text:
Displaying items by tag: Asia Pacific
Over 200 government officials, technology experts, scholars, and representatives from tech companies gathered from all across the Asia-Pacific region for the third annual Huawei Asia-Pacific Innovation Day, held in Kuala Lumpur. The event was co-hosted by Malaysia's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the Malaysia-China Business Council, and Huawei Technologies.
This year's event focused on fostering digital economy in the APAC region, with special focus on digital transformation models for emerging markets, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and core industries like services and tourism.
At the event, Huawei announced the construction of a new OpenLab in Malaysia, which will serve as an open, flexible, and secure platform for joint innovation with local partners. Huawei has built similar OpenLabs in Munich, Mexico, Dubai, Singapore, and China. Together, these labs support extensive cooperation between Huawei and over 400 solution partners globally.
At the event, Huawei's Deputy Chairman of the Board and Rotating CEO, Guo Ping, spoke about the different stages of digital transformation, and what countries can focus on at each stage of development.
"We've all heard about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs," said Guo. "When a country goes digital, it experiences a similar evolution of needs. I would divide this hierarchy into four layers. The first is ICT infrastructure, which is the foundation of a digital economy. The second is security, for both the physical and digital worlds. Security is necessary for further development. The third layer is developing a supportive environment for industries to go digital. Building on a solid foundation of privacy protection, the fourth and highest layer is enabling broader information sharing. More data will help cities and national governments better manage the digitization process, ultimately promoting safer cities and smarter countries.”
Guo stressed that technological innovation and an open ecosystem are critical to the success of digital initiatives in the APAC region.
"We need to collaborate more broadly and share views across the ecosystem, including between industries and universities worldwide. Close collaboration between industry and academia will help ensure a thriving digital economy. As always, Huawei remains committed to the Asia-Pacific region, and will continue working with our partners to drive digital economic growth and ensure a better connected future for all of APAC."
The Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and Minister of Home Affairs, YB Dato' Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi, also delivered a keynote speech at the event. He expressed his optimism about the future of digital transformation in the Asia Pacific region. He encouraged all APAC countries to communicate more and work more closely together to drive positive, sustainable economic outcomes.
Also at the event, The Brookings Institution, a US think tank, released the global safe city report, a blueprint of safe cities around the world. Findings from the report indicate that, from an infrastructure perspective, the Asia Pacific region has enormous potential for smart city and safe city development. Huawei highlighted its own experience helping the Longgang District in Shenzhen, China, build out its safe city infrastructure.
Openness, innovation, collaboration, and shared success were the common themes of the event. Tony Q.S. Quek, Associate Professor from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), spoke about Huawei's Innovation Research Program, which funds joint innovation with universities.
Professor Dr. Ong Hang See from Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) and YBhg Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, CEO of Malaysia Petroleum Resource Corporation (MPRC), presented real-world examples of the electric power industry and the oil and gas industry going digital.
Xue Ding, co-founder of ofo, outlined the shared bike company's partnership with Huawei, which helped ofo embed Internet of Things (IoT) chips in their bicycles and leverage artificial intelligence to offer riders more personalized services. Xue indicated that ofo would like to join forces with Huawei and other partners to build out the global IoT ecosystem.
During the event, Huawei signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the SME Corporation Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Terengganu State Government, and CyberSecurity Malaysia, expanding cooperation across a number of domains, including scientific research, innovation, talent, smart campuses, and cyber security. Together, they will promote a thriving digital economy and ensure prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
New Zealand’s largest telecom provider, Spark, announced the addition of a third mobile node or Evolve Packet Core (EPC), adding additional capacity and resiliency to its nationwide mobile network.
Spark previously had two mobile EPC nodes handling large volumes of traffic, based in Auckland and Christchurch. The new third node, located in Porirua, gives the company additional resiliency and the flexibility to shift and re-route traffic around as required, particularly in the case of a natural disaster or emergency.
Spark mobile customers have already devoured 34 Petabytes of data - (that’s over 34 Million Gigabytes of data or 4,886,819 hours streaming Ultra High Definition video) in the first eight months of 2017 compared to 6.89 Petabytes consumed in the same period last year.
This incremental increase in capacity means the Spark network is geared up to meet future technology requirements including the roll-out of 4.5G and the expansion of its wireless broadband service.
Spark’s General Manager of Networks, Colin Brown, says that the changing needs of customers is driving a focus to a wireless future.
“Rapid advances in wireless capability, together with the uptake of mobile apps and video streaming means we see people on the network for longer and downloading more data than ever before,” he said.
"We want to ensure we are giving our customers the best wireless experience possible. The installation of this third node is important because our customers expect an ‘always on’ service and so we need to ensure we have the capacity and resiliency to provide this,” Brown added.
"This demand for data means we need to evolve our network and our plans as we have done with the expansion of our 4.5G network and the introduction of our new unlimited mobile data plan.”
Spark is the only New Zealand mobile provider to have deployed next generation 4.5G technology as a pathway to 5G.
Young consumers across Asia Pacific are now the core driver for new communications services and will have an impact on operators’ business, said Zhou Jianjuan, Vice President of Huawei’s Carrier Business Group, speaking at the Asia Pacific Emerging Markets Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, on August 29.
Zhou said young consumers today account for more than half of Asia’s fast-growing population and have grown up as mobile phone and computer users with high expectations of technology. Huawei, he said, sees three areas where these young consumers are driving demand for improved digital services that will have a major impact on telcos: Development of new ICT policies, creation of industry ecosystems, and demand for new business solutions.
Operators investing in emerging markets have hit bottlenecks hindering network development, according to Huawei. The results have been slowing revenue growth, inflated costs in network construction, and an unsatisfactory experience in network operation and maintenance.
Operators in emerging markets need to turn this situation around and deliver a better network experience as well as accelerate return on investment (ROI) in emerging markets, the Chinese vendor claims. The three areas Huawei proposes to improve - ICT policies, development of industry ecosystems, and business solutions tailored to customer demand - will help operators make a breakthrough in the current situation, the company said.
"Huawei stands committed to network development in emerging markets, and helping operators identify value customers, develop value services, and build value networks,” Zhou noted. “Together, improved industry policies, reuse of existing networks, and innovation in technology and business strategies will enable operators to increase efficiency and revenue, while creating a positive business cycle with network construction and development of new services.”
Huawei said it works to develop ICT in emerging markets by engaging with governments and regulators to promote policies that favor robust spectrum development and technological evolution. In building industry ecosystems, the company has already seen progress in site FTTx alliances and content aggregation.
In the case of site industry alliances, Huawei said it helps operators leverage existing public assets from governments and tower providers in building a site ecosystem in a manner that shares benefits among all parties involved.
Considering the current situation in emerging markets, Huawei said it’s working with operators to offer a series of innovative business solutions with "User +, Home +, Asset +, Efficiency +" in the following areas to:
- Increase the efficiency of operations and maintenance to benefit users from different financial backgrounds. This will lead to interconnections that promote economic and social development.
- Implement fast deployment of broadband to the home and indoor digitization to improve deep coverage and the user experience.
- Fully leverage existing network and public assets to unleash site potential, and optimize spectrum assets by cloudifying air interface resources to maximize spectral efficiency.
Asia Pacific OTT (over-the-top) revenues from TV episodes and movies on platforms such as Netflix will reach $24.41 billion by 2022, according to Digital TV Research, which is triple the $8.27 billion recorded in 2016. The total will increase by nearly $3 billion in 2017 alone, the report says.
China will command half of the OTT revenues for the 22 countries covered in the Asia Pacific OTT TV and Video Forecasts report by 2022, increasing from just over a third of the 2016 total. China and Japan together will account for two-thirds of the region’s total revenues by 2022.
