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"2022 China (Hainan) Sporting Goods & Equipment Import Expo" Showcases Global Sporting Excellence, Shares Benefits of Hainan Free Trade Port
HAIKOU, CHINA / PRESSHUNTER / March 26th, 2023 / The highly anticipated 2022 China (Hainan) Sporting Goods & Equipment Import Expo (CSEIE) opened grandly at the Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Center at 10:00 am on March 24, 2023. As China's first boutique and professional exhibition themed on sporting goods and equipment imports, the total exhibition area of this year's CSEIE is about 37,500 square meters, with four major exhibition areas. It has attracted brands from over 11 countries or regions to participate, covering China’s Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as major sports powers in Europe, America and Asia. CSEIE has become an important window for promoting the comprehensive development advantages of the world sports industry brand in Hainan Free Trade Port, utilizing Hainan's unique tax-free policies, sharing China's expanded opening up and development dividends and promoting international sports tourism industry chain cooperation.
The opening ceremony was attended by Li Yingchuan, Deputy Director-General and Member of the Party Group of the State General Administration of Sport, Wu Qi, Chairman of the China Youth Defense Sports Development Alliance and former Vice Chairman of the Chinese Olympic Committee, Yang Xuexing, Director-General of the Economic Department of the State General Administration of Sport, Li Huiwei, Director of the Hainan Provincial Department of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports, Zhang Chi, Director of the China Sports Lottery Center, Jiang Xinghua, Director of the Human Resources Development Center of the State General Administration of Sport, as well as officials of sports administrative departments from various provinces and cities of China, and Olympic champions. Xie Jing, Vice Governor of Hainan Provincial People's Government, announced the opening of this year's CSEIE.
Showcasing Hainan's Advantages for Free Trade Resources to the World
Promoting International Cooperation in the Sports Tourism Industry Chain
"The development of Hainan Free Trade Port is a major initiative for reform and opening up personally planned, deployed, and promoted by General Secretary Xi Jinping." Li Yingchuan, Vice Chairman and member of the Party Group of the General Administration of Sport of China, said in his speech at the opening ceremony, "The China (Hainan) Import Expo for Sports Products and Equipment is an important platform to support the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port, an important window for Hainan's international sports exchange and cooperation, and also an important way to promote the high-quality development of Hainan's sports industry. The General Administration of Sport of China actively supports the development of Hainan's sports industry, and several projects have been selected as National Sports Industry Bases, National Sports Tourism Demonstration Bases, and premium sports tourism routes during the National Day and Spring Festival holidays. In the next stage, the General Administration of Sport will continue to support the development of Hainan's sports industry and sports cause. We hope Hainan will actively play the unique role of sports in building a free trade port, fully utilize CSEIE for sports products and equipment as a platform, amplify the exhibition's radiation effect, deeply link domestic and foreign sports enterprises, continuously enhance the attractiveness and competitiveness of Hainan's sports industry, gather superior resources, and achieve win-win development, making new and greater contributions to accelerating the development of a sports power and helping to build a new development pattern with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulation promoting each other."
2023 is the starting year for the comprehensive implementation of the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and a crucial year for promoting the closed-loop operation of Hainan Free Trade Port. "CSEIE is in line with the important speech by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the Establishment of Hainan Province and the Guiding Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Supporting Hainan's Comprehensive Deepening of Reform and Opening-up, as well as the needs of Hainan to build a free trade port and create a national sports tourism demonstration zone," said Xie Jing, Vice Governor of Hainan Provincial People's Government, in his speech. This year's CSEIE will continue to build on and upgrade the important achievements of the first Expo, continue to focus on imports, and upgrade the Expo to cover multiple contents such as sports products, equipment, events, forums, and training, further expanding the brand influence and industry radiation of CSEIE, continuously deepening the cooperation of upstream and downstream resources, focusing on the development and strengthening of the sports headquarters economy's driving and radiation functions, continuously enhancing the international attraction and gathering effect of Hainan's sports industry, and building it into a platform for the world to connect with the sports tourism industry chain by utilizing Hainan's policy advantages as a free trade port, and a window for cultural, sports, and tourism exchanges between Hainan and countries around the world.
Xie Jing stated in his speech that CSEIE, accurately positioning itself as an innovative practice to connect the industry chain and achieve both domestic and international circulation, will further leverage Hainan's comprehensive resource advantages in the development of the free trade port, deeply link domestic and foreign sports industry cooperation, pave a good demonstration foundation, and let more domestic and foreign sports resources take Hainan as a "bridgehead" to tap into the high-level market in Hainan and then radiate to the whole country and even the Asia-Pacific region.
Xie Jing emphasized that CSEIE, as an important part of the Hainan Free Trade Port, will play a positive role in promoting the development of the sports industry and the development of the free trade port. The expo will focus on the integration of sports, culture, tourism, and health, as well as the innovation and development of sports technology and sports services. It will actively promote the transformation and upgrading of the sports industry and enhance the overall competitiveness of the Hainan Free Trade Port.
In addition, Xie Jing pointed out that CSEIE is not only a platform for displaying sports products and promoting sports culture, but also a platform for promoting international exchanges and cooperation. He expressed the hope that more international sports enterprises and organizations participate in the expo, deepen cooperation with Hainan in the sports industry, and jointly promote the high-quality development of the global sports industry.
Expanding International “Social Networks” and Promoting Multi-field Cooperation
CSEIE fully leverages the driving and radiating functions of the sports headquarters economy, innovatively creating an industry-focused platform through "one exhibition, one forum, with multiple events," attracting high-quality exhibitors from both domestic and international markets to settle in Hainan, and creating a window for international sports, culture, and tourism exchange, as well as a platform for the global sports industry to connect with the domestic market through the Hainan Free Trade Port. Meanwhile, in order to better play the bridge role of high-quality development of trade in the dual circulation of domestic and international markets, Hainan always focuses on "opening up," taking quick and decisive actions to demonstrate its more open attitude to the world, showcasing the unique attractiveness of Hainan Free Trade Port to global investors, strengthening exchanges with countries around the world, promoting the development of sports, cross-border e-commerce, and tourism industries, and enhancing the influence of Hainan Free Trade Port and international tourism consumption center.
The second CSEIE attracted brands from 11 countries, including Japan, Sweden, the United States, Germany, France, Austria, South Korea, Norway, Australia, Italy, and Finland. International imported brands accounted for about 60%, while Sino-foreign joint ventures and domestic brands accounted for about 40%. The exhibition covered China's Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions, as well as major sports countries in Europe, the Americas, and Asia.
It is reported that CSEIE Organizing Committee also held important events such as the Hainan Free Trade Port Sports Tourism Investment Promotion Conference and the China Sports Consumption and Empowerment Development Forum. The theme of this year's forum focused on "consumer-driven and technology-enabled," transforming CSEIE into an international, professional, high-quality, fashionable, interactive, traffic-attracting, and word-of-mouth-transmitting platform for import sports goods and equipment services trade exchanges, and becoming the best platform for the world to know and understand the Hainan Free Trade Port policies. Leaders and representatives from the General Administration of Sport of China, relevant provincial departments and bureaus, various sports associations, Chinese Olympic athletes, exhibitors, and other departments or units attended the relevant events.
Multidimensional Development of an Internationally Integrated Sports Industry Platform, Leading the Continuous Upgrade and New Breakthroughs of the Sports Industry
This year's CSEIE takes full advantage of Hainan's unique sports tourism resources and tax-free policy advantages in the Hainan Free Trade Port. It has created a new bridge for international sports industry institutions to enter the Chinese market through Hainan, and connected Chinese users, as well as created new opportunities for the strengthening of communication and cooperation in the domestic and foreign sports industry chains. This will provide strong support for Hainan to transition from a sports tourism resource-rich province to a sports+comprehensive industry-strong province.
This year's CSEIE was held in Hall 1, 2, and 3 of the Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Center (Phase II), with a total exhibition area of approximately 37,500 square meters. It has four major exhibition areas: sports-themed exhibition area, outdoor leisure sports-themed exhibition area, aviation sports-themed exhibition area, and sports bicycle-themed exhibition area. Among them, there are 13 main theme exhibition areas, including aviation sports exhibition area, all-terrain vehicle exhibition area, water sports equipment and equipment exhibition area, RV exhibition area, Hainan exhibition area, sports education exhibition area, sports tourism exhibition area, sports equipment and supplies, sports technology integration exhibition area, sports event exhibition area, off-road vehicle modification exhibition area, exquisite camping and outdoor supplies exhibition area, and water sports and equipment exhibition area. It brings together more than 300 global brands, covering fashionable and trendy sports fields such as aviation sports and water sports. In addition, there are also functional areas such as public fitness service area, sports consumption service area, interactive experience area, competition and activity area, and business docking area in the exhibition hall as a useful supplement, showcasing the latest and cutting-edge sports supplies, technologies, and operating experience, providing exhibitors and visitors with a better exhibition and viewing experience. In addition, the cities of Sanya, Danzhou, Wuzhishan, Wanning, as well as Baisha Li Autonomous County, and the Qiongzhong Women's Football Team from Hainan are also exhibiting.
CSEIE has developed into a key supported brand exhibition in our province, and an important platform for our province to move towards internationalization of the sports industry. During the exhibition, there will be many domestic and foreign sports brands exhibiting, covering fashionable and trendy sports fields such as aviation sports, water sports, and outdoor camping. In addition to sports equipment and equipment, sports event services, domestic and foreign sports tourism boutique, and "sports+" integration formats, three new sections have been added according to different exhibition themes: "Sports Aviation," "Water Sports Equipment," and "Land Sports Equipment."
The Land Sports Equipment section is a highlight of this year's exhibition. Here, visitors experience the latest high-tech camping products and service models from around the world in an immersive manner, and experience some foreign high-tech camping peripheral products in advance. The Sports Aviation section has a special general aviation exhibition area, which simulates the latest aviation camp scenes in China, allowing consumers to better experience the application of general aviation in the sports field. The Water Sports Equipment section comprehensively displays top-notch exhibition products such as kayaking, OP sailing, paddleboarding, rafting boats, speedboats, water floating boats (used for temporary docks), water bicycles, and water sports clothing and accessories. Visitors can experience various water sports projects on-site.
In order to improve the interactive display level of sports event products at this year's CSEIE and drive more viewers to immerse themselves in the sports experience, we plan to introduce advanced technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality. By leveraging these cutting-edge technologies, we hope to create a more immersive and engaging environment for attendees, allowing them to feel like they are part of the action. Additionally, we will be showcasing a wide range of sports products and services from top brands and organizations, providing attendees with an opportunity to learn about the latest trends in the industry and discover new products that can help them improve their own athletic performance.
CSEIE Organising Committee, Building A7, Bixiyuan, Heping Avenue, Meilan District, Haikou, Hainan, China


