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Microsoft Weekly: Flight Sim on console, Windows updates, and Q4 earnings
by Florin Bodnarescu
As yet another set of seven days has gone by, it’s time we take a look at the news that popped up during this time, including the landing of Flight Simulator on console, a series of updates for Windows, and the Q4 earnings report for Microsoft’s 2021 fiscal year. You’ll find info about those subjects and more below, in your Microsoft digest for the week of July 25 – 31.
Flight Sim on console
As promised, on July 27, Microsoft Flight Simulator landed on Game Pass and the Xbox Series X|S. This is the first time the title has made its way to console, with Xbox One users presumably being able to enjoy it via Xbox Cloud Gaming, where possible.
In case simulators are not quite your thing, there’s currently an Xbox Ultimate Game Sale, featuring deals for Assassin’s Creed games, Call of Duty titles, and others, and if you have an Xbox Live Gold subscription, Darksiders III and Lost Planet 3 are now free to claim.
In first-party news, Forza Motorsport 7 is set to be removed from storefronts in September (having initially been released in October of 2017). Those who currently own the game will be unaffected though, as they get to (obviously) keep their copies.
And ending with another first-party game, Halo Infinite’s first Insider test is now live, and runs until August 2, at 10AM PT. Do be warned that Microsoft has accidentally leaked Infinite campaign details, so you’ll need to be cautious if you don’t want to have plot points spoiled.
Much like taxes, Windows updates are a given, and this week, there were definitely some interesting such updates.
For one, Microsoft released the first Windows 11 build to the Beta channel, last week’s Dev channel build, 22000.100. As you’d imagine, it contains broadly the same number of fixes as the Dev build, only this one has a couple more known issues added. As is the case with Windows 11 going forward, Teams is quite tightly integrated with the OS, so here’s our hands-on with said Teams experience.
In additional news about changes, Microsoft is set to retire semi-annual Windows Server updates in favor of LTSC (Long-Term Servicing Channel) releases. The next LTSC variant, set to drop this year, will still be based on Windows 10.
And speaking of, KB5004296 was pushed out by the firm, bumping up the build numbers for Windows 10 versions 2004, 20H2, and 21H1 to 19041.1151, 19042.1151, and 19043.1151. The list of fixes is a little longer than usual, and contains everything from fixes for bugs with WFP (Windows Filtering Platform) to System Integrity memory leaks, and more.
Last but not least, to end the talk about versions and version numbers, Windows 10 21H1 is now on 26% of PCs, with Windows 11 (the Insider flavor) grabbing 0.9% of the market.
Q4 FY21 earnings
It’ll come as no shock to those who follow Microsoft that the Redmond giant has now posted its quarterly earnings for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2021, which ended June 30.
Microsoft brought in $46.2B in revenue (up 21% Year-over Year). Operating income landed at $19.1B (up 42%), with net income being $16.5B (up 47%). Diluted earnings per share was $2.17 (up 49%).
Of the three sections that Microsoft’s earnings are split into, Productivity and Business Processes brought in $14.7B (up 25%), Intelligent Cloud contributed the most with $17.4B (up 30%), and More Personal Computing accounted for $14.1B of the total sum, a 9% increase year-over-year.
In the first category, Office Commercial products and cloud services grew 20% in terms of revenue – off the back of a 35% increase in Office 365 Commercial revenue. Consumer Office earnings grew 18%, with Microsoft 365 consumer seats increasing to 51.9 million. Revenue from LinkedIn and Dynamics grew 46% and 33%, respectively.
In the Intelligent Cloud bracket, Azure revenue grew 51%, with revenue from cloud services and server products being up 34% (accounting for $3.9B). The Enterprise Mobility install base grew 19% (to over 190 million seats), and Premier Support – as well as Microsoft Consulting services - grew by a respectable 12%.
Under More Personal Computing, there was strong Search advertising revenue growth, with Windows Commercial products growing 20%, and OEM Pro (as well as non-Pro) revenues dipping 2% and 4% (respectively), which happened due to supply chain constraints. The other effect of said constraints was a 20% fall in revenue for the Surface unit.
Gaming revenue was up 11%, with a 172% increase in hardware revenue (year-over-year). Xbox content and services were down 4%, and Search advertising was up 53%.
Because this is also the end of the fiscal year, Microsoft shared the overall FY21 figures, with revenue landing at $168.1B (up 18%) and net income being $61.3B.
The final Edge Dev 93 build (93.0.961.2) is now out with an improved Settings layout. Outlook on the web now has a ‘My Day’ pane for easy access to Calendar and To Do. New phishing protections are now live in Teams. Teams now has nearly 250 million monthly active users. Logging off
We end the column by highlighting a software transition that took place earlier this week.
As was announced by Microsoft two years ago, Skype for Business Online was retired on July 31, 2021. The replacement is of course Teams, and the company is so confident in its latest chatting endeavor that it’s not extending the EOL date of Skype for Business Online.
For folks who have not moved to Teams completely (or at all), there will be Microsoft-assisted upgrades (starting in August). Until the upgrades are completed, users will be free to continue their chats and calls via Skype for Business Online.
Missed any of the previous columns? Check them all out at this link.
If you’d like to get a daily digest of news from Neowin, we now have a Newsletter you can sign up to either via the ‘Get our newsletter’ widget in the sidebar, or this link.
By Abhay V
Microsoft releases the first Windows 11 build for the Beta channel
by Abhay Venkatesh
It’s a new week, which means it’s time for a new Windows Insider build. However, this time, it's Beta channel users who are receiving a new update in the way of Windows 11 build 22000.100. This is the first Windows 11 build being released for the Beta channel, giving users of that channel the first official way to run the latest generation of Windows.
The build heading out today is the one that was released to the Dev channel last week, which means that along with the complete new OS, users will be receiving all the fixes that have been made through the course of the Dev channel releases. These include tweaks such as the improved UI elements in the taskbar and other areas to better align them with the Windows 11 design language, a search box in the Start Menu, and more. This is to be expected since Beta channel releases are considered more stable.
It must be noted that the new Teams chat experience will not be enabled for Beta channel users yet. However, that should be enabled for those users soon. You can take a look at all the new Windows 11 features in our run-down here.
In addition to all the bug fixes and improvements, the build contains a bunch of known issues, some of which have been added since build 22000.100 was released. We have listed only the new known issues that the firm is adding to the latest build based on feedback from those running these builds – which happen to be close to 1% of the total number of Windows machines:
With the OS now being promoted to the Beta channel, it is a hint that the company is hitting a certain threshold of stability since Beta channel builds usually are more reliable. The company also notes that Dev channel users who wish to stay on more stable builds should move to the Beta channel now. However, this does not mean that the builds are ready for daily use on main machines since anything can go wrong with test versions.
Additionally, Dev channel builds aren't exactly tied to specific versions, so those who jumped onto the Dev channel just to try out Windows 11 have this so-called magic window to jump to a more stable channel to continue testing builds a step away from the bleeding edge. As for Dev channel users, the firm confirmed via a tweet that there will not be a new build this week.
By Abhay V
AdDuplex: Windows 10 version 21H1 is now on over 26% of PCs, Windows 11 makes its debut
by Abhay Venkatesh
After a gap of a couple of months, AdDuplex has released its Windows version usage report for the month of July. The report is collected from 5,000 Microsoft Store apps that are running the AdDuplex SDK v.2 or higher, and around 60,000 Windows PCs were sampled for this report. This month’s highlight is the debut of Windows 11, which was formally announced in June. As for Windows 10, version 21H1 that was released in May is now running on over 26% of Windows machines.
Just like the October 2020 Update, the Windows 10 May 2021 Update was an enablement package that light up new features in the OS. The underlying codebase for 21H1, however, is identical to versions 20H2 and 2004, meaning that the three most recent versions are serviced with the same cumulative updates. It is, therefore, not surprising to see that the rollout of the latest version has been faster than the previous versions has seen. This is only expected to increase as version 2004 begins to reach the end of support for consumer SKUs.
With Windows 10 21H1 now on more than 26% of PCs, the three latest versions of the OS account for close to 88% of usage share. The title for the most famous version of Windows 10 is retained by version 20H2 at 36.3%, followed by version 2004 at 24.6%. Windows Insiders running Windows 11 in the Dev channel account for close to 1% of total devices.
Windows 10 version 21H2 is also slated to be an enablement package. However, with Windows 11 expected to begin rolling out later this year, it will be interesting to see how the usage share changes, since there are still questions about the pace of the rollout and what the final hardware specifications will be.
By Steven P.
This Windows Hello webcam with privacy shutter is 20% off for only $67.99
by Steven Parker
Today on Amazon, you can pick up the wo-we Windows Hello Face Recognition Webcam for only $67.99 when you apply the $20 coupon, saving you 17% off the $84.99 list price.
A nice thing about this webcam is not only is it a cheap way into Windows Hello password-less sign-in on Windows, but also has a manual privacy shutter, something you don't get on the more than doubly expensive Logi Brio webcam.
Here are a few of its highlights:
Below are a few of this camera's specifications, besides being compliant with Windows Hello.
This item qualifies for free delivery, and the prices mentioned here are before taxes. It also includes standard manufacturer's warranty for which Amazon says you need to contact the seller.
Get the wo-we Windows Hello Face Recognition Webcam for $67.99 (list price $84.99) 20% off
As an Amazon Associate, Neowin may earn commission from qualifying purchases.
Hands-on with the new Microsoft Teams experience for Windows 11
by Anmol Mehrotra
Earlier this week, Microsoft released another Windows 11 build to Windows Insiders in the Dev Preview ring. The new build brought improvements to the UI as well as the new Microsoft Teams integration. Microsoft announced the Teams integration at the Windows 11 launch event last month. With the feature now rolling out to Windows Insiders, we decided to take a closer look at the new Teams integration for Windows 11.
First time setup
After you install the new Windows 11 build, you will see a Teams icon on the taskbar. Clicking on the option will open Team for the first-time setup. The setup is pretty simple.
Microsoft allows you to use your regular MSA account for personal use. You can also use your work or school account if you have one and want it easily accessible.
Once you select the account, Microsoft will ask you to verify ownership (if you have two-factor authentication) as well as add a phone number. This will add as a secondary username and also allow others to find you on Teams.
Lastly, Microsoft will confirm the settings and ask you if you want to use your existing Outlook or Skype contact list to find people on Microsoft Teams. One thing to note here is that if you have used Windows Phone in the past or you use Outlook to sync your contacts then you will see your address book on Teams (provided you selected the sync Outlook contact list on the last step).
Using the app
The experience is same more or less. However, with a personal Teams account, users can now use it as way to stay connected to their loved ones. Moreover, you can now enter an email address to send a Teams message to them.
This works in two parts: if the person already uses Teams, they will get a general chat notification. However, if the person you are messaging does not use Teams, they will get an email inviting them to join Teams and continue the chat.
One thing that I personally believe can enhance the Teams experience is the support for SMS. While you can message people using phone numbers, they have to be in your contacts. Unfortunately, you can’t directly start a conversation with someone if they are not in your contacts. This is something that Microsoft can add in the future to allow users to start conversations by just entering the phone number of the person they want to talk to and if the person is not on Teams, they will get an invite to join the app.
However, there is one way to invite others to a text chain and that is via the 'invite using link' option. As the name suggests, the option generates a custom link that can be shared with others to allow them to join a conversation.
Lastly, Microsoft is also expected to merge the Meet Now feature into Teams in the feature. It will further enhance the user experience by allowing users to make audio and video calls using Microsoft Teams. Currently, the feature exists just as a placeholder button, but the company is expected to add it before Windows 11 is shipped as an update to existing Windows users.
Do you plan to use Microsoft Teams on Windows 11? Let us know your thoughts below.
For more information on Windows 11, you can check out our article on minimum system requirements as well as the list of CPUs that support Windows 11. Apart from the general requirements, Microsoft has also listed out specific feature requirements for Windows 11 including webcams, Bluetooth and Precision Touchpad on all upcoming laptops. Last month, Microsoft also updated the PC Health Check app to show why a device is not ineligible to receive the Windows 11 update. However, the company will allow some manufacturers to bypass the TPM 2.0 requirement and it is also allowing Windows Insiders with unsupported hardware to test Windows 11 Insider Builds. Several manufacturers have published a list of hardware that will be compatible with Windows 11.
If you are still out of the loop, then you can check out hands-on video. If you want to get in-depth information about Windows 11 then you can check out our article covering all the new features and changes.