Advertizing revenues on OTT sites and SVOD (subscription video on demand) revenues are running neck-to-neck, the report says. SVOD will be the leader in 2017 and 2018, but AVOD (ad-based video on demand) will regain the crown from 2019, it claims. China will supply 61 percent of the region’s AVOD revenues by 2022 – or $7.27 billion.
Asia Pacific SVOD revenues will increase from $3,388 million in 2016 to 9,090 million in 2022, the report says. China will overtake Japan to become the SVOD revenue leader in 2017.
Digital TV Research forecasts 234 million SVOD subs by 2022, up from 91 million in 2016. China will have 139 million SVOD subs (59 percent of the region’s total) in 2022. India and Japan will together account for another 50 million, leaving only 44 million divided between the remaining 19 countries.
The report concludes: A quarter of the region’s TV households will subscribe to an SVOD package by 2022, up from just over a tenth at end-2016.
Full-fledged 5G is just around the corner, according to Ericsson’s latest June 2017 Mobility Report. The acceleration of 5G New Radio (NR) standardization will enable large-scale trials and deployments of 5G in 2019. Thus, the number of 5G subscriptions is forecast to exceed half a billion by the end of 2022.
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations, known as the Organizational Partners, approved acceleration of the 5G NR standardization schedule in March 2017 by introducing an intermediate milestone for an early variant called Non-Standalone 5G NR. This will enable early 5G deployments, according to Ericsson’s Mobility report, and support the requirements for enhanced mobile broadband services.
Ericsson anticipates that early 5G deployments will occur in several markets in the coming years. In 2022, the number of 5G subscriptions is forecast to reach more than 500 million. However, 5G subscriptions will require a device capable of supporting 5G services and use cases, and that is connected to a 5G-enabled network.
ZTE was the first to unveil a 5G smartphone, called the Gigabit Phone, capable of 1Gbps download speeds. With 5G on the horizon, a 4GB, 6GB or even 10GB plan won’t be enough when you’re dealing with download speeds that approach 1Gbps. ZTE’s Gigabit Phone unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2017, although not available for retail, was intended to showcase 5G and the lighting-fast upload and download speeds that will come with it once the technology is rolled out.
ZTE’s Gigabit Phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Chipset Platform, which features an integrated Snapdragon X16 LTE modem. The solution combines wireless carrier aggregation with 4x4 MIMO antenna technology and 256-QAM modulation to achieve download speeds of up to 1Gpbs. These impressive speeds are no longer theoretical – they represent the future of 5th Generation mobile technology.
It’s debatable whether ZTE’s Gigabit Phone is a “true” 5G device. The company calls it “pre-5G” because it features technologies that will help provide a significant speed increase to bridge the gap during carriers’ transition from 4G to 5G networks. It’s similar to HSPA+, the 3G technology that US telecom operators AT&T and T-Mobile spent time marketing as 4G. To the end user, the technology behind 1Gbps download speeds won’t matter very much while he/she is live-streaming 360-degree panoramic video content.
Over time, 5G will enable a wide range of use cases for massive Internet of Things (IoT) and critical communication, Ericsson reports. For now, GSM/EDGE-only (EDGE is considered a pre-3G radio technology) still constitutes the largest category of mobile subscriptions. However, LTE (high speed wireless communication based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA technologies) is anticipated to become the dominant mobile access technology in 2018, the report highlights, and will likely reach 5 billion subscriptions by the end of 2022. By that time, it’s forecast that the number of LTE subscriptions will be more than seven times the GSM/EDGE-only subscriptions.
In developing markets, GSM/EDGE will still account for a significant share of subscriptions, and across all regions, most 3G/4G subscriptions will still have access to GSM/EDGE as a fallback option, says the report. In addition, GSM/EDGE will continue to play an important role in IoT applications.
Ericsson forecasts that mobile broadband will account for more than 90 percent of all mobile subscriptions by 2022. It’s anticipated that by the end of that year there will be 9 billion mobile subscriptions. In addition, mobile broadband subscriptions will likely reach 8.3 billion, thereby accounting for more than 90 percent of all mobile subscriptions. The number of unique mobile subscribers, according to Ericsson, is estimated to reach 6.2 billion by the end of 2022.
Today, 90 percent of smartphone subscriptions are for 3G and 4G. Devices are more affordable than they once were which is driving increased smartphone adoption, Ericsson highlights. At the end of 2016, there were 2.9 billion smartphone subscriptions, the majority of which were 3G and 4G. Ericsson predicts that by 2022, the number of smartphone subscriptions will reach 6.7 billion, and almost all of these will be for mobile broadband.
Regional subscription outlook
Across all regions mobile subscriptions continue to grow, according to Ericsson’s report, fueled by a strong uptake in mobile broadband. Mobile subscriptions account for between 50 and 85 percent of all mobile subscriptions in 5 out of 6 regions in the world. For many people living in developing markets, their first experience of the internet is through mobile networks on a smartphone.
From the perspective of Africa and the Middle East, the penetration of mobile broadband is currently lower than in other regions, but the number of mobile subscriptions is expected to increase significantly. The driving factors behind this growth, the Ericsson report indicates, include a growing young population and more affordable smartphone options.
Interestingly, it is not Apple or Samsung – the current top players in smartphones – that dominates Africa’s fast-growing smartphone market. In fact, it is Transsion Holdings, an obscure Chinese manufacturer that won over African consumers. Transsion offered handsets with two SIM-card slots, after research showed that Africans were carrying additional cards to avoid making out-of-network calls to save money. In addition, Transsion optimized its cameras to better highlight dark skin tones.
According to a recent report by consultancy Deloitte, Middle East mobile operators are expected to invest US$50 billion in network infrastructure from 2017-2021, with particular focus on 5G networks. These investments are particularly timely as the region is scheduled to host key events such as the Expo 2020 in Dubai where millions of people will be using their mobiles to send and receive SMS, video content and social media.
Ericsson predicts that over the next few years, Africa and the Middle East will dramatically shift from a region with a majority of GSM-EDGE-only subscriptions, to a region where 80 percent of the subscriptions will be WCDMA/HSPA and LTE. However, GSM/EDGE-only subscriptions will still account for a significant share of subscriptions by 2022. In comparison, WCDMA/HSPA and LTE already account for around 65 percent of all mobile subscriptions in South America, which is expected to increase to 95 percent by 2022.
Overall, North America has the highest share of LTE subscriptions because of rapid migration from CDMA and WCDMA/HSPA-based networks. This trend will continue with 5G, according to Ericsson’s report, as leading operators in the region have said their intention is to expand into pre-standardized 5G as early as 2017. This will result in North America having the highest share of 5G subscriptions in 2022 at 25 percent. In comparison, Western Europe’s regional share of 5G subscriptions in 2022 is expected to be 5 percent.
China, the world’s most populous country, has seen ongoing deployment of LTE and is expected to result in more than 1.3 billion LTE subscriptions by the end of 2022, according to Ericsson’s report, making up around 80 percent of all mobile subscriptions. However, across Asia Pacific, LTE will represent just 55 percent of all mobile subscriptions by the end of 2022. By that year, 5G will account for around 10 percent of Asia Pacific’s subscriptions, with deployments starting in South Korea, Japan and China.
The world’s mobile industry has signed up its 5 billionth unique mobile subscriber, according to real-time data from GSMA Intelligence, the research arm of the GSMA. The 5 billion milestone means that more than two-thirds of the global population is now connected to a mobile service. It has taken four years to add the latest 1 billion subscribers.
“Reaching the 5 billion subscriber milestone is a tremendous achievement for an industry that is only a few decades old, and reflects the many billions of dollars that mobile operators have invested in networks, services and spectrum over many years,” commented Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA.
“Today mobile is a truly global platform, delivering connectivity and, perhaps more importantly, social and economic opportunities to citizens in all corners of the world. This massive reach allows the mobile industry to be a key player in delivering global initiatives such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,” Granryd added.
More than half (55 percent) of mobile subscribers are based in the Asia Pacific region, which is home to the world’s two largest mobile markets: China and India. China accounts for more than a billion of the world’s subscribers, while India accounts for 730 million.
The most highly penetrated region in the world is Europe, where 86 percent of citizens are subscribed to a mobile service. Sub-Saharan Africa is the least penetrated region at 44 percent.
It is forecasted that the number of unique mobile subscribers worldwide will increase to 5.7 billion by the end of the decade. By that point, almost three-quarters of the world’s population will subscribe to a mobile service. India is expected to account for the largest share of growth over this period, responsible for around 30 percent of new unique subscribers by 2020.
“Subscriber growth opportunities over the coming years will be focused on connecting mainly rural, low-income populations; operators are developing a range of sustainable solutions to deliver affordable connectivity to underserved communities,” said Granryd.