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Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), is currently recognized as the world’s wealthiest individual. Investors who put their money into AMZN stock a year ago have seen significant returns. However, this doesn’t necessarily promise a continued upward trend for Amazon’s shareholders. It’s vital for savvy investors to take into account Amazon’s valuation when making decisions.
Amazon’s newly introduced artificial intelligence chatbot isn’t without its flaws, and the company’s Prime subscription service may encounter serious competition soon. Despite these potential hurdles, Amazon’s stock remains a worthwhile investment, although it may not be wise to heavily invest at its current price.
As AMZN stock nears the $200 mark, momentum-focused traders may be excited, but those with a value-oriented investment approach should be cautious. It’s troubling that Amazon’s GAAP trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio is around 60x, considerably higher than the sector median P/E ratio of roughly 18x.
Indeed, Amazon is a powerhouse in e-commerce and its Prime service is widely used. However, the market is likely aware of this and has probably already factored in Amazon’s anticipated future earnings.
While Amazon’s Prime service is popular, it doesn’t have a monopoly. Amazon faces competition from other major retailers such as Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Target (NYSE:TGT). Target is preparing to launch a membership/loyalty program, Target Circle 360, on April 7. The Target Circle 360 program will offer unlimited free same-day delivery for orders $35 and up, along with free two-day shipping. This could potentially pose a significant challenge to Amazon’s Prime service.
Amazon has also launched a new AI-powered shopping-assistant chatbot named Rufus. However, reviews of Rufus suggest that it’s far from perfect. Some reviewers have found that Rufus can provide irrelevant or off-topic responses, while others noted that the chatbot struggled with nuance.
Just because Amazon excels in some areas, doesn’t mean the company can instantly dominate any field. Like any other company, Amazon can stumble. Rufus clearly still requires adjustments, and it might not turn out to be a major success for Amazon.
Despite these potential obstacles, Amazon continues to generate substantial revenue from its Prime service and e-commerce operations. Therefore, there’s still potential for Amazon’s stock to rally from its current price. However, the company’s high valuation presents a risk. The risk-to-reward scenario isn’t as favorable as it was when AMZN stock was cheaper. As a result, it might be wise to purchase a few Amazon shares, or for those who are particularly value-conscious, to refrain from buying altogether.
At the time of publication, the author did not hold any positions, directly or indirectly, in the securities mentioned in this article. The views expressed in this article are those of the author, subject to the publishing guidelines.
Let us know what you think, please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Samsung Electronics has sold more than 10 million units of its Galaxy S smartphone worldwide since its debut in June, the company said Monday.
Four million were sold in North America, 2.5 million in Europe and 2.2 million in Korea.
The figure is nearly twice the number of smartphones it sold in 2009.
The world’s second-largest handset maker said the Galaxy S’ popularity is growing at a fast pace. Its global sales hit 5 million in October and another 5 million were sold in the following three months.
“The Galaxy S resulted from the concentration of Samsung’s 22 years of technology,” Samsung said in a statement. “It provides localized and customized contents that are attached to customers’ lives.”
The Galaxy S is the eighth of its 10 million-selling mobile phone models, the firm added.
Sales of smartphones are brisk worldwide. The number of smartphone users is expected to rise to 500 million globally by 2013 from close to 300 million now, according to market researcher SA.
Korean smartphone users are forecast to reach 10 million by the end of the year, up from the current 6 million.
By Shin Hyon-hee (email@example.com)


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If its cars are anything to go by, this should be good.
The automotive industry has traditionally stuck to its lane, but major manufacturers are starting to expand into industries completely out of their area of expertise. We recently covered the news that Tesla is making its own beer (instead of getting the Cybertruck ready for production), and BMW is officially entering the music festival industry. As if 2021 hadn't thrown enough curve balls, Porsche has now made the announcement that it is going into the hotel business in collaboration with German hospitality brand Steigenberger. The plan is to have at least 15 Steigenberger Porsche Design Hotels in metropolises across the globe by 2027.
The hotels will be inspired by Porsche's already established Porsche Design lifestyle brand and promise to be a rather classy affair. According to Steigenberger, there is a ton of investor interest in the new venture, and the group plans on establishing 15 hotels in major metropolises such as Shanghai, London, Dubai, and Singapore.
"Steigenberger Porsche Design Hotels creates a brand which marries the design philosophy and values of the exclusive Porsche Design brand with the hospitality and service quality of a Steigenberger hotel. Our joint goal is to establish a new hotel product for a global target group which seeks uniqueness and which has the highest aspirations regarding quality," said Marcus Bernhardt, CEO of Steigenberger Hotels AG/Deutsche Hospitality.
Porsche's move into the hotel industry is a big one, but smaller manufacturers such as Rivian are also shaking things up with its lifestyle-based retail hubs. For many loyal customers, their choice of car is a direct reflection of their lifestyle and as such, car manufacturers are expected to trickle down their brand essence and vision into uncharted territories. All we know is that whatever Porsche touches usually turns to gold, just look at its first-ever EV, the Porsche Taycan, and these hotels are bound to be the epitome of class and sophistication.
"Steigenberger Porsche Design Hotels will boast an unusual and exceptional spatial and lighting concept. Innovative rooms and suites will feature a singular design and interior which captures the spirit of the environment. Travelers in search of extraordinary experiences will be able to find Steigenberger Porsche Design Hotels at some of the world's most breath-taking locations," said Dr. Jan Becker, CEO of Porsche Design Group. We'll have the honeymoon suite, thanks.


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The New York Times has a great article on the new autoanimatronic President Barack Obama being installed at the Hall of Presidents.
The latest edition of Disney's e-mail newsletter, the Disney Insider, has a feature story on the Walt Disney World water parks. This was undoubtedly done to coincide with the recent water park price increase.
All Ears Net is reporting, via their weekly newsletter, that flatbreads are no longer a part of the menu at the California Grill. Those flatbreads were beyond delicious and I will mourn their loss.
WDW Magic has the complete schedule of Star Wars Weekend activities for this weekend.
For those interested in purchasing Disney Parks merchandise from home, DisneyStore.com finally has a shopping page set up for the parks. Use it will.


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Expo 2020 Dubai: Region’s first vegan food festival to feature unique cuisine, organic spa
Visitors will certainly likewise have the ability to delight in an eco-marketplace loaded with lasting stalls, home entertainment, and also cook talks
Exposition 2020 Dubai will certainly be residence to the Center East’s very first vegan food celebration this January, providing flavours from all over the world with a game-changing cooking experience in organization with Veganuary and also Vegan Days.
Veganuary is a charitable organisation that motivates individuals worldwide to go vegan throughout January– and also past. Throughout the 2021 project, greater than 500,000 individuals took the promise to attempt a vegan diet regimen, with regarding 825 brand-new vegan items and also food selection choices released all over the world.
The food fest will certainly unite the best plant-based food the area needs to provide, providing site visitors the possibility to example nourishing vegan attacks with a side of songs, thanks to a varied line-up of DJs.
Visitors will certainly likewise have the ability to delight in an eco-marketplace loaded with lasting stalls, a vegan and also natural health facility, home entertainment, and also cook talks, making Exposition 2020’s Vegan Food Event an enjoyable and also interesting day out for loved ones alike.
International F&B brand names signing up with the Vegan Food Event consist of Chuck Chick– Vegan Burgers, which offers plant-based traditional cheeseburger, a southern-fried chick hamburger, traditional pets or packed french fries; Erpingham Residence, the UK plant-based dining establishment, Vegan Dough Carbon Monoxide, which gets on a goal to reveal the globe exactly how scrumptious vegan pizza can be, with its cutting-edge and also indulgent food made to aid individuals fall for plant-based food, Holy Carrot, a UK plant-based dining establishment offering Asian-inspired meals making use of all-natural active ingredients.
Mylk, a 100-per-cent vegan delicious chocolate and also gelato idea shop based in Doha, Veg would certainly by Matthew Kenney, Not Simply For Vegans, are various other electrical outlets.
Dining Establishments throughout the Exposition 2020 website will certainly likewise be taking part in Veganuary.
Site visitors can join at Veganuary.com and also will certainly get all the devices and also recommendations for a very easy, scrumptious vegan way of living. Dubai Vegan Days (DXBvegandays) are occasions made to bring the vegan area in the UAE with each other.
Browse Through the Vegan Food Event at Exposition 2020 Dubai every Friday, Saturday and also Sunday in between January 14 and also 30 from 1200 to 0200 GST. Access is totally free as component of an Exposition ticket, no reservation called for. The celebration happens at Event Yard, Wadi Method, Jubilee Park, near the Malaysia Structure.