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DIGITAL DUO: Matchesfashion.com is to launch Sies Marjan’s debut collection next week.
On Monday night, Tom and Ruth Chapman, who founded the British retailer, hosted an intimate dinner at Alcazar in Paris with Sies Marjan creative director Sander Lak to celebrate the occasion.
“This restaurant looks really nice; I love all this green around,” said Lak over drinks on the Alcazar’s mezzanine before dinner. Some 21 pieces available from the collection that Lak presented during New York Fashion Week in February will be available on Matchesfashion.
In addition, the collection’s distribution consists in 28 specialty and department stores worldwide. “This collection is really in America, Europe and Asia, so it’s a really nice divided kind of attention. [European stores] don’t carry that many American brands. They just don’t, because there’s so much in Europe already,” said Lak.
“Sander is part of this new wave of designers who understand very fashionable women,” said Natalie Kingham, buying director for Matchesfashion.com. “I fall in love each time I go to the showroom — the way he finds the right tones — yellows, pinks — and merges them and also his shapes. He’s a very talented designer.”
The 33-year-old designer was wearing an embroidered shirt from his women’s collection. “I don’t really think of male/female, not that I do unisex, not at all, but I just make clothes. I just present them on women but I wear them myself, too, and my friends, too,” he explained.
Lak’s friends at the event included stylist of the moment Lotta Volkova. “We met a couple of years ago when he was still working for Dries Van Noten. We teamed up about a year ago,” said Volkova who has just wrapped up the Vetements show on Sunday. “We had an incredible feedback. Apparently they had to block the streets downstairs from Galeries Lafayette because there were too many people trying to get in,” said Volkova.
“The show was quite extraordinary,” said Chapman about Vetements, which Matchesfashion has been carrying since its second second season.
The retailer plans to launch a French version in Spring 2017, Chapman revealed. “We are a business that has had one language for too long. It’s not about being translated. It’s about how you do localization, how you think about the French consumer and market. We want to start a second language in September next year — two languages a year is the journey. So many of the brands we work with are French brands and we need to have a courtesy to brands we work with and to the market. With the things that happened last week, it becomes more important that we, as a British company, we fight to stay part of Europe,” he said.

domain: news


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Healthcare is an inseparable part of human life and useful medical services are always in demand. In a city like Hong Kong, geographic barriers may not be particularly challenging but getting diagnosis and treatment can still be difficult for those who live in remote areas or find travelling problematic.
The pandemic has changed our lives in many ways. Not only are we used to working and meeting virtually, consultations with physicians are conducted virtually to minimise face-to-face contact and infection risks.
What will the future of telemedicine look like especially in a post-pandemic environment? What are its benefits? Is telemedicine the future of healthcare and what are its limitations?
We are pleased to be hosting Ringo Ng, Managing Director of HKT Consumer Group, who will be addressing these issues. He will also be explaining how DrGo, a HKT digital platform providing medical and healthcare services, leverages new technologies to pioneer the delivery of modern health care and treatment.
Ng has been Managing Director of HKT's Consumer Group since 2012. He is responsible for managing HKT's consumer sales organization, leading and delivering its overall consumer sales operations.
Ng has more than 20 years of business management experience in sectors including fast-moving consumer goods, medical devices, industrial products and construction.


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Etsy, the online marketplace which connects craft-makers and craft-lovers from around the globe is the latest in a slew of lay offs which have happened over the past year.
Etsy announced an 11% job cut yesterday, representing an attempt to streamline costs in what it has called a “very challenging” environment.
The e-commerce giant looks poised to undergo an overhaul of its structure as chief executive Josh Silverman seems laser focused on ensuring the future growth of the company.
Unsustainable Trajectory for Etsy
In the letter to his staff, CEO Josh Silverman blamed “essentially flat” merchandise sales for the past two years for the jobs cut.
His letter continued, “This means we are not bringing our sellers more sales, which is the single most important thing we can do for them. At the same time, employee expenses have grown, even as we have introduced significant cost-cutting measures and adjusted or paused hiring plans. This is ultimately not a sustainable trajectory and we must change it.”
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“Increased competition” was among the factors cited by Silverman which contributed to the challenging macro environment. He did not reference competitors by name, however the likes of Shein and Temu, who offer consumers cheap manufactured goods from China and have recently flooded the market with aggressive online advertising strategies, come top of mind.
The news broke at the same time as an updated fourth-quarter guidance was published for Etsy. In the guidance report the company forecast that gross merchandise sales will decline between 1% and 2% during the fourth quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. Revenue figures look set to increase by 2% to 3%.
What’s more, shares in Etsy declined by a further 2.2% following the announcement from Silverman, falling as low as $78.54.
Poor Timing by Silverman
The news coming just two weeks before Christmas was unlikely to be a popular decision, however Silverman reassured affected workers that they will remain on Etsy payroll until “at least” January 2nd although many of them had their last day on Wednesday.
The cut has affected workers on all levels, with several executives including Ryan Scott, chief marketing officer, already announcing his departure.
The lay offs come at a cost of between $25m and $30m to the company in severance packages and other related costs, according to their regulatory filings.
Speaking about the announcement of Wednesday, Silverman said it was “one of the hardest [days] we’ve experienced at Etsy”, he continues addressing workers who will remain employed at Etsy.
“The waters may be rough right now, but there’s no other ship I’d rather be on, and no other crew I’d rather be with, as we weather this cycle and emerge even stronger on the other side.”
Want to know how to go about the thankless task of laying off staff? Here’s some advice for dealing with lay offs.