“Meanwhile, in mature markets where subscriber growth is slowing, operators are evolving their business models to capture increasing value within the expanding mobile ecosystem, and providing the platform for a new digital world as we enter the 5G era,” Granryd added.
Telecom equipment provider Nokia and Spark, New Zealand’s leading telecom operator are partnering to prepare New Zealand for the future with a "step change" in the capacity, flexibility and agility of Spark's core and backhaul IP/MPLS network.
"This strategic partnership is a key step for us to realize our vision of a data-driven future for New Zealand,” said Rajesh Singh, General Manager of Partnering, Procurement and Vendor Management at Spark. “Nokia is helping us to achieve worldwide leadership in preparing for 5G. It will allow us to offer our customers the most advanced mobile and fixed broadband services anywhere, efficiently and securely."
Unprecedented growth in demand for mobile and fixed broadband is driving the need for an upgrade, as Spark prepares for the move to 5G, ubiquitous ultra-broadband connectivity and rapid growth in IoT.
Spark is committed to making New Zealand one of the first countries globally to be ready for 5G. Spark has already seen a tenfold increase in network traffic with the introduction of its broadband over wireless service, which is primarily based on a Nokia IP/MPLS network. It plans to further expand the capacity and agility of its transport network over the next two years to prepare for 5G.
Demand for mobile and ultra-broadband services continues to accelerate in New Zealand, driven by Internet-based video as well as new applications, such as augmented and virtual reality.
The expansion to 5G will also enable the fulfillment of the government's goals for rural expansion of broadband services, while helping Spark to lower delivery costs. The expanded capacity and agility of the network will also help spur innovation and new services, especially around the promising application of IoT technologies.
The Nokia IP solutions are deployed in hundreds of networks worldwide, and offer the industry's most comprehensive portfolio of purpose-built IP/MPLS mobile solutions. Nokia's commitment to continuous innovation makes it an ideal partner for a network leader such as Spark.
“We are very pleased to continue our strategic partnership with Spark, which is committed to keeping New Zealanders at the cutting edge of technology,” said Kent Wong, head of Nokia's IP business in Asia Pacific. “Spark's investment will safely accommodate future growth as they benefit from Nokia's global reach, expertise and agility. We are excited to help them be among the first customers to begin the move to 5G.”
The Nokia 7250 IXR-R6 addresses key network requirements for traffic growth and major architectural changes on the path to 5G. It features terabit capacity and high-port density delivered in a compact, ruggedized form factor.
The Nokia 7250 IXR-R6 comes with advanced security features and a wide choice of interconnectivity options ranging from legacy SDH/SONET to high-speed, latency sensitive Ethernet, suitable for next-generation fronthaul interface (NGFI). The 7250 IXR-R6 enables cost-effective transport of both latency-sensitive and 'bursty' traffic, which makes it equally suitable for ultra-broadband as well as for new IoT-based services.
TE SubCom, a TE Connectivity Ltd. company and an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology, announced that it has been awarded the South Pacific Marine Maintenance Agreement (SPMMA), a five-year service agreement between SubCom and 14 cable operators in the region.
Under terms of the agreement, which took effect March 10, 2017, SubCom will maintain more than 51,000 km of cable that comprise 19 disparate telecommunications and power cable systems.
The SPMMA area covers the South Pacific region from Singapore in the west to Tahiti in the east and from the southernmost point of New Zealand to Hawaii in the north.SubCom will maintain cable systems across more than 28 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean using the cable ship Reliance, based in the South Pacific region.
An experienced crew of dedicated marine professionals will utilize SubCom’s modern marine assets and extensive technology portfolio to ensure quality delivery of maintenance services to the region.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to provide world class maintenance services to our clients in the South Pacific region,” said Chris Carobene, vice president, Marine Services, TE SubCom. “The needs of global cable operators change rapidly, and maintenance providers must be both flexible and innovative throughout the life of an undersea cable system.
“As a result, SubCom continues to invest in our maintenance services, building the infrastructure necessary to respond to our customers’ evolving needs. The SPMMA agreement highlights the demand for new, strategic approaches to maintenance and demonstrates that SubCom is well-positioned to address these challenges,” Carobene added.
According to the latest IDC (International Data Corporation) Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker May 2017, the overall India Traditional PC shipment for Q1 2017 stood at 2.16 million units (i.e. quarter on quarter growth of 12.5 percent over Q4 2016 and year on year growth of 8.5 percent over Q1 2016).
The overall consumer PC market registered a shipment of 1.05 million units in Q1 2017, with a healthy 14.5 percent growth from the same period last year and 19.4 percent quarter on quarter growth.
“Post demonetization reform, market observed an upbeat demand owing to an optimistic shift in discretionary spending from consumers in first quarter of 2017,” says Manish Yadav , Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India.
The overall commercial PC market recorded a shipment of 1.11 million units in Q1 2017. On the backdrop of seasonality, execution of state-owned manifesto deals and increase spending from BFSI vertical, Q1 2017 observed a quarter on quarter growth of 6.7 percent and 3.3 percent year on year over Q1 2016.
“Commercial spending remained optimistic about the economic scenario and the potential for growth, despite uncertainty surrounding the stability of global economy,” says Sanjeev Sharma , Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India.
“IDC India anticipates a short-term postponement and resistance by traders during GST implementation phase. But in the long run owing to this structured tax regime the effect will get neutralized and will propel growth owing to festive season,” adds Yadav.
With focus, around enriching gaming as potential segment in consumer business, OEMs are looking to revamp their product portfolio and upsell in mid to premium range. On the other hand, commercial business is expected to grow over the next few quarters driven by state owned education projects.
Top 3 Vendor Highlights:
HP Inc. led the market with a 29.5% share of the overall India traditional PC market in Q1 2017. In addition to their success in the consumer segment, HP Inc. picked up some key wins and executed a few state-owned education projects along with fulfillment of projects in the banking and financial sector. This has led to a 5.8% growth quarter on quarter in the overall India traditional PC market in Q1 2017.
Dell took the second spot with 22.5 percent market share in the overall India traditional PC market in Q1 2017. The vendor continues to drive new initiatives and programs to provide seamless experience of learning for students through technology. Owing to such initiatives the vendor grew by 19.9 percent quarter on quarter in overall traditional consumer PC market in Q1 2017. Simultaneously the Dell EMC merger has provided the vendor an extra space for customer expansion, which could prove to be beneficial in the near future as well.
Lenovo held on to the third spot, with a 17.7 percent market share in the overall India traditional PC market in Q1 2017 and recorded a quarter on quarter growth of 15.1 percent, owing to the complete execution of manifesto project. The vendor also grew by 16.9 percent quarter on quarter in the overall consumer market owing to the efforts observed in improving the after sales support with different initiatives using not just the traditional way, but also social media and other new age technologies.
DoCoMo Pacific announced the start of the marine lay for its ATISA submarine fiber-optic cable system. On May 11th, DoCoMo Pacific hosted a landing ceremony for ATISA at Aquarius Beach, Saipan. Members of DoCoMo Pacific’s leadership team were joined by island dignitaries and business leaders for the event.
Similar landing ceremonies will take place in Tinian and Rota later this month. Following the marine lay, the DoCoMo Pacific team will conduct end-to-end testing of the cable system before ATISA is ready for full service in the Marianas by August.
The marine lay began on Guam on May 6th following the arrival of the CS Responder, the vessel that will perform the physical cable installation between Guam and the CNMI. Honored guests and island media were given the opportunity to tour the vessel and learn about the marine lay process from project managers.
With ATISA, the world class services DoCoMo Pacific provides to customers on Guam will become available to the entire CNMI. This means the people of the Marianas can look forward to internet speeds up to 100 Mbps and mobile 4G LTE services.
Along with reliability, DoCoMo Pacific’s mobile network will provide extensive coverage allowing people to have a great experience where they live, work, and play. These upgrades will allow consumers to stream, download and upload faster than ever before.
“The cable landings in Guam and the CNMI are a major step toward the launch of ATISA,” said Dino Manning, General Manager-CNMI, DoCoMo Pacific. “We are ready to raise the level of communication and improve the entertainment experience in the CNMI. ATISA is more than just a commercial venture, but will offer choice to the people of the Marianas and a range of new, innovative services in mobile, TV, online and digital phone.”
In 2016, DoCoMo Pacific signed a significant agreement with NEC Corporation and the governments of the CNMI and Guam to bring this project to life. NEC is contracted to build ATISA.
“NEC has a long history of supplying submarine cable systems in the region and we are proud to share this milestone with DoCoMo pacific today,” said Hiroshi Kawakami, Project Manager, NEC Corporation. “As the cable laying work begins, we look forward to seeing the transformation of communications connectivity between Guam and the CNMI.”