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- 2 min read
Narrow-body long-haul will be the gamechanger for both airlines and tourism boards
The airlines used to offer a lot of discounted seats in the economy to fill an A-330 or A-350 flight with 350 seat capacity.
Gavin Eccles, Managing Partner of GE Consulting Advisory has said that the future of airlines in markets like India depends so much on how they are able to tap into the narrow-body-long-haul opportunities and how the tourism boards in the country able to support it with adequate promotional and marketing support in new tier II and III markets which these airline will be connecting to. Narrow-body-Long-haul will be the game changer for both the airlines as well as for tourism boards, he said. Eccles said this while speaking at an e-Conclave on Vision 2030 for Travel, Tourism & Hospitality by FICCI.
Eccles said that airline companies cannot afford to continue operating in the way they have been operating - offering discounted tickets and incurring high flying costs. The only way to sustain is to increase the yield. A number of airline companies are reviewing and changing their positioning, he said.
In that context, narrow-body- long-haul will be the game changer for airlines, he said. What is critical is how the airlines manage to fly and connect destinations in the 7 to 11 hour distance with a single aisle narrow body aircraft with far more efficiencies than what a wide body aircraft used to fly.
The airlines used to offer a lot of discounted seats in the economy to fill an A-330 or A-350 flight with 350 seat capacity. Therefore, the challenge before the operators are how they bring cost efficiencies with 180 to 200 seat capacity on offer, he said.
The A321, XLRs, and MAX 8/9 series allow non-stop Delhi- London, Delhi-Tokyo, etc. Instead of connecting the hubs of London, Paris, etc. the operators can look at Tier II and III airports to contain cost. This new connectivity beyond the key hubs will help tourism boards to tap into new markets altogether and align their destination marketing strategies to the evolving connectivity, he said.
The trend of narrow-body-long-haul has already started producing results for airlines in trans-atlantic routes. The new orders of leading Indian carriers which are expected to be delivered through 2025 and beyond hold a lot of promises for long haul opportunities using narrow body machines, he said.


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XTR is pleased to announce a new cell phone program made available exclusively to Dealers in the XTR network.
XTR is always coming up with new solutions to help its Dealer network save money.
Below are more details about the program.
"I’m really excited to work with XTR Energy. They invested money and time at my site. Their brand is clean and crisp. The signage looks great!"


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Technical Absorbents Chinese Agent, Zacky Lam, was one of a number of selected presenters at the 2014 China International Wound Care and Products Conference in July. His presentation topic was'Super Absorbent Fibre (SAF) and its use within the advanced wound care market.
Portuguese potato trader Oliveira improves quality and productivity with the TOMRA Sentinel II
Last June, Oliveira Pinho & Filhos, a family business located in the municipality of Mira (Portugal) dedicated to the trade of bagged potatoes and onions, purchased a Sentinel II optical food sorter from TOMRA. This machine is equipped with the latest pulsed LED technology for sorting food at a higher speed than earlier models. "Some farmers in France spoke very highly of the TOMRA machinery. Then, at the Fruit Attraction fruit and vegetable trade show in Madrid, I was able to meet some people from TOMRA...
Aviko Snowvalley Teams Up With Tomra Sorting Food For Its State-Of-The-Art French Fry Plant In China
SnowValley Agricultural Group and Aviko Group, invested by the joint venture between the two leading potato product brands, have decided to once again team up with their long-term processing partner TOMRA Sorting Food, for the development of a new state-of-the-art French fry processing facility. Both SnowValley and Aviko listed sustainability, quality and processing efficiency as an integral part of their business strategies, and echoing this vision, the 1.2bn RMB (€151m) joint venture aims to deliver the...
Canada 150: Hunger for tomatoes turns Canada into greenhouse superpower
It`s a burgeoning empire under glass. Canadian farmers now earn more from greenhouse vegetables than from eggs or potatoes. Vineland Research and Innovation Centre has spent $10 million to build a one-acre test greenhouse, which opened last year. “Growing local food in the soil is a limited opportunity for food sovereignty in Canada,” said Jim Brandle, Vineland’s chief executive. “Greenhouse food is safe. Plus, during the winter, you are not bringing things 2,000 miles to Canada’s...
New App available for the control of Phytophthora in potato
Wageningen University & Research and Agrifirm have cooperated in the development of a new Phytophthora advisory App which has recently been made available to growers on the Akkerweb platform. WUR supplied the new computation module and Agrifirm the interface for the new App. The development of the App was in part funded by PPS PL2.0 (Precision Farming 2.0). Following tests of the new App at more than 80 growers in 2016, the warning system was officially launched this year. Growers can use the new App to...
Don`t let weather affect your potato planting
Potato planting is well underway, however the weather continues to dominate the season, with some regions experiencing protracted planting as a result. Most recently, soil temperatures have dropped and periodic frost has meant that tubers are going into cooler soils, which can delay crop emergence. It’s important to remember actions now can have a knock-on effect with crop development as the season progresses. Good tuber quality Remember, only high quality tubers should be planted, and in particular...


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UPDATE: Nintendo's stock rose during the afternoon session on the Osaka Securities Exchange. It finished down 12 per cent to 12,290 yen.
ORIGINAL STORY: Nintendo stock plummeted 21 per cent yesterday following the Japanese company's shock quarterly loss – the first in its history.
Former president Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo's largest single shareholder, was reported to have lost a whopping half a billion dollars as a result.
Bloomberg said Yamauchi owned 14.17 million shares, or 10 per cent of Nintendo.
But don't feel too sorry for Yamauchi. He is Japan's sixth-richest man with an estimate fortune of $4.6 billion.
Nintendo, though, seems to be in a spot of bother. Yesterday it announced a 3DS price cut that will amount to about a third off the glasses-free 3D handheld in the UK.
Nintendo said it took the decision so it "will be able to create momentum for Nintendo 3DS and accelerate its market penetration toward the year-end sales season, when the line-up for the applicable software shall be enriched".
Nintendo sold fewer than one million 3DS units across the world between April and June this year.
Worldwide sales of the Nintendo 3DS were 0.71 million for the quarter. Nintendo shifted 4.53 million 3DS games.
For the first quarter of the 2012 financial year, Nintendo made a loss of 25.5 billion yen (£200m). The company blamed this on advertising the 3DS and research and development costs associated with the Wii U, due out next year.


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Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Karl Samuda (left) and Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) President Norman Grant (centre) examine a rabbit on display at the Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show in May Pen, Clarendon, on Saturday. Looking on (right) is JAS first Vice-President Donald Berry. Photo: JIS
Samuda stated that he is proud to have been chosen to lead this ministry as it combines both agriculture and business which he said confirms the government’s commitment to the notion that agriculture is “big business”.
He also addressed issues regarding to businesses which buy their goods abroad to resell in Jamaica and which make a profit but do not reinvest in the country.
“It is so easy if you have cash to simply go abroad and buy something that is attractive and bring it home and sell; you add no value to Jamaica if you sell it as you bought it and you make a hefty markup, and we are not sure in some instances what you do with that markup, that profit. Does it stay to develop the agriculture sector, does it stay to develop the production sector?” Samuda questioned.
He stated that instead it is the farmers who are left to cry out for help having to pay exorbitant fees, face challenges in regard to getting loans, and in many instances, do not get paid on time.
“Many times, you can’t get the money in time, like the Cocoa Industry where they sell their products and after five months they can’t get paid. That has to come to a stop. And I am saying tonight, come October the price of cocoa will be increased by $600 a box and next year October by another $400 a box, but better than that they must be paid right away,” Samuda stated.
He also said that no importer who “imports merely to put on a shelf”, to sell and make profit, who requires a permit from his ministry will get it automatically.
“They must demonstrate their commitment to being a partner with the agricultural sector or the manufacturing sector. They must invest in Jamaica if they intend to use Jamaica as a place to make their profits; it’s time to put Jamaica first regardless of who may get upset,” Samuda told the audience.
He added: “Jamaica comes first, I am tired of seeing especially farmers who for years have toiled in the sun and suffered without water and they end where they started. It is time that they get the benefits that accrue to them through hard work in their own country and I am going to do everything in my power to ensure that they get a fair deal”.


