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ATLANTA,None — New regulations take effect Thursday that will seriously cut into the income of big banks.
In an effort to recoup some of that money, many banks are considering doing away with free checking.
"There have been 50 new rules and regulations that have been imposed on banking institutions just over the past two years alone," said David Oliver with the Georgia Bankers Association.
One of those rules involves overdraft fees incurred with your debit card.
In the past, your debit card would work even if your account didn't have money in it. Then the bank would hit you with an overdraft charge. Under new regulations that take effect July 1, banks will need your permission to do that.
So how do you avoid maintenance fees on your checking account? Here's Clark's advice:
First, pay very close attention to everything your bank mails you about your checking account. That way, you won't be caught by surprise if there's a change.
Second, be vocal. If you don't like a new fee, complain.
And last, shop around. Georgia has 300 different banking institutions. Clark doesn't expect all of them to start charging for checking accounts.
Clark said if your bank does start charging a fee, it will likely waive that fee if you maintain a very large balance, or if you use your debit card often, or have other relationships with the bank such as a credit card.


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Forager's Nilerzzzzz a big beer with big buzz
If you’ve tasted this top-ranked Minnesota beer, you’re in select company. Forager Brewery’s Nilerzzzzz barrel-aged vanilla imperial stout has the highest average rating of Minnesota beers on Beer Advocate’s list.
If you’ve tasted this top-ranked Minnesota beer, you’re in select company.
Forager Brewery’s Nilerzzzzz barrel-aged vanilla imperial stout has the highest average rating of Minnesota beers on Beer Advocate’s list.
The beer, released in a batch of about 450 bottles in June, was met with rave reviews from the people who were able to get their hands on it.
The release, along with a re-release of other popular beers on June 2, drew a long line outside the brewery with some people claiming a spot in the queue before sunrise. The bottles sold out that day.
The beer started as one of Forger’s flagship brews, Sherpa’s Survival Kit, with some extra malt for more body and additional fermentable sugars. The batch was then aged more than a year in different bourbon and rye barrels from Few Spirits of Evanston, Ill.
"As blenders, we really want to understand what those flavors do over time," said Austin Jevne, Forager’s head brewer. "It’s a completely different process from brewing."
The barrels that imparted the most vanilla flavor were then conditioned with vanilla beans from Madagascar, Indonesia, Tahiti, Uganda, and Mexico. Nilerzzzzz’s moniker has a "z" for each variety of vanilla.
"You get a greater sum of all their parts," Jevne said of the vanilla combinations.
Even before it was released in bottles, the buzz was about as big as the 13 percent ABV beer. A younger keg of Nillerzzzzz was released in March at the Northern Lights rare beer fest in St. Paul, where it won the Aurora Borealis people’s choice award. Last year, Forager’s Magnus, a honey bourbon barrel-aged stout, won the same award.
"It’s worth it to produce a product that’s getting recognition, even somewhat internationally," Jevne said.
As of Oct. 29, the beer had only 45 reviews on Beer Advocate. However, those who weighed in gave it high marks with an average of 4.67 out of 5. It also made it onto mobile app Untappd’s list of top-rated imperial stouts in the world and is currently one of Beer Advocate’s top 10 new beers in the U.S. for 2018.
"The beer has a huge alcohol- and vanilla-forward aroma," said Louis Livingston-Garcia, a 507 contributor and freelance writer who covers the Minnesota beer scene. "On tap and out of a three-week-old bottle, the flavor is layer upon layer of vanilla, marshmallow, cocoa powder, and chocolate cake, with an underlying booziness and stiff whiskey presence."
If you missed this year’s batch, keep an eye out for a new version of Nilerzzzzz. Batch two is currently conditioning in barrels for another targeted June release, Jevne said.

domain: news


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Microsoft Pushes 3rd-Party Apps Through Mobile MarketplaceBy Leah Gabriel Nurik | Print
The marketplace is preloaded on all smart phones running the newly launched Windows Mobile 6.5. All applications are certified by Microsoft to run on Windows phones and backed by a return policy.
In conjunction with the Windows Mobile 6.5 launch today, Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace for Mobile went live today, providing software developers a new distribution channel for consumer and business applications running on Windows Mobile.
The marketplace is preloaded on all smart phones running Windows Mobile 6.5. All applications are certified by Microsoft to run on Windows phones and backed by a return policy.
ISVs looking to capitalize on Microsoft’s new distribution venue go through a quick vetting process and pay an annual fee of $99. Unlike Apple’s program, which charges a one-time fee of $99, and Google’s program, which is free, Microsoft charges $99 for each application submitted. Through the end of 2009, Microsoft is running a promotion that allows registered ISVs and individual developers to submit up to five applications without charge.
All marketplace applications go through a "vigorous certification process," according to Microsoft’s developer portal. All submitted applications must be Windows Mobile widgets or native and managed applications. It is no big surprise that Java applications are not allowed.
As of today, the marketplace houses 246 free and paid applications that target lifestyle, play, social networking, gaming, and business. Among the free applications available are Facebook, MySpace, Netflix, and Zagat, Guitar Hero World Tour and PAC-MAN. According to a Microsoft spokesperson, today’s debuted catalog represents only 10 percent of the number of registered applications. Windows Phone users can expect a "steady stream of new applications coming from a healthy ISV pipeline."
According to Microsoft, 753 ISVs worldwide are registered vendors and will be making their applications available through Windows Marketplace. As of today, users in 26 countries will be able to purchase applications via a credit card. Users outside those countries have access only to the free applications.
In November, Microsoft will deliver the second phase of the marketplace with support for WinMo 6.0 and WinMo 6.1. The second phase will enable users to purchase applications directly from their PCs - one of the Marketplace’s biggest differentiator to Google’s app store, Android Market.
Today’s launch of Windows Marketplace for Mobile coincides with the release of several Windows phones running the revamped Windows Mobile 6.5. Microsoft unveiled Windows phones from HTC, LG, Acer, Samsung and Toshiba.


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Bitesize pieces of news from Natural Products News
- Intimate hygiene start-up Wype is launching a campaign on Indiegogo with a target of £20,000 on 4 May to create what it says is the world’s first refillable and reusable bespoke toilet gel applicator, an eco-friendly alternative to wet wipes.
- Rejuvenation Water’s new Immunity Health Pods combine turmeric, beetroot, prebiotic plant fibre, amino acids and vitamins C, D & E to offer immunity and gut health benefits. The Nespresso-compatible pods are 100% compostable.
- Riso Gallo is set to return to UK TV screens in April and May, following a successful campaign last year. The #RisottoCulture campaign will highlight the brand’s commitment to sustainable agriculture, certified FSC outer packaging and recyclable inner plastic packaging.
- Doughlicious has launched into Waitrose stores nationwide with three flavours of its ready-to-bake gluten-free cookie dough, including new Triple Chocolate Chip. The brand uses sustainably sourced ingredients with vegan and organic options available.
- Fearne & Rosie has revealed a new look for its reduced sugar jams and spreads for children. The design, created by Bun Studio, aims to bring to life the fun, feel-good personality of the brand with strong visuals and brighter, bolder graphics for greater shelf standout.
- The official peanut butter supplier for the Tokyo Olympic Games, Whole Earth, has announced its Team GB athlete ambassadors: Helen Glover OBE, double Olympic rowing champion; gymnast Joe Fraser; pole vaulting record holder Holly Bradshaw; and weight lifter Zoe Smith.
- Soulfresh has secured a national listing with Waitrose for its Nutty Bruce plant-based m*ilks, including its Activated Almond M*lk, Activated Almond & Oat M*lk and Oaty Bruce Unsweetened Oat M*lk.
- Purition has created an ‘enticingly aromatic’ Chai Latte, described as a heady blend of cardamom, nutmeg, Ceylon cinnamon and cloves to create a nutritional shake with warm, fragrant undertones.
- Australian drinks brand Nexba has launched its Kombucha in new 330ml cans for on-the-go consumption. The kombucha is 100% natural and sugar-free and comes in Mango and Mixed Berry Flavours.
- Marc Coloma, co-founder of plant-based meat alternative Heura, has been included in the prestigious 50 Next list of the next generation of leaders shaping the world of gastronomy for his work promoting a plant-based diet.
- Aiming to empower young children about how they can help save our seas, SOS Natural Fruit Snacks come in the shape of a marine pop-out puzzle and contain a collectable card with facts about the environment and sea animals. The snacks are available in Mango, Strawberry, Peach and Blackcurrant and come in 100% recyclable packaging.
- CEW UK has announced it will continue to be a lead partner of The Eve Appeal’s annual Get Lippy campaign in May which helps raise awareness of gynaecological cancers and break the taboos by encouraging people to talk about gynaecological health.
- Nottingham-based specialist coffee roaster and wholesaler 200 Degrees Coffee – which recently announced its 12th coffee shop which will open in Manchester in May – has welcomed Will Kenney as its new commercial director.
Image credit: Wype


