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With the country shut down for the week-long national "golden holiday," the latest edition of Gamasutra's regular 'The China Angle' column
has Pacific Epoch's Shang Koo looking into golden holiday promotions both in-game and out, and the wider world of game-related product licensing that goes far further than just Coca Cola and WoW
China shut down this week as the country celebrates the seven day National Day holiday. During most years, the seven day “golden holiday” marks a mass migration as everyone leaves for vacation. This year, Mid-Autumn festival (according to the mysterious lunar calendar) falls in between the holiday, forcing many would-be travelers to stay at home for China’s version of Thanksgiving/Christmas.
Mid-Autumn festival gives China’s online game companies an excuse to launch in-game promotions. It seems the creative game designers went on vacation early, as few of the online games had anything more interesting than a special quest or special item revolving around the holiday’s fruit cake analogue - moon cakes.
The moon cakes (edible ones, not the virtual ones) did give an unscientific, but telling sense of game popularity. Our office received its fair share of moon cakes from the companies we cover. By far the most popular were The9’s World of Warcraft
themed moon cakes. We still have not tasted those moon cakes, as everyone in the office had at least half a dozen friends that wanted one for their WoW
collection. While we are usually not susceptible to bribes, the WoW
moon cakes earned some brownie points.
themed moon cakes only scratches the surface of WoW’s
licensing potential. Like the rest of the world, The9 partners with Coca Cola for WoW
promotions. Following suit, Pepsi and a half a dozen bottled water and iced tea drink makers carved out their own online game partnerships. In 2005, Pepsi settled for the largest online game at the time – Shanda. The top Chinese online company in 2006, Netease, signed with sports drink and bottled water maker Robust. Online game and office productivity suite maker Kingsoft may have gotten the most value by partnering with popular ice-tea and instant noodle maker Uni-President.
The cola wars go beyond co-branding with online games; one of the key battlefields is the distribution network for Internet cafe concessions. Internet cafes are China’s equivalent of shopping malls, and are the home away from home for China’s younger generations. Most popular activities in Internet cafes are playing online games, watching movies on the PCs, chatting online, and smoking. Most popular purchases in the cafes are prepaid online game cards, soft drinks, instant noodles, and cigarettes. Instant messaging platform provider Tencent already has a toehold in instant noodles, with QQ branded instant noodles. Cigarette co-branding is the last frontier.
Recently, Chinese cigarette producer Huang Guo Shu Group sponsored a competition for Beijing online game operator Guang Yu Hua Xia's 2D Q-style MMORPG Ask Tao
. Huang Guo Shu Group will award 100,000 Yuan to the competition winners. It is only a matter of time before Marlboro cowboys appear as NPCs in an online game.
[Shang Koo is an editor at Shanghai-based Pacific Epoch, and oversees research and daily news content on China's new media industries, with a concentration in online games. Pacific Epoch itself provides investment and trade news and publishes a number of subscription products regarding the Chinese technology market.]


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Apple Samsung Fight Sees Galaxy Tab 7.7 Pulled In Germany
It appears that old Samsung’s fight with Apple over Galaxy products looking like the iPhone and Apple iPad has taken yet another turn, causing Samsung to remove their latest slate, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 from being on show at IFA in Berlin.
According to the guys over at Slash Gear then latest move in the Apple versus Samsung patent spat saw old Sammy cover up or remove any mention of the Android Honeycomb tablet from their stand at IFA 2011.
Brendon Gore, a spokesperson for Samsung Europe said, “Samsung has removed the Galaxy Tab 7.7 from our stand at IFA. We cannot make any further comment as we have not received an official statement from the court.”
Samsung officially announced the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 along with the Samsung Galaxy Note 5.3 on Thursday, and Gore made it clear that the removal of anything to do with the Galaxy Tab 7.7 was a voluntary move by Samsung and not at the request of any court.
Although not official, it would seem that Samsung is expecting the same attempt by Apple to seek an injunction to halt the sales of the Galaxy Tab 7.7 in Germany just like that have with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 although there is currently no word from the court on the matter.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5.3 and the Samsung Wave 3 remain on display at IFA 2011 in Berlin, and it is only the 7.7-inch slate Samsung has decided to remove at this point until such times as the court’s officially announcement comes in.
Whether the Samsung Galaxy Note 5.3 will be added to Apple’s growing list of alleged patent infringing Samsung products at some point remains to be seen.

domain: news


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06.08.20 - Huawei launched a major public relations campaign in the United Kingdom on Monday in a bid to persuade British politicians and the public that it can be trusted to help build the country's 5G network.
The Chinese telecom giant said it plans to take out a series of full-page advertisements in most of the UK's national newspapers and online for the next three to four weeks in a campaign it's calling "The Commitment."
It comes as the United Kingdom undertakes a new security review of the company, just four months after Prime Minister Boris Johnson shrugged off US objections and granted Huawei a limited role in building out the next generation of super-fast interconnected wireless networks.
Johnson had announced a 35% cap on Huawei's involvement in Britain's 5G network, but he's under pressure from some lawmakers within his own party to ban the Chinese telecommunications company altogether.
The US Commerce Department said last month it was moving to restrict Huawei's ability to manufacture and obtain semiconductor chips using American-made software and technology. The new UK review is looking into any impact the US restrictions could have on UK networks
Under Chinese law, Chinese companies can be ordered to act under the direction of Beijing. Huawei has consistently denied that it would help the Chinese government to spy, and says it is "100% owned by employees."


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Elden Ring Devs Accuse FromSoftware Of Crunch Culture
There's no doubt that Elden Ring sits atop the "best games" lists for 2022 for many - and who could blame them?
The title's transformation of the Dark Souls setup to a vast and sprawling open-world that encourages exploration and total freedom was something we'd never seen before. For months, Elden Ring dominated the internet and the gaming industry's consciousness.
Elden Ring is a breathtaking adventure - so there's truly no room to be surprised by the fact that it's already being praised as one of the best games ever made. This makes new reports of crunch and low pay at FromSoftware sting all the more.
Does FromSoftware Have A Crunch Culture?
Recently, job reviews from ex-FromSoft employees between 2012 and 2019 have emerged online. They claim the company has a poor habit of forcing its employees into a crunch and not compensating them for their work well enough.
These reviews spurred GamesIndustry.biz to investigate, with its own report bringing up some alarming claims from existing and ex-staff members of the game developer.
Though crunching in FromSoftware seems to depend on the department, one staffer said that "during critical periods of game releases, I often had to work early mornings and overtime for two to three months."
Staff members working overtime would reportedly be paid half their regular wage per hour after their contracted hours, which is particularly bizarre as Japan tends to amp up its pay after midnight. One source stated that FromSoftware's salary is "not adequate."
FromSoftware Staff Compare Working On Elden Ring To Beating A Dark Souls Boss
We're sure this was meant in a nice way, but that's not exactly how it comes off. "There's a lot of struggle to get things right, but if you get over the hump it is very satisfying," says one employee. "It's just like you defeated a boss in Dark Souls." Um… that's not a good thing.
The site says it had repeatedly reached out for comment, but FromSoftware hasn't responded. It's true that Bandai Namco offered a pay rise following Elden Ring's success, but these claims shed new light on the situation.
It's pretty bleak that this is the way that employees see their work at FromSoftware, even if they're coating it in jokes. Until the developer responds, this is the vision of the company we have. And it's not a good one.


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A completely new concept brings some rides to the city.
After the cancelation of the Oktoberfest, many showmen saw their businesses in danger. Therefore, the city quickly put a concept together to allow them to set up their rides and stands spread all over the city. The name’s concept is “Sommer in der Stadt” (Summer in the City) and will take place between July 24 and October 4.
Initially, the event was planned to end on September 6. However, Munich seems to be such a favorable place that the city decided to just extend this year's summer until October 4.
Larger rides can be found at the locations: Rio Rapidos, Willenborg’s yellow Ferris wheel, and some smaller rides are located at Coubertinplatz, right in front of the Olympic Stadium.
South of the Olympic Park, where the Tollwood festival normally takes place, there are two rides that premiered at the last Oktoberfest, Heidi – the Coaster and Bayerntower, as well as Break Dancer, Freestyle, and the Weißbiergarten that you may know from the Frühlingsfest or Oktoberfest.
At Königsplatz, there's a new Ferris wheel, also owned by Willenborg, as well as Pirateninsel and some smaller rides.
From September 11 to October 25, another fairground will be added in the Weksviertel. There be several rides and booths, among them the wild mouse rollercoaster Wilde Maus and "Hangover The Tower" (sometimes, you'd like to listen to the discussions that lead to those ride names...), a free fall tower that is new to Munich but very similar to the well-known Skyfall.
Although the Auer Dults had to be canceled as well this year, some market booths can still be found at Mariahilfplatz. Additionally, there are some at Orleansplatz, Wittelsbacherplatz, and three at Weißenburger Platz.
While the market at the Wittelsbacherplatz will close on September 6, there will be a Kirchweihdult from October 17 to 25 as you're used to at the Mariahilfplatz. Only the number of booths will be reduced to a third to be able to space out.
It's announced that some of the regular beer gardens in Munich participate at Sommer in der Stadt as well. However, nothing about that is known yet. Nonetheless, Sommer in der Stadt has some (mostly temporary) beer gardens on its own. The Olympic Park has a beer garden right at the Olympic lake and one next to the Olympic hall in front of the Ferris wheel.
South of the Olympic Park, you'll find the Münchner Weißbiergarten, which you may already know from the Oktoberfest or the Frühlingsfest, and a wine garden.
At Orleansplatz there's a nice beer garden between trees and some food booths. Wittelsbacherplatz also features a small beer garden.
Unfortunately, the beer garden at Königsplatz is fully covered which makes it hard to appreciate its great location.
At Mariahilplafz you'll find a beer garden run by Fischer-Vroni just as you're used to from the regular Auer Dult.
Traditional elements and other things that are missing
At the moment, there are no traditional elements to Sommer in der Stadt. The Festring, the organizer of the Trachten- und Schützenzug and parts of the Oide Wiesn, announced to announce a traditional program but hasn't done that yet.
Additionally, the locations Schneckenplatz, Werksviertel, and Friedensengel aren't used yet.