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Former Microsoft channel chief Sam Jadallah has joined Apple to pressure the enterprise’s push into the smart home space.
Jadallah’s LinkedIn page indicates that he started operating at Apple as of this month, describing his function as “Working on Home” at Apple.
[Related: Apple’s HomePod Is Not The Smartest Of The Smart Speakers]
Jadallah may be heading up Apple’s home business, CNBC mentioned, which includes the corporation’s HomeKit clever domestic software program and the Siri-powered HomePod clever speaker.
Jadallah was one of the maximum famous of Microsoft’s channel chiefs, usually leveraging his blue collar paintings ethic to establish deep and lengthy-lasting relationships with partners.
Jadallah, in reality, who worked at Microsoft for 12 years earlier than leaving in 1999, held the channel leader job at Microsoft for nearly a decade for the duration of the Nineties. That is one of the longest tenures for any Microsoft channel chief.
Bob Venero, CEO of Holbrook, N.Y.-based answer issuer Future Tech, No. One hundred fifteen at the 2018 CRN Solution Provider 500, said the channel is sure to enjoy the sturdy channel and era expertise Jadallah brings to Apple.
“Apple continually picks the cream of the crop,” stated Venero. “I certainly see the capacity for Sam to help carry partners into the home integration, small office/home office [SOHO] and even small-commercial enterprise marketplace with Apple.”
Many answer companies have home automation practices, stated Venero. In fact, he stated, Future Tech is calling at offering a home automation solutions enterprise geared toward the C-suite executives of its Fortune a thousand clients.
“A lot of the executives we paintings with would really like us to work with them to make their home places of work as technologically advanced as their paintings areas,” stated Venero.
Venero said he sees the hiring of Jadallah as an opportunity for Apple to maintain to up its channel recreation. “We are seeing Apple beautify their companion application,” he said. “We see Sam coming on as some other move that the channel can benefit from. Our message to Sam is: Listen on your companions who’ve the potential to help make the clever domestic undertaking greater successful. Work collectively with us in preference to on my own to make Apple better.”
Apple has the capacity to deliver its home automation services past the Apple TV to more HomePod components, and lower back into its gadgets and wearables, said one executive at an answer issuer companion of Apple, who requested to now not be identified.
“I know at CES, they announced extra HomeKit companions, so Sam ought to likely help to power that in addition on the hardware and partner side of factors,” the solution issuer govt stated.
Meanwhile, HomePod lags well behind gadgets consisting of Amazon Echo and Google Home inside the clever speaker market. HomePod saw market proportion of simply 4.1 percentage throughout the fourth region of 2018, in accordance to investigate company Strategy Analytics.
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple did no longer immediately reply to a request for touch upon the hiring of Jadallah.
Most recently, Jadallah founded and ran Otto, maker of a linked clever lock. Otto, which had reportedly poached a number of workforce members from Apple, suspended its operations as of December 2017.
Other roles for Jadallah in view that leaving Microsoft have included serving as a widespread companion at Silicon Valley task capital company Mohr Davidow Ventures.


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After last month’s meltdown of webOS, rumour has it Intel is putting its open OS, MeeGo, out to pasture after Nokia effectively sidelined the platform and focused all resources on Windows Phone 7. Add in a less-than-enthusiastic response from mainstream vendors and the outlook isn’t looking good for the OS favoured by tech savvy smartphone consumers.
Despite Nokia rolling out their first (and possibly last) MeeGo smartphone in June with the shapely and colourful N9, it’s all gone quiet on whether consumers can buy the handset anywhere in Europe, with the UK being a definite no-no.
However, it has been reported that the Gorilla Glass-toting, 8 megapixel Carl Zeiss-equipped unibody design has been ostensibly repurposed for the forthcoming Sea Ray Windows Phone 7 device instead.
Taiwanese tech news outlet DigiTimes claims to have heard from multiple anonymous industry sources that rather than disappearing into the shadows to lick its wounds, Intel will now focus on handset platforms to be paired with either Android or Windows Phone in 2012.
However, all may not be lost for the Linux based operating system. While Samsung refuted rumours of taking on webOS in Berlin last week, it could swoop in as a white knight for MeeGo to potentially reduce its dependency on Android, following the acquisition of Motorola by Google and grumbles from the Korean Government.
The move could be a good one for Samsung too as MeeGo was designed for a variety of different screen sizes ranging from smartphones to internet enabled televisions, all of which the Korean conglomerate manufactures. Furthermore its proprietary Bada smartphones use the Linux kernel so future iterations of Bada 3.0 could potentially become MeeGo devices.


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Plug-in Car Grant cut: new reduced rate brought forward
Following last week’s announcement the rate would be slashed, thousands of buyers flocked to snap up the last remaining grants
The new, lower rate for the Plug-in Car Grant has been brought forward and implemented early after “exceptional demand” caused the older, more generous grant to run out.
The Department for Transport (DfT) and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) recently confirmed that the £2,500 grant for plug-in hybrids would end on 9 November, with the grant for EVs reducing from £4,500 to £3,500. It was also confirmed that the 3,000 Category 1 grants for EVs, and 6,000 Category 2 and 3 subsidies for PHEVs would remain available up to 9 November.
• What is the UK plug-in grant?
However, the DfT have now announced that all of those grants have been given away following a massive spike in sales, meaning the new, stricter rates that weren’t meant to be introduced until November 9 are now in effect.
Approximately 1,000 PHEVs and EVs have been sold each day since the cut was announced, compared with around 329 per day in 2017 – equating to a three-fold increase.
• Best plug-in hybrid cars available
A spokesperson for the DfT said: “Following exceptional demand, the sales cap for all vehicles eligible for the grant has been reached, and the new grant rates are now in effect.
“These changes will allow us to focus support on zero-emission vehicles, such as pure electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars. Hybrid vehicles will continue to be supported through lower car tax rates, grants for charging infrastructure and local incentives such as free parking.”
PHEV grant cut: details
On 12 October, the Department for Transport and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles confirmed Category 2 and 3 grants for pluh-in vehicles will end on November 9.
Category 2 cars emit 50g/km of CO2 or less and can officially travel for 10 to 69 miles on battery power alone; Category 3 cars emit between 50 and 75g/km of CO2 and can travel up to 20 miles on battery power alone. Such cars previously received a grant of £2,500, but this will cease next month.
The demise of Category 1 and 2 grants means PHEVs such as the Audi A3 e-tron and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, which were hitherto eligible for the grant, will no longer be so from 9 November.
Category 1 grants will still exist from November 9, but the amount contributed towards their cost by the Government will reduce from £4,500 to £3,500. Cars must be able to travel for 70 miles on battery power alone and emit under 50g/km in order to qualify as a Category 1 car, something no current PHEV can manage.
PHEV grant cut: industry recoils at “astounding” move
The automotive industry was roundly critical of the Government’s decision to axe the grant for PHEVs, and reduce it for EVs.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), said: “given the importance of environmental goals it’s astounding that just three months after publishing its road to zero strategy, government has reduced the incentive that gives consumers most encouragement to invest in ultra low emission vehicles”.
Rob Lindley, managing director of Mitsubishi Motors UK, whose Outlander PHEV is Europe’s best-selling plug-in, said the move was “extremely disappointing”. Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said the decision “will simply put more drivers off from buying greener cars, while Nicholas Lyes, the RAC’s head of roads policy called it a “major blow” for those seeking to switch to PHEVs and EVs.
Click here for our list of the best electric cars on sale right now…
Source: Read Full Article


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Florida state rep aims to ban cultivated meat (Nov. 23)
If passed, violators of the law could face second-degree misdemeanor charges and pay a fine of up to $1,000.
Fromm welcomes Ph.D. nutritionist to R&D team (Nov. 24)
Danielle Opetz, Ph.D., will be tasked with researching new products, conducting biological assessments, spearheading technical training, and serving as a liaison to the industry.
7 sick in Salmonella outbreak connected to pet food, investigation ensues (Nov. 13)
The recall associated with the outbreak involves 78 lots of dry dog and cat food products across various brands.
Sales growth continues as Freshpet becomes ‘more mainstream’ (Nov. 7)
A promising third-quarter performance has led the company to raise its full-year guidance for fiscal 2023.
Mars Petcare unwraps innovation (Nov. 10)
The company opened its doors to showcase the latest innovations and initiatives across its confectionary, food and pet care brands.
Pet treat production line shows processing in action (Nov. 9)
Eleven equipment, technology and service providers were featured in the live pet treat production line on the Process Expo 2023 show floor.
Women in the Pet Industry: Meet Katie Spies of Maev (Nov. 8)
This mechanical engineer turned pet industry entrepreneur has her sights set on changing the way people feed their dogs.
General Mills scoops up pet supplement brand (Nov. 10)
Fera Pets will be integrated into General Mills’ new growth equity fund, which aims to acquire, scale and accelerate “strategically aligned businesses.”
Post Holdings to inject up to $100 million into pet food operations in 2024 (Nov. 20)
The company is already realizing benefits from its recent entrance into the pet food category, but there is still work to be done to fully integrate and optimize the new division.
State of the US pet food and treat industry, 2023 (Nov. 7)
Market researchers and industry experts share the latest trends, opportunities and category sales data for the dog and cat food in the United States.
Stay up to date on the latest pet food processing industry headlines on our News page.


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JB Straubel, co-founder of Tesla and CEO of battery-recycling company Redwood Materials, has both good and bad news for those who believe electric vehicle sales are about to take off.
According to Straubel, demand is increasing, but the auto industry isn’t moving fast enough to keep up with production.
“This is catching people off guard,” Straubel told CNBC during a interview. “There has been a significant shift. From declining internal combustion engine sales to nearly 100 percent increase in EV sales in various regions.”
According to Straubel, industry sales projections that EVs will account for 12.7 percent of total U.S. auto sales by 2025 may be too low. “If you look at how quickly adoption is growing in parts of Europe and other parts of the world, I believe it points to a path of potentially even higher percentages by mid-decade,” he said.
That demand is driving Redwood Materials’ $1 billion investment in a new plant in McCarran, Nev., he said. When finished later this year, the facility will produce anode copper foil that Panasonic will use to manufacture battery cells that will eventually go into battery packs manufactured at the Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada.
Redwood Materials anticipates that the plant, which will eventually employ over 500 people, will produce enough anode copper foil to supply 1 million EVs per year. According to the company, its plant will be the first in the United States to supply anode copper foil, with the majority of the supply currently imported from Asia, primarily China and South Korea.
Meanwhile, lithium-ion battery manufacturing is attempting to keep up with EV automakers. According to AlixPartners, an automotive industry consulting firm, global capacity for lithium-ion battery manufacturing was 713 gigatonne hours last year. AlixPartners expects that figure to more than triple to 2,273 gigatonne hours by 2025, with US EV battery production more than quadrupling.
With so much capacity coming online, conventional wisdom holds that the cost of battery cells and battery packs will fall, lowering the price of EVs and increasing profit.
According to ESource, a Boulder, Colorado-based consulting firm that tracks battery cell prices, the cost per kilowatt hour of an automotive battery cell will fall from $147 in 2022 to $98 by 2025. While those forecasts are encouraging, falling prices are dependent on the battery supply chain expanding and being able to support increased demand.
“With such high battery demand expected over the next decade or so, the raw materials that go into those batteries may be in short supply,” said Stephen Brown, senior director at Fitch Ratings.
Straubel, on the other hand, is skeptical that the EV battery industry will be able to meet the increased demand.
“There is absolutely a risk that we will see a repeat of the semiconductor type of shortages, which may reduce and impede EV growth,” he said.
Straubel admits his nameake company is racing to catch up with the transition from gasoline-powered to battery-powered vehicles as he stands next to the framework for a plant Redwood hopes to have operational soon.
“We are working around the clock, literally 24/7, building facilities like the one behind us to make that supply chain happen and to try to get ahead of that bottleneck before it happens,” he said.