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Apps, the focus of the mobile revolution since Apple opened its App Store in 2008, will give way to experiences that extend across different channels and contexts, according to a report from research consultancy Forrester.
In "The Future of Mobile: From App Silos to Open Ecosystems," Forrester said businesses should look beyond serving customers in apps, toward a world in which boundaries between services break down to allow better experiences.
"Today, most companies focus on which apps they need to build to solve a challenge," said Forrester analyst and report co-author Michael Facemire, in a phone interview with InformationWeek. "What consumers are going to want is for you to solve their problem."
Solving a problem may require going beyond an app. It may require data from different devices, cloud services, or environmental sensing. A prime example is the use of location data to make services more relevant to consumers. Target, Walgreens, and Walmart are among those with apps that can detect when a customer is in a retail store. Still, the low-hanging fruit of location data has yet to be broadly harvested in apps, according to Forrester.
That sort of communication requires some degree of openness between apps, mobile platforms, and cloud services. Forrester expects the future will bring more openness, so that businesses can utilize real-time, multidirectional data sharing to deliver contextual experiences beyond specific apps.
Openness isn't always appealing to app makers, platform companies, cloud service providers, or individuals. Facemire explained that tech companies can make data available through connectable components and APIs, or they can rely on middleware to mediate across service boundaries. "I'm not sure whether companies will be forced to be more open or whether we will have a new layer of middleware," said Facemire.
But there are signs that companies are looking beyond basic device data to incorporate information from other services. Witness the variety of "glue" services, such as IFTTT and Zapier, which allow mobile devices and cloud services to work together in ways that lead to better user experiences.
Companies may even go so far as to incorporate their apps into other apps. The report cited KLM and Uber, which make their services available through WeChat and Facebook Messenger, as examples of companies looking beyond siloed apps toward a seamless overall experience for customers.
Yet creating connections between services adds complexity that isn't easily dealt with by service providers. It may be a better experience to allow a smartphone to automatically enable a home security system when the homeowner leaves, but that breaks down when other variables enter the equation, like the possible presence of family members or guests.
"This is going to usher in a new way to doing development," said Facemire, who said he believes traditional procedural programming will give way to functional programming, in order to easily accommodate environmentally driven events. He points to the emergence of services like AWS Lambda and Google Cloud Functions as developments that support this shift.
For companies, the key is simplicity. Pointing to the days of Windows CE and the Palm Pilot, Facemire said the only people who used those devices were those who understood the technical work necessary to get some benefit out of them. Then Apple came along and made things simple with the iPhone, he said.
As the focus shifts from apps to experiences that span different channels, vendors have to simplify the experiences they're offering to make them appealing enough to bother with.
"It's all going to come down to simplicity," said Facemire, pointing to Google Now as an example of the kind of interaction we're likely to see in the years to come. "But, for vendors, their job becomes more difficult: taking complexity away."


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Natsume Releases New Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Special Edition Trailer
Cute in both art and tone!
05.12.18 - 5:25 PM
Developer Natsume has released a trailer detailing environments and gameplay for Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Special Edition, including a look at the seasons, farming at large, and some of the characters that players will encounter within the game. Check out the trailer below!
It looks like enthusiastic virtual farmers have something to keep an eye on in Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Special Edition.
The title is set to release on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on May 29th in North America and June 22nd in Europe.
Stay tuned to RPGFan for all news Harvest Moon!


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FROM THE FIELD
The Oregon State Fair, yes state fair, not Oregon Country Fair, was the first of it’s kind in the U.S.A. again showcasing cannabis plants this past August at the fairgrounds in the state’s capitol, Salem.
There are anecdotal accounts of the Oregon State Fair being the first state fair to allow actual tattooing—18 years ago—establishing a precedent for this fair’s trailblazing ways. The live cannabis plants on display were the winners of the Oregon Cannabis Grower’s Fair, where more than 60 plants were shown and judged by a panel including our very own Ed Rosenthal.
“We feel that this is perhaps the first opportunity many Oregonians have ever had to see a live plant,” – Donald Morse, director of the Oregon Cannabis Business Council, told the Associated Press.
“In doing all this, we hope to destigmatize cannabis as a whole.”
The Fair gave permission to the Oregon Cannabis Business Council to display nine immature cannabis plants in the commercial exhibitor section of the Fair.
The decision to allow this display was informed by the actions and decisions of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the Oregon Legislature and Oregon voters.
The cannabis display was inside a greenhouse controlled by an extra security detail, which was in addition to regular security staffing at the Fair.
No one under the age of 21 was allowed inside the greenhouse, and they were careful to label the exhibit as,“not affiliated with any other program, partner, vendor or exhibitor of the Oregon State Fair.”


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Our monthly round up of executive appointments, promotions, resignations and reshuffles. Please forward future announcements to firstname.lastname@example.org
Neil Farmer bows out of regular columns
Neil Farmer needs no introductions. He’s a global expert on sustainability, consumer and industrial packaging and everything FMCG related. He’s regularly spoken to packed theatres and event halls, passing on valuable insight and knowledge about latest innovations, markets and technology. For more than a decade, he’s also been the esteemed author of the regular “Neil Says” feature that appeared in our former title, Packaging Gazette. Neil, however, has announced his departure from writing regular columns as he looks to invest more time and energy towards new projects. Of his popular “Neil Says” column of 10 years, he proudly points out: “I never missed an issue during all that time.” It’s also worth noting he never missed a “Design Focus” panel contribution over the same period either. Fittingly, his final column (for the foreseeable future) is this magazine’s first ‘last word’ feature on page 63. We would
like to thank Neil for all his contributions and look forward to welcoming him back down the track.
Darby departure signals new start for Premier
All eyes will be on Premier Foods in the coming weeks to see who succeeds Chief Executive Gavin Darby (right), who is stepping down after nearly six years in the job.
Darby quit in November, four months after he narrowly survived a shareholder rebellion instigated by Premier’s second-largest shareholder, activist hedge fund Oasis Management. Oasis had accused Darby of presiding over five years of “persistent value destruction” and urged investors to send him packing at the company’s annual general meeting. After narrowly scraping home with just 59 percent of shareholder votes, he has chosen to bow out, on his own terms, on January 31.
Branston bolsters senior team
National potato supplier Branston has strengthened its senior management team with the appointment of a new Sales and Marketing director. Sharon Affleck, who will be responsible for commercial insights, sales and product development at Branston, has more than 20 years’ experience in fresh produce. Prior to her new role, she worked her way through the ranks at fresh food supplier G’s Fresh from Commercial Manager, through to Managing Director. Branston is a major supplier of potatoes for leading supermarkets across the country, processing more than 300,000 tonnes of potatoes annually in Lincolnshire, Somerset and Perth.
Compressed Air Society appoints new President
James Morgan has taken over as new President of the British Compressed Air Society.
Mr Morgan, who is Managing Director of HPC Compressed Air Systems, succeeds James Maziak who is head of Maziak Compressors.
Founded in 1930, BCAS is the only UK technical trade association open to manufacturers, distributors and end users of compressors, vacuum pumps, pneumatic tools and allied products. Morgan takes the helm at a crucial time for the society and industry – which is braced for significant Brexit disruption.


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In an apparent switch in its pricing policy, Amazon said over the weekend that it would allow users of its new Kindle Fire tablet to pay to turn off ads as it had done with earlier devices.
Amazon announced three new Kindle Fire tablets and three new e-ink Kindles today.
Two of the e-ink models have a built in screen light.
Here are some articles:
1) Kindle Paperwhite Hands On: What a Beautiful Screen (Gizmodo)
4) Amazon introduces larger, cheaper Kindle tablets (USA Today)
Radio program - On the Media
Brooke speaks to Justin Robert Young, who, along with Brian Brushwood, inspired their podcast fans to write a fake erotic e-book and improve its ranking in the iBook store by buying it and leaving 5-star reviews. The idea was to mock the success of Fifty shades of Grey and its sequels. The book reached #4, but then something funny happened - people not in on the joke started buying and positively reviewing the book.
On the Media page for the story.
Nearly five months after Google said it would end a little-used program that allowed independent bookstores to sell its e-books, a Canadian e-reading company named Kobo has stepped in as a replacement.
The American Booksellers Association, a trade group for independents, said on Wednesday that it had formed a partnership with Kobo that would make the company’s platform available to bookstores. The partnership will begin with 400 bookstores this fall.
In building partnerships with libraries in Kansas, Denver and, just announced today, California, e-bookstore Bilbary is attempting to create a new e-books sales channel through libraries.
Bilbary has built a series of links on library websites that take patrons to the Bilbary site where they can buy e-books. The library who referred the patron gets 50% of the profit from the purchase.
A new ebook bestseller list from book publishing website and community Digital Book World aims to provide a clearer picture of the books that are actually driving the most revenue by taking price point, not just unit sales, into account.
The bookish internet exploded last week when, in what one report called "the worst craft idea ever," Lauren Conrad (star of MTV reality shows and author of teen novels) cut apart a set of Lemony Snicket books and used the spines to decorate an otherwise plain box. The outcries were variations on the theme of, Nooooo, not books! That bitch!
The San Francisco Chronicle published an article dealing with the ticklish issue of the purchase and disbursement of ebooks to the public. The San Francisco Public Library, working with Califa, has come up with some creative solutions that involve working with the smaller publishers.
The story is here.


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MAKETING SKILLS:Two Tremendous Revenue Opportunities for Email Marketers
There's untapped potential for email marketers on Saturdays and Sundays, according to a new report. The findings also reveal a major lift in revenues with loyalty program emails.
Marketers are constantly recalibrating their email strategies to improve their effectiveness. And the final quarter of 2015 was no different. In fact, email volumeincreased overall by 23.4% compared to the same time period in 2014. It's a move that's apparently an effort to see more consumer actions on marketing messages—and it seems to have worked: Transaction rates and revenue per email increased by 14% and 12.8%, respectively, in Q4 compared to Q3 2015. That's according to Experian Marketing Services' quarterly email benchmark report.
Email marketers for business products and services had the highest volume increase (32%), followed by multichannel retailers (26.1%), travel (24.8%), consumer products and services (23.5%), and media and entertainment (16.5%). The only exception in the study was the publishing industry, which actually decreased its email volume (-7.9%). With more emails landing in readers' inboxes, open rates matched or were above those in Q4 in 2014, according to the report.
The findings also highlighted marketers' constant search to find the best time to email customers. But this report illustrated that one overarching best time to email simply doesn't exist. The report said that every brand has “a different set of customers with different needs and preferences,” so there's no one optimal time that fits all industries and customer bases.
However, the report does suggest that performance based on time of day can reveal opportunities to test whether mailing more frequently will positively impact performance. So, when transaction percentages are higher than volume percentages (i.e., when number of emails is low compared to the number of transactions), marketers might want to send more mailings. For example, weekends during the holiday season are a time that the study data suggests could be a boon for email marketers who increase the frequency of their mailings to include those days. Additionally, the findings show that early morning, late afternoon, and evening saw relatively high transaction rates in Q4 2015.
The findings also underscored the value of calls-to-action. “Shop now” or “book now” received between 5% and 10% of clicks. The study says that the words “new arrivals,” “hot products,” and “your next getaway” prompted more clicks. Not surprisingly, 56% of total email opens occurred on a mobile phone or tablet in Q4, compared to 54% in Q3 2015.
The report takes a close look at emails that promote loyalty programs—in particular, e-statements that have customer-specific information on point totals, reminds recipients of loyalty program benefits, and provide more opportunities to earn points and redeem rewards. These loyalty program emails enabled marketers to continue the conversations with customers after the holiday season ended.
Loyalty program e-statements, according to the report, performed well compared to standard promotional emails from the same brands that were analyzed in the study. These brands saw a lift in revenues per email (42%), unique clicks (36%), unique opens (31%), average order value (27%), and transaction rates (8%) from loyalty program emails over standard promotional emails.
The 33rd Jinhan Fair for Home & Gifts
21-27. 04. 2016
Online Registration available at


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Goldman Sachs replenishes top ranks of consumer bank division
By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall
NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N is rehiring a former executive in its consumer bank division and promoting several others, as the company seeks to replenish its top leadership after several key departures in recent months.
Brian King is rejoining Goldman as its consumer chief risk officer and head of business operations. King led risk oversight for Goldman's consumer bank division from 2018 to 2020, when he left to become the ch...