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You can’t open Instagram lately without seeing a celebrity or major beauty brand selling supplements. Beauty supplements aren’t a new concept, in fact it’s been available in drugstores for years now. But the sudden social media blow is due to celebrity endorsements, and social media influencers itself introducing their own supplements.
So what are these supplements, are they legit or just a scam on your hard earned money? Let’s take a look at what’s been circulating online on this topic


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As their influence grows, bloggers such as ones from The Blonde Salad to Gary Pepper are increasingly present at recent fashion shows. And designer brands are taking note by forming year-round partnership deals with them.
The fashion bloggers are paid via affiliate marketing arrangements with the brands, which — in simple terms — involves technology platforms that pay the bloggers a commission each time they refer to a brand or retail site.
And it is big business. Forrester Research expects spending on affiliate marketing to reach $4.5 billion in 2016.
But it is a tricky endeavor — coming at a time when the fashion industry seems to be seeking a transformation — that requires a high-degree of authenticity between the blogger and the brand, according to bloggers, who add that readers are keen enough to know when a writer is touting a brand just to make a buck versus truly liking the brand or product.
“Followers are smart and it is important to work with brands that [bloggers] truly believe in,” said Heidi Nazarudin of theambitionista.com who is also cofounder of Blogger Babes, which is an association of more than 5,000 lifestyle bloggers. “Followers know the difference, so the [content] must be authentic.”
To that end, Nazarudin has a screening process: when approached by a brand, she immediately asks herself if it is a brand that she would wear or use. Adam Weiss, general manager of Affiliate Network at Rakuten Marketing, said the partnerships are “a huge value-add for brands.”
“There’s a growing desire from brands to have editorial content,” Weiss said. “But it has to be authentic and sincere. So, if a blogger looks to [monetize] their site that’s where we come in.”
Through Rakuten Marketing’s Affiliate Network, bloggers and brands can track and report referrals, and then issue commissions. Nazarudin said the process is simple, “which allows me to spend time on the editorial.”
Weiss said fashion blogging is changing the way brand marketers think about affiliate marketing because it essentially creates an advertising channel that is not disruptive to the blogger or the consumer.


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Vermont has maple syrup, Alaska has birch tree syrup and now Utah has its own distinctive offering — pine syrup made from the sap of the Blue spruce, the official state tree.
The eco-friendly pine syrup is being produced by Edible Wilds, a small company based in Eden. Owner Steve Golieb said to make the all-natural syrup, the company collects just the bottom branches of blue spruce trees and then boils the sap. The process leaves the tree intact, he said. "No tapping or drilling holes into the tree."
The syrup has a unique taste — slightly minty and pine-like, but with a sweet finish. (And, NO, it doesn’t smell like Pine-sol.) Golieb said customers can use it on pancakes, waffles or French toast, just like other syrups. It also would make an earthy glaze for pork or other meats.
The syrup is available at a few Ogden retailers and online at ediblewilds.us. An 8-ounce plastic squeeze bottle, cost $7.39 (or $10.80 with shipping and handling.) A portion of the money will be donated to two nonprofit environmental organizations, Tree Utah and Project Lime.
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September is shaping up to be a massive month for tech fans, with Apple, Microsoft, Meta and more all planning big launch events. And judging by this week’s news, we’re now very much in the warm-up phase of that tech marathon – with lots of huge stories hinting at the gadget festival to come.
In this article, our weekly ICYMI (or ‘in case you missed it’) roundup, we’ve rounded up all of the big stories of the week. From iPhone 15 leaks to the future of portable audio via the viral success of Suits on Netflix, there have been stories across the board this week, whatever your tech tastes.
So if you missed the week’s news and need a speedy recharge, here’s everything that happened while you were on the beach…
8. PSA: it’s a good time to trade in your old iPhone
Thinking about upgrading to the iPhone 15? You could save some cash by trading in (or at least locking in some quotes for) your current iPhone, according to a report from the price comparison site SellCell. Based on historical trade-in data, it says that the sweet spot is sometime between August 19 and August 26 – which is, well, now.
While price drops vary by model, in general SellCell thinks prices for existing iPhones can plummet by as much as $261 (around £205) in the month before a big launch. With the iPhone 15 expect to launch on September 12 or 13, we’re now entering that countdown – so it’s well worth a look, particularly as some trade-in sites offer lock-in periods for their quotes.
7. Samsung’s undercooked XR headset leaks
Images of a supposed Samsung XR headset leaked this week – and they revealed a gadget that combines the look of the Oculus Quest 2 with many the features found in the Apple Vision Pro.
The prototype apparently boasts four tracking cameras, dual RGB cameras, and a depth sensor for full-color mixed reality passthrough. Interestingly, it’s also controller-less; much like the upcoming Apple headset, you’d interact with virtual objects using hand and eye-tracking controls. The headset also seemingly runs on a Samsung Exynos 2200 rather than the Qualcomm XR chip found in most headsets like the Pico 4, Meta Quest Pro, and HTC Vive XR Elite, to name a few.
While this is just a prototype rather than a finished product, it doesn’t look all that impressive. Perhaps that’s why the leakers say Samsung has abandoned this prototype to instead develop something better, though we’ll have to wait and see what Samsung eventually reveals to know what’s really going on with its XR efforts.
6. We got a glimpse of the future of portable audio
You may remember back in April the unveiling of the world’s first solid-state speakers, teeny tiny little devices meant to replace the voice coils and magnets that had ruled over your sound system since loudspeakers were invented over a hundred years ago. A potential portable audio game changer, yes, (they’re truly tiny) but the tech had yet to make its way into an actual product.
Well, the big news we heard this week is that this will all change over the next few months. It’s all thanks to a company called Creative Technologies, a Singapore tech outfit pledging to squirrel these solid-state drivers into a set of true wireless earbuds – and by harnessing xMEMS’ tiny cutting-edge micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) solid-state speaker technology, the partnership is making big waves in the audio industry. Big. Huge.
5. A Pixel Watch 2 leak hints at a missing feature
Another Google Pixel Watch 2 leak adds more credence to the advent of a new wearable from the tech giant this year, to sit neatly alongside the theoretically-upcoming Pixel 8 range. Spotted via a Federal Communications Commission filing database, the Pixel Watch 2 has been tested with four different style strap: a plastic active strap, a metal mesh strap, a metal link strap, and a metal slim strap.
Unfortunately, something’s missing here. The ultra-wideband (UWB) technology isn’t included in the wearable as far as the FCC filing is concerned. UWB isn’t a physical band, but a frequency-based one that helps in device-to-device communication. It can be found in current-gen Pixel devices, but as far we know, the Watch won’t be packing it.
4. The next DJI drone flies in, as Skydio checks out
It’s been a week of contrasting fortunes in drones – just as fresh leaks revealed DJI’s next flying camera (the DJI Mini 4 Pro), one of its main rivals, Skydio, announced that it was quitting consumer drones.
Skydio said it was sunsetting accomplished models like the X2 in order to put everything into its “enterprise and public sector customers”. That’s a shame, but DJI won’t be shedding too many tears – it’s clearly been too busy building the successor to the popular Mini 3 Pro, which is still one of the best drones around.
The leaks suggest the Mini 4 Pro won’t be a huge upgrade, with the the main boosts being better obstacle detection (comparable to the DJI Air 3), OcuSync 4.0 connectivity and a new DJI RC 2 controller. But in a world with so few consumer drone makers, we’ll take any new models we can get.
3. An unexpected Garmin treat breaks cover
While we all wait for the next Garmin release (more than likely a new version of our best Garmin watch, the Garmin Venu 2) a surprise release has been found on a regulatory website: a new heart rate monitor, the HRM-FIT.
Little is known about it other than the name. Some early speculation suggests it’ll be a stripped down version of the Garmin HRM Pro that will be able to be strapped to your arm rather than your chest, but that’s just hearsay. Nevertheless, it makes sense: as we said during our coverage, it’s odd that Garmin hasn’t explored this form factor yet, especially as competitors like Polar have been doing it for years.
2. Suits becomes a viral Netflix hit, leaving its writers feeling short-changed
Six weeks after joining Netflix’s library, Suits has become Netflix’s latest TV hit – and it may have TikTok to thank, with the show appearing regularly in clips on the video app. Whatever the reasons for the Suits comeback, its success is undeniable – it’s spent four of the last seven weeks in Netflix’s global Top 10 TV show chart and, at the time of writing, is the fourth most popular show on Netflix in the US.
So why aren’t its writers happy? Frankly, they aren’t getting very well reimbursed for Suits‘ gargantuan viewing figures. Suits writer and producer Ethan Drogan revealed that he’s received a paltry $259.71 in residuals – essentially, compensation for reusing a writer’s credited work – for ‘Identity Crisis’, the season 1 episode he wrote, for the past three months). In a chat with Decider, Lilla Zuckerman also confirmed that she’s only been paid a meager $414.26 for season 5 episode ‘Blowback’ so far this year.
This is a fraction of the figures they received back when the show originally aired, and all comes amid the backdrop of the writers strike, which began on May 2 and forced production on Stranger Things 5, Deadpool 3, and numerous other Hollywood productions to shut down. All of which has hints of a courtroom drama that wouldn’t look out of place in the show.
1. The iPhone 15 drops hints about its USB-C port
No-one doubts that the iPhone 15 will swap its lightning charge port for a USB-C one when the phone launches in September. But there are some real questions about the technology behind that widely-used port standard.
This week we heard rumors that it could be Thunderbolt-standard, which would promise far faster data transfer speeds (at least for the Pro models). Yes, many still use that port for charging and data.
There are also fresh concerns, though, that some of the components behind the anticipated port upgrade could lead to throttled charge speed for third-party chargers. We won’t have any answers, though, until Apple announces next month.
This post originally appeared on TechToday.