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It’s been just over two weeks since Times Internet announced the launch of the gaana.com app and according to a new release, the Gaana app has crossed 200,000 users. The app was launched on iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Nokia/Samsung phones and their review can be read here. Gaana basically allows the user to listen to songs online and competes directly with players like Saavn and Dhingana.
Here is the distribution of the downloads across various platforms:
This announcement comes along with tie ups with Yash Raj Films, Magnasound, and Unisys Infosolutions. “These tie ups will help us bring even more music to users across devices. With these partnerships, we’ve added over 50,000 songs, and one’ll notice more music across categories, from major blockbuster movies,” mentioned the release.
Gaana hasn’t spent any money on marketing but promotion via media outlets has ensured the searing growth which obviously speaks volumes about the TI clout. The latest version on the iPhone which is awaiting approval will have AirPlay enabled which allows a user to stream music from the phone to home devices. many such updates are expected from Gaana in the future.


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A firmware update for Microsoft's Surface Pro 2 appears to have drastically improved battery life, addressing one of the beefy tablet's biggest weak points.
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has more than just one plan to make it possible for electric car motorists to drive across the country.
In what appears to be a one-off incident and not a general manufacturing flaw, a passenger's iPhone 4 "self-combusted" on an Australian flight last Friday, according to an airline press release [<a href="http://www.regionalexpress.com.au/MediaRelease...
Do you know where your smartphone is? Unless you're using it to read PCWorld.com, your phone is probably plugged into an outlet somewhere to charge, because the battery stinks.
Apple is working to fix the battery problems faced by users of devices carrying its i0S 5 mobile operating system, solve a security issue with the magnetic SmartCover for the iPad 2 and add a new multi-touch feature to its original tablet.
Apple iPhone 4S users worried about the device’s battery draining rapidly can take steps to prevent the problem.
Researchers at Stanford University have used nanotechnology to create lightweight, bendable batteries out of paper.
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BBM for Android and BBM for iOS are coming later than we expected, but at least they’re still coming, according to BlackBerry.
BlackBerry Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben told Reuters October 14 that the BlackBerry Messenger apps for iOS and Android will launch “within days.”
The BBM app was supposed to make the jump off of BlackBerry and onto other platforms by the end of summer, and a launch was expected toward the end of September.
It suffered delays after an unofficial Android version was leaked, but Boulben said the issues that caused it have been fixed.
Lately BlackBerry’s had its lips sealed when it comes to BBM for iOS and Android, but Boulben’s willingness to open up a little could mean that it really is almost here.
Last we heard, the Android and iOS BBM app is expected to initially feature messaging and groups, with voice, screen share, video, and other features being added in later updates.
It’s unknown whether that’s still the case, but it sounds like we’ll find out soon.


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Mercury Finance Co. said this week that it plans to close more than a quarter of its 262 branches.
About 300 employees-one-sixth of the subprime auto lender's staff-could lose their jobs or be relocated, the company said Wednesday.
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Listen to some industry pundits and the enterprise software industry is going the way of the auto industry. There will be a handful of global powerhouses; everyone else is a supplier, distributor, or niche provider within the industry "ecosystem."
A recent Gartner market share study for middlewareÂ—the back-end infrastructure software to run business applications--indicates that the big are indeed getting bigger.
"IBM continues to gain, Microsoft becomes a contender and Oracle continues to grow," is how Gartner analyst Joanne Correia summarized last year.
The strategy for these large vendors is to bundle several well integrated products. "Do you want a good and cheap app server with that database?" an Oracle salesperson might say. Meanwhile, open-source products, notably application servers, are making it tougher to charge top dollar, particularly for low-end products.
It would seem that companies in between the full-service providers of IBM, Microsoft and Oracle and the low-end open-source alternatives will be the ones getting squeezed.
BEA Systems had a rough year with its license revenue slipping. In the integration market, WebMethods saw its market share decline, according to Gartner.
But what is cause? Are the poor showings by BEA and WebMethods last year the result of inevitable industry consolidation, or their own missteps?
What is clear is that, despite any consolidation among smaller companies, competition in the business software market is only getting tougher.


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Two big cloud service rivals, Microsoft and Salesforce.com, might be teaming up to provide enterprise customers a new way to access management tools. Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed sources, that Microsoft and Salesforce are in talks that could result in a deal to allow Salesforce's customer management tools to run on Microsoft Azure servers.
The report also says the proposed deal could integrate Salesforce's software products into Microsoft's Office programs. Spokespersons for both companies declined to comment on Bloomberg rumors. If such a partnership is announced, it would be a huge change in the relationship between the two companies. In 2010, Microsoft and Salesforce filed lawsuits against each other, accusing each other of patent infringement. However, that legal battle was settled later that year.
More recently, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has been openly critical of Microsoft and its products. In 2012, he predicted that Windows 8 would be "the end" for Microsoft's series of PC operating systems, claiming that more companies will use cloud-based solutions. In January 2014, he said Microsoft as a whole needed "to push the reset button on vision." It's possible that Benioff now feels differently about Microsoft now that it has a new CEO that previously ran the company's cloud and enterprise business.
Source: Bloomberg | Image via Salesforce.com


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CHINATOWN (KABC) -- "Sweets for the sweet." That's the longstanding motto at Phoenix Bakery in Chinatown.
"We are famous for our strawberry cream cakes, our almond cookies and our sugar butterfly," said Phoenix Bakery CEO Kathy Chan Ceppi.
The community staple is more than 80 years old.
"It was started by my mother and my father in 1938," said Ceppi.
A love for sweet treats runs in the family and for their customers too.
"We have a very loyal group of customers that are almost into their third generation here," said Ceppi.
But when the coronavirus started to become a threat, the Ceppis noticed a change in their community.
"We noticed during the Chinatown parade, there were not that many people along the entire route. And then in March, of course, we started getting all the cancellations for wedding cakes and big parties, and that's impacted our business quite a bit," said Ceppi.
The Ceppis said they've taken several steps to adjust to health guidelines. But note that not even a pandemic can stop people from celebrating.
"My parents started this in the 1930s because they knew that even in hard times people celebrated important events like birthdays, anniversaries, you know, and it holds true today," said Ceppi.


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The RV industry is optimistic that sales will continue to rise nationally as the economy starts picking up.
In 2009, DeHaan RV Center in Elkhorn stopped carrying motorhomes. Owner Kim DeHaan says people quit asking for them.
“When the economy kind of took a plunge, people were more concerned about keeping their houses and that, than keeping the big toys,” she says.
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DeHaan says they instead focused on selling trailers that can be pulled by a truck. But now, she says they’re thinking about stocking motorhomes again because the demand is back.
“People are starting to ask for them, where the last few years, they hadn’t even been coming in to inquire,” she says.
This is one sign that RV sales are picking up after the industry took a hit with the poor economy and rising gas prices. The Recreation Vehicle Industry Association says national shipments from manufacturers to dealers were up 10% this year and they expect it to go up next year.
Horns RV Center President Greg Horn says his sales are slightly up this year in Sheboygan, at a level he calls, “the new norm.” He says sales are nowhere near the levels they were at in 2005, a good time for RV dealers. Horn says RV sales are booming in some parts of the country, especially where there’s oil and natural gas fracking.
“You’re in the Dakotas, Oklahoma, you’re in some of those areas where there just isn’t a place to rent, the RV dealers are doing extremely well,” he says. “But for my little world here, 150-200 miles around Sheboygan, Wisconsin, we’re not experiencing that at all.”
Horn says core RV customers will always exist and make up about 6-7% of the population.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.