text:
NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. — Regional supermarket chain Wegmans made its New England debut on Oct. 16.
The chain opened a 138,000-sq.-ft. store, located in Northborough, Mass., which touts 70,000 products. Citing industry figures, Wegmans said the store is twice the average number for traditional grocery stores.
“We’re so proud to introduce Wegmans to New England we can hardly wait to open the doors,” Wegmans store manager Kevin Russell said. “We aim to give our new customers a shopping experience they’ll love… a real feast for the senses.”

domain: news


text:
Play time’s over for China’s youth as the country increasingly cracks down on culture and business following President Xi Jinping’s call for a “national rejuvenation.” Joining a three-hour ban on “electronic drugs” (popularly known as video games), is yet another limitation on how the demographic spends their free time.
On 18 September, ByteDance, the parent company of Chinese video-sharing app TikTok—known as Douyin—imposed a daily usage limit for those under the age of 14. The new measures not only restrict them to a maximum of 40 minutes spent on the app per day but bans them from accessing it between 10 p.m to 6 a.m.
Called Xiao Qu Xing, which translates to ‘Little Fun Star’, these restrictions are implemented with a built-in feature called ‘teenage mode’. “If you are a real-name registered user under 14 years old, you will automatically find yourself in ‘teenage mode’ upon opening Douyin,” the company wrote on its corporate blog. Apart from the daily usage limits, the mode offers a personalised feed of short video-based educational content including “interesting popular science experiments, exhibitions in museums and galleries, beautiful scenery across the country, explanations of historical knowledge, and so on.” While young users are allowed to ‘like’ these clips, they are banned from sharing them with others or even uploading their own.
The autonomy to adjust the time limit further (from a maximum of 40 minutes) is under parental control. The company also encourages them to help their children complete the ‘real-name’ authentication process—which requests their name, phone number and an official ID—and activate the mode when prompted by the app.
In June 2021, the Chinese government added a chapter on “internet protection” to its newly-revised Minor Protection Law, which stated how “providers of online games, livestreams, audio and visual content and social media should implement time management tools, feature restrictions and purchase restrictions for underage users.” Presently, with the government seeking to implement rules on the algorithms tech companies use to recommend videos and other content, top officials and state media are aiming to reduce the amount of time Chinese teenagers spend online in the first place.
Douyin’s teenage mode not only keeps the company in line with this vision but also seeks to add this layer of ‘internet protection’ with its real-name authentication feature. However, according to a commentary in the People’s Daily—the mouthpiece of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—such modes deployed by Chinese internet platforms “to protect teenagers from gaming addiction and inappropriate short videos,” do not go far enough, signalling that tech giants will likely have to do even more to safeguard minors and appease regulators.
“While the youth modes have apparently accumulated a significant number of users, many problems still persist—with some youth modes being criticised by parents as ‘existing in name only’,” the state newspaper mentioned, adding how it can be easily bypassed with simple workarounds.
The article, as noted by South China Morning Post, cited the case of a father in Guangxi who said, “I don’t know how my son came to know the password that I’ve set and he flat-out disabled the youth mode in these mobile games. He even said that some classmates of his have bought hack tips from the internet to bypass the ‘youth mode’.”
While Tencent started leveraging facial recognition to limit the amount of time minors could spend playing games, the technology is far from being the ideal alternative here—given how children have previously cheated the system to set up their own OnlyFans using documents of their older relatives. With Kuaishou (another video-sharing app and Douyin’s major competitor in China) also featuring a teenage mode which is non-mandatory, concerns have been triggered over the possibility of such rules being adopted by companies globally to maintain their share in China.
Gaming has come a long way since the pass-and-play sessions of Crash Bandicoot on the PS2. As technology has evolved, so has the gaming industry. The online gaming industry, in particular, is practically unrecognisable from its predecessors. No longer is gaming a niche hobby, it’s a multimillion-dollar industry rivalling Hollywood in terms of its outreach and sheer popularity. Nowhere is this more apparent than in China, where the Chinese games market is set to reach a value of 35 billion dollars in 2021. According to ISFE, the average gamer is now 31 years old. However, China believes online gaming is “destroying a generation”—likening the hobby to “opium” when it comes to its addictiveness.
Two of China’s biggest online gaming firms, Tencent and NetEase, have had their shares fall more than 10 per cent in early Hong Kong trade after a Chinese state media outlet called online gaming “electronic drugs.” The stigmatisation—portrayed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) state-run media—is not a new phenomenon. According to the BBC, investors have become “increasingly concerned” about Beijing cracking down on online gaming firms. It comes after authorities in the country announced a series of measures to tighten their grip on technology and private education companies over the recent months.
An article, written by the state-run publication Economic Information Daily, stated that many teenagers have become addicted to online gaming—thus having a negative impact on them. It also cited that students would play Tencent’s popular game Honor of Kings for up to eight hours a day and suggested there should be more curbs on the industry. “No industry, no sport, can be allowed to develop in a way that will destroy a generation,” the article went on to argue, likening the online gaming industry to “spiritual opium.”
Since the removal of the article from the publication’s account on WeChat, both firms’ shares have recovered. However, the article has changed the face of online gaming in China as we know it. In response to the claims, Tencent has announced its plans to introduce measures that will reduce children’s access to, and time spent on, its Honor of Kings game—the firm also hinted that it will eventually roll out such policies on all of its games.
Add this to the growing list of new measures Tencent is implementing in a bid to stop minors from becoming “addicted to online games.” It was only in 2019 when the firm—the biggest game company in the world—announced it would roll out facial recognition technology that will scan gamers faces every evening in order to catch minors breaking a gaming curfew and helping to prevent video game addiction. Dystopian or a valid measure to prevent addiction? I’ll let you decide.
So is video game addiction actually a problem? China seems to think so. Prevention of video game addiction is literally the law of the land. It’s been an aspect of the law that has been evolving over the past decade or so—recently, however, it’s hit some important milestones. China introduced a law that banned minors from playing video games between 10 pm and 8 am, or for playing more than 90 minutes on a weekday in 2019. A moment of silence, please, for the teenagers in China who have been robbed from sneaking to the family PC in the dead of night to get their League of Legends fix.
Jokes aside, China hasn’t been the only culture to wake up to the harmful damage video game addiction can cause to children. Albeit, they’ve been the only ones to implement measures that many in the West would consider Draconian. Video game addiction has recently been added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a psychiatric ‘handbook’ used to list all mental health disorders and diagnose them appropriately. The condition ‘Internet Gaming Disorder’ is listed up there with gambling addiction and substance addiction. Research has also suggested how 1 to 16 per cent of video gamers meet the criteria for addiction—when unaddressed, such an addiction could have a detrimental impact on mental health and work or social life.
But isn’t straight-up banning minors from gaming at night a bit overkill? Many would argue yes. It’s a two-way street: I’m inclined to believe that taking such measures is a narrow-minded response to the problem. In fact, gaming can bring many positive benefits in terms of mental health and allowing people to socialise with others—which is particularly important, now more than ever, in the era of pandemic-induced lockdowns.
Of course, addiction is a serious mental health disorder and should be addressed accordingly. However, stripping every teenager the ability to game for longer than 90 minutes to prevent cases of addiction seems to be somewhat harsh. There are people out there addicted to mac and cheese, should we put a limit on that too? Ultimately, there will be people who agree and disagree. As new technology evolves, so will the gaming industry. How we will face this change, and the problems it brings, is still up for debate.


text:
Posted on 3 Mar 2022
Clarity Stack Secures £1.67m in Latest Investment Round
Award-winning SaaS platform, Clarity Stack, have raised £1.67M investment from Fuel Ventures in their latest investment round to expand their presence globally and help more clients grow their businesses. Clarity Stack (formerly known as Meet Hugo until a rebrand in December 2021) provides a complete suite of business tools built on cutting-edge technology. This is complemented by a team of expert in-house researchers tasked with providing clients with the data, insights and high-quality leads that will increase their sales. Since 2018, the company has served more than 2,000 clients around the world and employs more than 30 people across the two offices in the UK - in Warmington near Peterborough, and in a brand new office space in Leeds - and also in its office in Florida. The company powered on through the pandemic, keeping all members of staff in full-time remote employment and even taking on more employees, and this ambition has continued to shine through which helped to seal the investment from the highly regarded Fuel Ventures.
"This is a company we have to invest in"
Speaking about the decision to invest, Shiv Patel from Fuel Ventures said: “Typically we only make around 10 investments each year from our main fund, so this shows two key things. First, the conviction we have developed in our meetings with Clarity Stack and second, how big of an opportunity we see in this industry. We’ve looked really heavily into the space over the last two years and have never had conviction in the other companies we’ve seen, but this is the first time where we’ve all come off a call and said this is a company that we have to invest in.”
Ben Harper, the founder and CEO of Clarity Stack, was understandably thrilled about the investment and said: “We’re delighted to close this round, and think the alignment between us and Fuel is going to be the perfect match for us as we look to expand quickly. We’ve reached £2m ARR whilst bootstrapping, and now want to take the next step in our business’ journey.
“Clarity Stack’s mission is to help businesses sell better, and our solutions are perfect for any B2B business. 76% of businesses achieve a positive ROI by using our data within 3 months, and we believe we now have the rocket fuel we need to reach new markets, work with more businesses, and accelerate our growth.”
What the investment means for Clarity Stack, and our subscribers
The investment will largely be used to grow Clarity Stack’s presence globally, as shown by the investment in locations both at home and in the US, while also helping to power innovation and the products available to subscribers with more sales data and insights made available as the product and brand continues to evolve.
The Mill at Warmington, the main Clarity Stack office
Shiv Patel went on to add that “We’ve really bought into the business model and their plans for the future. More importantly, what they have achieved in a short amount of time with very limited capital into the business has shown us that they know how to allocate cash whilst running a tight ship. Our investment will help them to find new areas of growth and invest heavily into the product, so future growth can be maintained at the speeds they’re currently going.
“Whilst there’s a huge amount of work that we will need to help deliver alongside the Clarity Stack team, we believe our experience from our portfolio and previous ventures will be able to guide and assist them. Furthermore, the potential of this market is enormous - there’s nothing stopping Clarity Stack from eating their competitors' lunches moving forwards.
“Clarity Stack has the potential to be the upstart in the market. We love backing companies where other investors may see huge risk through a variety of reasons. Our portfolio attests to this!”


text:
Consumers' beliefs and motivations drive them to purchase one brand over another, but many manufacturers selling through retailers like Macy’s or Wayfair don’t have the luxury of accessing data that provides insights and ultimately shapes their decision.
Resonate, which provides data about consumers to marketers, launched a new version of its market-redefining SaaS platform that enables marketers to understand why consumers make purchases. Developers at the company built the R7 platform on segmentation, intelligence and engagement. Upgrades in each area provide users with more in-depth functions and descriptive data.
While there are several components to the platform, more than 12,000 attributes unique to Resonate’s Intelligence Center provide insight into consumer behavior, including the TV shows people watch, the websites they visit, and the mobile apps they use. This data helps to build out customer profiles and determine why consumers make purchasing decisions.
Twin Star Home, which makes electric fireplaces and furnishings, has worked with Resonate for years to understand consumers, beyond simple demographics. These consumers purchase the brand’s products through retail stores. Lisa Cody, VP of marketing at Twin Star, said Resonate helps identify consumers' intent to purchase their products and what is important to them in a retailer.
“Knowing the end consumer is a good way to get the retailer to choose our product to sell,” Cody said, adding that knowing more about consumers who buy a company's products gives the brand a competitive advantage.
Marketers understand when their brand sells through a retailer, rather than direct to consumers. They do not own the data, making it difficult to understand the needs of consumers who buy from retailers that work with Twin Star.
“The data paints a full picture of Haley - -who she is, where she lives, where she shops and her influences,” she said. “She is very different than Ricardo, another consumer segment we have, one that’s married with kids.”
The data also helps Twin Star develop new products. To respond to the macro trend of people living in smaller spaces such as tiny houses, having data that suggests people who buy through Twin Star retail customers downsize into smaller homes could help the company design products to fit their needs.
As a part of Resonate’s commitment to new products, the company also announced the appointment of Errol Apostolopoulos to SVP and chief product officer. Apostolopoulos joins Resonate from Brandwatch, a social analytics platform that recently merged with Crimson Hexagon. At Crimson Hexagon, Apostolopoulos spent several years building the company's SaaS platform from nascent technology into a $50 million business.


text:
The Panamanian economy will be, by far, the most robust in Central America in 2011, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)said in forecasts released Wednesday.
The IMF has increased its estimates for Panama‘s economic growth from 5 percent to 6.2 percent this year and from 6.3 percent to 6.7 percent in 2011.
In terms of inflation, the new IMF forecasts have projected it will increase from 3.3 percent to 4.1 percent in 2010. But in 2011, it estimated inflation will not rise as quickly. That forecast has dropped from 2.9 percent to 2.7 percent.
Deficit levels are expected to be 7.9 percent for both 2010 and 2011, down from projections of 8.5 percent for this year and 8.9 percent for next year.