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A full-blown Apple search engine to compete with Alphabet subsidiary Google may be closer than you think, Mark Gurman writes for Bloomberg News.
Apple has the wherewithal to launch its own search engine, a replacement for Google… For years, Apple Inc. pondered building a search engine that could replace Google as the preferred option on its devices…
Right now, Apple gets a cut of Google’s search ad revenue, a commission that has brought in roughly $8 billion annually in recent years. But imagine if Apple could keep more of that money… Apple knows this. That’s one reason why it’s been tinkering with search technology for years… Google may be dominant in search, but the company still needs Apple and its billions of users.
If the US determines that Google has violated antitrust law, the company’s deal with Apple could be broken up…
Apple already designs its own chips, operates an App Store, sells music online, offers video and gaming services, and has an in-house maps app that competes with Google.
The only thing missing is a full-blown Apple search engine. And while one won’t be launched anytime soon, it may be closer than you think.
MacDailyNews Take: Not until Apple’s hand is forced. Tons of easy money from Alphabet looks to be too hard for Apple to pass up voluntarily.
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M&S warns EU proposals on Northern Ireland trade risk more friction and costs
LONDON, Nov. 17 (Reuters) – British retailer Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) on Wednesday warned the British government that proposals by the European Union to facilitate the transit of goods to Northern Ireland were likely to increase administrative burden rather than reducing it.
In a letter to UK Brexit Minister David Frost seen by Reuters, M&S (MKS.L) Chairman Archie Norman said the EU’s proposals “seemed reasonable, but could lead to increased friction and costs, as well as a high level of ambiguity and potential for dispute “.
Last month, the EU offered Britain a package that failed to deliver the overhaul demanded by London.
The EU executive said the measures could cut customs formalities in half and cut checks on meat, dairy and other food products from mainland Britain by 80% from mainland Britain. North Ireland.
In return for concessions, the EU wants proper live data sharing, tighter control of supply chains and labeling to ensure British products don’t slip into the EU’s single market through a backdoor in North Ireland.
Norman said the proposals could prove to be more costly to implement than full EU customs checks, as the relief offered by lighter tactile border checks was insufficient to offset the additional cost of labeling.
He said labeling the roughly 90 million products that M&S sells each year in Northern Ireland would cost the retailer 9 million pounds ($ 12.1 million) per year.
Norman also noted that under the proposals a veterinarian would have to oversee the certification of 95% of the volume of product sent from the UK to Northern Ireland.
“This adds costs and a minimum of 4 hours per day in the supply chain, which – along with other delays – means goods will take 1.8 days (45 hours) longer to arrive in store than before. the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union “, he added. he said, adding that the range of products available to consumers would be impacted.
Norman said the best solution was for Britain and the EU to agree on a time-limited equivalency agreement.
Frost said on Wednesday that Britain’s preference was to strike a deal to improve post-Brexit trade deals for Northern Ireland and the deal could be done by Christmas. Read more
Norman’s letter to Frost was first reported by the Financial Times.
($ 1 = 0.7412 pounds)
Reporting by James Davey in London and Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Stephen Coates
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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The updated Tucson is expected to be launched in India sometime next year.
Hyundai has revealed the Tucson facelift for the global markets. The SUV receives several cosmetic changes both on the inside and out. It is expected to be launched in India sometime next year.
The updated Tucson gets subtle changes to the front end. It carries forward the same V-shaped grille, albeit with minor tweaks. It still has the LED daytime running lights integrated into the grille. While the stacked headlamp units and bumper remain unchanged, Hyundai has updated the air dam ever so slightly. It also gets newly designed alloy wheels.
Hyundai has made substantial changes to the Tucson’s interior. The SUV gets a new dashboard with twin 12.3-inch displays for the infotainment system and the instrument cluster. There’s a new 3-spoke steering wheel with the gear lever positioned on the steering column.
Under the bonnet, the Tucson will carry forward the same set of engines. Currently, the SUV is offered with a 2.0-litre petrol engine that makes 154 BHP and 192 Nm and a 2.0-litre diesel that makes 183 BHP and 416 Nm. While the former comes with a 6-speed automatic, the diesel engine is paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is available on the top-spec Diesel AT variant.
The Tucson is equipped with a host of safety features including Level 2 ADAS, adaptive cruise control and a 360-degree camera. The SUV also gets dual-zone automatic climate control, a wireless charger, a panoramic sunroof, ambient lighting and an air purifier.
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Gartner on Monday released its latest forecast update for PC sales. The firm expects a total of 352.4 million computers to be shipped by the end of 2010, which would be a 14.3 percent increase from last year, but is also less than Gartner's previous forecast in September of 17.9 percent growth.
Accordingly, the firm also reduced its projections for PC shipments in 2011. Gartner now believes that worldwide PC shipments will reach 409 million units next year, a 15.9 percent increase from 2010. That's less than its earlier estimate of 18.1 percent growth.
Gartner believes devices like Apple's iPad are "disruptive" to sales of traditional PCs. Released in April, the iPad is already outselling the Mac.
"These results reflect marked reductions in expected near-term unit growth based on expectations of weaker consumer demand, due in no small part to growing user interest in media tablets such as the iPad," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. "Over the longer term, media tablets are expected to displace around 10 percent of PC units by 2014."
Gartner's analysts believe that more portable devices will eat away at sales of more traditional desktop and laptop computers in the future.
"PCs are still seen as necessities, but the PC industry's inability to significantly innovate and its overreliance on a business model predicated on driving volume through price declines are finally impacting the industry's ability to induce new replacement cycles," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner.
"As the PC market slows, vendors that differentiate themselves through services and technology innovation rather than unit volume and price will dictate the future. Even then, leading vendors will be challenged to keep PCs from losing the device 'limelight' to more innovative products that offer better dedicated compute capabilities."
The analysis is similar to comments made earlier this year by Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who said he believes that devices like the iPad are representative of a forthcoming post-PC era. He compared the growth of tablets to the migration of the U.S. automobile industry from trucks to cars.
Jobs said that trucks were originally a necessity because they were driven by farmers. But as cities grew and features like power steering and automatic transition were added to cars, they became the more popular option.
"PCs are going to be like trucks," Jobs said noting they will still be around, but they will represent a smaller number of sales.


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Demands for Walton brand freezers are increasing sharply among customers for the use of optimized level of insulation thickness. The standard insulation thickness in the local brand freezer is resulted in raising the product’s durability, cooling as well as energy saving efficiency.
According to engineers, a freezer’s important factors such as refrigeration or cooling efficiency, energy consumption and durability have been largely depended on its insulation thickness. If the thickness is up to the standard level, customers will get long-term services from that. Also, it takes less time for the refrigerator to cool down, resulting in lower electricity consumption. Moreover, the freezer stays cool for a long time even when there is no electricity.
Engineer Tofail Ahmed, operative director of Fridge Design Department of Walton, noted that insulation thickness level of a freezer in the context of Bangladesh should be at least 68 millimeter (mm) that is considered as the most effective level. If the thickness is below that level, the longevity of the freezer will be less as well as power consumption will be high.
Engineer Golam Murshed, chief executive officer of Walton Refrigerator, said that Walton as a Bangladeshi brand is strongly committed to manufacture and deliver energy efficient and highly durable products at reasonable prices.
Thus they are using minimum 68 mm insulation thickness in their produced freezers to ensure longevity and best performance, he said adding that as a result, Walton freezers take less time to cool even when the inside load is high.
Uses of copper condenser as well as higher co-efficiency performance (COP) compressors in Walton freezer are resulted in saving huge electricity and keeping the appliance active even when the voltage is low, Murshed noted.
Tapash Kumar Mazumder, head of Fridge Research and Development Department of Walton, informed that each and every Walton refrigerator and freezer is being released in the market after getting quality certificate from the international standard Nusdat-Universal Testing Lab. Walton brand products have received several standard certifications at national and international level, including BSTI’s ‘Five Star’ energy rating, ISO, OHSAS, EMC, CB, ROHS, SASO, ESMA, ECHA, G-Mark, E-Mark etc. Recently Walton refrigerator has been honoured with the ‘Best Brand Award-2019’ for the 6th-time. These ‘Made in Bangladesh’ refrigerators and freezers are being exported to different countries as well.
Shahiduzzaman Rana, additional director of Walton Fridge Department, said that Walton has been manufacturing and supplying 11 models of freezers with various capacities, ranging from 146 to 300 liters, between Tk 19,650 and Tk 30,900.
Now, customers are offered 200 percent cash vouchers or sure cash back on the purchase of Walton refrigerators and freezers under the local brand’s nationwide Digital Campaign Season-5.
Walton has more than 17K outlets across the country, from where the customers can buy about 150 models of frost and non-frost refrigerators, freezers and beverage coolers within the prices of Tk 10,000 to Tk 69,900.
Walton is offering one-year replacement guaranty and also 12 years guaranty on compressors to the fridge’s customers. There are 73 service points across the country for fastest and best after-sales service.


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PRESTON, England—Kommerling UK has named Lee Foulkes general manager for its operation in Preston.
In addition, the firm has promoted Andrew Carr as its technology manager for Cilbond products, and Phillip Lai has been appointed to Carr's previous role of regional sales manager, southern region.
Foulkes has been with Kommerling UK. for 15 years, most recently as sales director for Asia-Pacific, based in Hong Kong. He will be in charge of the firm's manufacturing operations in Preston.
Carr has worked in the field of polymer and synthetic rubbers both in Europe and North America. Kommerling said he spent time with Lanxess A.G.
Lai brings more than 25 years of technical and commercial experience in the adhesives, coatings and sealants sector. He previously served as sales manager for Allchem and prior to that worked with other leading players in the industry in the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
Based in Preston, Kommerling UK. produces rubber to metal, rubber to plastic, rubber to fabric and rubber to glass bonding agents for a number of automotive and industrial applications, selling its products in more than 50 countries.


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India’s Ministry of Finance has passed regulation mandating that all governmental ministries to make payments above INR25,000 (USD485) electronically, replacing cash and cheques with transfers direct to recipients’ bank accounts.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance told Electronic Payments International that: “Orders have been issued and all payments above INR25,000 to suppliers, contractors and individuals must be directly credited to their bank accounts”
Civil servants, though, are entitled to opt out of e-payments for salary payments. “Government employees can continue to receive their salaries by cash or cheques,” the spokesperson confirmed.
This option, however, only applies for wages, with all other payment above the INR25.000 threshold to be processed through the Government e-payment gateway (GePG).
By expanding electronic payments, the Ministry of Finance expects to bring about increased transparency and promote good governance in the public sector.
Following the Ministry of Finance’s lead, one local government body – the Municipal Corporation of Bhubaneswar – has also announced that all of its payments will be made online.
The nearly two million citizens of Bhubaneswar, capital of the Indian state of Orissa, will now be able to trace all payments made the municipality online.