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said Lenovo brand, presumably no one does not know, Lenovo’s products in the market is also very high evaluation, sales are very large, Lenovo Group announced the fiscal year 2012 annual results. Lenovo Group’s annual sales of $29 billion 600 million, net profit of $473 million, the annual market share reached 12.9%.
Yang Yuanqing, chairman and chief executive officer of
Lenovo Group, said at the earnings conference, the Japanese TV manufacturers loss is an important reason for the high cost rate, said the Internet companies to enter the field of hardware failures.
it is reported that Yang Yuanqing has previously said that the future will be like the TV mobile phone market, smart TV to replace the traditional TV is an inevitable trend, so Lenovo early to enter into such a field, manufacturers must adapt to, he believes that domestic manufacturers in the content should be more than ready.
He believes that with the


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Two men with big-cred technology backgrounds have developed a free app and website to help high-schoolers and their parents complete today’s complicated college application process online and earn rewards at the same time.
They have raised $1.2 million in private and venture capital since March to take much of the arduous task-management steps out of the application process.
Jeff Allen, a Naperville software architect and technical director who designed the online gaming network for Microsoft’s Xbox Live, decided to tackle the problem after he was locked out of a system his daughter used with her high school guidance counselor to fill out college applications.
“I saw an opportunity to simplify an old-school, complicated process, to add parents and to add an element of gaming to help keep the kids engaged,” said Allen, 50.
Allen has partnered with co-founder Justin Shiffman, 29, of Highland Park, former CEO of ActofGood.org and son of Tiger Electronics co-founder Roger Shiffman, to start NextTier Education. The startup, based at 55 E. Jackson in the Loop, employs six people full time.
The company’s initial rollout lets students get a checklist of “to-dos” with deadlines, sortable by priority, to complete the application process at nearly all of the country’s 2,363 four-year colleges and universities.
“Our software organizes the dates and tasks, and directs students to go first to the most difficult and time-consuming,” Allen said. He noted guidance counselors typically urge students to apply to as many as eight colleges at a time, including first-choice schools along with backups.
Next year, NextTier plans to expand the database to include the country’s three-year and community colleges.
NextTier’s uniqueness is that it lets the student set up a team to help them get through the process, including parents, siblings, friends and guidance counselors.
As the student finishes each task, he or she receives a digital badge — like getting a gold star or a trophy — and, starting in the spring, may earn points that can be redeemed at major retailers for such things as a discount or a gift card.
Shiffman said NextTier aims to make money by partnering with retailers who participate in the rewards marketplace.
Allen said the aim is to let students concentrate on their future careers instead of the process to get there.


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With rolling waves, cheap beers and monitor lizards, Bali has become well known as a tourist haven. And according to Kiwi entrepreneur Scott Stratford, it also happens to be a pretty good place to start a tech business.
Marketing, advertising & media intelligence
articles tagged 'user-generated content'
Rather than commissioning a group of actors to over-emphasise the refreshing sensation of sipping on a Coke, Wieden + Kennedy instead compiled a montage of regular people giving their best "ahhhhs" after a gulp of the sugary drink.


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IRVING, Texas — Retail gasoline prices have gone up in Texas for the first time since early October.
AAA Texas on Thursday reported the average price at the pump rose a penny to reach $1.85 per gallon. Gas prices nationwide held steady at $2.04 per gallon.
Retail gasoline prices had declined for nearly four months across Texas. AAA Texas on Oct. 2 reported a 2-cent increase, to average $3.17 per gallon.
The most expensive gasoline this week statewide was in Dallas at $1.88 per gallon. San Antonio has the cheapest gasoline, at $1.80 per gallon.
AAA experts say the trend of falling weekly averages has started to ease in some states. The decline largely reflects a number of Midwestern states where prices have moved higher amid some refinery issues in the region.


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E-commerce platform Kartrocket has raised USD250,000 from 5ideas Startup Superfuel and 500 Startups. Kartrock says the investment will be used to strengthen its sales strategy and enhance the software. The Indian firm has developed a website for startups to launch online stores for both web and mobile. Customers can also integrate international payment options and implement shipping strategies.
Kartrocket says it plans to have 2,000 customers by the end of the year, having picked up more than 100 paying customers since launching in January. It lists these e-commerce startups as covering a range of sectors such as clothing and baby products.
As the demand for immediate payments implementation grows in the United States, Iliad Solutions have identified one of the largest risks to face the payments industry over the next few years.
Barclays has signed contracts with six of the fintech startups that just graduated from its second New York accelerator programme.
Company card killer Pleo has raised $3m in new funding as it prepares for public launch in the UK and Denmark.
Cheques are become less and less common in the UK according to new research from global market research firm Mintel which claims contactless card use has overtaken cheque payments in the UK for the first time.


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|By Mat Rider||
|July 29, 2014 03:00 AM EDT||
Contributed by Nick Sorensen, Chief Operations Officer at American Healthcare Lending
A lot has been said about the challenges we are collectively facing as our entire healthcare system experiences a dramatic shift on a number of fronts. At the top of the list for healthcare providers is the shift in financial responsibility for healthcare payments from payers to consumers.
As William Fox, SVP of Payment Strategy for Emdeon, said recently in an article for the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), “Healthcare providers and payers are rapidly moving into a new ecosystem – one in which providers get paid directly by consumers with high deductible plans and payers compete in a marketplace where switching plans is as easy as going online to an exchange.” He concludes his article with a rallying cry, “It’s time for healthcare to join the consumer centric revolution for its own good.”
With this rallying cry in mind, here are the three biggest consumer trends that I see impacting healthcare providers now and in the future:
The Demand for Increased Price Transparency
J.P. Morgan predicts that out-of-pocket patient payments are expected to top $420 billion by 2015—a 68% increase in just five years. Enrollment in high-deductible health plans has tripled since 2009. I don’t know about you, but as the size of my out-of-pocket responsibility continues to increase I’m going to scrutinize my healthcare purchases more and more. New technologies are set to bring price transparency to the forefront in the coming years and healthcare providers who miss adopting these technologies are going to suffer. The healthcare consumers of the future will decide to spend their healthcare dollars where they see the most value for the care they want or need.
The Shift to Mobile
In a recent global survey, FICO found that 80% of people would like the option to use their smartphones to interact with healthcare providers. According to another recent report, the number of mobile health (mHealth) apps has doubled to 100,000 since 2012. This is no surprise: as the rest of the world shifts to mobile, consumers are wanting to have mobile interactions with healthcare providers. Mobile devices are already facilitating medical consultations, pre-admissions and scheduling, financial arrangements to pay for large out-of-pocket expenses and much more. As more consumers adopt mHealth technology, things like mHealth devices and wearables that diagnose, communicate, and track your health will become more mainstream and will feed the consumer demand for a mobile experience with healthcare providers.
The Need for a Consumer-Centric Experience
When was the last time you were “wowed” by the customer service at your primary care provider or local hospital? As consumers, we have come to accept the fact that although our healthcare providers care deeply about our health and well-being, they may not have the best way of taking care of the intangibles (or tangibles for that matter) that make for a great consumer experience. As consumers move further into the spotlight of payment responsibility, healthcare providers are recognizing the need to become more like Nordstrom and Zappos in creating a company culture that is laser-focused on the consumer. This isn’t as simple as adding more call-center reps, online chat, or a tablet-based check-in system, although those things may help. Healthcare providers are going to need to undergo a massive culture shift in order to truly become consumer-centric and stay ahead of the mounting revolution.
Please visit American Healthcare Lending for more information about covering all your healthcare finances.
We welcome you to visit DocuSign’s solutions for the Healthcare industry. Please click here to learn more and please reach out with further questions in the comments below.
About the Author:
Nick Sorensen is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of American HealthCare Lending, the nation’s premier Patient Financing company and creators of the Financing as a Service™ (FaaS™) model. Surgical centers, physician groups, hospitals, and clinics throughout the country subscribe to American HealthCare Lending’s online patient financing platform in order to help their patients pay for elective surgeries, high deductibles, and large out-of-pocket medical expenses. Follow him on Twitter: @americanhcl
Temasys has announced senior management additions to its team. Joining are David Holloway as Vice President of Commercial and Nadine Yap as Vice President of Product. Over the past 12 months Temasys has doubled in size as it adds new customers and expands the development of its Skylink platform. Skylink leads the charge to move WebRTC, traditionally seen as a desktop, browser based technology, to become a ubiquitous web communications technology on web and mobile, as well as Internet of Things compatible devices.
Mar. 28, 2015 06:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,737
SYS-CON Events announced today that robomq.io will exhibit at SYS-CON's @ThingsExpo, which will take place on June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. robomq.io is an interoperable and composable platform that connects any device to any application. It helps systems integrators and the solution providers build new and innovative products and service for industries requiring monitoring or intelligence from devices and sensors.
Mar. 28, 2015 06:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,362
Wearable technology was dominant at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) , and MWC was no exception to this trend. New versions of favorites, such as the Samsung Gear (three new products were released: the Gear 2, the Gear 2 Neo and the Gear Fit), shared the limelight with new wearables like Pebble Time Steel (the new premium version of the company’s previously released smartwatch) and the LG Watch Urbane. The most dramatic difference at MWC was an emphasis on presenting wearables as fashion accessories and moving away from the original clunky technology associated with t...
Mar. 28, 2015 06:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,213
Docker is an excellent platform for organizations interested in running microservices. It offers portability and consistency between development and production environments, quick provisioning times, and a simple way to isolate services. In his session at DevOps Summit at 16th Cloud Expo, Shannon Williams, co-founder of Rancher Labs, will walk through these and other benefits of using Docker to run microservices, and provide an overview of RancherOS, a minimalist distribution of Linux designed expressly to run Docker. He will also discuss Rancher, an orchestration and service discovery platf...
Mar. 28, 2015 04:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,388
SYS-CON Events announced today that Akana, formerly SOA Software, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo® New York, which will take place June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Akana’s comprehensive suite of API Management, API Security, Integrated SOA Governance, and Cloud Integration solutions helps businesses accelerate digital transformation by securely extending their reach across multiple channels – mobile, cloud and Internet of Things. Akana enables enterprises to share data as APIs, connect and integrate applications, drive part...
Mar. 28, 2015 04:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,444
SYS-CON Events announced today that Vitria Technology, Inc. will exhibit at SYS-CON’s @ThingsExpo, which will take place on June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Vitria will showcase the company’s new IoT Analytics Platform through live demonstrations at booth #330. Vitria’s IoT Analytics Platform, fully integrated and powered by an operational intelligence engine, enables customers to rapidly build and operationalize advanced analytics to deliver timely business outcomes for use cases across the industrial, enterprise, and consumer segments.
Mar. 28, 2015 03:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,124
SYS-CON Events announced today that Solgenia will exhibit at SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, and the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Solgenia is the global market leader in Cloud Collaboration and Cloud Infrastructure software solutions. Designed to “Bridge the Gap” between Personal and Professional Social, Mobile and Cloud user experiences, our solutions help large and medium-sized organizations dr...
Mar. 28, 2015 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,713
SYS-CON Events announced today that Liaison Technologies, a leading provider of data management and integration cloud services and solutions, has been named "Silver Sponsor" of SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York, NY. Liaison Technologies is a recognized market leader in providing cloud-enabled data integration and data management solutions to break down complex information barriers, enabling enterprises to make smarter decisions, faster.
Mar. 28, 2015 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 3,396
Cloud is not a commodity. And no matter what you call it, computing doesn’t come out of the sky. It comes from physical hardware inside brick and mortar facilities connected by hundreds of miles of networking cable. And no two clouds are built the same way. SoftLayer gives you the highest performing cloud infrastructure available. One platform that takes data centers around the world that are full of the widest range of cloud computing options, and then integrates and automates everything. Join SoftLayer on June 9 at 16th Cloud Expo to learn about IBM Cloud's SoftLayer platform, explore se...
Mar. 28, 2015 02:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,582
The WebRTC Summit 2014 New York, to be held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York, NY, announces that its Call for Papers is open. Topics include all aspects of improving IT delivery by eliminating waste through automated business models leveraging cloud technologies. WebRTC Summit is co-located with 16th International Cloud Expo, @ThingsExpo, Big Data Expo, and DevOps Summit.
Mar. 28, 2015 01:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,444
@ThingsExpo has been named the Top 5 Most Influential M2M Brand by Onalytica in the ‘Machine to Machine: Top 100 Influencers and Brands.' Onalytica analyzed the online debate on M2M by looking at over 85,000 tweets to provide the most influential individuals and brands that drive the discussion. According to Onalytica the "analysis showed a very engaged community with a lot of interactive tweets. The M2M discussion seems to be more fragmented and driven by some of the major brands present in the M2M space. This really allows some room for influential individuals to create more high value inter...
Mar. 28, 2015 12:45 PM EDT Reads: 4,607
The world's leading Cloud event, Cloud Expo has launched Microservices Journal on the SYS-CON.com portal, featuring over 19,000 original articles, news stories, features, and blog entries. DevOps Journal is focused on this critical enterprise IT topic in the world of cloud computing. Microservices Journal offers top articles, news stories, and blog posts from the world's well-known experts and guarantees better exposure for its authors than any other publication. Follow new article posts on Twitter at @MicroservicesE
Mar. 28, 2015 12:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,375
SYS-CON Events announced today the IoT Bootcamp – Jumpstart Your IoT Strategy, being held June 9–10, 2015, in conjunction with 16th Cloud Expo and Internet of @ThingsExpo at the Javits Center in New York City. This is your chance to jumpstart your IoT strategy. Combined with real-world scenarios and use cases, the IoT Bootcamp is not just based on presentations but includes hands-on demos and walkthroughs. We will introduce you to a variety of Do-It-Yourself IoT platforms including Arduino, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, Spark and Intel Edison. You will also get an overview of cloud technologies s...
Mar. 28, 2015 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 2,016
SYS-CON Events announced today that SafeLogic has been named “Bag Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo® New York, which will take place June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. SafeLogic provides security products for applications in mobile and server/appliance environments. SafeLogic’s flagship product CryptoComply is a FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic engine designed to secure data on servers, workstations, appliances, mobile devices, and in the Cloud.
Mar. 28, 2015 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,363
Containers and microservices have become topics of intense interest throughout the cloud developer and enterprise IT communities. Accordingly, attendees at the upcoming 16th Cloud Expo at the Javits Center in New York June 9-11 will find fresh new content in a new track called PaaS | Containers & Microservices Containers are not being considered for the first time by the cloud community, but a current era of re-consideration has pushed them to the top of the cloud agenda. With the launch of Docker's initial release in March of 2013, interest was revved up several notches. Then late last...
Mar. 28, 2015 09:15 AM EDT Reads: 2,166
SOA Software has changed its name to Akana. With roots in Web Services and SOA Governance, Akana has established itself as a leader in API Management and is expanding into cloud integration as an alternative to the traditional heavyweight enterprise service bus (ESB). The company recently announced that it achieved more than 90% year-over-year growth. As Akana, the company now addresses the evolution and diversification of SOA, unifying security, management, and DevOps across SOA, APIs, microservices, and more.
Mar. 28, 2015 08:30 AM EDT Reads: 2,006
After making a doctor’s appointment via your mobile device, you receive a calendar invite. The day of your appointment, you get a reminder with the doctor’s location and contact information. As you enter the doctor’s exam room, the medical team is equipped with the latest tablet containing your medical history – he or she makes real time updates to your medical file. At the end of your visit, you receive an electronic prescription to your preferred pharmacy and can schedule your next appointment.
Mar. 28, 2015 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 597
GENBAND has announced that SageNet is leveraging the Nuvia platform to deliver Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) to its large base of retail and enterprise customers. Nuvia’s cloud-based solution provides SageNet’s customers with a full suite of business communications and collaboration tools. Two large national SageNet retail customers have recently signed up to deploy the Nuvia platform and the company will continue to sell the service to new and existing customers. Nuvia’s capabilities include HD voice, video, multimedia messaging, mobility, conferencing, Web collaboration, deskt...
Mar. 28, 2015 01:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,405
The Open Compute Project is a collective effort by Facebook and a number of players in the datacenter industry to bring lessons learned from the social media giant's giant IT deployment to the rest of the world. Datacenters account for 3% of global electricity consumption – about the same as all of Switzerland or the Czech Republic -- according to people I met at the recent Open Compute Summit in San Jose. With increasing mobility at the edge of the cloud and vast new dataflows being predicted with the growth of the Internet of Things (and The Coming Age of Many Zettabytes) in the near...
Mar. 28, 2015 01:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,788
The list of ‘new paradigm’ technologies that now surrounds us appears to be at an all time high. From cloud computing and Big Data analytics to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and the Internet of Things (IoT), today we have to deal with what the industry likes to call ‘paradigm shifts’ at every level of IT. This is disruption; of course, we understand that – change is almost always disruptive.
Mar. 27, 2015 08:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,022