text:
Microsoft increases pressure on Yahoo
In the takeover gamble surrounding Yahoo by Microsoft, both sides are still unyielding. Yahoo again rejected Microsoft’s takeover bid for around 42 billion dollars on the grounds that the bid was too low. The Redmond-based Yahoo had already set an ultimatum for April 26 at the weekend. If the transaction does not come about “peacefully” by this date, the software giant says it will not wait any longer and carry out a “hostile” takeover – and at a much lower purchase price. Insiders see Yahoo’s price drop of 2.2 percent to $27.75 as a direct investor reaction to the rejection of the ultimatum.
However, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang remains undeterred. In a letter to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Yang said they still believe the current offering is too low and “not in the best interest of Yahoo and its shareholders.” Microsoft, on the other hand, claims that Yahoo was not generally averse to being taken over by Microsoft as long as the merger was in the interests of Yahoo shareholders. In an open letter to Ballmer, however, the Yahoo board criticized Ballmer’s letter in an unusually sharp manner. “We view your threat of a hostile takeover as counterproductive and a departure from your objective of a friendly transaction,” Yahoo executives said. Analysts expect that if Yahoo does not give in, Microsoft will turn directly to the shareholders to elect a new management team.
As of January 31, Microsoft had offered the Internet portal operator $44.6 billion in the form of a split cash and stock transfer offer. In the meantime, however, the takeover bid has fallen below $41 billion due to a decline in Microsoft shares and represents a premium loss of over 60 percent compared to the end of January. Even if the offer is rejected, Yahoo continues to show its support Openly seek alternatives that maximize shareholder value. “To be clear, this includes a transaction with Microsoft provided it reflects Yahoo’s full value,” Yang and Yahoo chiarman Roy Bostock underscored their position to Ballmer. The ultimatum for the negotiation climate is also “counterproductive”, the BusinessWeek quotes the Yahoo manager.
As recently as Wednesday, RZB analyst Christian Hinterwallner expressly warned of unnecessary sharpness on the part of Microsoft. In order to further increase the pressure on Yahoo, Microsoft has recently emphasized that Yahoo’s rating has increasingly deteriorated as a result of the financial market crisis. In addition, there has recently been some indication that the Yahoo search engine is also being used less frequently than it used to. pte


text:
Schools urged to comply with new sugar limit for sweetened beverages
Schools are being urged to comply with the new sugar limit for sweetened beverages being sold or served on their campuses. Effecti...
by BUZZ Contributor
Jan 20, 2020
iCool Reduced Sugar hits local market
The new Lasco iCool Reduced Sugar has been on the Jamaican market since August and is produced with 50 per cent less sugar. The pr...
by BUZZ Writer
Sep 12, 2019
No spam. No junk. Just exclusive updates & special offers with our Newsletter


text:
Social media is currently awash with pictures of empty supermarket shelves and videos of panicked shoppers hoarding various items, in response to the increasing impact of coronavirus .
But you may well be greeted with similar scenes at your local supermarket, as stores up and down the UK rush to preserve the quantity of essential items on their shelves by imposing 'per customer' limits on products such as powdered food and toilet roll.
Despite these measures, scores of shoppers are now going without crucial supplies as they're greeted by desolate shelves.
Health secretary Matt Hancock who not long ago urged people that there is "absolutely no need" to stockpile, says that he now understands why shoppers are doing it - but insists they must be more responsible, for the sake of others.
Speaking on Sky News' Sophy Ridge programme today, he said: "One of the things we are confident about is that the food supply will continue.
"What I can guarantee is we will work with the supermarkets to ensure that people get enough.
"I understand why people might be stocking up - but people have got to behave responsibly."
The pictures below, from one Asda store in Huddersfield , show that few people are taking Matt Hancock's advice to heart and panic-buying appears to have ripped through the store.
One shopper said: "When I drove into the car park it seemed like a normal day, but inside the supermarket the shelves were empty.
"There is no soap, no toilet paper, no kitchen roll, no milk, and people have been stocking up on pasta, rice, tomato sauce, bottled water, juice, baked beans and meat.
"People seemed pretty relaxed but the shelves told a different story."
So, exactly which items have the people of Huddersfield been stocking up on?
With a long shelf life and unrivalled versatility, it's no wonder that the baked bean aisle leaves slim pickings amid the coronavirus panic.
It seems that the people of Huddersfield are taking a leaf out of their grandparents' book and making sure they've got the means to make their own food, much like during the war effort.
Another of life's essential items that many of us perhaps take for granted.
Rice and jarred sauces
More items with a long shelf life which are an easy go-to for anyone who may be self-isolating for a week or two.
It's not just tinned beans and veg flying off shelves, anything tinned that can be made into a nutritious meal is severely lacking on Asda's aisles.
Beef and chicken
It looks as though Huddersfield's shoppers may well be stocking up their freezers, too.
Multi-packs of water are being snapped up, as are bottles of squash and kids' drinks.
Earlier this afternoon, there was only a single bottle of fresh milk left.
The toilet roll aisle was almost entirely bare, save for a few multi-packs which we'd hazard to guess aren't there any more!


text:
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Hubbell Inc. HUB.A, +0.00% HUBB, +1.14% on Tuesday reported third-quarter earnings of $41.5 million, or 67 cents a share, compared with $34.4 million, or 57 cents a share, a year ago. Sales for the electrical products maker were $525.1 million, up 15 percent from $457.3 million last year.
Have breaking news sent to your inbox. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Bulletin emails. Sign up here.


text:
WWE had plans to run an NXT UK TakeOver event prior to the pandemic, but that event had to be nixed. There was some hope June 30th would be a safer date and a new time was set for NXT UK TakeOver: Dublin. Now that’s not happening either.
According to PW Insider, WWE has cancelled NXT UK TakeOver: Dublin. That June 30th event was selling tickets, but now the show has been removed from ticket retailers.
This event was a re-scheduled date from April 2020, and it was postponed numerous times. Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic is still an issue and June 30th doesn’t look to be enough time for an event to take place.
It isn’t a huge surprise that WWE had to cancel this event again. As of this writing, no new date has been given for a make-up event. NXT UK fans will have to wait a bit longer for TakeOver: Dublin. We’ll have to see if they try it again later.


text:
Apple Could Make Mobile Payments AuthenTec
Apple isn't outlining its intentions for the company, but the iPhone maker is likely eyeing mobile payments, a space in need of all the security it can get. (See Isis Taps Gemalto to Secure Tap-to-Pay .)
AuthenTec's fingerprint readers provide authentication that would make iPads and iPhones better suited for the enterprise market, but it'd also add much-needed security -- and peace of mind -- to the mobile payments space.
Assuming the next iPhone has a Near-Field Communications (NFC) chip on board, as rumored, that's a powerful proposition.
Services like Google Wallet have yet to gain much momentum, in part because of a perceived lack of security. It's one reason Verizon Wireless wouldn't preload the app on its smartphones. NFC on some Android and Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) handsets has proved alarmingly easy to hack as well. That's a problem because if consumers have any doubts about how secure mobile payments are, they'll never feel compelled to swap out their plastic for their smartphones. (See Verizon Blocking Google Wallet? Poor Decision and How Secure Is Your Google Wallet?)
We do know that the next iPhone will feature iOS 6 and Passbook, Apple's mobile app for storing coupons, tickets and loyalty cards. NFC-powered mobile payments would round out this mWallet offering nicely. And, we can all likely agree that Apple, more so than a group of wireless operators, startup or software maker, has a track record of moving the market forward. (See Bank, Service Provider Fees Slow Mobile Payments, Euronews: DT Outlines Mobile Payments Plan, German Operators Team on Mobile Money and Mobile Money: What's the End Game? )
I suspect that the combo of security and Apple's innovation and marketing will have the same affect on the mobile payments market too.
— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile


text:
Feb 20, 2013
Printemps owners in talks with Qatari investors
Feb 20, 2013
PARIS - Italian businessman Maurizio Borletti has joined up with Qatari investors to bid for control of Printemps, the upmarket French department store and tourist hotspot. Exclusive talks centre on the 70 percent stake in Printemps owned by Deustche Bank's real estate arm RREEF, which it has been looking to sell for months, Borletti said on Wednesday. A source close to the matter had said that both Borletti Group and RREEF had nearly reached a deal with Qatar which valued Printemps at around 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion).
Printemps, which owns 16 stores and employs 4,000, saw turnover rise 13 percent to 1.45 billion euros in its 2011/12 year.
While a spokeswoman for Borletti said the group planned to formally make the offer on behalf of the Qataris, it was not clear how RREEF's stake in Printemps would be split between the Qataris and Borletti. "Things have not been completely defined yet," the spokeswoman said, declining to reveal the identity of the Qatari investors involved.
The news ends months of speculation over the future ownership of Printemps because RREEF was keen to sell its stake, while Borletti, who spearheaded Printemps's shift upmarket, had told Reuters in January he wanted to hold on to the business.
Qatar, the world's wealthiest country per capita, has been steadily building its presence in high-end retailing and fashion.
It acquired via one of its many investment funds London's department store Harrod's in 2010 for an estimated 1.5 billion pounds in 2010. Last year, the Qatari royal family acquired Italian fashion brand Valentino for 700 million euros at the top end of valuation multiples for the industry.
Borletti, who owns Italian department store La Rinascente, bought Printemps together with RREEF from French retail and luxury group PPR for 1.1 billion euros in 2006.
Since then, they have spent around 350 million euros on renovations and moving Printemps more upscale with a wider offering of luxury products.
Rival Galeries Lafayette, which tried to buy Printemps in 2006 but lost out to Borletti and RREEF, had shown interest in the department store and even mandated a bank to prepare a bid in recent months.
"Our group had been ready to build a serious project. We will follow the progress of this story very closely," a Galeries Lafayette spokeswoman said.
French weekly Challenges reported in December that Galeries Lafayette was ready to pay nearly 1.6 billion euros for Printemps, advised by HSBC, according to sources close to the matter. Galeries Lafayette declined to comment on Wednesday.
Qatar, which owns a number of buildings on Paris jewellery Mecca Place Vendome, has been developing closer ties with France, having acquired football club Paris St German as well as minority stakes in companies such as in waste and water management group Veolia Environnement.
Qatar has also been building a bigger presence in the luxury goods industry. Qatar's sovereign wealth fund owns 8.7 percent of US jeweller Tiffany & Co and a stake of over of 1 percent in LVMH, the world's biggest luxury group, as well as a small stake in German sports car maker Porsche.
© Thomson Reuters 2023 All rights reserved.