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Glaston set to acquire Bystronic
Finnish glass processing technologies and services provider Glaston has signed a deal to buy Bystronic glass, a group specialising in flat-glass processing owned by Switzerland’s Conzzetta AG.
“With enhanced systems-thinking and strengthened R&D capabilities, we will shape industry trends towards energy efficient solutions and digital integration, jointly with our new colleagues from Glaston,” explained Burghard Schneider, CEO of Bystronic.
Final closure for the deal is expected to happen by the end of the first quarter in 2019, after regulatory issues have been taken care of.
“I am very pleased to welcome Bystronic glass’s highly professional team to Glaston,” said Arto Metsänen, president and CEO of Glaston. “We have followed the company for years and we are very impressed by the quality of its products and its transformation when it comes to both operational and financial performance.”


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Intel has rolled out its 10th Gen chips to almost all of its laptop lineup at this point, and now, it’s time for desktops to get a turn. The company has announced its latest Comet Lake-S processors across its Core i9, i7, i5, and i3 lineups. Leading the range is the new Core i9-10900K, which offers 10 cores, 20 threads, a 125W TDP, boosted speeds up to 5.3GHz, and, according to Intel, it’s “the world’s fastest gaming processor.”
Despite the 10th Gen moniker, like Intel’s recent high-performance H-series laptop chips, the new desktop lineup still relies on Intel’s 14nm Skylake architecture, which it’s been using since 2015, not the 10nm process found in its Ice Lake chips.
More cores, more threads, more speed
But the fact that Intel is still using the older process isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the company has been able to continue to refine and build upon its earlier work, allowing for higher core and thread count and faster clock speeds compared to the 2018 9th Gen lineup. (For reference, the top 9th Gen chip was the i9-9900K, with eight cores, 16 threads, a base frequency of 3.6 GHz, and boosted speeds up to 5.0 GHz — all numbers that the i9-10900K has eclipsed.)
Along with the top-of-the-line $488 Core i9-10900K, Intel is announcing two more unlocked chips: the $374 Core-i7 10700K, with eight cores, 16 threads, a base clock speed of 3.8GHz, and boosted speeds up to 5.1GHz and the cheapest unlocked chip is the $262 Core i5-10600K, with six cores, 12 threads, a base clock speed of 4.1GHz and a boosted speed up to 4.8GHz.
The new chips reach those faster speeds thanks to new technologies offered on the high-end chips, including its Turbo Boost 3.0 technology and the “Thermal Velocity Boost” (which was introduced on the 10th Gen H-series laptop chips but limited to just the Core i9 chips here) that will increase clock speed when the processor is at a temperature of 70 degrees Celsius / 158 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, assuming there’s power available.
The new chips also support up to DDR4-2933 memory, support for up to 2.5 gigabit Ethernet, and, like the rest of the 10th Gen lineup, they feature integrated Wi-Fi 6 by default. One downside to the upgrade is that Intel is physically changing its socket configuration for the new lineup, so the new Comet Lake chips aren’t compatible with Coffee Lake motherboards — something to keep in mind if you’re looking to upgrade. The entire Core lineup also features Intel’s integrated UHD Graphics 630 (except the F-series variants, which don’t offer integrated graphics at all in exchange for a lower price).
Along with the more powerful 125W TDP unlocked lineup of processors (which can be found by looking for a “K” appended at the end of the model number), Intel is also debuting regular 65W 10th Gen chips across the i9, i7, i5, and i3 lineups, along with 35W T-series chips (which have a “T” at the end of their model numbers), which feature the same core and thread counts but lower clock speeds for less power-hungry builds.


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Nintendo have become pretty big fans of stealthily announcing and releasing at least something with each of their Directs, and this time it was Steel Diver: Sub Wars and Inazuma Eleven being released on the eShop.
If you're going to submit news half a day after everyone else, you could at least put a little more effort into the quality of writing. This shoddy article offers nothing but redundant info.
N4G is a community of gamers posting and discussing the latest game news. It’s part of NewsBoiler, a network of social news sites covering today’s pop culture.


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Last week, the Cabinet had decided to import 1.2 lakh tonnes of onions to improve the domestic supply and control prices, which touched Rs 100 per kg earlier this month.
Consumer affairs secretary Avinash K Srivastava assessed the requirement of onions from states while holding a video conference on Monday.
“The Onions are being offered to State Governments for distribution at the rate of Rs. 52-55 per kg ex-Mumbai and will also be made available at the rate of Rs. 60 per kg ex-Delhi. State Governments may take the stock from the location on their own and also have the option of getting transportation facilitated through NAFED. The supply of imported onions will begin from early December onwards,” said an official release.
The release said that state owned trading company MMTC has placed order for the first consignment of 6090 MT of Onions from Egypt which will be arriving at Mumbai.
The government has received a total demand of 2265 MT so far from various states like Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala and Sikkim and also includes the demand of NAFED for supplies in Delhi.
“We are yet to receive demand from Delhi state government. Other state governments have also been asked to place their demands at the earliest,” said a senior consumer affairs ministry official.
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- Crypto Exchanges Accused of Laundering ₹1,000 Crore
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing at least ten cryptocurrency exchanges for allegedly laundering more than ₹1,000 crore identified as proceeds of crime of the accused firms under investigation in the instant loan app case in which most have a China link, said people aware of the matter.AIFs Due for Closure Struggle to Sell Holdings in Startup Firms
Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) that are scheduled to wind up in the next few months have been struggling to sell their holdings in unlisted ventures and startups, as investors stay clear of risky investments due to tightening liquidity.New RBI Norms Keep 3rd Party Out of Digital Lending Process
The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday said disbursal of loans and collection of repayments must be executed only between borrowers and entities regulated by it, and that no third party should be involved in this process.
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Kate Winslet nearly gave guests a show at a 60th birthday party just recently. Her zip snapped! OMG
The 39-year-old actress wore a tight-fitting dress to the bash, but nearly suffered a huge embarrassment after going to the toilet when the full-length zip snapped.
The star – who is married to businessman Ned Rocknroll – told Vogue.co.uk
‘I unzipped it from the bottom, sat down, had a wee – no problem – stood up, zipped it back up, and the zip came off in my hand.
‘I was stood there, knowing everyone is pretty far away and I can’t f***ing move. The dress opens all the way – the whole f***ing thing! I’m standing there in my knickers and heels, basically wearing a black cape!’
The titanic Star also revealed that she finds it hard to fit her twins into a corset all cos it’s getting big.
She added: ‘All I could do was stand there, look at myself in the mirror and crack up laughing. I am never getting on the red carpet in a dress with a zip.’
Need y’ all be reminded that back in 2011, Kate spotted a similar ensemble.