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Radiohead have poured hot water on rumours that they are set to sign for Starbucks’ record label Hear Music.
Talk of the highly improbable pairing originated on the internet after someone from the band’s representatives Courtyard Management was apparently seen meeting recently with representatives of the coffee giant in London, according to BBC6 Music.
The management company has now issued the following statement denying any link-up.
“Radiohead are currently in the studio working on their next record. They are not negotiating a new record deal with anyone, and will not even consider how to release their new music until the album is finished.
“The rumour that they are about to sign with Starbucks is totally untrue.”


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A bitcoin whale is a time period that refers to people or entities that maintain massive quantities of bitcoin, in response to Investopedia. There are round 1,000 people who personal 40% of the market.
Whales have the potential to control the forex valuations and, given bitcoin’s fluctuations in current weeks, they’re more and more underneath the highlight.
The Telegraph reported on Friday that, in response to trade information, round 13% of all Bitcoin, or round $80 billion, sits in simply over 100 particular person accounts. It added that the highest 40% of all bitcoin (roughly $240 billion) is held by slightly below 2,500 recognized accounts, out of roughly 100 million in whole.
How do whales affect bitcoin’s worth?
The variety of addresses holding greater than 1,000 bitcoin is at 2,334, a brand new all-time excessive, in response to CoinDesk.
Single trades made by such whales can result in big modifications to the worth of bitcoin – swamping any actions by smaller buyers, The Sun reported.
Bitcoin reached a record high of $41,973 on January 8. Nevertheless, on Friday Insider reported that the cryptocurrency was on the right track for its largest weekly worth fall since September. It recovered to round $32,170 by Saturday morning, leaving it down about 10% since Monday.
Again in November, CoinDesk studied data from crypto trade OKEx to offer a potential rationalization of how whales have been in a position to affect costs because the cryptocurrency soared. “Throughout that bitcoin run-up, establishments and whales have been in a position to purchase dips and oftentimes promote when costs went up. That left the vast majority of the retail buyers scrambling to chase the rally,” the report mentioned.
David Gerard, writer of Assault of the 50 Foot Blockchain and a recognized crypto-skeptic, was quoted in The Telegraph report as saying: “The large gamers can simply transfer the worth” as a result of the bitcoin buying and selling market may be very skinny…. Any one among them may crash it.”
There may be not lots of out there quantity to commerce, he mentioned, including that there have been all sort of “buying and selling shenanigans,” which might not happen in regulated markets.
What does the longer term maintain for bitcoin?
On Tuesday, Biden’s choose for treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, suggested lawmakers curtail cryptocurrencies like bitcoin due to issues they’re primarily used for unlawful actions.
Nevertheless, a Biden administration could possibly be pleasant to crypto, according to Yahoo Finance, given its choose of crypto professional Gary Gensler as SEC chairman.
Insider published an op-ed on Thursday stating that the federal authorities’s indicators to cryptocurrency has been complicated.
The article was written by James Ledbetter, chief content material officer at Clarim Media and editor and writer of FIN. It acknowledged: “If the US needs to maintain up with the worldwide growth of digital currencies, Biden’s staff should clearly reply some primary questions, like which of them shall be regulated as securities, and can a Bitcoin-based ETF be accredited?”
It stays to be seen whether or not these questions shall be answered by the administration any time quickly, nevertheless.


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|[March 23, 2012]
Cvent Selected as an OnDemand Top 100 Winner for Second Consecutive Year
MCLEAN, Va. --(Business Wire)--
Cvent (News - Alert), the world's largest cloud-based provider of event
selection and web
survey solutions, today announced that it has been named to the
AlwaysOn "OnDemand 100" list for the second year in a row. The OnDemand
100, chosen from over 1,000 applicants, represent the top private
companies that are shaking up the industry with game-changing approaches
and technologies that are likely to disrupt existing markets. Cvent was
recognized based on its innovation, market potential, commercialization,
stakeholder value and media buzz.
"Cvent's inclusion in the OnDemand 100 list is a testament to our
unwavering commitment to developing revolutionary SaaS (News - Alert) technologies that
are consistently pushing the limits of traditional software solutions,"
said Chuck Ghoorah, Cvent's Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of
Sales and Marketing. "As Cvent grows into a 1,000-employee company this
year, we'll continue to pioneer the cloud computing space by always
rethinking and defying the status quo."
Cvent's solutions are used by thousands of companies for a variety of
use cases; examples include:
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, a national
federation of 38 independent, community-based and locally-operated
Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies, uses Cvent's event management
software to handle registration and payment processing for the
organization's 120 educational and training programs each year.
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, one of the world's largest and
most dynamic hotel groups, leverages the Cvent
Supplier Network to boost its isibility in front of meeting
planners and win additional group business for meetings, conferences
and events of all kinds.
Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII), a recognized leader in the
powersports industry, utilizes the company's feedback management
solution to create and deploy customer satisfaction and loyalty
surveys. Polaris then uses Cvent to run real-time, customizable
reports to evaluate the survey results and track Net Promoter Score
"Digital information has expanded exponentially during the past year. As
the emergence of robust, innovative apps needed to manage this
information continues, a complex world of interconnected business
intelligence and ideas is being created at a new macro level," says Tony
Perkins, founder and editor of AlwaysOn. "This year's OnDemand 100
winners are continuing to use disruptive technology and ideas to merge
valuable legacy data and systems with new, vital streams of information.
The results are being deployed in the cloud by any number of SaaS
products and services, changing the way all business coexist. The
OnDemand 100 continues to represent some of the highest-growth
opportunities in the private company marketplace."
Joined on the list by companies such as Dropbox, SugarCRM (News - Alert), Silverpop and
Eloqua, Cvent and all other OnDemand Top 100 companies will be honored
at AlwaysOn's OnDemand event on April 4, 2012, at Hewlett-Packard's
Executive Briefing Center in Cupertino, California. A full list of all
the winners can be found at http://app.info.cvent.com/e/er?s=1602&lid=460.
Founded in 1999, Cvent is the world's largest meetings and event
management technology company and has over 900 employees worldwide.
Cvent offers web-based software for meeting site selection, online event
registration, event management, e-mail marketing, and web surveys, and
helps over 90,000 users in 50 countries manage hundreds of thousands of
events, surveys and e-mail campaigns. The company has processed over $2
billion in online payments and has managed over 30 million event
registrations and survey responses for its clients. Cvent's client base
ranges from small non-profits to large corporations, and includes over
30 companies from the Fortune 100. A leading authority on Strategic
Meetings Management (SMM), Cvent's technology has been used to implement
SMM programs around the world. For more information, please visit www.cvent.com.
AlwaysOn is the leading business media brand networking the Global
Silicon Valley. AlwaysOn helped ignite the social media revolution in
early 2003 when it launched the AlwaysOn network. In 2004, it became the
first media brand to socially network its online readers and event
attendees. AlwaysOn's preeminent executive event series includes the
Silicon Valley Innovation Summit, OnMedia, OnHollywood, IMPACT Venture
Summit Mid-Atlantic, Venture Summit East, OnDemand, Venture Summit
Silicon Valley, OnMobile (News - Alert), and GoingGreen Silicon Valley. The AlwaysOn
network and live event series continue to lead the industry by
empowering its readers, event participants, sponsors, and advertisers
like no other media brand.
Connect with Cvent:
[ Back To SIP Trunking Home's Homepage ]


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Panasonic, best known as rugged device maker, today unveiled two new enterprise-targeted rugged phablets at the Mobile World Congress in Spain.
The Panasonic Toughpad FZ-E1 runs Windows Embedded 8 software and Toughpad FZ-X1 runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box.
The 5-inch Toughpads will first go on sale in Japan for about US$1,268 (Rs. 78,711). The FZ-E1 will launch in June, and the FZ-X1 will launch in August. The company has plans to launch these latest innovate "phablets" overseas.
Panasonic's latest Toughpad lineup looks sturdy and weighs around 430 grams. Both the Toughpad FZ-E1 and Toughpad FZ-X1 feature 5-inch shockproof touch screen displays ( 720p HD), aside from 2GB of RAM, 32GB of on-board storage with an microSD card slot, and more.
"We decided to use Windows Embedded 8 Handheld instead of Windows Phone 8 because it offers more customizability," Masaki Mutou, general manager at Panasonic System Networks' Terminal Systems Business Unit".
Both the rugged devices also sport 3G and LTE connectivity, besides an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a VGA quality front-facing shooter.
The Toughpad FZ-E1 variant is powered by a 2.3 GHz quad-core processor powered by Qualcomm 800 (MSM8974AB) SoC, and runs Windows Embedded 8 software. On the other hand, the FZ-X1 runs Android 4.2.2 mobile OS, and is powered by a 1.7 GHz Qualcomm S4 Pro (APQ8064T) processor.
The latest Toughpad smartphones can sustain shock when dropped onto a concrete floor from a height of 3 meters and being submerged in 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes. Panasonic claims, these phablets can be used in most extreme conditions, ranging from minus 20 to 60 Celsius.
Other connectivity options include: 14-hour battery (6200mAh), Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v4.0, Micro USB, USB 2.0, GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS, and NFC.
Last year, Panasonic withdrew making smartphones in Japan. However, the Japanese giant is actively promoting and producing smartphones for Indian market. The company recently unveiled features phones in India.
Stay tuned to GizBot for more updates!


