French newspaper Le Figaro is listing that the name changed as of January 27. The website is also listing that Mark Smith has replaced Kazuyoshi Takeuchi as company president.
Crunchyroll and Viz Media Europe closed the deal for Crunchyroll to become the majority owner of Viz Media Europe Group on December 4. The companies announced the agreement in September. Crunchyroll and Viz Media Europe Group appointed John Easum in the new role of Head of Crunchyroll EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa).
The Hitotsubashi Group — consisting of Shueisha, Inc., Shogakukan, Inc., Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd. — is retaining a minority stake in Viz Media Europe Group. Additionally, Shogakukan and Shueisha Group are retaining complete ownership of Viz Media Europe's publishing business through VME PLB SAS, a new company that Shogakukan and Shueisha Group created. The new company is licensing manga for the EMEA and Latin American regions, with Kazuyuki Masuda as managing director.
Viz Media Europe Group is comprised of Viz Media Europe Group, AV Visionen, Anime Versand, VIZ Media Switzerland, KAZÉ, KAZÉ Manga, Anime on Demand, and Anime Digital Network (in partnership with the Média-Participations subsidiary Citel and Eye See Movies).
Crunchyroll launched in 2007 as a streaming service offering anime titles without authorization, but in 2008 it secured US$4.05 million in its first-round funding from Venrock and began licensing titles for streaming. The Chernin Group acquired a majority stake in Crunchyroll in December 2013. The Chernin Group and AT&T formed the joint venture Otter Media in 2014, and Otter Media invested another US$22 million in Crunchyroll's parent company Ellation in November 2015. AT&T then announced in August 2018 that it has acquired all of Otter Media.
Thanks to Endymion for the news tip.


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*Apple Inc. is working on new versions of the iPhone that are aimed at slowing the advance of competing handsets based on Google Inc.’s Android software, according to people who have been briefed on the plans.
One version would be cheaper and smaller than the most recent iPhone, said a person who has seen a prototype and asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been made public. Apple also is developing technology that makes it easier to use the iPhone on multiple wireless networks, two people said.
“Instead of targeting 25 percent of the global mobile- phone market, Apple would be going after 100 percent,” said Charlie Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Co. in New York, who has a “buy” rating on Apple shares.
Read MORE at Bloomberg BusinessWeek.


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Xiaomi is all set to launch the 'Desh ka Smartphone' in India on November 30, a device the company started teasing earlier this week. We don't know much about the smartphone, with the company leaving very few hints for us to speculate too much upon. That being said, the Redmi India Twitter handle on Friday teased the smartphone would have a great battery life - pointing at either a large battery or optimised software in the form of MIUI 9. The other hint is the wording of the tagline, with 'Desh ka Smartphone' implying it will be an affordable offering.
India is certainly an important market for Xiaomi, with the company holding several 'global' launches in the country, or more specifically, unveiling products for the first time globally at events in the country. Examples of this include the Xiaomi Mi A1 and MIUI 9 Global Stable ROM. Xiaomi's Desh ka Smartphone may be one of these offerings, one that hasn't been unveiled anywhere else (read, China). Or, it may be an offering that has already been launched.
Speculation points to the Xiaomi Redmi 5A as the prime candidate for launch on November 30. The biggest factor in its favour is the fact that the Redmi India handle was used to tweet, revealing it would be a Redmi-branded device. The second biggest factor in its favour is its price - CNY 599 (roughly Rs. 5,800).
If Xiaomi manages to bring the smartphone to India at a lower price than it was made available at in China, the Xiaomi Redmi 5A may be significantly cheaper than the Xiaomi Redmi 4A, which is currently the cheapest smartphone offering from Xiaomi in India. Another factor pointing to the Redmi 5A as the smartphone to launch next week is its battery life - Xiaomi says it will offer a battery life up to 8 days, which is quite extraordinary. It also runs MIUI 9 out-of-the-box.
As for the Xiaomi Redmi 5A specifications, the dual-SIM smartphone features a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) display with a pixel density of 296ppi. Much like its predecessor, the new model is also powered by the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 SoC, clocked at 1.4GHz, and coupled with 2GB of RAM.
The Redmi 5A comes with 16GB inbuilt storage which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB). The dual-SIM smartphone packs a 3000mAh battery which seems to be a downgrade when compared to the 2016's Redmi 4A.
The handset sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with f/2.2 aperture, burst mode, panorama mode, HDR mode, and more. It comes with a 5-megapixel front camera with f/2.0 aperture lens. It supports 1080p and 720p video recording. Connectivity options on the Redmi 5A include 4G with VoLTE, 3G, GPRS/ EDGE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Micro-USB. It comes with a hybrid SIM slot.