text:
Is Whatsapp Gaining More Attention than Facebook?
According to a study, Facebook users are turning away from it to find and share news and are actively looking for alternative platforms such as Whatsapp.
In a research carried out by Oxford University’s Reuters Institute, USA, it has been found that the usage of Facebook for news has been declined by 9 percent from 2017 to 2018. The total news consumption among the younger group has dropped 20 percent.
The average consumption of news on Facebook has fallen by 6 percent worldwide from 2016 until now. On the other hand, while Whatsapp saw a 4 percent rise in the same time period, Snapchat and Instagram news usage has increased by 2 percent and 3 percent respectively.
Facebook owns both Whatsapp and Instagram, and Snapchat is owned by Snap. With a redesign in February, while Snapchat has been driving news contents in its platform, it is also prioritizing publishers and content creators. However, the initiative was divisive among users, especially when Kylie Jenner said that she no longer uses the app, a lot of users also left the application. Since then, Snap has redesigned its platform to give importance to friends’ content.
According to Reuters Institute, consumers preferred private nature of messaging services like Whatsapp. The users were most inclined towards sharing and engaging in news content. Also, it has been found that Facebook users felt uncomfortable with their growing network of friends which led to less usage of a platform for news.
Recently, Facebook has looked to modify its news platform by updating News Feed to support local news. The Chief Executive, Mark Zuckerberg revealed in January that the company was looking to bring more “meaningful social interactions” rather than “relevant content”. Facebook has also withdrawn a feature which used to show trending news. The company said that it was testing breaking news notifications.
Well, it seems to be a tough time for Facebook considering the setback due to data scandal that came out in March.


text:
Today was a hectic day for Annapurna Interactive. The team hosted the 2021 Annapurna Interactive Showcase earlier today. Here they shared several announcements as well as updates about games previously announced. The “first and sole” Outer Wilds expansion, being called “Echoes of the Eye”, was one of the announced announcements. PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC will be available on September 28th.
The Nintendo Switch was previously expected to release a port for the original base game this summer. This is not the case. Alex Beachum, Mobius’ creative director, confirmed that the holiday season has been postponed during Annapurna Interactive Faircase.
Publited Fri, 30 July 2021 at 00:51.03 +0000


text:
There was a time, not so long ago, when most Americans would laugh at the idea of buying a car just a bit longer than 12 feet.
But now one minicar--the 2013 Chevrolet Spark--has sold so well in its first two months on the U.S. market that Chevrolet has had to increase imports.
Currently made at a GM factory in Korea, the tiny Spark sold more than 6,300 cars in its first two months on the market, exceeding original sales figures by a huge margin.
“We’ve asked for more already,” Cristi Landy, marketing director for Chevrolet small cars, told Automotive News (subscription required). “We’ve gotten a really strong reaction in the marketplace.”
While GM won’t say how many extra cars it has ordered, previous sales forecasts predicted 27,000 Sparks would sell in the U.S. during its first year on the market.
If sales so far are indicative, GM will need at least another 10,000 cars to satisfy consumer demand.
Already popular with buyers all over the world, the U.S. spec 2013 Chevy Spark might be smaller than most Americans are used to driving, but thanks to some high-tech spec--and great gas mileage--is ideally suited for modern, urban driving.
Thanks to some careful interior design too--not to mention some liberal infographic advertising-- it isn’t all that much smaller in real terms than your average 1973 full-size sedan.
In fact, the tiny, funky Spark is even proving itself as a ‘conquest’ car for chevrolet, attracting larger than normal numbers of non-GM customers to the brand.
While it’s good to see imports of the Chevy Spark increased to cope with high demand there is one down side to its popularity: your ability to negotiate a discount.
As with any high-demand car, dealers are less likely to offer you big discounts on a 2013 Spark at the moment, since demand is high enough to expect customers to pay list price.
Have you purchased a 2013 Chevrolet Spark? What price did you get? How are you finding your new car?
Leave your experiences in the Comments below.


text:
Wednesday, 8th December
PickGuru, a brand new social gaming platform, announced today that it has secured a UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) licence. They also confirm the appointment of TikTok executive Olly Roland-Jones as chief executive officer (CEO).
The platform allows friends and fans to challenge and compete with each other in a wide range of live and engaging sports prediction games. The acquisition of the UKGC licence is an important milestone in the company’s journey towards revolutionising the interaction between real-money wagering and live sport.
Backed by the most successful sports entrepreneurs in the UK, PickGuru will offer users a unique peer-to-peer experience and the opportunity to test their sporting knowledge to win cash prizes.
Powered by seamless real-time data feeds, PickGuru leaderboards will update dynamically as live events progress and provide sports gurus with an edge-of-the-seat experience.
Paul Watkins, chief operating officer and co-founder of PickGuru, said: “Securing a UKGC licence marks a significant step in the company’s history. We’re excited to bring our platform to market in early 2022.”
Paul Cobley, chief technical officer and co-founder, said: “Our platform incorporates a number of elements around gaming, social interaction and betting.
“We really try to emphasise the skill aspect of our games whilst keeping a firm eye on responsibility. We’re really excited to welcome users onboard and we’re confident they will love the experience.”
Roland-Jones joins the business before launch as the group’s first ever CEO. He makes the move from social media giant TikTok and has previously held management roles at sports content providers onSport and cleverGames.
Oliver Slipper, chairman and co-founder of PickGuru, said: “We can move to the next phase on our journey after securing our UKGC licence and closing our £2.6m seed round last month. I’m delighted to welcome Olly Roland-Jones to lead the business as our CEO. Olly brings a wealth of experience in both fantasy games and social media, which we feel will be vital to the success of this business”.
Roland-Jones added: “When Oliver Slipper first approached me about the concept of PickGuru I was instantly drawn to the unique opportunity. It will be a game changer and I’m excited to work with the team to bring the idea to life and lead the business into 2022 and beyond.”
PickGuru is an exciting and ambitious social gaming disruptor that was founded in 2021. We are on a quest to revolutionise the interaction between gaming and live sport. Our portfolio, launching soon, is made up of a suite of top-class gaming products and market-leading editorial content. Spearheaded by our PickGuru mobile application, our community of players engage in a series of live sports prediction games to win cash prizes. We’re at the intersection of some amazing industries and we seamlessly integrate betting, gaming, fantasy sports and social into everything we do.
PickGuru’s concept was built and refined by some of the most successful sports entrepreneurs globally, and our seed investment round was hugely oversubscribed by an enviable list of investors.


text:
it looks like Samsung is NOT under consideration:
The supervisor who spoke with me was not sure how this software ended up in the new laptop thus put me on hold. He confirmed that yes, Samsung did knowingly put this software on the laptop to, as he put it, "monitor the performance of the machine and to find out how it is being used." In other words, Samsung wanted to gather usage data without obtaining consent from laptop owners. While in the Sony BMG security incident described in the first article in this pair one had to buy and install the CD on one's computer, Samsung has gone one step further by actually preinstalling the monitoring software on its brand laptops. This is a déjà vu security incident with far reaching potential consequences. In the words of the of former FTC chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, "Installations of secret software that create security risks are intrusive and unlawful." (FTC, 2007).
Update: Now they're saying it was a case of security software misidentifying a file; question then is why the supervisor at Samsung said it WAS what the guy suspected?
Michelle Malkin has a post up on Gunwalker, with lots of links.
What was that from Obama about 'no American troops on the ground' again?
What kid of useless damned ass-kisser of dictators is Jimmy Carter? This kind.