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Theory House announces the release of our “2023 Beverage Trends Report.” This comprehensive report provides insights into the latest consumer preferences, emerging trends, and game-changing innovations that will revolutionize the beverage landscape over the next several years.
As the beverage industry undergoes continued transformations, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for brands seeking sustainable growth. With an unwavering commitment to delivering cutting-edge market intelligence, Theory House has curated the “2023 Beverage Trends Report” to empower industry stakeholders and brand decision-makers with the knowledge to effectively shape their strategies.
Key Highlights of the 2023 Beverage Trends Report:
Wellness and Functional Beverages: Explore the growing trend of functional beverages that offer health benefits and cater to health-conscious consumers.
Sustainable Packaging and Eco-conscious Initiatives: Discover how environmentally conscious consumers are driving the demand for sustainable packaging solutions and eco-friendly practices in the beverage industry.
Emergence of Canned Cocktails: Understand how high-quality ingredients, authentic flavors and a depth of options suggest grab-and-go cocktails are here to stay.
“We are excited to unveil our initial Beverage Trends Report, which is the culmination of months of hard work and dedication by our team,” said Theory House’s President, Jim Cusson. “We believe that the insights provided in this report will empower businesses to make informed decisions and drive innovation within the beverage industry.”
The 2023 Beverage Trends Report is available for download at https://www.theoryhouse.com/2023-beverage-trends.


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The coronavirus pandemic has trashed the entertainment industry, and one of its highest-profile targets has been Disney’s live-action adaptation of Mulan. Originally slated to release on March 27, the film’s theatrical debut was moved to July 24, then August 21, then taken off the calendar entirely.
But on an earnings call with investors, Disney executives announced that Mulan will be released on Disney+, the company’s streaming service, on September 4. It will come with a fee attached: Subscribers will pay an additional $29.99 to rent the film. In countries without Disney+ — including China, the country in which Mulan is set — the company plans to release the film in theaters that same day.
This is big news for Disney, which had delayed the film to make sure it could maximize profits with a theatrical release. But theaters around the world closed down in March out of concerns for public health and safety, and they remain closed in many countries. With US theaters in a state of limbo heading into fall, the company’s new release plans are a kind of trial balloon that will indicate whether at-home audiences are willing to pay $29.99 to see a movie they won’t even own.
That sounds like a lot of money, though it’s still less than the cost of two or three movie tickets in many cities. (The average price of a movie ticket nationwide in 2019 hovered around $9.) Add popcorn and soda and the cost is about the same, albeit without the theatrical experience. For some audiences, that may be enough; for others, the plethora of at-home entertainment available on streaming platforms may suffice until the film’s price drops.
On August 4, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said the decision was made due to the pandemic and didn’t represent a future shift in Disney’s business model. But it’s not hard to imagine that if Mulan is very successful on Disney+, the company will begin to ponder more permanent changes.
The Mulan news is just the latest in a string of recent announcements indicating the pandemic has hastened seismic changes that industry insiders have long believed would eventually arrive.
A week earlier, Warner Bros. announced that the summer’s other extensively delayed, high-profile release, Christopher Nolan’s thriller Tenet, would open in 70 international territories on August 26 before a limited release in US theaters on September 3. The film was initially pushed back in the US to ensure a simultaneous release worldwide. But as other countries reopened after lockdown, so did their theaters. Meanwhile, the vast majority of US theaters (with the exception of drive-ins) remain closed as states suffer from spiking infection rates and few signs of the virus slowing.
And on July 29, megaplex chain AMC and Universal, one of Hollywood’s six major studios, announced they’d struck a deal to shorten the window between a movie’s theatrical and digital releases. Traditionally, a movie wouldn’t be available on on-demand platforms (such as iTunes and Amazon Prime) until months after it arrived in theaters; but now, Universal’s movies can go digital a mere 17 days after debuting in AMC’s theaters. (AMC will share a cut of the profits.)
A month past 2020’s midway point, it seems foolhardy to speculate about what these changes truly mean for the future of movies. Theaters and theater chains are in danger of going out of business completely. Even when they do reopen, it will be a long time before they can open at full capacity. And the fact that concessions are a big part of the theatrical business in the US — but you can’t wear a mask and munch popcorn at the same time — is another giant wrinkle. Movie studios hold the cards for now, but they’re not immune to financial turmoil. With the expensive, large-scale productions that keep the lights on experiencing not only delayed releases but also production challenges, it’s not clear how many studios will last, either. Compact release windows and higher digital-rental fees, if audiences become accustomed to them, may start to seem inevitable.
There are more questions than answers, and anyone who acts as if they know the future of movies right now is either a fool or trying to sell someone something. Changes in Hollywood have almost always been propelled by new technologies and social norms, from the addition of sound to the changes in self-censorship models. The advent of streaming is yet another chapter in that book. But one thing is clear: The decision by one of the entertainment industry’s biggest businesses to deliver a tentpole release like Mulan to its digital service signals that the pandemic, and the US’s failure to contain it, is what’s shifting tectonic plates this time around.
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BuzzFeed is buying HuffPost, the digital media company created by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer and others in 2005.
Verizon Media, HuffPost’s current parent company, also announced an investment in BuzzFeed. It will have a minority stake in the company.
“I have vivid memories of growing HuffPost into a major news outlet in its early years, but BuzzFeed is making this acquisition because we believe in the future of HuffPost and the potential it has to continue to define the media landscape for years to come,” stated Jonah Peretti, founder-CEO of BuzzFeed.
Peretti is also one of the founders of HuffPost, which was originally called The Huffington Post.
Peretti will run the combined company, according to The Wall Street Journal. BuzzFeed will look for a new editor in chief of HuffPost. Lydia Polgreen left the position in March.
Reports that Verizon Media was shopping HuffPost to large digital media companies came earlier this year.
“With the addition of HuffPost, our media network will have more users, spending significantly more time with our content than any of our peers," Peretti stated.
Together, the companies reach hundreds of millions of young, liberal-leaning audiences with news and culture content.
BuzzFeed and Verizon Media will syndicate content across each other’s properties and collaborate on ad products and commerce, he noted.
Verizon Media will continue to manage sales for HuffPost’s ad inventory. BuzzFeed will tap into Verizon Media’s ad platform, as well as Verizon Media Immersive, its online XR (extended reality) platform for advertising and content. The two companies will also create an innovation group to explore monetization opportunities.
Guru Gowrappan, CEO of Verizon Media, said he and Peretti “realized BuzzFeed’s strategy would complement HuffPost’s roadmap, injecting it with new energy and growing the brand into the future.”
“We are deeply invested in the continued success of HuffPost, and I couldn’t think of a better partner to take HuffPost to the next level,” he added.
HuffPost will continue to contribute to Verizon Media’s portfolio. Its content will be amplified via Yahoo channels and products, which are owned by Verizon Media.
Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In 2011, AOL bought The Huffington Post for $315 million. AOL was then sold to Verizon in 2015.


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The British manufacturer has unveiled two first images in camouflage gear of its future “high-performance” hybrid supercar, which began the final phase of development with road tests.
New hull, new engine
In recent years, McLaren has released new models and limited series on the line, with varying degrees of success. However, the brand of supercars is initiating a gradual transformation of its range, which will become more and more electrified before the final abandonment of thermal engines in 2030. The McLaren P1 had already opened the way in 2013 with a first hybridization (based on V8 then), until the Speedtail (1070 cumulative horses) unveiled last year.
After making all the sauces of its twin-turbo V8, McLaren will induct a new hybrid V6 engine, no doubt turbocharged, into this future model. This specification is specially adapted to the new lightweight carbon fiber structure, called McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA) which has been optimized for high performance hybrid powertrains and the latest generation driving technologies to contain weight.


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Switzerland-based Oriflame Cosmetics, the direct seller of cosmetics and beauty products, announced financial results for the second quarter of 2018.
Local currency sales increased by 1 percent while Euro sales decreased by 7 percent to €321.9 million (€347.6 million). The number of registered actives decreased by 1 percent to 2.8 million.
“Despite facing significant currency headwinds, we are pleased to report an improved operating margin for the quarter,” said CEO Magnus Brännström. “However, the overall sales development during the second quarter was weak due to challenging market conditions in key markets such as Russia, Indonesia and Turkey. Sales were in most regions further negatively impacted by less successful product launches as well as timing of catalogues and conferences. We are taking measures to enhance sales growth by emphasized focus on categories that help us drive activity and recruitment. Oriflame has a solid financial position and we are confident in our ability to return to sustainable growth.”
For the six months ended June 30, 2018, local currency sales increased by 4 percent and Euro sales decreased by 5 percent to €656.1 million (€687.8 million).
To read the full Oriflame Q2 financial report, click here.


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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — People in Tallahassee are donating their unused suits and dresses for a good cause.
Volunteer Florida held their annual Suits for Session drive near city hall Wednesday.
People drove up in vehicles and donated everything from full suits, blazers, dresses, blouses and belts.
All of these items will be donated to job-seekers who don't have the money to purchase new clothes.
"When you get a chance to put on a fresh suit it's a confidence booster. So we want to be a part of that process and assist our organizations across the state doing that," Volunteer Florida CEO Corey Simon said.
Since 2016, Volunteer Florida said it has donated more than 21,000 professional clothing for people to wear across Florida.