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The battle for the premium-fare passenger, in which airlines offer luxury more typical of a cruise ship, has risen to this: One major airline will soon introduce a private cabin equipped with a double bed.
The cabin, on Virgin Atlantic, will go for about $9,000 for one person--or about $18,000 for a couple--on a trans-Atlantic trip.
"We're trying to put the romance back into flying," said Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Atlantic.
In fact, the real target is business travelers. The airlines have good reason to be concerned about their comfort. Surveys of business travelers--who buy only 20 percent of all tickets but account for about half of industry profits--reveal that executives would rather snooze during long flights than dine on caviar and cabernet.
Competition is becoming intense to add more in-flight bunks, although most are Spartan affairs. British Airways will begin replacing business-class seats in March on flights between New York and London with single beds that the airline boasts have been tested by a NASA scientist to deliver better sleep. Virgin Atlantic is also introducing a new lounger for business class. By spring of next year, American Airlines will have swapped its first-class lounge chairs with seats that convert into beds on all trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific flights.
Seats that fold into single beds have long been reserved for first-class passengers, who pay about $9,000 for round-trip trans-Atlantic slumber. Within the next several months, business travelers will have comparable cots at about half the cost.
British Airways predicts that its new bed will increase its share of business travelers between the United States and London.
Flat-lying beds are cherished perks because few business travelers have sampled them. A typical British Airways flight from New York to London has only 14 single beds that are sold as first-class seats. By reconfiguring business class with new beds, an additional 70 passengers can have them.


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Digital TV News: Mike Chang
MediaTek MT9602 Smart TV SoC launches with Flipkart in India
Oct 8, 2020 – MediaTek has unveiled a Smart TV SoC MT9602 for 4K HDR displays. The SoC delivers real-time video optimization, with improved picture and audio quality using AI, HDMI 2.1a and global HDR support, and AV1 & AVS2 decoding.
News categories: Mediatek, Flipkart, Mike Chang, Dev Iyer, Digital TV, ICs, India, Semiconductor, Smart TV, Worldwide
MediaTek introduces MT5670 chipset for 4K UHD Smart TVs
Sep 25, 2019 – MediaTek has introduced its newest chipset for smart TVs, the MT5670. The highly integrated chipset lets consumer electronics manufacturers build high quality, feature-rich 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) digital TVs at affordable price points.
News categories: MediaTek, Mike Chang, Android TV, Digital TV, ICs, Semiconductor, Smart TV, Worldwide
MediaTek launches S900 smart TV SoC
Jul 8, 2019 – MediaTek has launched its S900, the company’s latest smart TV SoC supporting 8K resolution and high-speed edge AI computation. The S900 combines a high performance CPU, GPU and a dedicated AI processor unit (APU) to support features including AI voice-user interface and picture quality enhancement.
News categories: MediaTek, Mike Chang, Digital TV, ICs, Smart TV, Worldwide
Nielsen expands Dynamic Ad Insertion pilot with MediaTek and A+E Networks
Nov 29, 2018 – Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) is expanding its U.S. Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) pilot. MediaTek will bring advanced DAI to their Smart TV platform, and A+E Networks is joining CBS to begin replacing advertisements in live linear programming.
News categories: Nielsen, MediaTek, A+E Networks, Kelly Abcarian, Mike Chang, Advertising, Content Identification, Digital TV, Semiconductor, Smart TV, USA
DTS Virtual:X immersive audio added to MStar’s TV SoCs
Jan 25, 2018 – DTS (Nasdaq: XPER) has announced the integration of DTS Virtual:X post-processing in a wide range of MStar smart TV SoC platforms. The integration will allow TV vendors to deliver virtualized immersive sound from any content.
News categories: Xperi, MStar Semi, DTS, Joanna Skrdlant, Mike Chang, Media Player, Semiconductor, Silicon IP, Smart TV, Worldwide
- Magnite to manage ad placement for Brazil's NetMovies
- Acxiom and Totalplay to provide addressable audiences in Mexico
- Undertone launches CTV ad solution for improved consumer engagement
- More than seventy 8K TVs now certified by the 8K Association
- Ocean Blue Software acquires Advanced Media Group from EKT
- DVB approves commercial requirements for DVB-I over 5G
- V-Nova raises €33 million in series C round
- AT&T premium TV down 473k; Vrio down 239k; HBO up 3.6M video subs in 2Q 2021
- Verizon FIOS consumer video subscribers down 62,000 in 2Q 2021
- Astro launches STB for TV without a satellite dish
- DoubleVerify earns MRC accreditation for CTV solutions
- Freesat 4K STB receives EICS certification with DTG Testing
- Cox Media Group Local Solutions partners with Amazon Advertising
- Samba TV announces global TV viewership dashboard
- Sky Brasil's SKY Connect 4K Android TV DVR powered by Wyplay
- NBCUniversal adopts Ad-ID for its One Platform
- Redbox to expand free live TV content with Wurl
- ThinkAnalytics rebrands its suite as 'Think360'
- Grupo Werthein to buy AT&T's Vrio operations
- ITV and Sky upgrade their commercial partnership


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Toyota Bank, the banking subsidiary of Japanese automaker Toyota Motor in Russia, has launched retail operations in Moscow, according to the head of the Toyota Kreditbank representative office, as revealed by Interfax.
We have already opened two Toyota Bank subdivisions in Moscow and official Toyota and Lexus dealerships on the Rublyovskoye highway. We will try to open 16 subdivisions at our dealerships, he said, as cited by Interfax.
Toyota Bank, which operates under Toyota Financial Services and Lexus Financial Services, offers loans to buy new Toyota and Lexus cars, and has further plans to expand its product line, Interfax reported.
The publication also revealed the head of Toyota Kreditbank, which owns 99% of Toyota Bank, as saying: Toyota sold 72,331 cars in Russia in the first half of 2007 and 6,946 Lexus cars. Thus, I think our products will be in demand.


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Pricing has yet to be confirmed, and the retailer has asked interested consumers to register on the product page. The black Galaxy S3 (codenamed SAM-GS3BLK and with manufacturer code GT-I9300MBDBTU) could be the first smartphone in the UK to offer such enormous storage space; there is additional storage on offer, too, with microSD card support up to a total of 128GB.
Meanwhile, Clove is not the only retailer set to offer the black Galaxy S3. A recent Phone Arena report suggested online retailer MobileFun revealed it too was expecting shipments of the black version within four to six weeks. In fact, the product page for MobileFun even indicates a price, albeit for the 16GB black model, of approximately £500. Finally, Expansys UK (another retailer) has posted similar details on its Web site - a 16GB black Galaxy S3 at a price of £499. The Phone Arena report also speculated on a pink version, the source of which, once again, was a leak from Carphone Warehouse.
There is also some belief that the red version (for now exclusive to US-based AT&T customers) may now be available in the UK and Europe. Company officials hinted to Pocket Lint that potential colour variants would be announced in due course.
For now, the UK market has only the earliest announced variations - Pebble Blue and Marble White. However, should Samsung, as seems probable, opt to offer UK customers more colours, it is certain to improve on the spectacular sales already enjoyed by the whole range of Galaxy phones.


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Monday, 15 September 2014 00:39
JAT Holdings Ltd., the total timber coating solutions provider who are the pioneers in the timber coatings industry in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Maldives, has received a prestigious National Award for Manufacturing at the recently concluded Ceylon National Chamber of Industries Awards Ceremony.
JAT Holdings was awarded the Merit Award for Manufacturing (Large Category) at the “All Island CNCI Achiever Awards 2014” which was recently held at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo.
Awards were presented under several business categories namely micro, small, medium, large and extra-large, for a range of diverse industries at both a provincial as well as national level.
“Since our inception 21 years ago, JAT has come a long way, and winning this award is indeed a fitting recognition of the journey we have traversed and our many accomplishments,” JAT Holdings Managing Director Aelian Gunawardene said.
JAT Holdings Ltd, founded in 1993 with the primary objective of providing total timber coating solutions to the Sri Lankan furniture industry, follows the credo “Get the Right Finish First”, thus communicating to the consumer the necessity of how important the right finish really is to the end result. Consequent to successfully establishing themselves in the timber coating market, the company expanded its product offering to include a more comprehensive range of products for a wider range of surfaces and construction needs. Their current product portfolio includes decorative, domestic and industrial Emulsion paints, Elastomeric and Enamel paints, Epoxy floor paints, fillers, maintainers, anticorrosive paints and road marking paints, in addition to putties and plasters, ceilings, flooring, furniture, seating and desking, brushes, hardware fittings and accessories. Continuing its successful journey, JAT has now ventured beyond borders, signing agreements with corporate entities in the region as well.