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|By Business Wire||
|February 13, 2013 11:21 AM EST||
Please replace the graphic with the accompanying corrected pdf.
The corrected release reads:
CIGNA: CONSUMER-DRIVEN HEALTH PLANS FLOURISH DESPITE DIFFICULT ECONOMY, INCREASING REGULATIONS
- Cigna CDHP customer base grew 26 percent in 2012
- Cigna Study: CDHP customers lowered their costs an average of 13 percent while improving their health profile
- CDHP customers are more engaged in making informed health care choices
In the face of another year of economic volatility and legislative and regulatory change, Cigna's consumer-driven health plan (CDHP) participation grew by 26 percent during 2012, resulting in one-in-five Cigna customers now participating in a Health Savings Account (HSA) or Health Reimbursement Account (HRA).
“The growth of consumer-driven health plans continues because they help customers reduce their health risks and improve the quality and efficiency of their care, which result in lowering their total medical costs,” said Cigna President and Chief Executive, David M. Cordani. “The evidence in our Seventh Annual Cigna Choice Fund Experience Study is clear, consistent and compelling: our CDHP customers are more engaged with their health and health spending, they spend less to receive the same levels of recommended care, and are more satisfied with their health care experience.”
Released today, the Seventh Annual Cigna Choice Fund Experience Study compares the actual claims experience of more than 2.5 million Cigna customers who are enrolled in either a CDHP, a traditional PPO or HMO health plan. The annual study provides empirical evidence that properly designed CDHP plans improve total medical cost without compromising care or shifting costs from the employer to employees.
According to the study, when compared to customers in traditional PPO and HMO plans, those in a CDHP:
- Lowered their health risks: Cigna CDHP customers lowered their risk of developing or worsening a chronic condition. According to the study, when employers fully transitioned to offering only a CDHP option, individuals improved their health risk profile by 12 percent in the first year compared to customers in a traditional plan.
- Reduced total medical costs: Cigna CDHP medical cost trend was 13 percent lower than traditional plans during the first year: costs were 20 percent lower for HSA customers and 11 percent lower for HRA participants. Cost reductions were achieved without employers shifting out-of-pocket health expenses to their employees. Notably 75 percent of HSA customers contribute more to their accounts than they spend.
- More engaged in health improvement: Cigna CDHP customers were twice as likely to complete a health risk assessment and CDHP customers with a chronic illness are up to 25 percent more likely to participate in a disease management program than those enrolled in a traditional plan.
- Were more likely to compare cost and quality: Cigna CDHP customers were 59% more likely to use the directory to access cost and procedure information to help them review potential medical costs.
- Were more savvy consumers of health care: Customers with Cigna Choice Fund plans and Cigna pharmacy benefits were more likely to choose generic medications compared to those in a traditional plan. In addition, CDHP customers used the emergency room at a six percent lower rate than individuals enrolled in HMO and PPO plans.
- Received higher levels of care: Cigna CDHP customers had consistent or higher compliance with over 300 evidenced-based medical best practices than their counterparts in traditional plans. Cigna CDHP customers also sought preventive care, such as annual office visits and mammograms, more frequently than customers enrolled in a traditional plan.
One company that is utilizing Cigna’s Choice Fund consumer-driven health plans is JPMorgan Chase, a leading global financial management firm. According to JPMorgan Chase Healthcare & Insurance Plans Manager, Kathy Roehrig: “JPMorgan Chase opted for fully replacing our medical plan options with consumer-driven health options in order to encourage our employees and their families to focus more on the current status of their health, to improve or maintain that status (for those that were healthy) over the short and long term, and to become educated consumers of health care services by using providers/drugs that are considered quality and cost effective alternatives.”
“While we just completed our first year under the new plan, we’ve seen many people taking steps to monitor and improve their health, including receiving age- and gender-appropriate preventive care screenings at rates above industry averages, increased visits to a primary care physician, good usage of Wellness Screenings where 14% of those screened learned about a health risk for the first time, and increased usage of generic medications,” Roehrig said. “We feel providing appropriate access to quality health care providers, information regarding the quality and cost of those various providers, and appropriate health and condition management coaching programs are important components to our success. Incentives and communications are used to encourage our employees to better understand their options and make decisions that are right for them and their families.”
Cigna continues to improve its CDHP offering, including a new, free myCigna Mobile App for customers to help manage their health plan benefits to:
- find a doctor using Cigna’s award-winning physician directory,
- access ID cards in one convenient location,
- view and manage account balances and deductibles,
- look up medical, dental and pharmacy claims,
- research and compare drug prices at 60,000 pharmacies
Cigna Corporation (NYSE: CI) is a global health service company dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense of security. All products and services are provided exclusively through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation, including Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company, Life Insurance Company of North America, Cigna Life Insurance Company of New York and their affiliates. Such products and services include an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy and vision care benefits, and other related products including group disability, life, and accident coverage. Cigna has sales capability in 30 countries and jurisdictions, with approximately 75 million customer relationships throughout the world. To learn more about Cigna®, including links to follow us on Facebook or Twitter, visit www.cigna.com.
About JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.4 trillion and operations worldwide. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. More information is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.
App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Google Play is a trademark of Google Inc.
The downloading and use of these Apps is subject to the terms and conditions of the Apps and the online stores from which they are downloaded. Standard mobile phone carrier and data usage charges apply.
Actual myCigna mobile app features available may vary depending on your plan. The listing of a health care professional or facility in the mobile directories available through the myCigna mobile app does not guarantee that the services rendered by that professional or facility are covered under your specific medical plan. Check your official plan documents, or call the number listed on your ID card, for information about the services covered under your plan benefits.
Too often with compelling new technologies market participants become overly enamored with that attractiveness of the technology and neglect underlying business drivers. This tendency, what some call the “newest shiny object syndrome,” is understandable given that virtually all of us are heavily engaged in technology. But it is also mistaken. Without concrete business cases driving its deployment, IoT, like many other technologies before it, will fade into obscurity.
Sep. 3, 2015 04:30 PM EDT Reads: 428
All major researchers estimate there will be tens of billions devices - computers, smartphones, tablets, and sensors - connected to the Internet by 2020. This number will continue to grow at a rapid pace for the next several decades. With major technology companies and startups seriously embracing IoT strategies, now is the perfect time to attend @ThingsExpo, November 3-5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Learn what is going on, contribute to the discussions, and ensure that your enterprise is as "IoT-Ready" as it can be.
Sep. 3, 2015 04:15 PM EDT
Containers are not new, but renewed commitments to performance, flexibility, and agility have propelled them to the top of the agenda today. By working without the need for virtualization and its overhead, containers are seen as the perfect way to deploy apps and services across multiple clouds. Containers can handle anything from file types to operating systems and services, including microservices. What are microservices? Unlike what the name implies, microservices are not necessarily small, but are focused on specific tasks. The ability for developers to deploy multiple containers – thous...
Sep. 3, 2015 04:00 PM EDT Reads: 138
The 3rd International WebRTC Summit, to be held Nov. 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, announces that its Call for Papers is now open. Topics include all aspects of improving IT delivery by eliminating waste through automated business models leveraging cloud technologies. WebRTC Summit is co-located with 15th International Cloud Expo, 6th International Big Data Expo, 3rd International DevOps Summit and 2nd Internet of @ThingsExpo. WebRTC (Web-based Real-Time Communication) is an open source project supported by Google, Mozilla and Opera that aims to enable bro...
Sep. 3, 2015 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,604
As more and more data is generated from a variety of connected devices, the need to get insights from this data and predict future behavior and trends is increasingly essential for businesses. Real-time stream processing is needed in a variety of different industries such as Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Automobile, Finance, Online Retail, Smart Grids, and Healthcare. Azure Stream Analytics is a fully managed distributed stream computation service that provides low latency, scalable processing of streaming data in the cloud with an enterprise grade SLA. It features built-in integration with Azur...
Sep. 3, 2015 02:45 PM EDT Reads: 386
SYS-CON Events announced today that HPM Networks will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. For 20 years, HPM Networks has been integrating technology solutions that solve complex business challenges. HPM Networks has designed solutions for both SMB and enterprise customers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Sep. 3, 2015 02:30 PM EDT Reads: 962
With the proliferation of connected devices underpinning new Internet of Things systems, Brandon Schulz, Director of Luxoft IoT – Retail, will be looking at the transformation of the retail customer experience in brick and mortar stores in his session at @ThingsExpo. Questions he will address include: Will beacons drop to the wayside like QR codes, or be a proximity-based profit driver? How will the customer experience change in stores of all types when everything can be instrumented and analyzed? As an area of investment, how might a retail company move towards an innovation methodolo...
Sep. 3, 2015 02:30 PM EDT Reads: 509
SYS-CON Events announced today the Containers & Microservices Bootcamp, being held November 3-4, 2015, in conjunction with 17th Cloud Expo, @ThingsExpo, and @DevOpsSummit at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. This is your chance to get started with the latest technology in the industry. Combined with real-world scenarios and use cases, the Containers and Microservices Bootcamp, led by Janakiram MSV, a Microsoft Regional Director, will include presentations as well as hands-on demos and comprehensive walkthroughs.
Sep. 3, 2015 02:15 PM EDT Reads: 413
Contrary to mainstream media attention, the multiple possibilities of how consumer IoT will transform our everyday lives aren’t the only angle of this headline-gaining trend. There’s a huge opportunity for “industrial IoT” and “Smart Cities” to impact the world in the same capacity – especially during critical situations. For example, a community water dam that needs to release water can leverage embedded critical communications logic to alert the appropriate individuals, on the right device, as soon as they are needed to take action.
Sep. 3, 2015 01:30 PM EDT
WebRTC services have already permeated corporate communications in the form of videoconferencing solutions. However, WebRTC has the potential of going beyond and catalyzing a new class of services providing more than calls with capabilities such as mass-scale real-time media broadcasting, enriched and augmented video, person-to-machine and machine-to-machine communications. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Luis Lopez, CEO of Kurento, will introduce the technologies required for implementing these ideas and some early experiments performed in the Kurento open source software community in areas ...
Sep. 3, 2015 01:15 PM EDT Reads: 104
SYS-CON Events announced today that Pythian, a global IT services company specializing in helping companies leverage disruptive technologies to optimize revenue-generating systems, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 17th Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Founded in 1997, Pythian is a global IT services company that helps companies compete by adopting disruptive technologies such as cloud, Big Data, advanced analytics, and DevOps to advance innovation and increase agility. Specializing in designing, imple...
Sep. 3, 2015 01:00 PM EDT Reads: 367
Consumer IoT applications provide data about the user that just doesn’t exist in traditional PC or mobile web applications. This rich data, or “context,” enables the highly personalized consumer experiences that characterize many consumer IoT apps. This same data is also providing brands with unprecedented insight into how their connected products are being used, while, at the same time, powering highly targeted engagement and marketing opportunities. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Nathan Treloar, President and COO of Bebaio, will explore examples of brands transforming their businesses by t...
Sep. 3, 2015 12:30 PM EDT Reads: 285
In his session at @ThingsExpo, Lee Williams, a producer of the first smartphones and tablets, will talk about how he is now applying his experience in mobile technology to the design and development of the next generation of Environmental and Sustainability Services at ETwater. He will explain how M2M controllers work through wirelessly connected remote controls; and specifically delve into a retrofit option that reverse-engineers control codes of existing conventional controller systems so they don't have to be replaced and are instantly converted to become smart, connected devices.
Sep. 3, 2015 12:00 PM EDT Reads: 251
With the Apple Watch making its way onto wrists all over the world, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a staple in the workplace. In fact, Forrester reported that 68 percent of technology and business decision-makers characterize wearables as a top priority for 2015. Recognizing their business value early on, FinancialForce.com was the first to bring ERP to wearables, helping streamline communication across front and back office functions. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Kevin Roberts, GM of Platform at FinancialForce.com, will discuss the value of business applications on wearable ...
Sep. 3, 2015 10:45 AM EDT
SYS-CON Events announced today that Micron Technology, Inc., a global leader in advanced semiconductor systems, will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Micron’s broad portfolio of high-performance memory technologies – including DRAM, NAND and NOR Flash – is the basis for solid state drives, modules, multichip packages and other system solutions. Backed by more than 35 years of technology leadership, Micron's memory solutions enable the world's most innovative computing, consumer,...
Sep. 3, 2015 10:00 AM EDT Reads: 282
17th Cloud Expo, taking place Nov 3-5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. Cloud computing is now being embraced by a majority of enterprises of all sizes. Yesterday's debate about public vs. private has transformed into the reality of hybrid cloud: a recent survey shows that 74% of enterprises have a hybrid cloud strategy. Meanwhile, 94% of enterprises are using some form of XaaS – software, platform, and infrastructure as a service.
Sep. 3, 2015 10:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,603
As more intelligent IoT applications shift into gear, they’re merging into the ever-increasing traffic flow of the Internet. It won’t be long before we experience bottlenecks, as IoT traffic peaks during rush hours. Organizations that are unprepared will find themselves by the side of the road unable to cross back into the fast lane. As billions of new devices begin to communicate and exchange data – will your infrastructure be scalable enough to handle this new interconnected world?
Sep. 3, 2015 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 202
While many app developers are comfortable building apps for the smartphone, there is a whole new world out there. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Narayan Sainaney, Co-founder and CTO of Mojio, will discuss how the business case for connected car apps is growing and, with open platform companies having already done the heavy lifting, there really is no barrier to entry.
Sep. 3, 2015 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 211
SYS-CON Events announced today that the "Second Containers & Microservices Expo" will take place November 3-5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Containers and microservices have become topics of intense interest throughout the cloud developer and enterprise IT communities.
Sep. 3, 2015 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 651
Manufacturing connected IoT versions of traditional products requires more than multiple deep technology skills. It also requires a shift in mindset, to realize that connected, sensor-enabled “things” act more like services than what we usually think of as products. In his session at @ThingsExpo, David Friedman, CEO and co-founder of Ayla Networks, will discuss how when sensors start generating detailed real-world data about products and how they’re being used, smart manufacturers can use the data to create additional revenue streams, such as improved warranties or premium features. Or slash...
Sep. 3, 2015 09:15 AM EDT