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Starting May 26, 1,800 Target stores will start stocking smart-home products in their all-new Connected Life sections. Icontrol Networks first tipped us off that itswill be heading to Target shelves soon as part of this initial launch. A Target spokesperson later confirmed the roll-out via separate email.
"Later this month, Target is launching an 8-foot connected-home statement in Target stores nationwide," said the Target rep. "Products featured within the statement include home cameras and sensors, location tracking devises and digital scales. By "statement," the rep later clarified she meant "a designated area within the electronics department where these products will be showcased on the shelf."
Target isn't the first electronics-carrying chain to give connected devices prime real estate, though. In fact, it's a little behind the curve.
Last year, Best Buy announced that it was updating 400 stores withso that a growing number of products by brands like and would have designated spots in stores. Before that, Lowe's introduced the , Staples unveiled two iterations and Home Depot started selling a bunch of smart-home stuff, including the and other Wink-compatible products.
Icontrol's $199 Piper Classic, pictured above, is a solid home security system. It comes with a siren, various alerts, a 180-degree fisheye lens and a built-in Z-Wave hub. The brand did introduce a premium option to the Piper lineup earlier this year -- the night-vision-equipped-- although Icontrol didn't say that it would be included as part of Target's Connected Life display alongside the less expensive Piper Classic.
I expect that Target will have more details to share as we get closer to the Connected Life launch date, so check back for updates on that front.


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According to Darren Rovell of CNBC, the Phillies are the only team to have three of the top ten most sold jerseys:
5: Cliff Lee (all teams)
4: Chase Utley
3: Roy Halladay
Something tells me that most of those Lee jersey sales came in the final month of 2010.
I used to be the person responsible for reporting this stuff for MLB.com. Even through 2009, the number of Phillies jerseys sold paled in comparison to the type of numbers the Yankees and Red Sox threw up there. It looks like that gap has significantly narrowed.
Fun fact: If you buy a Phillies jersey online at MLB.com, Modell's, Dick's, The Sports Authority, ESPN, or FogDog, it's likely going to come from the same warehouse and be handled by GSI Commerce in King of Prussia. That goes for all of the leagues. Monopolies!
View the rest of the top ten here.


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The Fintech Fix Weekly Roundup 27/10/2021
The Fintech Fix, Week 2:
Welcome to the second week of The Fintech Fix, where we cover the biggest stories of the financial week! Whether it’s the next groundbreaking advancement in Blockchain technology, a new CEO creating an economic revolution or an upcoming startup generating a huge following, this is the place to keep up with the breaking news of the future.
Hot Topics – First, let’s take a look at some of the most popular discussion points within the community at the moment.
Steven Lemon, Co Founder of Currencycloud, continued to dominate headlines in the world of Fintech, following on from his discussion about the death of traditional banking in last week’s Fintech Fix. This week, Lemon, joined by Lindsay Davis from Atomic, furthered their analysis of embedded finance’s roots and the sectors it is thriving in the most. What kind of organisations have realised that they can ‘be the bank’ through embedded finance? Companies like Uber have mastered the art of invisibly embedded financial services, by providing convenient access where the cost isn’t even realised upon payment. Davis believes that this is why Uber remains a market leader. Lemon went on, claiming that Apple, Amazon with Alexa, and Google, are all clear examples of more and more proliferation of organic, background transactions without a conscious need to execute that transaction at the bank. Albeit a scary thought, it’s extremely fascinating to see how much this space will develop. Will we even notice our payments in the future?
As we become increasingly reliant on the technology in our hands to solve our needs, digital payments only increase in frequency. As a result, digital payments have changed for every country, but none quite as much as in India where the digital payments industry is expected to grow to 300% of its current size by 2025. Ruediger Vogt, from Giesceke and Devrient, and Aveek Chaudhuri, a digital lending specialist from one of the largest banks in India, discussed the reasons for this boom in digital payments and Fintech in India. The impetus for such a prolific adoption of digital payments, to them, is due to a variety of reasons; Chaudhuri believes that the shift by companies, banks and organizations from building products and services for payments in India to developing the core infrastructure need to make digital payments seamless and acceptable has led to digital payments taking off in India, combined with the effect of COVID which naturally magnified the need for contactless payments. Vogt also went on to state the governmental influence of digital payments in India; the strong establishment of regulatory environments and support for fintechs has resulted in an increase of funding by both national and international banks. To boost technological innovations, the government of India has also launched initiatives driven by the NPCI, the Digital India Program and Financial Inclusion Programmes. This space can genuinely act as a solution to address the credit gap in the priority sector in India. Fintech does change lives.
With Amazon reportedly preparing to accept altcoins soon after Jeff Bezos shot William Shatner (Star Trek’s original Captain James T. Kirk) into space, the cryptocurrency market rocketed to another all-time high and generated fascinating talks in the world of Paytech. Charlie Meraud from altfi market maker, Woorton, is sceptical that we’ll be buying flat whites with crypto any time soon. On the other hand, Danny Scott, of one-stop crypto exchange CoinCorner, is pretty certain that the Lightning Network – which is just at the start of what could be a massive upheaval in the online streaming payments space – and other altfi-driven solutions to retail payments will, eventually, take us where no currency has gone before.
Safenetpay is enhancing its services for EU and EEA customers, following the establishment of a Danish subsidiary. As with many UK-based Fintechs, Safenetpay was looking for a European base to continue their ambitious growth plans post Brexit. Now, with their EMI licence, the company can expand its operations to provide SMEs and sole traders across the continent with smart business solutions, which Sanjar Mavlyanov, Founder and CEO of Safenetpay, believes is entirely achievable since ‘the Danish regulators encourage entrepreneurial spirit, collaboration and the pursuit of innovative solutions to complex problems.’
Transfer News – this week’s transfer news has much less to report, with no big moves in the market taking place as of yet. Nonetheless, the acquisition of two senior hires to Elliptic’s team will undoubtedly strengthen the global leaders in crypto-asset risk management. Safiya Karsan has been appointed Chief Operating Officer, responsible for leading Elliptic’s strategy ,operations and peoples team to drive the company’s continued growth. Joining Karsan in the transfer deal is John Connolly, who has been appointed Chief Product Officer. Connolly comes in to lead product strategy and management at Elliptic, with a clear focus on creating strategic value for customers through technology and data-science enabled innovations.
Big Partnerships To Watch – we have LOTS of exciting opportunities evolving in the space right now as a result of some huge partnerships that have recently emerged.
HSBC is working with Oracle NetSuite, one of the world’s leading cloud Enterprise Resource Planning systems, to launch a Banking as a Service (BaaS) offering which will enable customers to create and provide business banking solutions through their own platforms. The goal for HSBC here is to broaden its BaaS offering with more services, including HSBC Global Wallet, the multi-currency digital wallet for making and receiving international payments like a local. This is just another example of a traditional bank diversifying its services to keep up with the evolving world of Fintech.
Worldline, the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry, has partnered with Chargebee, the leading subscription, billing and revenue management platform, to provide end-to-end payment, subscription and revenue operations solutions for merchants operating in a subscription model. Daniel Nordholm, Head of Worldline’s Merchant Services division for Regional Businesses, said that ‘Worldline serves 1 million merchants across the globe, and we share with Chargebee a belief in making payments simple to allow businesses of all sizes to scale up. We are very excited to join forces and combine Chargebee’s vast expertise in the subscription economy with our expertise in payments to offer the best user experience for our customers.’
Klarna announced another big partnership ahead of the holiday season, with SmartGift, a leading gift-based e-commerce and data platform. The partnership will allow consumers to better the traditional gift-giving experience by letting recipients select their own preferences for gifts and even exchange a product before it has even been shipped. Not only will this reduce environmental wastage and lessen the mental stress of intense Q4 Christmas spending, but will ‘enable a super and flexible shopping experience at a time when digital gifting is more important than ever’, according to Head of Business Development and Partnerships at Klarna, Matthew Suraci.
Lastly, Allfunds & ConsenSys have collaborated to apply Allfunds Blockchain technology beyond the Fund Industry. This launch opens the possibility to apply the privacy enhancements beyond the original Allfunds Blockchain Fund Industry use case. Selected consulting firms, as well as technology and blockchain companies have been testing alpha versions of the solution to understand the possibilities created by this new privacy approach, which contributes to the continued development of the Enterprise Ethereum ecosystem.
Funding – Although not entirely about funding, Credit Suisse are definitely going to have to evaluate their financial situation after being fined over £147,000,000 by the FCA for serious financial crimes relating to due diligence failing regarding loans worth over US$1.3 billion, which the bank arranged for the Republic of Mozambique. This shocking penalty reflected key corruption within the market between government officials. Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, commented that the fine would have been higher, however Credit Suisse have also agreed to forgive the US$200 million of debt owed by the Republic of Mozambique as a result of these tainted loans.
In more positive terms, Pismo announced a $108 million Series B fundraising round, led by SoftBank, Amazon and Accel. Pismo is a cloud-native core banking and payments platform which has already attracted some of the biggest banks, fintechs and retailers in Latin America. Handling more than 4 billion API calls a month, and hosting more than 25 million accounts transacting more than $3 billion a month, Pismo is undoubtedly ready for a new phase of growth to lead banking and payment disruption all around the world.
Whilst Pismo wants to disrupt the banking and payment industries, kevin. secured £10 million of new capital in a seed funding round, with the aim to disrupt the card payment ecosystem. kevin.’s advanced A2A (account-to-account) payment infrastructure solution was created to swiftly change costly card payments to payments linked directly from customers’ bank accounts without using any third-party providers. The demand for such a service is definitely present, as Tadas Tamousiunas, CEO and Co Founder of kevin. commented that customers ‘are now seeing up to 40% of transactions being made directly through pre-linked bank accounts in mobile apps and more than 70% switching from cards to A2A in online payments.’
So that’s your weekly Fintech Fix! Stay tuned for next week’s dose so that you can stay up to date with the biggest stories of the future, right here in the present.