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Gazillion’s console version of Marvel Heroes, Marvel Heroes Omega, has a lot going on all of a sudden. We already knew it was coming to PlayStation 4, and yesterday the developer confirmed that the open beta would begin next Tuesday, on May 23:
— Marvel Heroes Omega (@MarvelHeroes) May 16, 2017
But wait, comic fans, there’s more! On June 20, Marvel Heroes Omega will launch on Xbox One, as announced on the Xbox site. It will include 38 heroes and lots of content from the PC version of the game, including leveling to 60, Trials, the Danger Room, Infinity Points, and more. As with the PC version, you can try all heroes for free until level 10, so build up your roster and take the fight to — uh, who’s the villain this month?


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“Readers can discuss and rate stories, the stories with the highest ratings are then printed in the paper version“
This is very exciting and probable future publishing concept. To let bloggers themselves upload content of their choice and use crowdsourcing through rating to decide which posts get published. User generated content together with curated content are the two key factors of future publishing, both online and in printed media. Since printed news media need to reinvent itself to coexist with online media I can see this progressing to include even news media. Why not distribute once/couple of times a week a printed version of, for example, the most read and commented online articles, curated by the editorial staff. There’re so many opportunities… one just first have to start seeing the opportunities. What’s going on right now is already taken care of the real-time web.
We’ve already had a similiar experiment earlier this summer in Sweden. Sofia Mirjamsdotter aka Mymlan, the Swedish blogger and social media queen, launched together with Måns Adler, founder of Bambuser, a joint project to publish the best blog posts as printed version. Instead of letting people to rate which posts to get printed, the selection was done by the editor. The business model would consist of revenue sharing with the bloggers published.
You can download the Swedish Daßlog Papier as PDF here (SWE)
Sofia Mirjamsdotter, Daßlog Papier


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amazon workers in coventry ‘make history’ with strike
UK – Employees of the e-commerce giant staged informal protests after the “offensive” pay proposal, the union said. Hundreds of Amazon workers at a warehouse in Coventry vote to strike.
Amazon has previously said it has increased its hourly rate to £11.45 based on location and that employees are receiving “comprehensive benefits”.
The GMB union said Coventry employees could become the first Amazon workers to strike in the UK, “making history”.
“These Amazon workers will be the first in the UK to take part in a formal strike ballot,” said Amanda Gearing from the union. “They’re being offered a 35p-an-hour pay rise during the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation – and that’s from a company worth more than £1 trillion. Understandably, they are furious.” Voting began on Thursday. Voting closes on October 19, and any strikes are likely to take place in November.
Earlier this month, 300 GMB members took part in an advisory vote, with the union reporting 97% said they were ready to strike. And in August, Lyon Park employees staged a two-day protest, with unofficial demonstrations also taking place at Amazon sites in Swindon and Tilbury in Essex. Employees at other Amazon centers, including Swindon and Tilbury in Essex, also staged informal protests in anger at the August pay offer. Before any action can be taken, a formal vote must be held.
Amazon said its pay offer, up from £10.50 an hour, represents “a 29% increase in Amazon employees’ minimum hourly wage from 2018”. It also says the employee benefits include private health insurance, life insurance, income protection, food subsidies, employee rebates and more, which he added “is worth thousands of pounds a year.”
However, GMB said the global firm “can afford to do better.” “It’s not too late to avoid strike action and to get round the table with GMB to improve the pay and conditions of workers,” Ms Gearing said.


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OnePlus's security team has just announced that some of its customer information had been accessed by an unauthorized party. Name, phone, email, and shipping address data for some customers was exposed, and impacted users have been informed by the company of the security breach via email.
OnePlus confirms that payment information and passwords were not included in the breach, and not all customers were affected.
Following the breach, OnePlus has hardened its internal security practices to ensure there aren't any other "similar vulnerabilities." It's also working together with undefined authorities regarding the incident, and plans to launch an official bug bounty program (previously revealed back in September) by the end of December.
The company warns those affected that they may be targeted for phishing attacks as a result of the breach, and to exercise caution against such targeted attacks in the future. Concerned customers can contact OnePlus support for more information.
This isn't the first time OnePlus has had a security breach. Earlier this year, email addresses were leaked from its "Shot on OnePlus" promotion, and the company previously suffered a hack regarding credit card payment information that went undisclosed for two months, just after the company's analytics were discovered to include some excess identifying information. In short, it's not unfamiliar territory for the company, even if it's disappointing for customers to see these sorts of security problems continue.
We reached out to OnePlus for more information (if only recent orders were affected and the number of customers included in the breach), and we were provided with the following statement which repeats most of the same details in the original announcement:
OnePlus has notified impacted users that we have discovered that some of their order information was accessed by an unauthorized party. We can confirm that all payment information, passwords and accounts are safe, but certain users' name, contact number, email and shipping address may have been exposed.
We took immediate steps to stop the intruder and reinforce security. Before making this public, we informed our impacted users by email. Right now, we are working with the relevant authorities to further investigate this incident.
We are deeply sorry about this, and are committed to doing everything in our power to prevent further such incidents.


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West Liberty Foods LLC announced Monday that it has closed on the purchase of substantially all assets of Bolingbrook, Ill.-based Quantum Foods.
West Liberty Foods expects to begin meat processing operations at the Bolingbrook location within the next 30 days, officials said in a news release.
“This is an exciting step forward for West Liberty Foods,” said Ed Garrett, president and CEO. “This acquisition will enhance our offerings and benefit our customers, employees and owners. In addition, we will be able to bring back jobs lost when Quantum Foods shut down its business.”
According to its website, Quantum Foods was founded in 1990 as a hand-cut butchering operation servicing national restaurants and retail markets. In 2000, it began selling products to the military. As military operations expanded, so did Quantum Foods’ business. Quantum was a producer of value-added protein products such as portion-controlled, ready-to-cook and value-added fully cooked foods made from beef, poultry and pork.
According to meatpoultry.com, until Monday's announcement, a webcast auction was scheduled for today through Thursday for assets up for bid, including a 220,000-square-foot production facility, an 80,000-square-foot culinary facility and a 250,000-square-foot cold-storage distribution center.
Quantum Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. It attempted to strike a deal with Raging Bull Acquisition Co. to sell the company for $54 million, but the deal fell through in May.
West Liberty Foods has three manufacturing locations: West Liberty and Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and Tremonton, Utah. The company is headquartered in West Liberty.
West Liberty Foods is a co-packer, private-label manufacturer, and food service supplier of sliced deli meats and fully cooked IQF products.
There are about 850 employees at the West Liberty plant and 1,900 company wide, officials said.


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Amazon restricts authors from self-publishing more than three books a day after AI concerns
theguardian.com – Wednesday September 20, 2023
The company announced the new limitations after an influx of suspected AI-generated material was listed for sale but said that ‘very few’ publishers will be affected
Amazon has created a new rule limiting the number of books that authors can self-publish on its site to three a day, after an influx of suspected AI-generated material was listed for sale in recent months.
The company announced the new limitations in a post on its Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) forum on Monday. “While we have not seen a spike in our publishing numbers, in order to help protect against abuse, we are lowering the volume limits we have in place on new title creations,” read the statement. KDP allows authors to self-publish their books and list them for sale on Amazon’s site.
Amazon told the Guardian that the limit is set at three titles, though this number may be adjusted “if needed”. The company confirmed that there was previously no limit to the number of books authors could list a day.
To read the full article on theguardian.com, click here


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Editorial: Online payments a good additionA new centralized online payment system should be a convenience for District 196 parents and a benefit for the district as it tracks the money parents spend
On Monday, the District 196 School Board approved a new online payment system that should come as a welcome addition to district parents. The new tool, once it’s up and running, should simplify things for families and the district alike.
Ultimately, the centralized fee management system will provide an online hub where parents can pay for anything they currently spend money on in the district. That includes community education classes, field trips, sports fees and lunches, among other things. The system will also allow parents to fill out forms online.
That’s a great convenience for parents. For the district, it means a lot less cash and fewer checks floating around in the schools. There’s less chance payments will get lost.
That tightened money-handling chain is an improvement that was identified as desirable during the district’s last audit.
Of course, the system will only work if people actually use it. To help ensure that happens the district will absorb the bank fees that come with the increased credit card use. That could amount to as much as $180,000 in the first year, depending on how quickly people adjust to paying online.
That is a lot to swallow, but there are enough other positives that the move makes sense. It’s hard to ask people to take on a new system while also asking them to pay more.
That could change in the future, once the district gets a sense of how much people are using the system. But even then it shouldn’t be a big adjustment. Finance director Jeff Solomon said an increase of just 1 percent to activity fees should cover the difference.
That’s a small price to pay for the benefits that will come along with this new system.