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Heights High alum makes global impact
The global problem-solving skills of a Cleveland Heights native were featured on a nationally syndicated television show April 23.
Ruth DeGolia was featured on the “Tyra Banks Show” for starting the company "Mercado Global," a trail-blazing fair trade organization. Through her company she helps women artisans in Latin America by selling their handmade fashion products. The sales from Mercado Global provide income to the artisans, many of whom are widows.
DeGolia is most proud of the volume of income her company has been able to send back to Guatemala. “It is amazing what people can accomplish,” DeGolia said. Her organization has doubled its sales each year and provided scholarships to send 237 children to school.
DeGolia credits her experience growing up in Cleveland Heights and attending Heights High. “Growing up in a diverse community taught me how to respect and interact with a range of people. The skills I gained at Heights High help me successfully engage and partner with people ranging from fashion designers, highland artisans who can neither read nor write, corporate executives, and indigenous leaders. Our success at building such an innovative and powerful organization is based on our ability to develop this range of partnerships.”
In high school DeGolia was the editor-in-chief of the Black and Gold student newspaper. She says that her newspaper teacher, Tim Scasny, was her biggest influence at Heights High. “He gave me a reason to be challenged,” DeGolia said.
“When she came to an obstacle, she found a solution for it,” Scasny said, noting that DeGolia was very enthusiastic and cared a lot about people. “I was blessed to have her as a student.”
After graduating from Heights High in 2000, she went on to major in international studies at Yale University, where came up with the idea of Mercado Global. “We have found a way to harness the power of the markets to promote good around the world. We are all about women helping women, and looking good in the process!”
Phil Torres is a graduating senior at Cleveland Heights High School. He will study journalism at Bowling Green State University.


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The App Store is a platform for developers to sell their apps and is important for Apple because it is a key feature for customers when they buy one of its devices such as an iPhone or iPad. In 2016 the option became available to all 25 categories on the App Store, including game makers. Apple normally splits app revenue 70-30 with developers, keeping 30% of the purchase price for itself.
But the fact that the move was made the same day that a New York Times reporter contacted Apple about a potentially embarrassing story for the Cupertino, Calif., company - as well as the fact that other worldwide news apps were unaffected - has raised doubts about the precise motives behind the action. GreatFire also suggested that Apple's compliance was because of a Times exposé that was in the pipeline on Chinese subsidies to Foxconn, the company that runs the factory in China where Apple's iPhones are built.
Developers who sell their apps through Apple earned a record $20bn in 2016, up 40% on the previous year.
Users can subscribe to services from more than 20,000 apps.
At the same time the world's number two economy is Apple's second-biggest market, and a key part of its supply chain, where many of its products are manufactured. Leaderboard follows top stocks from their work on forming bases, through their breakouts, to their post-breakout action, up to the point where they start topping.
When it comes to specific apps, Pokémon Go was - not at all surprisingly - the most downloaded app of the year, while Super Mario Run was the most downloaded app on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
On Thursday, Apple said 2016 was a good year for App Store developers as the company paid out more than US$20 billion in sales royalties - a more than 40 per cent increase from the year before.
It was announced that December was the bestselling month of the App Store, not just in 2016, but since 2008 when the App Store was introduced.
Apple has removed the New York Times from its China app store, the tech giant said, after authorities told the company the app breached regulations. In the current year, UBS estimated 18% growth to $6.76 billion.
Apple insisted in a statement it had to remove the app.


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Poco X2 has started receiving the latest MIUI 12 update for users in India. To recall, MIUI 12 was announced in April this year that comes with features like new system animations, dynamic window technology and more. The update rollout was spotted by Poco X2 users in the country who shared the news on microblogging site Twitter. According to the screenshots shared by the users, the update is 813MB in size and brings software version V22.214.171.124.QGHINXM to the device. The changelog says that the update is stable. As always, it will be an OTA update and will have a gradual rollout. MIUI 12 brings new visual design to Poco X2 with magazine-level layouts to “bring important things into the spotlight and make content structure clear”. Poco X2: Specifications Poco X2 has a 6.67-inch Full HD+ display with 2400×1080 pixel resolution. The display has a refresh rate of 120Hz. The smartphone features a dual punch hole display where the selfie camera is placed. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G octa-core processor with LiquidCool technology and runs on Android 10 operating system. For imaging duties, the handset offers a quad camera setup at the back. The rear camera system comprises… Read full this story
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A latest device from the Taiwanese smartphone manufacture namely Asus Zenfone 3 Go leaked in renders and revealed its specifications. According to the leaked renders the upcoming device Asus Zenfone 3 Go will come with metallic chassis with a 2.5D glass on its front. It will sport a 5-inch display with a resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels, 2 GB of RAM and internal storage capacity of 16GB. It will be powered by Snapdragon 410 chipset and runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow.
The camera section of the device will include a rear camera of 13MP with 1.4 μm pixel size, single LED flash and a front-facing camera of 5MP with LED flash for better shooting selfies in low-light conditions. Fingerprint scanner will have no place in the device.
The leaked images also shows the absent of rear-mounted button and physical controls on the front.
The date of announcement of Zenfone 3 Go is still unconfirmed, but there is expectation that it will be announced at the MWC event, which will be held this month.It will be available at 150 euros ($162).
Recently, the smartphone manufacture already announced Asus ZenFone Go 4.5 LTE (ZB450KL) in India at the cost of Rs.6999.
The device Asus ZenFone Go 4.5 LTE (ZB450KL) sports a 4.5-inch FWVGA (480×854 pixels) display with a brightness of 380 nits and a blue-light filter. It comes with 1GB of LPDDR3 RAM, internal storage capacity of 8GB, which can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card slot. It has the dimension of 136.5×66.7×11.2mm and weighs 135g.
It is powered by a 64-bit 1GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 MSM8916 SoC chipset with Adreno 306 GPU and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with the Asus ZenUI 2.0 on top. It has dual-SIM functionality.
The camera section of the device ZenFone Go 4.5 LTE (ZB450KL) includes a rear camera of 8MP with LED flash, f/2.0 aperture, and ‘PixelMaster’ tech offering zero shutter lag, low-light mode, backlight HDR mode, and beautification modes. It also comes with front-facing camera of 2MP with PixelMaster technology.
Connectivity wise, it features 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.0, FM radio, GPS/ A-GPS, and Micro-USB and also has an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, digital compass, and a proximity sensor.
The company also offers a 100GB Google Drive cloud storage subscription for two years. The users can get the device ZenFone Go 4.5 LTE in a Glamour Red matte color finish, and Silver Blue, Gold, and Silver ‘metallic hairline’ finish.
Proceed with us for more information.


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Rockstar recently announced the "Last Team Standing" update for Grand Theft Auto 5. This update includes new guns, creator mode features, gear, vehicles, ten new jobs, and an event Playlist.
- New guns include an automatic gun called the Heavy Shotgun, and the mid ranged Marksman rifle.
- New Last Team Standing jobs that don't allow respawning are available in creator mode.
- A new playlist is available, giving players who complete it the "Please Stop Me" manhunt mask. players also receive 3 Sticky Bombs, 3 Grenade,s 3 Molotovs, 100 Sniper bullets, 200 Shotgun shells, 500 Rifle rounds, and Body Armor.
- Players will earn double RP for participating in Last Team Standing events, including the playlist. The crew RP bonus will also be increased up to 20%. These methods stack, meaning players can earn up to 140% more RP than normal.
- The betting cap has been increased to $10,000, and during this weekend in Last Team Standing events the first $7,000 of the bets will be placed automatically for free.
- New vehicles (two cars and two motorcycles) )include Canis Kalahari topless, Furore GT, LCC Innovation, and the Shitzu Hakuchou.
- Ten new Last Team Standing missions have been released, including Alta, Del Perro Freeway, and Grand Banks.
There is still no word from Rockstar regarding online heists since Rockstar announced that they would be delayed back in June. Grand Theft Auto 5 has already been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and it is scheduled to be released on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this November. The game's release on PC has been delayed until January of 2015.


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One of the features that Google introduced to Android and its Pixel series of smartphones is Digital Wellbeing. You could think of this as being counter to Apple’s Screen Time feature, where Digital Wellbeing will help users keep track of how long they’ve spent on apps and can let them set certain restrictions as well.Unfortunately,
Mobile gaming is a big thing and as such, it’s not surprising that more content creators could be focused on creating videos dedicated to mobile games. However, there is the question of how does one successfully capture audio from your mobile game? There are screen recording apps out there, but for the most part, they
This was the week that Google chose to hold its I/O Conference at which it detailed what's coming in Android Q this fall and announce the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL midrangers.
The Pixel 3a is starting at $399 or 399 and brings a 1080p OLED, the same 12.2MP camera with Night Sight
It's been a week of almost unprecedented calm in our trending chart with most of the phones staying exactly where we left them last week.
The Samsung Galaxy A50 leads from the yet-to-be-announced OnePlus 7 Pro and its Galaxy A70 bigger brother.
Redmi Note 7 still leads the Huawei P30 Pro in fourth and fifth,
Honor, a Huawei subsidiary, is teasing upcoming Honor 20 and Honor 20 Pro handsets, after launching the Honor 20 Lite earlier this month. Although they share the “Honor 20” name, they likely address different market segments and have very different performance characteristics.At least, that’s what every other Pro and Lite version of Honor/Huawei phones have
HTC has already confirmed that it’s going to release a second blockchain smartphone to follow the Exodus. The company has now revealed some additional information about this device. The Exodus 1s will be a cheaper version of its Exodus flagship blockchain smartphone which was launched last year. A spokesperson for the company told Engadget that
Many online services have launched “Lite” versions of their apps in order to cater to users in emerging markets. The majority of users in such markets don’t have high-end phones and access to mobile data comes at a premium as well. These apps are capable of running on low-end devices while being less data hungry.
People have been getting increasingly tired by the rising prices of flagships and the new Pixel 3a phones may be just what the doctor ordered. Despite a similar price point, these are not a continuation of the Nexus line in one very important way.
What Nexus phone was known for having a good camera? They
It’s usual for Instagram to test out new features before deciding whether or not they will be rolled out to the public. We often hear about some of these features as they’re being tested. It appears that Instagram is now testing a new feature for stickers in Instagram Stories. It will enable users to apply