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Ready for a revolution? You’re already in the middle of a quiet one.
First there was the Internet revolution for people. Now we’re in the midst of the machine-to-machine (M2M) Internet revolution, which will see devices and not just people communicating and collaborating over the Internet.
“It used to just be face to face, person to person,” Matt Carter, president of Sprint's Enterprise Solutions Group, recently told TMC (News - Alert). Now, “we’re seeing everyday things…car, smart appliances, wearable (diagnose health, location, etc) all part of world of keeping people, places and things connected.”
Transportation is one area where we’ll see M2M early. Known as telematics, it includes cars that send data back to manufacturers, concerned mothers who are able to monitor their new drivers, and insurance agents who want to give discounts for good driving but need proof.
An early leader that is helping car companies with M2M is Sprint (News - Alert); through its Sprint Velocity brand, the company has helped the likes of automakers such as Chrysler, Hyundai and Acura deliver automotive connectivity.
“Part of Sprint Velocity is providing a platform that helps improve driving and the passenger experience,” Carter told TMC. “If you are in the car and looking for a particular restaurant, for instance, we can push that info to you.”
Automobiles aren’t the only machines that Sprint and others are helping connect to the Internet, however.
One of the biggest uses for M2M is sensor data from devices in the field, for instance; with M2M, companies can put sensors in the field that not only feed critical operations data back to company servers, but also interact with each other for whole new levels of flexible configuration.
Fleet data is another area where M2M makes strong business sense; it is much easier to manage trucks, for instance, when they are reporting their location and details such as mileage and fuel use.
Then there is the consumer side. Apple (News - Alert) is about to launch a major push into consumer-focused wearable tech that ties back to mobile devices and ultimately the Internet. While the company might be an early adopter, expect manufacturers of all types to start including M2M technology into their devices soon. This can range from reporting device health to more dramatic uses such as lights that automatically come on when the homeowner is about to arrive home.
The next Internet revolution has begun.
Edited by Alisen Downey


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Wendy’s and Pizza Hut Are Crowned the Top Quick Service Restaurant Brands on Social Media
Engagement Labs Identifies Top Ten Quick Service Restaurants on Facebook and Twitter
TORONTO, Ontario – April 7, 2015 – Technology and data company, Engagement Labs, creator of the eValue™ score, today released the top ten quick service restaurants (QSR) based on their social media performance on Facebook and Twitter.
According to the eValue data, the Top Ten QSRs in the United States are:
“The competition has never been fiercer in the quick service restaurant sector than it is today with more options than ever before. On a daily basis, social media is used to introduce new products and promotions to build loyalty and stay top-of-mind,” said Bryan Segal, CEO of Engagement Labs. “As the QSR industry struggles to counteract a decline in sales and broad competition, it is important to stay relevant with consumers by interacting with them on social media.”
Segal continues, “An interesting analysis we found was that niche brands like Chipotle and smaller chains like Whataburger, which is a family-owned restaurant that has locations in only a few states, were part of the top performers. This proves that no matter how big or well-known the company is, if their social media strategy resonates effectively with their audience, they will have an incredibly engaged fan base.”
The eValue tool allows for a more in depth social media analysis by measuring brands’ performance based on multiple metrics. One of the measurements that was examined more closely for the top QSR brands was Responsiveness, which measures how much, how fast and how well a brand responds to actual conversations amongst its users. The following chart ranks the Top Ten QSR brands in the US based on Responsiveness on Facebook and Twitter.
Wendy's, one of the top performers on Facebook, creates posts that resonate well with their followers which increases interaction. For example, the post that received the most likes and comments was about their salad offerings. The Company established a successful strategy by posting videos of how the salads were being prepared and also images of the different types that are offered which could be a reaction to the increasing demand for healthy food. Their responsiveness score on Facebook was well-above average which compliments their successful social media strategy.
Pizza Hut, the top performer on Twitter based on Responsiveness developed a strategy to respond back to their followers in a timely manner which was extremely effective. Another brand that is performing well on Twitter is Chipotle. Chipotle retweets users who engage positively with the brand which increases their brand equity.
About Engagement Labs
eValue Analytics™ is the global standard for social media scoring, leveraging more than 300 conventional social media metrics to provide a single comprehensive and benchmarked score against 75,000+ handpicked, verified brands which includes marketers, advertisers publishers and broadcasters across the globe.
The eValue score is composed of Engagement, Impact and Responsiveness metrics. Engagement is the level of interaction content receives on a specific social network, Impact is the reach content receives on a specific social network, and Responsiveness measures how much, how fast and how well a brand responds to actual conversations amongst its users.
Engagement Labs (TSXV:EL) offers intelligent social data, analytics and insights for organizations that are actively engaging on social networks. Offered as a SaaS or through an API, the eValue™ analytics platform allows brands to measure and maximize the effectiveness of their social media marketing campaigns, as well as measure that of their competitors across major social networks Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Engagement Labs maintains offices in Montreal, Toronto and Paris. www.engagementlabs.com / www.eValueanalytics.com
For media inquiries please contact:
Kate Tumino / Cáit Kilpatrick
KCSA Strategic Communications
email@example.com / firstname.lastname@example.org
212-896-1252 / 212-896-1231


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New bowling center to open Jan. 27
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Kingpin Lanes, a new bowling center located at 9525 Taylorsville Road in the Jeffersontown Commons shopping center, is scheduled to open Jan. 27 at 9 p.m.
The 66,000-square-foot facility contains 50 tournament-quality lanes and four "small-ball" lanes for children.
The facility also includes a cafe, a pro shop, an arcade, a mini-carousel, a lounge with large-screen televisions and karaoke area, and private party rooms.
George Vieth, former CEO of AMF Bowling Worldwide Inc., and Steven Paradis are managing partners of Kingpin LLC, the Louisville bowling and entertainment management company that owns Kingpin Lanes. The company currently has 40 employees, according to a news release.
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apple content on TweakTown - Page 105
We found 3432 items for the tag: apple
Smartphones still in the minority among U.S. cellphone users
Jan 22, 2011 5:01 am
Android and iPhone neck and neck among the big four
Toshiba's new tablet gets a teaser site; takes a crack at Apple in the process
Jan 22, 2011 4:44 am
Click the Source Link on an Apple device; get ridiculed by Toshiba
Ifixit releases $10 kit to crack Apple's new tamper resistant screws
Jan 22, 2011 4:35 am
Because calling something tamper resistant is merely a challenge to the modding community
XMBC finds its way to the iPad
Jan 21, 2011 2:48 am
XMBC released in ARM-based form, iPad, Apple TV 2 and iPhone 4 compatible!
Apple change iPhone screws to stop DIY repairs or mods
Jan 21, 2011 1:41 am
Apple change iPhone 4's to Pentalobe screws - makes it just a little harder to DIY mods
iOS 4.3 beta multitasking gestures shown on iPhone
Jan 20, 2011 11:58 pm
iPhone with multitouch gestures for multitasking shown off, iOS 4.3 love is felt
RumorTT: iPad 2 to include a proximity sensor?
Jan 20, 2011 5:55 am
Devs poking around in the iOS 4.3 beta may have found the answer
GeoHot to pimp out Windows Phone 7?
Jan 19, 2011 11:56 pm
GeoHot to create homebrew access to Windows Phone 7?
Apple Reports First Quarter Results January 18, 2011
Jan 19, 2011 7:53 am
Steve Jobs takes medical leave of absence from Apple
Jan 18, 2011 4:41 am
Tim Cook takes over day to day operations
RumorTT: Apples next-gen iPad 2 to include multi-core chip as well as double the screen resolution?
Jan 18, 2011 12:58 am
Apple next-gen iPad news is flowing like crazy
Quick Review: PhotoFast iPADock
Jan 17, 2011 2:41 pm
With people owning multiple Apple products these days, charging can be a bit of a pain. No more, though, says PhotoFast!
Iiyama is hoping to bring 30" monitor prices down
Jan 17, 2011 1:00 am
30-inch price control cartel to be broken this year?
Apple iPad 2 display to rock a 2048x1536 resolution?
Jan 16, 2011 11:59 pm
iPad 2 to increase display resolution to 2048x1536? Ready to rock your retinas?
PSA: iPhone not designed for below freezing conditions
Jan 15, 2011 2:00 am
Keep it inside during blizzards
Apple nearing ten billion App Store downloads
Jan 14, 2011 11:40 pm
$10,000 iTunes card up for grabs
Apple TV gets it jailbreak on via Seas0nPass
Jan 14, 2011 1:20 am
AppleTV gets its jailbreak on, says goodbye and waves it's Seas0nPass to freedom
NavJack brings new high iPad cases to CES
Jan 13, 2011 5:49 am
Carbon fiber for the racers, wood for the natural types
RumorTT: iPhone 5 nearly ready? To include DisplayPort output?
Jan 13, 2011 12:42 am
Apple's iPhone 5 to include a mini-DisplayPort output?
Apple's iOS 4.3 to include multi-touch gestures
Jan 12, 2011 11:49 pm
Apple iOS 4.3 goes out to devs - includes orientation lock option
Freecom Launches World's Thinnest Mobile Hard Drive Exclusively for Macs
Jan 12, 2011 5:06 am
Verizon iPhone 4 a rumor no more
Jan 11, 2011 4:20 pm
February 3rd pre-orders, February 10th launch!
RumorTT: iPad 2 coming February 1st?
Jan 11, 2011 1:14 am
Apple to release the iPad 2 within the next month?
Android 2.3 takes a bite into an Apple iPhone 3G
Jan 10, 2011 1:16 am
Android 2.3 gets ported onto the Apple iPhone 3G