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Privacy coins, which allow for anonymous crypto transactions, appeared to be rising ahead of a European Union (EU) vote on money laundering. The bill, if approved could see the bloc crack down on unhosted wallets and anonymous payments.
Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC)- the two largest privacy coins by market capitalization- were up more than 10% each over the past seven days. Smaller tokens including Oasis Network (ROSE), Decred (DCR) and Secret (SCRT) added between 10% to 16%.
The latest EU vote comes on the heels of a controversial ban on proof-of-work tokens, which was voted against by the EU Parliament.
EU proposal driving demand for privacy coins?
Demand for the coins could be driven by traders looking to avoid a broader crackdown by the EU. The proposed anti-money laundering legislation, which is set to be voted on this Thursday, will require identity checks for any crypto payment, and mandate exchanges to block suspicious transactions.
But the proposal does not explicitly mention privacy tokens. Most regulation towards the space is limited purely towards exchanges being prohibited from supporting the tokens.
While EU parliament members have also recommended the banning of unhosted wallets through the bill, it was unclear how such a ban could be imposed.
Privacy coins usually employ additional measures to ensure that no transaction on the chain can be effectively tracked. XMR, the largest privacy token by market capitalization, uses decoy addresses and also hides transaction values.
EU proposal widely criticized
The bill is widely expected to be approved, and as such, has attracted ire from the crypto community for being harmful to the industry. Several major figures, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, have spoken against the bill.
The main criticism of the bill is that it will require increased compliance measures by crypto firms- a move that may not be financially feasible for smaller projects, and could potentially stifle innovation. Criticism was also aimed at the EU’s stance that crypto is a haven for illegal activity, even though research shows that the truth is far from it.
The post Privacy Coins Soar Before EU Vote On Crypto Money Laundering appeared first on cryptotimes24.com.


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Strong fundamentals expected to result in Canada leading economic growth among G-7 countries
TORONTO, Dec. 14 /CNW/ - After a challenging and difficult year, the Canadian economy is set for a nation-wide recovery in 2010, according to a new report by RBC Economics. The report indicated that although the Canadian economy contracted at an average of 2.5 per cent in 2009, the stage is set for a return to positive growth in 2010.
"With the financial crisis behind us and the U.S. economy on the mend, Canada's economic growth is expected to rise steadily throughout the next year," said Craig Wright, senior vice-president and chief economist, RBC. "While challenges remain, a peak in stimulus and infrastructure spending across the federal, provincial and municipal governments, along with low interest rates, should result in a sustained recovery."
According to the report, the Canadian economy is set to grow in 2010 with real GDP rising by 2.6 per cent and will continue to expand in 2011, at 3.9 per cent. The report indicated that the peak of stimulus spending will occur in 2010, with improving credit conditions fuelling growth both in 2010 and 2011.
"The price tag for the stimulus is high with large budget deficits, but it is still lower, relative to GDP, than the peaks reached in the early 1990's," added Wright. "Low mortgage rates and a limited supply of homes have led to an impressive rebound in housing resale activity, which should be seen as proof that consumers are feeling more upbeat, even in areas that were hit hard by the recession like Ontario, B.C. and Alberta."
The global recession, falling commodity prices and job cuts weighed on consumer confidence throughout the early part of 2009. However, with interest rates low and confidence improving, consumer spending is projected to increase by 2.3 per cent in 2010, before accelerating to a growth rate of 2.7 per cent in 2011. The unemployment rate is expected to remain high in 2010 and average 8.7 per cent before falling to 7.8 per cent in 2011.
With the U.S. economy appearing to turn the corner, RBC expects growth in 2010 of 2.5 per cent and is anticipating the U.S. real GDP will rise to 3.4 per cent in 2011. The report notes that consumption will rise by 1.9 per cent in 2010 and 2.5 per cent in 2011, following an unprecedented two-year decline as a weak labour market has restrained activity.
A complete copy of the forecast is available as of 8 a.m. EST, at www.rbc.com/economics/market/pdf/fcst.pdf. The RBC Economics Provincial Outlook assesses the provinces according to economic growth, employment growth, unemployment rates, retail sales and housing starts.
For further information: For further information: Craig Wright, RBC Economics, (416) 974-7457; Paul Ferley, RBC Economics, (416) 974-7231; Matt Gierasimczuk, RBC Media Relations, (416) 974-2124


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Vertical Farming operator GrowUp Farms has secured £100m from US green investment firm Generate Capital to fund the construction of a major new facility in Sandwich, Kent.
GrowUp, which describes itself as a “pioneer in controlled environment farming”, previously supplied salads to wholesale, Foodservice and the likes of Wholefoods and Farmdrop via its now defunct urban farming ventures, The GrowUp Box and Unit 84.
The investment will help deliver the low-emission Kent farm bring “fresher, longer-lasting leafy salads to supermarket shelves year-round”, grown using GrowUp’s proprietary “high-efficiency renewable energy system”, the company said.
The facility is said to use 95% less water than conventional growing methods, while the salads grown on the farm could save up to three million lorry miles per year by avoiding imports.
The site is expected to begin delivering its first harvest of ready-to-eat salad leaves by the end of the year. The crops are grown without pesticides or chlorine washing and are powered directly by renewable energy.
GrowUp said the facility would be the first in a series of large, low-carbon indoor farms planned by the business that would service the retail and wholesale markets in the UK.
“Our farms can deliver fresh, long-lasting salads consistently, and withstand the mounting environmental and economic pressures from inflation in transport, labour and commodity costs that have challenged the fresh produce sector,” said GrowUp co-founder Kate Hofman.
The business said it had spent nine years building its expertise and developing the “industry-leading” technology used in the new facility. That tech drove down the cost of vertical farming, while also cutting down on food waste in both the fruit & veg supply chain and at home, it added.
“A great salad is the original plant-based meal, but for a long time it’s been hard to get shoppers excited about what’s out there,” said Kate Hofman, GrowUp co-founder.
“We’re passionate about getting people to rethink their salads and excited by this opportunity to deliver healthy, affordable, British-grown food to more customers, with a lighter environmental footprint and a more resilient year-round supply chain,” Hofman said.
“Our team has worked hard to solve the challenges that kept vertically farmed salads from being cost-competitive and sustainable,” added GrowUp MD Marcus Whately.
“We partnered with Generate Capital because of their long-term focus on both sustainability and economic efficiency, and together we can now bring this model to scale.”
Generate Capital is a US Public Benefit Corporation that builds, owns, operates and finances over 2,000 sustainable infrastructure projects globally. As part of the £100m investment package, it will also support a series of vertical farms that benefit from GrowUp’s expertise and renewable energy model.
“We’re thrilled to partner with the expert and innovative team at GrowUp to accelerate sustainable vertical farming infrastructure in the British market,” said Dr Erich Becker, head of Generate Europe. “Low-carbon vertical farming is a much-needed development and we are pleased to be working to accelerate it across Europe and North America.”
“As we expand in Kent and at other sites, we look forward to becoming a long-term supply partner across multiple categories – helping supermarkets solve environmental and supply chain problems,” Whately added.
GrowUp plans to extend its range beyond salads and is developing future crops and products at its R&D farm at the Agri-Epi Centre at Harper Adams University.


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TrendForce has altered its YMTC NAND 2023 forecast from 60 percent bit ship growth to 7 percent decline and has suggested the Chinese semiconductor corp could even exit the NAND market, all due to its Entity List status.
The Taiwan research house reacted to YMTC’s confirmed Entity List status by revising its NAND bit shipments down due to a number of consequent issues. It will be difficult for YMTC to buy equipment parts and technical support from its US partners and that will constrain its NAND chip output.
YMTC will find it difficult to raise the yield rate for its current the 128-layer and 232-layer processes, and the restrictions will also hinder its ability to develop 3D NAND chips with more layers than its 232-layer devices. That needs new equipment and suppliers in the West will be limited in what they can sell to YMTC. TrendForce said: “There is a likelihood that Dutch and Japanese equipment providers will join the US sanction regime and stop selling DUV immersion lithography systems to Chinese customers.”
It says smartphone and PC vendors are rethinking using YMTC NAND and may buy elsewhere. TrendForce thinks YMTC will probably have its sales geographically restricted: “TrendForce believes that YMTC will likely be limited to operating only within Mainland China in the future.”
Earlier in 2022, TrendForce thought YMTC could raise its NAND bit output by 60 percent and this was revised down to 18 percent as YMTC was placed on the Unverified List. Now that Entity List status has been confirmed, the analysts have crunched their numbers again and claim to now see YMTC having negative bit growth in 2023, minus 7 percent.
This massive turnaround has seen TrendForce revise its total market bit supply growth rate for 2023 to 20.2 percent, down from the August 2022 estimate of 32.1 percent
The analyst said that, in 2024, YMTC’s competitors – Kioxia/Western Digital, Micron, Samsung and Sk hynix/Solidigm – will have moved on past the 232-layer level and be making 3D NAND chips with up to 300 or more layers, putting YMTC at a technology and cost-effectiveness disadvantage and eroding its market share.
TrendForce analysts suggested this could even cause YMTC to exit the 3D NAND market entirely in 2024, unless it can get itself removed from the Entity List. It could return to manufacturing 2D NAND or start producing logic integrated circuits instead of NAND.
YMTC is in an invidious position. Unless it can convince the US that its NAND chips are not being used by end customers in products that could threaten US national security, then its List presence can and probably will cripple its business prospects. Huawei is an unfolding example of what can happen.
The Columbia Journal of Transnational Law says: “The End-User Review Committee (ERC), an interagency committee that includes representatives from the Departments of State and Energy and is chaired by the Department of Commerce, votes to add entities. An addition requires a majority vote.”
This “statutory authority for the Entity List exempts the Entity List from APA (Administrative Procedures Act) review. The addition procedure is not subject to law court APA review which could strike out an Entity List addition if it was ‘arbitrary, capricious…or otherwise not in accordance with law.'”
The journal article mentions the idea that China could institute its own Unreliable Entity List, preventing Chinese companies selling products to customers who comply with the Entity List regime. Things – meaning US-China relations – are liable to get worse before they can improve, and absent a substantial USA-China rapprochement, could substantially reduce China’s trade with the west while conforming its recognition that it needs to be self-sufficient in technology.