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Oracle will buy Acme Packet, which makes equipment for telecommunications companies, for about $2.1 billion.
Acme's gear is used by more than 1,900 service providers and enterprises around the world. Its technology will complement Oracle's offerings for telecoms providers, said Citigroup analyst Walter Pritchard.
Oracle, a database software maker based in Redwood City, will pay $29.25 per share for Acme. That represents a 22 percent premium over the Bedford, Mass., company's Friday closing stock price. The companies valued the deal at $1.7 billion, net of Acme's cash.
Shares of Acme soared 24 percent, or $5.66, to close at $29.59 Monday. Shares of Oracle Corp. lost $1.08, or 3 percent, to close at $35.13.
Acme's board unanimously approved the acquisition, which is expected to close in the first half of 2013. The deal remains subject to Acme shareholder and regulatory approval.
Brian White at Topeka Capital Markets said that the deal might herald more acquisitions of communications gear makers by companies like IBM Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. Targets could include Juniper Networks Inc. and F5 Networks Inc., he said.
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A Kashmir gun smith's last stand
Storied Zaroo Firearms Manufacturer Nears The End Of The Line
SRINAGAR -- The small dark workshop packed with lathes and milling machines adjacent to the Zaroo family home is the center of a gun manufacturing business that has been supplying the Kashmir region with rifles since 1953.
For Farooq Ahmad Zaroo, who inherited the business from his father, Ghulam, each day brings a new challenge to keep the business alive -- today's problem is getting the electricity flowing again after it was cut off the night before. Crippling power cuts are a fact of life in Indian-controlled Kashmir's biggest city.
According to Farooq, things have never been the same since Indian authorities imposed a two-year ban on gun-making in 1989 at the height of a local insurgency against New Delhi. "This business has never recovered fully, in fact, it has been on a constant downslide," said Farooq.
India claims the restrictions are needed to prevent firearms from falling into the hands of insurgents, a ban Farooq believes is unnecessary given that the rifles he produces would be of no use to anyone interested in overthrowing anyone, let alone the well-armed state government.
The Himalayan region of Indian-controlled Kashmir has its own discrete identity in the world of gun making, a history that dates back to the Mughal Empire in the 1500s, and continued right through the British Raj until the present day.
In the early and middle decades of the 20th-century, Kashmir supplied thousands of intricately fashioned guns to the princes and elites of India, and in the years leading up to the Partition of India in 1947, local gun factories were buzzing with activity.
Noted for their stocks made of walnut, many with the leaves of Kashmir's famed Chinar trees carved on them, Kashmir-made rifles were highly prized before 1947, when Kashmir was an independent princely state, a golden era for local gun makers.
The first member of Zaroo's family to establish a gun factory in Kashmir was Faoorq's father, who came to the area from what is now Pakistan at the invitation of Maharaja Sir Hari Singh, the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, "for whom he made muzzleloader guns," said Farooq.
And the last member of the Zaroo family to earn a living making guns could be Farooq's son, Burhan Ahmad Zaroo, who joined the business after watching the number of workers dwindle from 50 to just two, today. "If I would not have helped my family in this business, it would have shut down before," said. Burhan "I won't let my kids do the same business if things continue to be like this."
In the past 10 years, declining demand for locally made rifles has reached a point where the market has completely collapsed. "The making and selling of guns is not easy in Kashmir," said Burhan. "It takes us a year or two to make and sell a single gun."
The rifles that come from the Zaroo Gun Factory take so long to fashion not just due to a shortage of workers, many of whom have opted for other trades. All new rifles must then be subjected to rigorous testing before they can be sold.
All the barrels, for instance, are sent to ordnance factories in other regions of India for inspection. After which they await government clearance. "The guns remain docked in the units for a year or longer before they finally meet the legal requirements allowing a sale and for our business to get any returns on it," said Burhan.
While it can be argued that such steps are essential for safety and security purposes, the fact is that "this process is time-consuming and costly, and the full scale of this responsibility lies with us," Burhan added. "This highlights the lack of any government intervention in aiding the revival of our business."
Like many Kashmiris who like to keep rifles more as a decoration than a weapon, Burhan too wanted one for his home. "But the only problem is that the Indian government has stopped issuing gun licenses and, as a result, no one can get their hands on a gun."
Other problems include corruption, with so many gun licenses issued illegally that at one point Indian authorities canceled all gun licenses issued between January 2017 and February 2018.
The third and fourth generations of the Zaroo family say they are just scraping by doing repairs. "The base has shrunk even further with an occasional licensed customer walking in just for the purpose of a repair on an old gun," said Burhan. It is a far cry from the 1940s, when more than 50 gun factories competed for business in the region.
Today, Kashmir has only two surviving gun factories, the Zaroo Gun Factory and Shubhana and Sons, whose owners are now looking to shut down and move on to another line of business. "Now the business is in the hands of God or it is up to the Indian government to revive it. If the government does not want to keep the industry going in Kashmir then they should give us any other industry," said Farooq.
Meanwhile, in Jammu, the Hindu-dominated southern part of the state, the gun-making business appears to be thriving, with around 30 gun factories and more than a hundred arms dealers benefitting from the decline of the factories in Kashmir.
As the last two Kashmir gun factories limp inexorably toward closure, bleeding skilled craftsmen to other industries, the Zaroo family blames government policies that discriminate against Muslims.
"The government is sidelining Kashmir due to the security scenario, which automatically benefits the factories in Jammu. We have no money and no support, there is only hope now," said Farooq.


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24K-Production / Getty Images
On May 22, 2010, crypto miner Laszlo Hanyecz traded 10,000 of his bitcoins for two Papa John’s pizzas. It was the first real-world cryptocurrency transaction in history.
Just a little over a decade later, those same 10,000 bitcoins would be worth $391.7 million at the March 10 price of the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin price over the years
The price of bitcoin over the years has gone from being worth less than a penny to being worth a new Lexus NX 250, all in less than 15 years.
Bitcoin prices in 2009-2015: the early years
When the mysterious person(s) Satoshi Nakamoto developed bitcoin in 2008, it did not have a standard value or price. Crypto Hobbyists Who Got Started bitcoin mining in 2009, after the blockchain was launched, they used it to barter, exchange and settle bets and challenges with each other online.
It never had a fixed value until that monumental day in 2010, when Laszlo Hanyecz offered his self-mined stash of bitcoins to anyone who could get a couple of pizzas home as fast as possible.
Since the pizzas were worth about $25, according to US News & World Report, the fledgling crypto community agreed that a single bitcoin should be worth a quarter of a cent. It was a watershed moment in bitcoin price history: the cryptocurrency now had an agreed-upon value.
In July 2010, a few months after the now famous pizza standard was established, bitcoin hit open exchanges like the now infamous and bankrupt Mt. Gox. On exchanges, cryptocurrency could easily be bought, sold and quoted against the US dollar. It opened with a starting price of $0.0008. It’s eight ten thousandths of a dollar. The wild ride of the next decade would begin almost immediately. By the end of the month, the price of bitcoin had shot up to $0.08, a whole eight cents.
February 2011 was a milestone for bitcoin, breaking the $1 mark that month. Then something happened for the first time that would come to define investing in bitcoin: a bubble formed. By June, just a few months later, bitcoin had shot up to around $31 before the bubble did what bubbles do. It exploded and the price fell back to single digits.
Another watershed moment came in 2013. Bitcoin started the year trading at around $12, according to Forbes. By the end of November, that number had jumped to $1,242, an incredible record for bitcoin, which was trading at almost exactly the same price as an ounce of gold at the time. Later, prices fell back into the low triple digits and stayed there, until they didn’t.
2016-2020: dotcom comparisons
In 2016, bitcoin moved into the high triple digits, and in early 2017, it broke $1,000 again.
In a streak that drew comparisons to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s, it took off and never stopped until it peaked on December 16, 2017, at $19,497.40. It was just another bubble. Prices soon collapsed below $10,000, bottoming out in the low $3,000s in late 2018 and early 2019.
In 2019, prices briefly topped $10,000 again before fading into a four-figure low break. Then came the 2020 pandemic. COVID-19 made discreet, secure, decentralized bitcoin a hot commodity that continued to heat up and hasn’t cooled down to 2019 levels since.
Bitcoin started 2020 at $7,200. By mid-summer, he was back in five figures, where he remains to this day. By mid-December, it had broken the 2017 record and was trading above $20,000 for the first time.
2021 and beyond
Bitcoin was trading at just over $32,000 when the markets closed on January 2, 2021.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on February 8, 2021, Tesla announced that it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin the previous month and hoped to begin accepting bitcoin as payment for its products in the near future. By the end of the day, the value of bitcoin had risen nearly 19% to $46,196. It hit $50,000 for the first time about a week later on February 16.
Bitcoin had already broken above $61,000 and dropped back to $54,738 when Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in a tweet on March 24, 2021, “You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin.” Within days, bitcoin prices began an uptrend, settling in the upper $50,000s.
Once again, the bubble was destined to burst. Citing the “rapid increase in the use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining and transactions,” Musk announced in a May tweet that Tesla had suspended bitcoin vehicle purchases. The currency took another hit that month when China cracked down on cryptocurrency mining and trading and announced that regulators would investigate cryptocurrencies and energy use, Reuters reported at the time. The one-two punch cost bitcoin 37% of its value that month.
Bitcoin entered another bubble phase last year, reaching its highest price of $68,789.63 on November 10, 2021, and ended the year up almost 70% since the beginning of the year, CNBC reported. Once again, the rally was short-lived.
Bitcoin had crashed back into the $30,000 to $40,000 range at the end of January, and that is where it currently stands. Some analysts think it has more to go. Carol Alexander, a finance professor at the University of Sussex, told CNBC that she expects Bitcoin to drop below $10,000. The volatility stems from what she sees as bitcoin’s lack of intrinsic value, Alexander said.
But not everyone agrees. In an October 2021 interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Jurrien Timmer, director of global macro at Fidelity Investments, said that while he knows better than to make bold price predictions, his supply and demand models indicate that stock prices bitcoin could hit $100,000 in the next couple of years.
Good to know
Bitcoin has a maximum supply of 21 million coins. Nearly 19 million are currently in circulation, leaving just over two million to be mined.
An analysis of the price of Bitcoin over the years
Bitcoin’s price history is a history of extremes. The first extreme is obvious: astronomical growth. In gains that are truly hard to grasp, bitcoin started at $0.0008 and rose to nearly $70,000 in just over a decade.
The second extreme came in the form of volatility. The decade was dotted with massive bubbles that, when burst, triggered free-falling prices that then floated sideways for years until the next bubble formed. That pattern began in 2011 and has been repeated every few years.
What has influenced Bitcoin prices?
Those speculative bubbles seem to have formed in times of crisis, fear and uncertainty. Bitcoin was developed in 2008 as an alternative to the traditional financial system at the height of the Great Recession.
One bubble formed around the election of Donald Trump, another around his impeachment, and the biggest of all came during the biggest crisis of all: the pandemic. Whether the Russian invasion of Ukraine will have a similar effect remains to be seen.
The drama in the early years of bitcoin also made the ride that much bumpier. Ponzi schemes and other frauds that had nothing to do with bitcoin, such as BitConnect and OneCoin, had a ripple effect that was felt by all cryptocurrency investors.
The Mt. Gox disaster changed everything
The first, largest and best known exchange, Mt. Gox processed 70% of all bitcoin transactions. In 2011, the first in an endless series of scandals erupted when a hacker broke into the now-infamous bitcoin wallet and transferred tokens from user accounts.
The bitcoin price crashed as new thefts and hacks were revealed. Legal issues mounted, the government got involved, and Mt. Gox finally filed for bankruptcy in 2014.
In total, 740,000 bitcoins worth nearly $29 million in today’s money were lost. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general lost their credibility from the mainstream and gained a reputation as a shady, insecure and speculative investment in many circles.
The Law of Supply and Demand
Some cryptocurrencies have no limit on the number of coins that can be created, and others have such high limits that they are meaningless in terms of scarcity. Not so with bitcoin. The relatively low supply limit and declining amount of new coins remaining to be mined, coupled with institutional support that has helped solidify bitcoin’s position as the gold standard of cryptocurrencies, have kept demand strong relative to demand. offer.
FAQ: The History of Bitcoin Prices
When it comes to the cost of cryptocurrencies, these are the questions many investors are asking.
- What was the original price of bitcoin?
- Zero dollars. In the early days, bitcoin was informally mined, traded, and exchanged almost exclusively by crypto hobbyists. There were no exchanges or exchange fees until it began trading for fractions of a penny in 2010.
- What was the highest price of a bitcoin?
- On November 10, 2021, BTC reached an all-time high of $68,789.63.
- When did bitcoin cost $1?
- Bitcoin first achieved parity with the US dollar in February 2011.
- How much will bitcoin be worth in 2030?
- Bitcoin, like all cryptocurrencies, is highly speculative. It is impossible to predict how much it might be worth in the future.
- As CoinDesk points out, bitcoin could crash and replace fiat currencybecome the dominant digital currency or replace credit cards, but it could also collapse and be replaced by something else, be regulated or taxed to irrelevance or lose to a competitor.
During its brief 14-year existence, bitcoin has outperformed the stock market, real estate market, and precious metals by far during one of the longest stretches of any investment in history. It’s been a wild and unpredictable ride characterized by super-inflated bubbles and steep crashes, but those who could handle the roller coaster saw a fortune grow from a pizza.
GOBankingRates Crypto Guides
Darya Uhlig contributed to the reporting of this article.
Our in-house research team and on-site financial experts work together to create accurate, unbiased, and up-to-date content. We verify every stat, quote, and fact using trusted primary sources to make sure the information we provide is correct. You can learn more about GOBankingRates processes and standards on our editorial policy.