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May 5, 2020
By KAREN VELIE
Orcutt’s iconic Old Town Market is closing, the tenants evicted by marijuana mogul Helios Dayspring, who recently purchased the building.
After more than 70 years, locals will lose the only grocery store in Old Town Orcutt. They may, instead, have a marijuana retail shop in their future.
“There are people in our community who don’t drive, they rely on this store,” said neighbor Chuck Williams.
Unaware the owners of the western style building on Clark Avenue were selling the property, Mark and Wendy Steller, the owners of the Old Town Market, were stunned when they received an eviction notice to vacate the property within 90 days after the end of the shelter at home order.
Since late last year, multiple marijuana business owners have showed interest in opening retail pot shops or delivery businesses in Orcutt. At this time, none have been approved.
Dayspring, however, has been successful at garnering retail permits in Morro Bay, Grover Beach, and San Luis Obispo. A handful of Dayspring’s former employees and a partner, allege Dayspring has plied local officials with cash and free cannabis to secure the coveted permits.
Tony Brocking, a former employee of Dayspring, said his former boss boasted he had paid public officials.
“Dayspring told me he paid the mayor (Grover Beach) $100,000,” Brocking said. “He was guaranteed a spot.”
While working to secure permits, Dayspring regularly donates money to local nonprofits, including the Central Coast Aquarium in Morro Bay, Exploration Station in Grover Beach, Rise in San Luis Obispo, and more recently, multiple nonprofits in Northern Santa Barbara County.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to support our local communities, NHC (Natural HealingCenter) has made substantial gifts over these past few months to several local nonprofits, including Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast, The United Way of Northern Santa Barbara County, and Blochman Union School District,” Dayspring announced in a May 3 email.
Dayspring has not returned requests for comment.
On April 14, Stacy Wooten, a consultant who works for Dayspring, filed articles of organization for Orcutt Holdings LLC, listing Dayspring’s home address on Los Osos Valley Road in San Luis Obispo County as the business address for the limited liability company. Four days later, a statement of information was filed with the state, listing Dayspring as the owner of the LLC.
On April 24, Orcutt Holdings LLC purchased the Old Town Market building and several other parcels for $1.6 million. A week later, Dayspring sent the Stellers and eviction notice.
On May 3, Dayspring also announced plans to open a retail pot shop in Orcutt.
“NHC has decided to apply for a retail location in Orcutt,” Dayspring said in his announcement. “Santa Barbara County has created a rigorous new process that will allow six cannabis retailers to apply and ultimately secure a permit to operate in one of the six specific zones in Santa Barbara County. And because this will be a very competitive process, our loyal customers and patients will be a valuable resource in helping us receive the approval of Santa Barbara County.”
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Alterna Bank recently partnered with Canadian Fintech Flinks to help its customers open and fund their account faster.
With this move, new online applicants will reportedly be able to transfer money from their other Canadian financial institutions to Alterna Bank in 5 minutes or less.
Flinks is an entity that provides financial data aggregation. With its technology embedded into Alterna Bank's online account opening process, new applicants' can authentic their identity reliably and securely. In addition, these consumers will be able to validate and link their bank accounts.
"Fintechs, like Flinks, are constantly improving their services and applications. Their agility and ability to be responsive to the needs of financial organizations like Alterna Bank, keeps us at the forefront of digital banking in Canada," said Rob Paterson, Alterna President and Chief Executive Officer.
"As we work towards making the most of every customer interaction, we are extremely pleased to be providing another secure money transfer option for customers who bank with us."
Alterna Bank confirmed that it saw fintech companies as essential to the bank’s growth. The bank believes that technological advances empower customers to manage their finances in a more convenient fashion.
Commenting on the partnership, Flinks Founder & CEO Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf expressed optimism.
"Flinks is on a mission to give back power to consumers with their financial data, and we're thrilled that Alterna has launched this initiative," he noted.


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Ford Motor Co. issued a recall for more than 108,000 vehicles.
The 2015 Ford Fusion and the 2015 Lincoln MKZ are among the affected vehicles.
The majority are in the United States.
Read more from MarketWatch.
Utah-based gourmet cookie chain Crumbl Cookies opened its first Springfield shop; interior design business Branson Upstaging LLC relocated; and Lauren Ashley Dance Center LLC added a second location.


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Sales of rock tracks dropping
Rock has hit a hard place - as guitar bands have started disappearing from the charts, new figures show.
Sales of rock tracks have dropped by almost 18 per cent in the first eight months of this year, compared with the corresponding period in the previous year, analysis by Music Week reveals.
Its study of sales compiled by the Official Charts Company shows just five of the 100 best-selling singles of the year so far were classed as rock. The biggest seller among these, Journey's Don't Stop Believin', was fuelled by its use in TV show Glee.
The analysis shows sales of urban tracks are up by a third with pop up 30 per cent in that period.
The rest of the rock big-hitters for the period were two tracks by Florence And The Machine, one by folkie quartet Mumford And Sons and the last by dance-rock act Pendulum.
Absolute Radio's head of music, James Curran, told the magazine: "It's very difficult to get a bona fide rock hit these days, even by some of the biggest bands."
So far this year, no rock act has made it into the top five, while even in 2008 the top end of the chart featured songs by Coldplay, Kings of Leon and Oasis.
The charts are now overwhelmingly powered by download sales with only a small proportion of sales on CD.


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Shanghai based travel agencies are reporting big drops in the amount Chinese tourists going to Malaysia, as the MH370 ramifications continue to be felt worldwide.
Around 20 per cent of the people who booked tours to Malaysia with Shanghai China CYTS Outbound Travel Service have cancelled their trips, East Today reported.
CYTS reported that it will stop using Malaysian Airlines as a carrier for all tourists and travellers booked on Malaysia Airlines flights can book with other airlines or be refunded.
In addition, Shanghai Datong Tourism Agency has received very few tourists.
He Yiwei, deputy manager of the Shanghai Da Tong said that the loss of the flight had led to a slump in Chinese booking packages across the region including Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.
Shanghai Spring International Travel Service Group also said there was a drop in Malaysian tours, while online tour operator Ivmama said that Malaysia would still get a steady stream of individual tourists.
More than 66,000 Chinese tourists in tour groups visited the country in 2012, increasing 33 per cent on 2011, according to the Shanghai Tourism Administration.


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Discovery platform Taboola has forged partnerships with 500 publishers in India, including big names such as NDTV, The Indian Express, Zee Media and The Hindu. Ran Buck, in an interaction with Ankita Rai, talks about challenging the walled gardens, and the shift in marketing spends from display to discovery platforms. Edited excerpts:
Taboola had projected $1 billion in global revenue for 2018. Was the target achieved? What is India’s share in Taboola’s revenue?
We are aiming to close 2019 with $1.3 billion in revenue. India is a significant market for us in terms of page views. The business is growing at a CAGR of 30%. In the last six months, we have tied up with big publishers like Zee TV, The Hindu and The Indian Express, and renewed the NDTV deal. So the growth is expected to be higher on the back of more inventory and page views.
We work on the CPC model instead of CPM — brands pay us only if somebody clicks on the ad. On the video front, our model is cost per completed view; brands pay us only if a video is viewed for a minimum of 30 seconds.
With the launch of Taboola News, you seem to be competing with the likes of Apple News and Google News. Will that impact your tie-ups with publishers?
Taboola is a discovery platform. Our mission is to enable users discover new content. Taboola News is an add-on. It is a personalised platform for news content and comes pre-installed on smartphones. We have already integrated with several mobile phone manufacturers including ZTE and Vivo. Taboola has also recently acquired the Start Division of Celltick, a global leader in mobile discovery and engagement.
We are working with aggregators like MSN and also with publishers, exclusively. The idea is to have long-term partnerships with publishers. In a way, Taboola is the Robin Hood of the open web. Unlike Facebook, Twitter or Apple News, we don’t steal users from publishers. So, publishers get free traffic from Taboola News. The revenue agreement is with OEMs or the telcos.
Is Taboola changing the way search is traditionally used by brands with ‘search in reverse’?
Search advertising is a powerful marketing tool with one flaw — it doesn’t work if your audience doesn’t know what they are searching for. We haven’t changed the search behaviour; we have created another category called discovery. Display advertising, which includes banners, is called the ‘blind of the internet’, which means consumers are becoming blind to them. Today, consumers are more interested in what they may discover or read next. So, brands are shifting some of the marketing budgets from search to discovery.
How is Taboola challenging the walled gardens — Facebook and Google? How much of the marketing spends do you see shifting to platforms like yours?
There are three primary places to advertise online — Google, Facebook, and then there is the ‘open web’ comprising big and small websites. Publishers have realised that the walled gardens have captured their audience. We are trying to help the open web and publishers grow traffic, engagement and audience.
Taboola has 1.4 billion unique users globally, compared to YouTube’s one billion. If we are able to show videos to all the unique users that use Taboola recommendations, we would be bigger than YouTube. But, unfortunately, we are not there yet. Video is expected to contribute 25% to our topline.
We see a big shift in marketing spends away from Facebook and Google. Regulations like GDPR have given a further boost to our business. Around 30-40% of the marketing spends are expected to shift to discovery platforms like Taboola in three years.
By how much can publishers and brands rationalise their marketing costs when using Taboola services?
We give publishers all user data for free to help acquire and manage traffic in a smart way, and keep audiences engaged. For example, if a user is coming from a home page, he/ she is a very engaged user. If a user is coming from a social platform, the bounce rate is higher. So we can tell which segment of the audience is expected to bounce very fast, and devise the strategy accordingly to keep users engaged either through organic recommendation or sponsored content. Taboola is able to reach more than 50% of the internet population globally, and 75% in India.