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On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Internet, Prof.Dr. Pham Quang Minh, Chairman of the Vietnam Program for Internet & Society (VPIS) participated the "Talk Vietnam" Program on VTV4 to discuss the changes and advances of Vietnam since we opened the Internet. Denis Brunetti, General Director of Ericsson Vietnam and Myanmar, also attended the talkshow.
Vietnam officially connected to the Internet on November 19, 1997, the significant milestone in the history of the Vietnamese information and communication industry. By 2017, Vietnam is one of nations having the fastest growth on Internet users in the world, ranking the highest in Southeast Asia in terms of number of domain names. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh asserted that "the Internet has brought Vietnam from an isolated country after years of war to become an open, integrating and connecting one."
You can watch the talkshow at: http://vtv4.vtv.vn/video/talk-vietnam/-2992.html to consider and discuss how the Internet has impacted on all aspects of life in Vietnam.


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Why paying big cash rewards to spot cyber gaps is bug business
Corporations are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to cybersecurity. As soon as they fix one data breach another pops up as thousands of malicious hackers worldwide mount attack after attack, sometime with evil intent and at other times just because they can. They are outnumbered in a never-ending cat and mouse game and that is both expensive and corrosive.
For some time now tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and Mozilla have been paying “bug bounties” to white hat hackers to find weaknesses in their systems before the bad guys do. Now, the bug bounty business is stepping up into a higher gear.
Uber, the ride-hailing app, last week said that it would pay hackers up to $10,000 to find security


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After a successful three-year relationship, Africa’s most preferred smartphone brand, TECNO, has renewed its strategic partnership with thepopular United Kingdom-based Manchester City Football Club at an event in New Delhi, India. The partnership is aimed at leveraging the global fanbase of the two brands in order to ensure top of mind awareness for both parties. It also makes it possible for the brands to work together on a number of initiatives.
Following the renewal ceremony last week in India, TECNO visited Nanjing, China for the first game during Manchester City’s 2019 Asia Tour. To crown the occasion, Manchester City recorded a 4-1 victory against West Ham United in the opening game of the 2019 pre-season tour of Asia.
Stephen HA, VP of TRANSSION HOLDINGS and GM of TECNO said:” TECNO feels very honored that our brand will be with City players all through the 2019 Asia tour. We believe that our blue spirit will be a winner. “
Damian Willoughby, Senior Vice President of Partnerships at City Football Group, said: “Manchester City prides itself on partnering with some of the world’s leading organizations, so we are thrilled to be announcing the renewal of our established partnership with TECNO Mobile. During the past three years, we have collaborated on a number of exciting initiatives that has engaged, connected and entertained our global fanbase.”
TECNO has been very successful, especially in the African market where it has had major wins. TECNO Spark 3, which is one of its latest budget smartphones, recently won the Best Smartphone of 2019 at Africa Information Technology & Telecoms Awards(AITTA). Other wins include: 2017&2018 Smartphone of the Year and Most Popular Smartphone of the Year by the Nigerian Tech Innovation and Telecoms Awards (NTITA). Last year, the brand was also listed among theTop 10 Most Admired Brands in Africa by Brand Africa.
TECNO’s strategic partner, Manchester City Football Club, is also a force to reckon with. The club has wonthe Premier League/First Division 6 times and been runners-up 5 times; won the Football League First Division/Second Division 7 times and been runners-up 4 times; won the FA Cup 6 times and been runners-up 5 times; won the Football League Cup 6 times and been runners-up 1 time;won the Community Shield/Charity Shield 5 times and been runners-up 6 times; and won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup 1 time.
An obvious case of winners partnering with winners, the alliance is expected to help take the TECNO brand to new heights and lead to even better offerings in the Nigerian and African smartphone market. Although Nigerian football has come a long way, this partnership will further deepen the progress made as it will inspire a new generation of Nigerian footballers.
TECNO executives also visited Hong Kong in time for Manchester City’s game against Hong Kong Premier League champions, Kitchee Sports Club at the Hong Kong Stadium. Premier League Champions,Manchester City got an easy 6-1 friendly win against Kitchee.
General Manager of Transsion Holdings, the parent company of TECNO, Chidi Okonkwo, said “We are thrilled at the success of our partnership with Manchester City Football Club. This renewal of our partnership is the start of even greater things to come for the two brands and for Nigerians at large because TECNO is for Nigeria.”


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Eikendal Estate’s annual Weintaufe promises a celebration of summer, as guests are invited to enjoy an al fresco feast on the lawn while welcoming the harvest.
The Winelands destination, located between Stellenbosch and Somerset West, will be hosting the harvest celebration on Sunday 6 March. Eikendal’s flagship Chardonnay 2016 will be introduced and is sure to be a highlight for wine-lovers attending the event.
“What started out as an intimate ceremonial blessing to celebrate the end of the harvest at Eikendal 35 years ago, has evolved into a not-to-be-missed highlight on the social calendar, attracting a cool crowd each year,” says winemaker Nico Grobler.
With the option of dining at the estate’s restaurant, Cucina di Giovanni, guests can also look forward to various organised activities aimed at enhancing the day’s festivities. Tractor rides, golfing by the dam and grape-stomping are a few of the items lined up.
Gates open at 10am and tickets can be purchased upon arrival for R50 per person. Tickets include a free glass and tasting of the new chardonnay from the barrel. Under 18s enter free of charge.
Eikendal’s full collection of wine will be on sale, so make sure you leave space in the car. For more information, contact email@example.com.


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Daffy’s launches gin-filled Christmas card
As boozy advent calendars become all the rage, Daffy’s Gin has taken a different approach and created a gin-filled Christmas card for this year’s festive season.
Daffy’s Gin has created a boozy Christmas card for 2018
Following last year’s Daffy’s 50ml miniature bauble, the Scottish brand has created a “letterbox-friendly” gin Christmas card for 2018.
The front of the card is adorned with the Daffy’s figurehead, set atop a snow-speckled backround. Inside the card, the recipient will find a 50ml bottle of Daffy’s Gin alongside a festive message.
The card can be personalised and posted directly to the recipient either by the sender or through Daffy’s directly.
Chris Molyneaux, managing director and distiller, Daffy’s Gin, said: “Earlier this year we came up with the mission to try and design the ultimate Christmas card containing a bottle of Daffy’s.
“We are really happy with what we’ve created – the ideal Christmas card for any gin fan.”
Daffy’s Gin Christmas cards are available to purchase in packs of six or individually online at daffysgin.com or from Harvey Nichols. Individual cards are priced at RRP £7.49 (US$9.71) and packs of six cost RRP £44.94 (US$58.28).
Inside the Daffy’s Gin Christmas card


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Update, January 9, 8:30p.m.: Per a Caesars Palace representative, the figures originally named the in Los Angeles Times piece were not correct: “12,000 people have booked in the last 10 days, not 50,000 reservations,” a rep says. It’s still an impressive number of bookings for the reality-show-themed restaurant.
Hell’s Kitchen, the 8,000-square-foot Las Vegas restaurant named after celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s long-running “reality” competition, is maybe the hottest restaurant in America. Ramsay tells the Los Angeles Times that a whopping 50,000 reservations have already been made in the 10 days books have been open; the restaurant’s currently in a walk-ins-only mode until a “grand opening” planned for January 26. “It is unprecedented,” Ramsay told LAT. “We’ve never seen this kind of demand.”
Those diners are clamoring for one of 300 seats in a restaurant that’s literally designed to mimic the set of the Fox show, complete with “Red” and “Blue” “sides” to the dining room and a ”high action” open kitchen designed to show off, as original paperwork describes it, the “sounds of a noisy kitchen.” (No word if that ambient noise will include a domineering head chef loudly berating their staff.)
Perhaps the high volume shouldn’t be a surprise for a chef who’s achieved television fame. Before it shuttered in December 2017, Guy Fieri’s Times Square restaurant appeared on annual lists ranking the country’s highest-grossing restaurants. In Oklahoma, Food Network personality Ree Drummond draws as many as 6,000 visitors a day to her sprawling restaurant/marketplace.
By comparison, it would take the new 40-seat Noma — which took just 24 hours to sell out 10 weeks’ worth of reservations — more than three years to seat 50,000 solo diners (at dinner, anyway).