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Apple on Tuesday released iOS 7.1.1, a minor update for its mobile operating system that's intended to address a few bugs, including an issue that could affect keyboard responsiveness, while also further improving the performance of the iPhone 5s Touch ID fingerprint sensor.
iOS 7.1.1 is now available through Software Update in the Settings application on an iPhone or iPad. Documentation accompanying the update says it contains "improvements, bug fixes and security updates."
Apple has said that iPhone 5s owners will also see further improvements to Touch ID fingerprint recognition after installing the update — something the company has continuously done since the launch of the handset last year. The update is also said to fix an issue that could arise when using Bluetooth keyboards while VoiceOver is enabled.
Alongside today's iOS 7.1.1 update, Apple also issued Security Update 2014-002 1.0 for OS X. It includes Safari 7.0.3.— Tip AppleInsider (@TipAppleInsider) April 22, 2014
The latest iOS update follows March's release of iOS 7.1, a significant upgrade that addressed a number of issues that had lingered since last fall's debut of iOS 7. In particular, iOS 7.1 fixed a number of crash-related issues that iPhone and iPad users were experiencing while using the multitasking view and browsing the web in Safari.
Apple TV 6.1.1 update is also available for 2nd- and 3rd-generation units. Apple has not provided any details on what changes it may include— Tip AppleInsider (@TipAppleInsider) April 22, 2014
iOS 7.1 also brought improvements for Siri and Touch ID, and also set the stage for the launch of CarPlay in supported vehicles and aftermarket install kits later this year.
As for the next major update to iOS, Apple is expected to introduce its eight-generation mobile operating system at the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The conference will kick off on June 2, likely with a keynote presentation to formally unveil iOS 8, along with any other products the company may have in the works.