text:
|Artist concept of San Fransokyo, the setting for Disney's "Big Hero 6" (Disney)|
"We're trying to build back that Disney name," Disney Animation Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter recently told the Los Angeles Times.
The studio has been undergoing a huge metamorphosis since the arrival of Lasseter and Disney Animation President Ed Catsmull. The two executives are alumnus from Pixar Animation Studios, which was acquired by Disney seven years ago. At the time, Disney's hand-drawn animated pictures had become obsolete.
Lasseter and Catsmull have brought a startup environment to Disney from Pixar, which was created in Emeryville, California. The later is a small town sandwiched in between Oakland and the outskirts of the University of California at Berkeley. Emeryville is considered Silicon Valley East.
"Pixar seemed so out of the ordinary that I was a little skeptical that it could be re-created," said "Wreck-It Ralph" and "Simpsons" alumnus Rich Moore, who was wooed to Disney five years ago. Read more


text:
A Decade On, Troy Sadler’s Art Works Group is Stronger Than Ever
A decade has passed since Art Works’ inception and the gallery is growing even stronger than ever before.
The global art market has seen growth in the past few months. While certain sectors such as the food and beverage industry are slowly recovering from the adverse effects of the pandemic, demand for art has been on the rise. Troy Sadler, Managing Director of Art Works Group, a Singapore-based art gallery and boutique advisory firm is optimistic about the outlook for the art market in Singapore.
One of the reasons why an uptick in demand has been observed could be the increased amount of time people are now spending at home. This provides the opportunity for many to take the opportunity to spruce up the space they now work and live in. And art is a great way for homeowners to express themselves and elevate their abode.
Art Works is a company that aims to help these homeowners achieve their goals. With social distancing still a mainstay in our community, the firm has launched an online gallery earlier this March. Pivoting towards the digital landscape has become an important part of today’s business model and a highly traditional market, like art, has to adapt to the new norm. The online gallery features contemporary art, fine arts and investment-grade pieces in a highly curated collection.
“Clients can come in and buy artwork for their homes. The works we deal in are 99% contemporary and oil-on-canvas paintings,” Sadler says. “We carry a range of international artists across Europe, the US and Asia.”
More than just a business model, the aim of the online gallery is to make art more accessible for everyone and the process of buying art less intimidating. There is a longstanding notion that art is reserved for the elites and is used as a status symbol. However, with art intersecting with popular culture and becoming a part of everyday life, the age-old belief has faded away.
Sadler’s journey towards becoming a veteran in the art scene is an interesting one. His first dabble into the art market came from his interactions with artists, actors and filmmakers while he was coaching tennis in East Hamptons, New York. Clients at the club he was working for include Robert Downey Sr, Robert De Niro, Eric Fischl and Ralph Gibson. They would have conversations about art and this piqued the interest of Sadler.
He would ask if he could visit art exhibitions and see what’s happening behind the scenes. Those years at the various studios helped Sadler form an understanding of how the art market functioned and that sparked his interest in alternative class assets.
In 2006, Sadler moved to Hong Kong where he set up Platinum Wines and Spirits — alcohol is also a type of alternative asset class that has gain popularity in recent years — then six years later, in 2012, he founded Blue Sky Artists. This company represents international artists and supplies their artwork to various galleries and dealers across the Asia Pacific. It was here that Sadler dived full-time into the art market.
While Sadler was dealing with artists, galleries and dealers, he got to know the owner of Art Works and decided to buy out the firm. Art Works was incorporated in 2011 and under his leadership, it has grown steadily throughout the years. More artists have picked Art Works to represent them in this region and this includes both emerging and mid-career artists from a range of nationalities. This includes innovative artists in 2021 such as Lincoln Townley, Danny Minnick, Igor Dobrowolski, Ma Dongmin and John Paul Fauves.
It would be an understatement to say that last year was horrible because the pandemic has screeched the economy to a halt and many industries suffered as a result. Art Works was not spared from the malice of Covid-19. Physical restrictions meant less footfall to the gallery and buying pieces online was still a novel concept for many art collectors. Sales in 2020 plummeted despite citing healthy growth between 2017 to 2019. Sadler and his team persevered and the silver lining to all this was the introduction of the online gallery, as mentioned earlier.
Sadler is proud that the gallery managed to hit S$1 million worth of sales in August last month even though the economy is still recovering. Sharing more about what he has observed over the past few months, Sadler says that Singaporeans buyers now compose 50 per cent of the sales as compared to 30 per cent previously. The market is growing and coupled with greater education on the security of art investment, he has witnessed a burgeoning interest in the appreciation of all art forms.
A larger number of people now see art to be one of the most stable and reliable asset classes in the alternative investment market — alongside alcohols. Potential investors looking to diversify their portfolio can tap on the expertise of the advisory arm of Art Works, which can provide consultation services. Sadler is confident that clients will be able to gain between 10 to 15 per cent capital appreciation with their carefully chosen pool of artists. All the artworks come directly from the artists, granting Art Works the best possible price for their clients.
A common question Sadler gets from his clients is this, “Can I immediately sell away the artwork that I bought after one year?” To that, he responds, “Give yourself a minimum of 7 to 10 years before selling any artwork.” Art investment takes a long term view and Sadler is frank in saying that Art Works is not keen on working with clients who just want to “flip”. At the end of the day, it is in both parties’ interest to have the artist grow and become more known.
On the topic of digitalisation, the proliferation of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) has been all the rage recently and when asked how this will affect the physical art market, Sadler says he welcomes this new form of “art”. He feels that it will only help to grow the art market as a whole but will never truly replace physical art. He likens it to the divide between digital music and musical instruments; the former will never fully replace the latter. NFTs will never replace physical art but instead, Sadler sees them as complementary.
Sadler remains open-minded with the new developments within the digital sphere of art and is not dismissing the idea of NFTs completely. More research needs to be done to see how Art Works can plant itself within this booming area. Being one of the most forward-thinking art galleries in Singapore and the region, perhaps it won’t be long before the firm starts a new series of collaborations with artists to offer blockchain enthusiasts an avenue to own their favourite artist’s work.


text:
Businesses in Longford are cautiously optimistic about the future after the county's emergence from Level 5 lockdown
As Longford gets used to its businesses reopening following a six-week Level 5 lockdown ahead of the festive period, there are many business owners who are thrilled to be back open but concerned about the cost that another lockdown could have on their livelihoods.
One industry that is having mixed feelings about reopening is the hospitality sector. While there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for wet pubs as the year draws to a close, those pubs that have been allowed to reopen - with strict conditions - are also facing difficulties over the festive period.
Pat Byrne of Skelly’s pub in Ballymahon told the Leader that, while he is delighted to be able to reopen his doors, it is not likely that takings will be particularly good over the Christmas period.
“We’re obviously happy to be open again but it’s stressful. We’re happy in one way but in some ways we probably would have been better off not opening at all,” he said.
“We can’t operate at full belt. It’s all different now. Bookings are slow. We can’t take Christmas parties because we can only have groups of six at a table. We can’t have live music. We can’t even have loud music.
“We’re only open to cater for our customers, seven days a week. There’s no money in it. In some ways, the wet pubs are ten times better off. We’re only open to cater for our customers, to get people out and to provide a service for those who want to come out for a meal and a few drinks. We’re not going to make money.”
Not only will the pub not be making money during what should be its busiest time of year; it will be losing money, Pat explained.
Skelly’s is committed to opening seven days a week in the run-up to Christmas, which means all the usual expenses for utilities and for opening the kitchen will be a challenge.
“The rest of the wet pubs are getting the PUP and 10% of their takings from last year. So if they brought in €3,000 a week last year, they’ll get €300 a week now,” said Pat.
“But you wouldn’t make that per week with the restrictions in place. You can’t pack the pubs - not if you’re going to do it right with social distancing and other measures. So you’d be lucky if you break even.”
The pub currently has weekly oil deliveries to keep the premises heated for customers, with a number of open fires lit inside to give the usual homely feel of your local pub. Add to that the Christmas lights and other expenses and there’s a lot going out with very little coming in.
“We have to keep all of that going whether there’s one person or 20 people,” Pat explained.
If there’s one industry that’s doing incredibly well since lockdown restrictions were lifted earlier this month, it’s the hair and beauty industry.
With Christmas less than a fortnight away, hair and beauty salons are working round the clock to pamper their customers who have been without their regular treatments for a long six month stint.
But salons across Longford, and nationally, have put a lot of effort and money into ensuring their businesses are fit for purpose as the country battles the Covid-19 virus, and yet have still found themselves with shut doors and no income for a huge portion of the year.
Margaret Mulvihill of Zara Hair Salon in Longford town told the Longford Leader last week that things are extremely busy since they reopened their doors after a second closure due to Covid-19.
“I suppose we are one of the fortunate businesses that can’t be replicated online, so we are very busy and we expect to accommodate all our loyal clients before Christmas,” Ms Mulvihill explained.
But fears of another lockdown, should the government decide to place further restrictions on the country, are ever present in the minds of those businesses who are trying to keep their doors open.
“It feels like a bit of a light-switch culture for our businesses as we are all dreading another lockdown in the new year and it has been difficult to stand on the sidelines for so many weeks this year when we have applied all the rules and regulations at great cost, and particularly with no Covid cases emanating from salons,” said Margaret.
“However, I’m hopeful that 2021 will see us over the worst of the virus and would ask people to continue to be vigilant over the coming weeks to protect the most vulnerable members of our society,” she concluded.
Meanwhile, local restaurateur Andrew Reynolds has appealed to members of the public not to be a restaurant ‘no show’ by not turning up for bookings without cancelling if they can’t make a meal.
Speaking this week, Mr. Reynolds said “after a highly successful but cautious reopening of businesses following a second lockdown I would like to join the government and fellow eateries in urging potential customers not to be a restaurant ‘no show’ by not turning up for meals if they can’t make it.
“As we approach the busiest period of the year in the lead up to Christmas, I would like to plea with people to leave their phone number when making a booking for a meal with family or friends and respect the restaurant's rules and all the hard work that goes into meeting all the specific necessary regulations under Level 3.“
Under the current guidelines for restaurants reopening, bookings are limited to six people per table with one metre spacing per table and a limit of 1 hour and 45 minutes for sittings.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.


text:
Few days ago, I stumbled upon Angel, an amazing project for a healthcare/fitness related wristband sensor. The project raised more than 300k$ on the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo and looks really well designed: what attracted my curiosity (we actually published a news few days ago) tough, was indeed it’s huge call to openness that was – presumably – one of the major drivers of the project success.
In fact, in the project description on the campaign page, the project dubs itself as “Made for Developers”:
“An open eco-system [where] developers will be able to use Angel to create apps for iPhone, Android, and other devices that support Bluetooth 4.0.” thanks to “SDK, drivers and app templates [that] will be released as open source.”
As you may understand, given my huge interest in promoting Open Source Hardware and my (maybe less well know) familiarity with IoT and Wearable technologies (as I consult and strategically support both companies on the provider and industrial side) I was literally thrilled: finally a company that gets it well and understands that liberating hardware from the closed source approach could trigger incredible opportunities in the consumer market.