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If you’re a growth investor looking for some investment ideas for November, then the shares listed below could be worth considering.
Here’s what you need to know about these growth shares:
Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)
The first ASX growth share to look at is Appen. It is a leading developer of high-quality, human annotated datasets for machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI).
Through its team of over a million skilled contractors, Appen prepares or creates the data for the machine learning models of some of the largest tech companies. These include Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft.
While COVID-19 has put a dampener on demand, a rebound is expected post-pandemic. So with the Appen share price down significantly from its highs, now could be an opportune time to consider an investment.
The team at Citi appear to believe this is the case. The broker currently has a buy rating and $17.10 price target on its shares. This is notably higher than where the Appen share price currently trades today.
Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)
Another quality growth share to consider is Temple & Webster. It is Australia’s leading online furniture and homewares retailer.
In FY 2021, the company reported an 85% increase in revenue to $326.3 million and a 62% year on year increase in customer numbers to 778,000. It then followed this up with a 56% increase in revenue during July 1 to 15 October.
Pleasingly, with online furniture shopping still in its infancy in comparison to other categories and Western markets, Temple & Webster looks well-positioned to grow its revenue materially over the 2020s. Particularly given management’s investment in sales and marketing to cement its leadership position.
The team at Morgan Stanley is very positive on the company’s outlook. The broker currently has an overweight rating and $16.00 price target on its shares.


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How this Delhi business ramped up production of COVID-19 test swabs to meet two-thirds of India’s requirements
When the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit India, the demand for polyester and nylon swabs used in test kits skyrocketed.
For Delhi-based buds and swabs maker Suparshva and its brand Tulips, this posed an arduous challenge.
During the first wave, the business had pivoted from making cotton buds and cotton balls to polyester swabs. It had built up a capacity to manufacture 50 lakh COVID-19 test swabs a week. In 2021, it needed to rapidly ramp up its capacity and output.
Rahul Jain, a second-generation entrepreneur and Partner at Suparshva Swabs, in an exclusive interview with SMBStory, says:
“When the second wave picked up, the Department of Health Research - DHR (under the Ministry of Health), approached us to ramp up the production of swabs so that the testing can be increased in line with the unprecedented demand.”
He adds, “Lockdowns prohibited the movement of not only our personnel but also our suppliers and vendors, resulting in the crippling of existing capacity, let alone any new capacity.”
However, as Suparshva’s contribution was essential in the battle against COVID-19, the business found support in the DHR, which worked to ensure its factories, as well as its suppliers' units, were up and running.
Key support from DHR
The department pushed local authorities across states to grant permissions to keep ancillary manufacturing units running.
Rahul explains, “We were facing raw material shortages as some of our suppliers across states were not allowed to operate. The DHR team worked overtime to arrange for our suppliers’ factories to be reopened.”
As states in India enforced different lockdown measures, the supplier factories were left to navigate on their own as there wasn’t a common notice of exemption that would help them reopen.
Rahul says the DHR team worked past midnight regularly to source contact details of state and district magistrates, speak to them, and get them to reopen the factories.
“As we looked at rapidly increasing our production of swabs, things were chaotic and we’d need certain factories opened the very next day because we needed moulds or some other component. Even joint secretary officers worked overnight to scan, approve, and send the documents necessary to open the factories,” Rahul adds.
As the demand for RAT kits increased, there was also a rise in the need for nylon-flocked swabs, for which Suparshva had to build its capacity from scratch.
As demand for both polyester and nylon test swabs grew, Rahul says DHR provided much-needed assistance as Suparshva ramped up its production by sourcing new moulds, jigs, machines, raw materials, etc.
“The RT-PCR and RAT kits required a different number of swabs. Based on how the test was administered, they required one or two swabs per test. For instance, if there was a requirement of around 30 lakh swabs per day, we increased our daily output to around two-thirds of this, ie, over 18 lakh per day,” Rahul claims.
He adds that Suparshva’s capacity ultimately reached a peak of 40 lakh swabs a day, catering to major VTM and RAT kit makers. However, he does not disclose the business' revenue figures.
Pivot during the first wave
During its pivot, Suparshva had a major advantage – it had existing manufacturing infrastructure, including in-house facilities for plastic processing, fibre processing, and automated production of swabs.
Since last year, the business converted its 100 percent cotton processing lines at its Ghaziabad factory to produce polyester-spun swabs on automated production lines, as well as set up new infrastructure for nylon swabs.
The business conducted trials on the main production line and made its factory fully ready to mass-produce swabs. In an earlier interview, Rahul said the business did not wait around to develop a prototype for a swab, which would need more time for industry implementation.
Suparshva Swabs also got its polyester swabs validated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV). The business then began supplying the swabs to leading Viral Transport Media (VTM) manufacturers across the country.
“We are the first Indian company to develop special polyester spun swabs for COVID-19 testing. We started making two million polyester swabs a week last year and grew it to five million a week towards the end of May 2020,” he had said.
Besides Suparshva, Mumbai-based earbuds manufacturer Adi Enterprises had got the nod from the government in 2020 for making test swabs locally.
The road ahead
Going forward, as caseloads reduce and the demand for test swabs drops, Suparshva is shifting its focus back to its Tulips range of personal hygiene products.
“The test swabs were made as a national necessity rather than being a main line of business. Our test swabs output has been reduced to well below eight million a week, as of June 2021,” Rahul says.
Although the entrepreneur is looking forward to a COVID-free future, he remains wary of a possible third wave of infections.
“We have to ramp up production again if there is a third wave. But this will not be as challenging as before because we created modification kits for our production lines. These kits, which help make manufacturing processes suitable for polyester and nylon swabs, can be used to convert the lines back into COVID-19 test swab lines in a notice of four to five days,” he says.
Edited by Kanishk Singh