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Echo Mountain ski area — the small ski hill 35 miles from downtown Denver that has enjoyed robust growth since opening six years ago — is for sale in an auction scheduled for early August.
“We’ve had six years of steady growth,” said owner Jerry Petitt, the Maryland hotelier who bought the 226-acre dormant Squaw Pass ski area at a 2002 auction for $700,000 and has since plowed several million dollars into developing the area. “But to reach the next level, Echo needs investment and expansion. And it’s time for new ownership to take it to that next level.”
Under Petitt, Echo Mountain has grown from 12,000 visits in its inaugural 2005-06 season to 32,000 last season. Just about every resort in the country limped through the 2011-12 ski season — the worst in two decades nationally for both snowfall and visitation. But Echo had decent snow and saw strong visitation, with revenue climbing 30 percent and daily ticket sales up 50 percent.
“It was a record year for us overall,” said Petitt, chief executive of the 14-team summer collegiate baseball Coastal Plain League who has bought and sold hotels across the country for decades.
The Denver office of international auction firm Sheldon Good & Co. is handling the sale. The firm offers swift sales and moves 90 percent of its listings, said chief executive Mark Troen.
“We get the deal done,” Troen said.
Without discussing a price, Petitt said: “Our whole aim is to get it sold, but we are not going to give it away either.”
“I asked the auction people what they think and it’s a wide range. The market sets the price so it’s hard to say what it’s going to sell for,” said Petitt, who will not close the ski area if bidders do not reach his undisclosed reserve price in the sealed bid auction.
The market for ski resorts is sporadic, especially in today’s troubled economic climate, which has pinched commercial real estate.
Recent ski-resort sales cover a broad range. Jackson Hole’s Storm King and Utah’s Brian Head have been on the market for more than a year. Last August, the Powderhorn ski area atop the Grand Mesa sold at auction for a paltry $1.4 million in a deal that included 600 developable acres. Vail Resorts picked up Lake Tahoe’s venerable and relatively expansive Kirkwood ski area in February for $18 million. Florida real estate investment trust CNL grabbed Washington’s uber-snowy Stevens Pass for $20.5 million last fall.
It’s a tough market, with almost no consensus in terms of pricing a ski area, said Mike Cahill, whose Greenwood Village-based Hospitality Real Estate Counselors specializes in commercial real estate and is listing Jackson’s 465-acre Storm King ski area, which includes a 204-room hotel, for an undisclosed price.
“Almost all ski resorts make their money off residential real estate sales,” Cahill said. “Without real estate it places the buyer dependent on just the ski industry.”
But skiing has worked for Echo. The hill straddling Squaw Pass has developed a loyal following as it evolved from pure terrain park to family-centric ski hill.
Troen and Petitt will trumpet the opportunities for Echo as they reach out to ski-industry veterans, resorts looking to expand their offerings and investors. The area’s summertime potential is ripe for expansion and the ski area could more than double its vertical drop.
“This will be valued not just on its tangibles but also its intangibles,” said Troen, who noted the parcel could host some residential development. “Not only by what the ownership has put in place but what the new ownership can add to that.”
Petitt has built parking lots, two base-area buildings, three lifts and 16 trails on 80 acres of the 226-acre parcel, which boasts top-tier snowmaking and lights for night skiing. His team has developed only a third of the parcel, opening the opportunity to expand its 660 feet of vertical to 1,500 feet.
Bids in the sealed auction are due Aug. 2. More information can be found at echomtnauction.com.
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374 or firstname.lastname@example.org


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Hitachi Capital Business Finance, a leading name in financial services, has revealed that the retail sector now has the lowest growth outlook in recent history.
Figures from the global financial service provider show that only 31% of small businesses in the retail sector are predicting growth in the first few months of 2020 with many sighting the possible impact of Brexit and economic volatility as the two major reasons for concern
Top 10 issues on the minds of business owners
|The possible impact of Brexit||31%|
|Managing cash flow||27%|
|Tax and interest rates||19%|
|Compliance and regulations||17%|
|Borrowing and lending||7%|
Gavin Wraith-Carter, Managing Director at Hitachi Capital Business Finance, said: “Last year small businesses had to adapt to a period of protracted Brexit uncertainty and the economic ripple it delivered to sectors across the UK. We start 2020 with far greater certainty, and our research suggests small businesses have switched from staying afloat through cost-cutting to a new era of planning for sales growth, investing in people and product diversification to boost bottom-line growth. While 10% of business leaders are investing in training, the remaining 90% should be giving this serious thought, and what options that are available to businesses.
“Our research also suggests that more small business owners recognise the need to adopt flexibility in their budgeting, whilst safeguarding their financial strength by building up their financial reserves. These factors point towards 2020 being a year when more small businesses will be looking for finance to help to realise their growth ambitions. We would encourage business owners to shop around, to look beyond the high street lenders and talk to specialists that can offer flexible solutions that are tailored to the needs of their business.”


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Analysts Expect Ford’s Revenues to Weaken in 1Q17
Recent trend in Ford’s revenues
In 4Q16, Ford Motor Company’s (F) revenues stood at $38.7 billion—down $1.6 billion from its revenues in 4Q15. However, its revenues were higher than analysts’ estimates of $35.1 billion for 4Q16. The company’s weaker revenues from the North America and European markets hurt its total revenues the most.
Now, let’s take a look at what analysts estimate for Ford’s revenues in 1Q17.
Interested in F? Don't miss the next report.
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Ford’s 1Q17 revenue estimates
Wall Street analysts estimate Ford’s first quarter revenues to be at $34.7 billion this year—about 1.6% lower than its revenues of $35.3 billion the same quarter last year.
Apart from analysts’ recommendations, it’s also important for investors to pay attention to the revenue estimates. The estimates could show market expectations for the company. The estimates can also serve as a proxy for what might be priced into the market.
Last year, Ford faced challenges in its other key markets including in Europe and other regions in Asia. While its performance in the European market improved marginally in 4Q16, it wasn’t enough to help the company post higher total revenues and regain investors’ confidence. These could be some of the reasons why analysts expect Ford’s revenue to weaken more in 1Q17.
Analysts’ revenue estimates for General Motors suggest an increase in its first quarter revenues. Analysts expect General Motors’ 1Q17 revenues to be strong at $40.3 billion—up 8.2% compared to its revenues in 1Q16.
In the next part, we’ll find out what analysts expect for Ford’s 1Q17 profit margins.


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Fri, Oct 06, 2023
Rs 2000 note last date: The Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said only about Rs 12,000 crore (or 3.37 per cent) of the currency notes remain in circulation. This essentially means over 96 per cent of the total value of Rs 2,000 banknotes are back in the banking system.
Fri, Sep 29, 2023
A lot will change in the country from October 1. Which new rules will be applicable? What will be mandatory from October 1? Will Rs 2000 notes go out of circulation? Know complete details from Varun Dubey
Mon, Sep 25, 2023
The deadline to return banned Rs 2,000 notes is just 5 days away. If you still have these notes with you, you need to act fast! In this video, we will discuss everything you need to know about the deadline, the process of exchanging or depositing Rs 2,000 notes, and the consequences of not meeting the deadline.
Wed, May 24, 2023
2000 note withdrawal news: Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday stressed that the entire process of withdrawal of Rs 2000 notes will be non-disruptive, and the Central Bank has been monitoring the situation regularly.
Tue, May 23, 2023
The Reserve Bank of India's decision to withdraw Rs 2,000 notes from circulation seems to have caused a stir amongst the masses. Zomato revealed that 72% of Cash on Delivery orders were paid in Rs 2,000 notes, while fuel stations and jewelry stores are overwhelmed by people trying to get rid of them.
Mon, May 22, 2023
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday explained the reason behind the regulator's decision to withdraw Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation. Click here to know more about why RBI took the decision and key things you need to remember before the September 30 deadline to deposit/exchange the Rs 2,000 currency note.
The Reserve Bank of India has decided to pull Rs 2000 crore notes from circulation. They will, however, remain legal tender. The masses have been asked to exchange them before September 30, 2023. RBI said the denomination wasn't being commonly used for transactions. The RBI found that the notes of other denominations were enough to meet the requirement of the country.
The Reserve Bank of India has decided to withdraw INR 2,000 notes from circulation in pursuance of the central bank’s Clean Note Policy. The RBI has said banknotes in INR 2,000 denomination will continue to be legal tender, which implies a consumer can purchase goods using the currency. In this video, public reacts to the RBI's decision.
Sat, May 20, 2023
Rs 2,000 withdrawal from circulation: The RBI's announcement on Friday evening that the Rs 2,000 currency note has served its purpose and thus will be withdrawn from circulation left social media platforms in splits, with a string of memes doing rounds on microblogging website Twitter.
Fri, May 19, 2023
BREAKING | Rs 2,000 note to be withdrawn: The RBI will start withdrawing 2,000-rupee notes from circulation. But worry not! The 2,000 note will remain legal tender. You will get a chance to deposit the Rs 2,000 note at the bank, or exchange it up to 10 (Rs 20,000) at a time.
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American Enterprise Institute
The Trump administration enacted two significant items last week. One is aimed at “inbound” threats embedded in what US companies buy from China as well as other countries; the other is focused on the “outbound,” prohibiting what US companies can sell or license to a specific company, the Chinese network equipment giant Huawei. This is long overdue. The actions follow two decades of intelligence gathering and experience documenting the risk of the products and services of firms associated with the Chinese government and military, repeated trade violations, and cyberattacks, including the one on the Office of Personnel Management which compromised some 20 million personal records with sensitive information. Hearings in the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees corroborate the need for these decisive actions, including the item specifically focused on Huawei.
Read more here.
Roslyn Layton , May 21, 2019
Last week President Trump signed an executive order Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain. This prohibits ICT transactions with foreign adversaries posing risks of espionage, sabotage, subversion, or threats to the resiliency of critical infrastructure and digital economy. It directs the Commerce Department to work with federal agencies over 150 days (from publication in the Federal Register) to identify the actors, technologies, and countries to scrutinize as part of the order and to design and negotiate measures to mitigate concerns. This action gives a much needed boost to investigate the supply chain vulnerabilities evident in the US–China Economic and Security Review Commission’s April 2018 report, which highlights supply chain risks from companies reportedly involved with China’s military, nuclear, and/or cyberespionage programs and whose products are prevalent in US markets. These include Lenovo, ZTE (formerly on the list) and Tianma Microelectronics, among others.