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Capcom has shared a new set of Okami HD screenshots as part of its San Diego Comic-Con showing this weekend.
The Hexa Drive-handled high-def update will launch this fall on PlayStation Network for $19.99.
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This must be the world’s most expensive Chicken.
News outlets in the Philippines reported that Jollibee purchased 70 percent of Mang Inasal Chicken for 3 Billion pesos. Mang Inasal has 303 restaurants all over the Philippines serving Filipino food and its staple grilled chicken.
Jollibee Food Corporation is a world famous Filipino fast food conglomerate. Over the years, the company had acquired many famous brands in the Philippines including Red Ribbon.
Aside from competing directly against McDonalds in the Philippines, Jollibee has its flagship Jollibee fast food chain in Hong Kong, and in California.
This is the news snippet from ABS-CBN:
Of the estimated P3 billion transaction price, Jollibee has paid P200 million to parent firm Injap Investments Inc., which will continue to hold 30% of Mang Inasal.
Ninety-percent of the balance will be paid when the two parties sign a share purchase agreement, which is subject to a 30-day due diligence conducted by PriceWaterhouse Coopers-Isla Lipana & Co. auditing firm and Romulo Mabanta Sayoc De los Angeles law firm. The remaining 10% will be paid over 3 years.
Mang Inasal’s network will add about 5% to Jollibee’s worldwide systemwide sales, 5% to its revenues, and 7% to its operating income. Once completed, the deal will also increase Jollibee’s current 1,578 stores in the Philippines and 375 abroad by 16%.
Jollibee has recently sold its stake in Delifrance, a French pastry store that it acquired in 2006 and divested from two businesses in Taiwan and China in line with its thrust to concentrate on larger quick-server restaurant businesses.


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The end of 2016 provided valuable insights into trends we saw throughout the year, and a glimpse at what we might expect this year. Read on to learn about what happened across retail channels and in the book industry specifically, and what’s in store for 2017.
First, What Happened Across the Retail Landscape?
The National Retail Federation reported that holiday retail sales increased by 4 percent, exceeding both their forecast of 3.6 percent and the previous year’s gain of 3 percent. The increase was helped by higher wages, lower gas prices, and rising employment. But despite this good news, brick-and-mortar chains reported lower foot traffic, resulting in a difficult end to the year. Just last month, Macy’s announced they will close 68 stores and Sears announced they will close 150 stores, facing pressure as categories such as electronics and apparel move heavily online.
Books Faced a Similar Shift Toward Online
Print books saw a healthy end to the year, with BookScan overall publishers finishing up 3.3 percent in units sold, translating into 20 million more copies sold in 2016 than 2015. But the story for book sales is similar to the overall retail trend: the shift to online continued, with bookstores facing challenges.
The question publishers used to ponder was print versus digital; now the question has become brick-and-mortar versus online. According to this report, more than 40 percent of all print books purchased in the United States are bought online.
Let’s examine a few other events in 2016 and their effects on the book industry.
- The Election Effect
Although it was widely reported that the U.S. election would adversely affect book sales—with more readers tuning into the news or otherwise distracted—the data showed a different outcome. In the two months leading up to the general election, Bookscan reported increased units sold in 2016 versus 2015.
Industry analysts and several CEOs agreed that the election simply pushed sales later.
Since the election, dystopian books such as The Handmaid’s Tale, 1984, Animal Farm, and It Can’t Happen Here have seen huge increases in sales. Some indie bookstores are capitalizing on the energy around election-related topics (e.g., politics and social justice) to restructure store displays and bring certain books to the forefront—and they’re seeing increased sales as a result.
- The Amazon Effect
Amazon continued its online retail dominance during the 2016 holiday season, racking up more than 38 percent of all online transactions across categories, according to research firm Slice Intelligence. It has now supplanted Walmart as the second-biggest retailer for electronics; it’s poised to overcome Macy’s as the biggest clothing retailer in 2017; and it’s seeing sales growth in more niche categories, such as pet supplies.
So, what about books? According to a recent report, in 2016 the retailer grew sales by 15 percent for traditionally published print books. This growth came at the expense of book chains, mass merchandisers, airport bookstores, and other online retailers—all of which experienced declines in book sales. Regarding ebooks, Amazon’s sales grew 4 percent overall compared to 2015, mainly driven by low-priced books from self-published authors and Amazon imprints.
Amazon additionally announced plans for a bookstore in Manhattan, with more planned in Chicago, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.
- The Coloring Book Effect
Holiday sales in 2015 were hugely propped up by a new(ish) fad in publishing: the adult coloring book. Bookscan estimates that more than 12 million units were sold in 2015—a big jump from the 1 million sold in 2014. Touted as stress relievers and gateways to unlocking creativity, titles such as Lost Ocean and Outside the Lines massively drove holiday sales in 2015 as the perfect gift for friends and family. What happened in 2016? . . . The fad didn’t disappear, but sales did slow down.
- Sales for Indies Grew
Amid a definite shift from physical stores to online retail, in a surprising twist, independent bookstores saw a positive end to 2016, with more than 5 percent growth in sales compared to 2015. Not only are more stores opening—the American Booksellers Association reported a seventh straight year of increased membership—but stores that have shuttered are inspiring others to open in their stead. With a sustained emphasis on personal connection, curated selections, and author events, independent bookstores are set up for a similarly successful 2017.
What’s in Store for 2017?
With most Americans still reading books—according to this recent Gallup poll—2017 looks to be another stable year for publishing. However, the publishing industry faces challenges as physical shelf space diminishes and more readers look online for their next book. This shift to online retail requires a focus on optimizing books for discoverability and search, in an effort to better surface titles across e-tailers and search engines. Improving metadata such as web copy, keywords, and BISAC codes will continue to be a focus in 2017, in addition to digitizing manual processes and, always paramount, publishing excellent books.
Andrea Bachofen is Associate Director, Publishing Development and Author Platforms at Penguin Random House.


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Estimated at over $2 billion in just North America alone, the sneaker resale market has become a multi-headed monster that is increasingly powered by retail bots. Rather than camp out in front of a store before a big release from Nike, Adidas, Supreme, and other highly sought-after brands, as was the case a decade or two ago, hordes of resellers are now deploying automated shopping software such as Cybersole, GaneshBot, or Kodai, to scoop up the hottest drops before everyday consumers have a chance to even click “add to cart.” Because sneaker drops are inherently limited, retail bots and the “cook groups” behind them play an outsize and increasingly deterministic role in who gets to buy what shoes, and more importantly, how much they have to pay for them. The high tech arbitrage approach taken by resellers uses scraping tools to scour brand and third-party sites for the stock-keeping units (SKUs) associated with new product inventory, and as these new SKUs come online the bot programs adds each item associated with that unique number to a shopping cart and checks out using preloaded credit cards and gift cards. Bots can run this routine several times a second, allowing resellers to potentially buy hundreds of pairs of shoes that, hypothetically, should be limited to one pair per customer.
There are growing fears that by leveraging this automated bot software, resellers will upend the holiday shopping season this year – especially as inventories are already plagued by supply chain issues. Online storefronts and ecommerce sites often struggle with web traffic beyond 60,000 page requests per second and coordinated bot campaigns can add tremendous strain to their operations. Major third-party dealers, like Foot Locker, use cybersecurity firms like Akamai to defend against the bots, but many resellers feel that the stores and brands are really somewhat ambivalent about stopping bots because, in the resellers’ minds, their role in the ecosystem creates a huge demand and ensures that product sells out.
One of the most popular all-in-one (AIO) bots is Cybersole. Founded in 2017 by Lucas Titus, the Cybersole bot’s consistency in securing drops in the years since its launch has earned it a big name and outsize reputation among the reseller community. In an ironic twist, Cybersole itself hardly ever restocks – meaning that sneaker-reseller hopefuls typically have to buy the bot itself on the secondary market, where copies sell for $5,000 and up. What makes Cybersole’s bot so attractive to resellers is its high success rate on marquee brands like Supreme and Yeezy, as well as retailers like Footlocker, Champs, Footaction, Eastbay, Finish Line, and even Shopify. Beyond the top names, Cybersole boasts a list of over 270 stores worldwide, giving it one of the widest breadths of sneaker bots currently available. According to the founder, the Cybersole bot has successfully completed over two million automated checkouts to date, with transactions totalling around $300 million.
This article originally appeared in PSFK’s report, The Future of Retail 2042. For more information on emerging retail trends, purchase the report here.