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Kogan, Telstra leak Click Frenzy discounts ahead of online sales
- From: News Corp Australia Network
- November 20, 2012
MORE specials have leaked from Australia's first nationwide online sale, including discounted television sets and music downloads.
But overseas competition is heating up prior to Click Frenzy's local launch, with America's Cyber Monday and Black Friday specials already appearing and predictions that more than half of all American consumers will venture online for bargains.
Australia's Click Frenzy event, which begins tonight at 7pm AEDT, will feature specials from more than 200 retailers, including Myer, Dick Smith, Westfield, Jeans West, Bonds and Toys `R Us.
The specials are not due to be publicised until the sale begins, but online retailer Kogan has aired some of its bargains early, including a 46-inch TV for $499 (33 per cent off) and 22-inch TV with built-in personal video recorder for $139 (26 per cent off).
Telstra also unveiled two of its Click Frenzy specials - half-price on all BigPond Music albums and half-price bed linen on its BigPond Shopping website.
But America's Cyber Monday sales event, on which Click Frenzy is modelled, will be held next Tuesday, Australian time, and the local version will have to offer big discounts to compete. American holiday specials already revealed include a 7-inch Samsung tablet for $US179 at Best Buy, Beats Solo HD headphones for $US179 at Target, and a 250GB Xbox 360 console with Call of Duty: Black Ops II for $US249.
Australians may not be able to buy all deals directly, though can use a mail-forwarding service to participate.
Research firm Radium One predicted that 57 per cent of US consumers would participate in the Cyber Monday event, spending as much as $1.4 billion online in just 24 hours.
But financial counselling service MoneyHelp yesterday warned buyers from either event to take their time before adding items to virtual shopping carts to avoid pre-Christmas over-commitment.
"This type of marketing is designed to get you to make on-the-spot decisions," advice services manager Penelope Hill said.
"All we're saying is take a deep breath before typing in your credit card details and consider your financial position before buying."
Ms Hill said bargains could lose their value if purchased with credit cards that attracted high interest.
FIVE TIPS FOR CLICK FRENZY
- Register at clickfrenzy.com.au before the sale begins
- Check the time: the sale goes live at 7pm Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time
- Buyers will be directed to retailers' websites: look for the lock icon in the address bar for security
- The sale lasts for 24 hours: consider your purchases carefully
- Consider delivery dates at check-out to ensure pre-Christmas arrival
Innovations that make life easier
TURN the rat race into a comfortable cruise with these smart additions to your daily routine.
IT MAY have seemed like complete science fiction at the time, but much of the technology we laughed at in old movies has come to actually exist today.
ONE day, these microscopic robots could change the world. They could cure cancer, give us superhuman powers and save the environment. Or could they destroy us?
THINK your smartphone is nifty now? Wait a few years and we could see indestructible, shapeshifting ultraphones with batteries that last forever.
STOP living like a 21st century caveman and plug into these clever ways to get yourself a smarter home where fridges talk to us and robots do all the dirty work.
IN A decade, technology will be everywhere, yet nowhere. Computers will exist in every day objects and the speed of information will be out of control. This is a morning in 2024.
THE FBI’s “next generation identification” system has launched. And its implications for ordinary people are terrifying.
KIDS have become so used to fast and user friendly technology that many can’t even recognise a 1970s computer let alone make it work. Watch the results.


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With the Centre and several state governments taking up the ‘Make in India’ drive earnestly, the manufacturing sector in the country looks set for a resurgence and luxury carmakers are among the first ones to announce new investments, thanks to steep import duty on premium cars as well as the fierce competition for leadership.
With fresh fund infusion, Mercedes Benz has increased localisation level of its new C Class CDI 220 to 60 per cent, and shortly all five cars assembled at its Chakan factory will have 60 per cent localisation, including top of the line S Class 500.
"We are confident that with the production of the new C 220 CDI in India, we will be able to create a higher benchmark in terms of local production of high-end luxury cars in India, and make our customers equally delighted by providing an unmatched value," said Eberhard Kern, managing director at Mercedes-Benz India.
Mercedes-Benz has already invested of Rs 1,000 crore at its factory and locally sources and manufactures several key critical components right from engine, gear box, axle, dashboard, seats, tyres and some key electrical components.
India is the only the second market after the US where the German luxury carmaker manufactures the ML and GL Class SUVs. The company also plans to add new generation compact sedan CLA to its portfolio of locally manufactured cars.
Recently Mercedes-Benz’s Munich-based rival BMW, too, announced fresh investments in India and signed deals with 20 auto component companies to take its localisation level to 50 per cent in India.
"With a strong portfolio of locally produced cars, the time was appropriate to partner with major Indian auto component suppliers," said Philipp von Sahr, president at BMW Group India. "This decision benefits BMW in terms of cost optimisation and value addition while at the same time it creates business and profitability for our suppliers — a winwin situation," he said.
Over 90 per cent of Audi and BMW’s portfolio in India is locally assembled, but off late there is a renewed push towards further localisation.
Almost all mainstream international luxury car makers have local assembly bases, but the higher import duty structure and fluctuating currency has compelled carmakers to look at deeper localisation. Local production not only helps the companies offer more options to the customers and faster time to the market, but it also helps in boosting profits and de-risking themselves to the fluctuating currency, which had impacted the companies severely over the last few years, experts said.
Abdul Majeed, partner at Price Waterhouse, said the definition of luxury cars in India is changing and carmakers need to keep on re-inventing themselves. "There is a new customer base getting created at the bottom end of the pyramid that is extremely sensitive of the price, which luxury carmakers need to address without diluting the luxury quotient," he said.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- Bottom Line
- Deep Dive
- NARCL, Arena-Varde, Authum Offer Resolution Plans for Srei
A government-sponsored bad bank, a consortium of Arena Investors and Varde Partners, and Authum Investment and Infrastructure have submitted separate insolvency resolution plans for the Kolkata-based twin Srei companies,Despite Funding Winter, Some Esop Buybacks Continue
Startups have hunkered down to allow the stormy blast of a protracted funding winter to pass, but some in the industry are still very much keen on rewarding loyal talent.‘Innovations made in India Helping World’
Google looks forward to a “great partnership” with India, as it works together to bring the benefits of technology to more people, said Sundar Pichai, chief executive of the search giant’s parent entity, Alphabet Inc.
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Azerbaijan eyes to help entrepreneurs connect to global value chains (Exclusive)
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 4
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
Azerbaijan intends to help entrepreneurs connect to global value chains, a source in the Azerbaijani government told Trend.
"To this end, the government is developing a new program, as part of which three main directions may be distinguished," the source said. "Firstly, we want to help establish the supply of Azerbaijani intermediate products to global producers. We are already negotiating with big foreign companies. For example, oil companies purchase uniform for their employees. Azerbaijan manufactures such products and we want companies to buy it from us. If a foreign company produces electric locomotives, we might supply cables necessary for their production."
"The second direction involves attracting investments for the manufacture of intermediate products in Azerbaijan," the source noted. "For example, a local Azerbaijani company produces furniture and needs a number of components that aren’t produced in the country. We want to attract investors so that they start producing those components in Azerbaijan."
The third direction involves working with foreign investors who already operate in the Azerbaijani market, the source added.
"We want to expand the use of Azerbaijani products by local companies," the source said. "Of course, we aren’t going to force anyone to buy local products. However, often foreign companies simply don’t know that the products they buy abroad are manufactured in Azerbaijan as well. Using local products is also beneficial for foreign companies, because they can cut their expenses, since the imports of goods and services are more expensive than purchasing local products."
Cooperation with foreign companies allows Azerbaijani business to raise its level of work to international standards, according to the source.
Subscribers of Trend News Agency can read this and other exclusive materials before they are published in open access.
More information on Trend’s news products can be found here.


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Domestic two- and three-wheeler manufacturer, Baja Auto, today announced its financial results for Q4 and FY2016. The company posted its highest ever profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 3,652 crore in FY2016, 30% more than the previous fiscal when it posted a PAT of Rs 2,814 crore.
Moreover, the company’s turnover in FY2016 was Rs 23,601 crore, 6% more than the previous fiscal when it was Rs 22,194 crore.
Meanwhile, the PAT for Q4 amounted to Rs 803 crore, up 29% than the same period last year (Rs 622 crore). For the same quarter, Bajaj Auto’s turnover was Rs 5,536 crore, 13% more than Rs 4,894 in Q4-FY2015.
Domestic motorcycle sales
In terms of sales, the company sold a total of 38,93,581 units in FY2016, which included 5,35,329 commercial vehicles. The company’s Pulsar and Avenger brands posted a combined growth of 8%, helping it to improve the premium motorcycle market share to 47% in FY2016.
In the Super Sports segment, Bajaj-owned KTM along-with the newly launches RS200 helped the company achieve a market share of 60%, up 25 percentage points from the previous fiscal.
Also read: Bajaj plots 375cc Pulsar rollout before Diwali
Bajaj’s CT and Platina bikes further helped the company achieve a market share of 35% in the ‘price segment’. Moreover, the company’s V15 model has also sold a total of 10,000 units since its launch earlier this year. Overall the company’s market share in the domestic motorcycle segment for FY2016 stood at 19%.
Bajaj Auto recorded a growth of 9% in the domestic three wheeler market as against an industry growth of 1%. Consequently, share in the domestic market for three-wheelers improved by 300 bps, from 44% in FY15 to over 47% in FY16.
The company’s international motorcycle volumes fell by 4.1% to 1.46 million units while three-wheeler volumes fell by 1.6% to 280,000 units. The negative blip is mainly due to poor economic conditions and severe foreign currency constraints in some of the key importing countries.
Recommended: Domestic market bails out Bajaj Auto in FY16