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Apple on Monday finally announced that public transit directions will soon be available in Apple Maps. Public transit will launch in select cities initially.
You can also search for directions that only use public transit or walking, and you’ll see a brief list of all the steps you need to take — just like on Google Maps. Unlike Google Maps, however, Apple will show you all of the entrances and exists into each transit station.
The first markets that will offer public transit directions include Baltimore, Berlin, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, London, Toronto, Mexico City and Washington, D.C. That’s in addition to even more that will be available in China.


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One of the UK???s flagship social enterprises, Bulky Bob???s, has recycled its millionth item of bulky household waste on behalf of the people of Liverpool.
This milestone event comes hot on the heels of the announcement by Liverpool City Council that the famous bulky household waste collection service will continue to be free to all Liverpool residents.
A recent council budget proposal suggested a possible fee for Bulky Bob???s collections. But councillor Joe Anderson has now confirmed that the service will remain free of charge.
Bulky Bob???s, a social enterprise based in Brunswick Dock, has carried out bulky household waste collections for Liverpool City Council for the past 11 years, making over half a million collections and collecting over 1.8 million items. It has now saved one million items from landfill ??? dubbed ???pre-loved??? furniture, much of which has been donated free of charge to local families in crisis.
CEO Shaun Doran said: ???We are delighted to hit such a milestone of recycling and we are also very pleased to be able to continue to collect items for free from Liverpool homes. Our service helps the city to reduce its landfill costs, increase its recycling rates, keep fly-tipping rates low, and offer a very valuable service to the residents.
???We also work hard to direct our pre-loved furniture to low-income families through our shop on London Road and we also run a furniture roadshow called Bulky Bob???s on the Road which makes available affordable furniture to people who may find it difficult to travel into the city centre.
???We are always looking for new and creative ways to reuse and recycle as much as we can from the items we collect and these latest figures demonstrate our success.???
Councillor Joe Anderson, leader of Liverpool City Council, said: ???Bulky Bob???s offers a great service to our residents on behalf of the City Council and we are very pleased to be able to continue to offer this service free of charge. Their recycling rates are very impressive and I would like to congratulate the whole team on this landmark achievement.???
Bulky Bob???s collects a wide range of bulky household waste items, including furniture, white goods and much more. Everything that is collected is assessed to decide whether it can be sent to Bulky Bob???s store on London Road, where it is sold at a low price, primarily to low income families or will be broken up so components such as metal or wood can be recycled.
Their overall recycling rate is 70% of everything that they collect, which they claim is the highest recycling rate in the country for this type of service.


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This post is also available in: Sinhala
Workshop on University-Industry Collaborative Research for industry professionals, organized under the MoU between the Faculty of Managment Studies and Commerce of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Sheffield Hallam University, UK, was held on 12th September 2018 at the new boardroom of the Sri Soratha Building.
Prof. Sampath Amaratunge, Vice-chancellor of the University, Dr. U. Anura Kumara, Dean of the Faculty of Managment Studies and Commerce graced the event. Also, the workshop was attended by academic members of the faculty and industry professionals.
The purpose of the workshop was to explore potential research opportunities available in the industry for the fields of operations Managment and Supply Chain and to understand the industry expert’s attitude towards the university-industry collaborative research.


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As predicted …
Read and contribute to the 44 readers' comments ↓
As predicted by many VentnorBlog readers earlier in this week, the new retail space beside Newport Football ground will be an ASDA Supermarket.
Thursday, 9th December, 2010 5:37pm
By Simon Perry
Filed under: Island-wide, Isle of Wight News, Newport
44 Comments on "Asda, Newport Confirmed: Well Done VB Readers!"
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BTW – the land is currently owned by the IW council/tax payers.
As we owned it perhaps George (yes he is a freemason) could tell us who tendered and what we
local ratepayers received for the site
No doubt George wont tell us using confidentiality
As for all the extra jobs what a joke
Well predicted Gordon: Cllr. Brown says that the Council will not reveal how much it received but it has explained that the money cannot be used to alleviate the current financial crisis.
Maybe it will go to pay off some of the Â£122M loan which currently costs us over half a million every month in interest.
Will we ever know what came in and where it went ?
Excellent!! Love Asda!
Part of the Walmart corporation, who treat their staff like scum.
Where are the facts of that alegation?
Here we go, another scare-mongerer to add to the mix!
You need to get out more!
I think the internet tends to agree with Robbo.
“Where are the facts of that allegation?”
You could start here:
Asda will have to manage without my custom…
Just right for sacked council employees. They already know how it feels.
Walmart have something in common with our Council.
There’s a large employer already on the Island hwo does the same so we should be used to it!
And Robbo? Why do you always “Tick your own comment”?? ha ha ha
I ticked it
It wasn’t a joke I ticked it as I agree
I ticked it too. The allegations are true – walmart has a long sodden history of scumbag behaviour.
I know and tax avoiders. Another dodgy delegated decision, has he actually come clean about being a freemason yet or are we still awaiting confirmation?
At least soon we can protest in support of the UK Uncut campaign here on the Island!
I ticked it too! Spot on Robbo.
I think it’s unfair to single out Asda as tax avoiders on an Island where so many businesses do deals for cash. I’ve come across quite a few, believe me!
A-Non, You make it sound like accepting cash is illegal, Last time I checked it was still legal tender. Know summit we don’t?
Do we really need another supermarket ?
Is there a shortage ?
Ah yes, we need competition: it will reduce prices, close shops in Newport, use masses of materials and energy to build an out-of-town store that will lead to more cars and more pollution and more congestion and more……choice !
Nice to hear that the Chamber of Commerce are supporting Asda rather than the many small businesses in Newport (and the rest of the Island) who will lose out because of this proliferation of massive supermarkets.
Nice one Zoe.
No doubt the iw chamber will be hoping ASDA join to make up for the small shops bankrupted by the big supermarkets.
Asda isn’t due to open until the end of 2012, so all those people excited about getting work there need to hope that they haven’t gone bankrupt before then.
Anything that creates 450 jobs is a good thing for the island! can’t really get my head round why a few folk are being negative about it! your not forced to shop there!! :-)
I thought Asda was a northern company!
As da any pigs trotters lad?
Their HQ is in Leeds I believe, so not as Northern as Southern Vectis whose parent co is based in Newcastle.
So, we lose 500 public service jobs and gain 450 Asda checkout jobs. George Brown and David Pugh must be delighted that the private sector are helping them out at this difficult time :(
Yes, but will the wages be the same?
I strongly agree, local shops should be morel like us hauliers, we work seven days a week and well into the evening and all night. My local butcher is very good, but he shuts at 4pm on weekdays and 12 noon on a Saturday. This means I miss him, buying a lot from the supermarket instead.
Has anyone heard anymore on Asda coming to Newport? Read that a public consultation would be held in the first quarter of this year. Been hearing rumours too that Asda couldn’t get planning for the size store they wanted. Seems odd nothing since has been announced since.
I think its more to do with parking