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We are about halfway into the holiday shopping season, and it’s not clear if the retail breaches have affected how consumers are shopping this year.
Overall shopper traffic over the Thanksgiving holiday—Thursday to Sunday—dropped 5.2 percent compared to 2013, according to early numbers from the National Retail Federation released earlier this month. There were also a lot of provocative numbers being thrown around just a few weeks ago suggesting that shoppers were going to avoid some stores or use only cash. While we won’t know what the actual numbers look like until January when retailers and credit card brands release their figures, there are some hints that shoppers aren’t going to punish the retailers that much for the past year’s data breaches and security missteps.
First of all, consumers don’t appear to planning to change their shopping habits just because the retailer had experienced a data breach. A report from CreditCards.com released just before the shopping season kicked off found that 52 percent of major credit and debit cardholders either “probably” or “definitely” planned to shop at stores where personal data for shoppers had been exposed. This is in line with a separate study by consulting firm Deloitte which found that while 42 percent of consumers were concerned about their personal data when making in-store purchases, 56 percent still planned to shop at retailers who were breached.
Flipped the other way, only 45 percent were worried enough about the breaches to avoid the stores, and only 16 percent said they would definitely skip the stores, according to the CreditCards.com survey.
Does that mean consumers don’t care about the data breaches or the fact that their data may be exposed and sold on underground forums? Not necessarily. About 58 percent of consumers surveyed by KPMG in November said they were either unsure of—or lacked confidence in—the security of their personal data collected in-store. The number jumps to 63 percent for online shopping.
For some stores, it’s about the relationship. A contractor who has a business account with Home Depot is less likely to take his or her business elsewhere post-breach. If the small business relies on UPS to ship its packages, the fact that PoS malware was found in some of the shipping company’s retail locations this summer may not be enough of a reason to switch to a new shipper. And brand loyalty goes a long way, especially if it’s a specialty item the consumer is looking for.
About 27 percent of consumers surveyed by KPMG said they would only shop at a story that experienced a cyber-attack if they could not find the product elsewhere. Only 8 percent refused to shop at these stores at all, KPMG said.
Higher-income households were less likely to penalize the retailer, CreditCards.com found. Only 31 percent of households earning $75,000 or more annually said they planned to avoid breached stores, compared to 56 percent of those earning $30,000 and less.
Perhaps the numbers just mean that shoppers are going to use their credit and debit cards less this holiday season—if you use cash, there is no financial data to steal, right? But the numbers aren’t backing up that assumption, either. Only one-fifth of shoppers said they were “somewhat” or “very likely” going to let the breaches affect how they shop or pay for merchandise, according to the annual holiday spending survey by The National Retail Federation.
The fact that consumers appear to be de-sensitized to the wave of data breaches will be good news for retailers who have been hit recently. However, that doesn’t mean any organization—whether they’ve been breached recently or not—can be complacent. Just because consumers aren’t punishing retailers en masse doesn’t mean we don’t have to make changes and make things better, more secure. In fact, the last thing we want to hear in January is another retailer disclosing a data breach. There are only so many mistakes consumers would be willing to forgive before switching allegiances.
Click here to look at and download the infographic we’ve put together about consumer attitudes about shopping during the holiday season.