text:
Labor shortages are nothing new, but the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked significant shortages across the country and several industries. From logistics and trucking to food and beverages, many sectors have more unfilled job openings than people to fill them.
While there is no one perfect solution businesses can use to overcome a worker shortage, implementing new technologies can alleviate some of the issues stemming from the shortage. Continue reading to learn about how businesses use technology to combat their workforce shortages.
Understanding U.S. Labor Shortages
Aside from the pandemic, one factor contributing to increases in labor shortages is The Great Resignation. An unprecedented number of American employees quit their jobs in 2021. This widespread movement hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down this year.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the country has 11.3 million unfilled jobs, but only six million unemployed workers. Employees surveyed by the Chamber of Commerce reported a few reasons why they haven’t returned to work, including:
- They have to remain home to care for children or other family members, making it hard to return to work.
- There is a lack of good jobs.
- Workers are concerned about returning to work because of the pandemic.
- Pay is too low.
- Some are focused on acquiring new knowledge and skills before revisiting the job market.
In addition to ongoing labor shortages, it’s common for companies to terminate employees that are no longer needed. Some common reasons companies terminate employees include unsatisfactory attendance, misconduct, or poor job performance. While the decision to fire an employee is not easy, it can be even more difficult when the company is already short-staffed.
Regardless of these reasons, businesses must find ways to manage worker shortages to remain profitable and operate as efficiently as possible.
How Businesses Leverage Technology to Fight Worker Shortages
More and more companies are investing in new and emerging technologies because they provide intangible benefits. From streamlining workflows and managing projects to optimizing delivery routes and improving user experiences (UXs), many new technologies can be implemented to help businesses achieve their goals. The following are some specific ways businesses are leveraging technology to fight worker shortages.
1. Big Data to Guide Better Decision-Making
While big data may seem like a buzzword, it’s become a hot topic of conversation in the business world. Big data describes large, complex datasets that traditional data processing solutions cannot handle. Big data environments enable businesses to take advantage of valuable insights previously unavailable to make better, strategic, and evidence-based decisions.
For example, businesses may use big data to understand customer behavior better, identify bottlenecks in processes, detect fraudulent transactions, and improve supply chain management. It’s possible that big data solutions can also help businesses optimize their employee schedules and find the right employees and build up their staff.
2. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to Handle Repetitive or Physically Demanding Tasks
RPA is carving out a place in many industries, such as manufacturing, financial services, health care, insurance, logistics, and utilities. It’s estimated that RPA can be applied to 60% of manufacturing tasks, 43% of banking, financial services, and insurance processing, and 36% of healthcare and social services activities. Using RPA is invaluable when a company does not have enough workers to complete these tasks.
Additionally, advanced tech, like full-body powered exoskeletons, can open up the hiring pool for companies. These exoskeletons enable workers with limited mobility or other physical ailments to perform physically demanding tasks. They can also relieve the burden of lifting heavy objects or standing for long periods.
3. The Internet of Things (IoT) to Remotely Monitor Facilities
The IoT is another technology poised for widespread adoption. Managing a manufacturing warehouse, for example, can be challenging for a small team of employees.
IoT sensors make it easier to monitor facility conditions, such as humidity, temperature, and indoor air quality (IAQ), without hiring more employees to do these tasks themselves. Facilities management becomes simplified and more achievable for a fewer number of employees using the IoT.
4. Digital Twins to Teach Workers New Skills
A digital twin is a virtual model designed to accurately reflect a physical object. It’s expected that digital twin technology will become essential in industries like construction, architecture, engineering, and manufacturing. A digital twin can be a quick and inexpensive training tool to improve the skills of less-experienced workers.
A digital twin captures the experience of seasoned workers through historical data and makes recommendations based on that information to new workers. When new workers feel confident in their skills, they can also use the digital twin to practice or test their skills, causing no damage to other workers or physical operations. This can help businesses prioritize training when short-staffed.
5. Hiring Apps to Improve the Recruitment Process
Another way businesses can fight worker shortages is to invest in mobile hiring apps. These advanced apps store candidate information, help onboard new employees more efficiently and even allow existing employees to share referrals to job-seekers.
Businesses benefit from these hiring apps because all recruitment and hiring process data is stored in a centralized database rather than spread across multiple sources, such as spreadsheets or online job boards. But the EEOC warns employers using software, algorithms, and artificial intelligence to assess job applicants that they can’t discriminate against people with disabilities; this would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. Employers must make a reasonable accommodation necessary for a job applicant to be rated fairly.
Overcoming Labor Shortages with New Technologies
While implementing new tech will not solve the issue of widespread labor shortages, it’s a good step in the right direction for businesses grappling with a low number of employees. A company will not run smoothly without a team of employees working in the background. Consider adopting new tech to alleviate some of the pressure associated with ongoing labor shortages.


text:
- Brian Carter Cellars tops Washington State Wine CompetitionPosted 15 hours ago
- Vintners, growers hit road with story of Yakima Valley winePosted 2 days ago
- Alaska Airlines teams up with Precept for high-flying winesPosted 3 days ago
- Tempranillo adds zest to Northwest wine scenePosted 4 days ago
- Wild Walla Walla Wine Woman puts shop up for salePosted 5 days ago
- Union Wine Co. takes mobile tasting truck for first spin in PortlandPosted 6 days ago
- Challenges, rewards at Whidbey Island WineryPosted 7 days ago
- Washington wildfires unlikely to affect wine grapesPosted 1 week ago
- Great Northwest Destination Wineries: Col SolarePosted 1 week ago
- Mercer Estates stages wine country BBQPosted 1 week ago
A Day in the Life of Washington Wine
Today, the Great Northwest Wine crew will be scouring the Columbia Valley taking photos, documenting what a typical day is like in the life of Washington wine.
Additionally, wineries across Washington will be taking photos and sending them to us for a package we are calling “A Day in the Life of Washington Wine.”
We first did this two years ago, and it was universally enjoyed. We plan to make this an annual event.
The photos we take and collect will be published here on Great Northwest Wine in about 10 days. Several Washington newspapers also plan to publish photos in print and online.


text:
Appeared in the Toronto Star on May 19, 2009 as Anti-spam Bill Targeting Phishers, Spyware
Appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on May 19, 2009 as Long-Awaited Anti-Spam Bill Likely Faces a Few More Hurdles
The recent introduction of the Electronic Consumer Protection Act, Canada's long-awaited anti-spam bill, has been greeted with initial all-party support in the House of Commons. The bill just passed second reading with committee hearings the next step in the legislative process.
Looking ahead, the big fight seems destined to focus on the government's desire to establish a comprehensive regime with tough penalties that apply to most commercial communications to consumers. Consumer groups will likely welcome the reforms, while some business and marketing organizations may paint a gloomy picture of the costs associated with the new regulations.
The bill strives to address most Internet-related consumer harms. These include email and text message spam, software programs that are secretly installed on users' computers ("spyware"), the use emails and websites that trick users into thinking they are visiting a trusted site ("phishing"), as well as the use of computers infected by viruses to send spam ("botnets").
If enacted into law, the ECPA would make it illegal to send an electronic commercial message without the prior consent of the recipient. This would create an "opt-in" system, whereby, subject to certain exceptions, marketers would have to obtain consumers' consent before sending them commercial messages. Moreover, marketers would be required to meet several form requirements including identifying the sender and providing a mechanism to allow consumers to unsubscribe from receipt of further messages.
In addition to the consent requirements, the ECPA targets the tactics frequently employed by spammers. It would become illegal to harvest email addresses without consent or to alter the transmission information on an electronic message, a rule designed to target phishing practices.
The bill also makes several important amendments to the Competition Act to better ensure that the law captures false or misleading representations. This will grant the Competition Bureau the power to investigate and take action against the use of false headers in emails, false locator information, or the presence of false or misleading content.
Attempts to install computer programs without the users' express consent are also included within the ECPA. This not only addresses spyware that is secretly inserted into some emails, but also software companies that attempt to install updates without informing users or music companies that surreptitiously install anti-copying technologies.
The new provisions will only be effective if enforced and the ECPA features some of the toughest penalties in the world. The CRTC has been given a wide range of investigatory powers, including the power to compel Internet service providers to preserve transmission data. Once it concludes its investigation, the Commission can pursue a settlement or bring a notice of violation with penalties that can run as high as $10 million.
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada can also investigate certain complaints and the Competition Bureau can go after misleading representations with penalties up to 14 years in jail (indictment) or $200,000 and a year in jail (summary conviction). For those not content to wait for the CRTC or the Competition Bureau to act, the law also creates a private right of action to facilitate lawsuits against Canadian-based spammers.
The ECPA addresses many of the recommendations of the 2005 National Anti-Spam Task Force, but not everyone will welcome it with open arms. Some business groups are likely to oppose the shift toward an opt-in system, claiming that the new rules will impede commercial opportunities. Software companies may object to requirements to obtain express consent from users before installing new programs and opponents may try to sow fear within the business community, pointing to the regulatory costs and potential for multi-million dollar liability.
Yet most of these provisions are standard fare around the world. All parties should recognize that providing reasonable consumer protections does not impede electronic commerce, but rather facilitate it.
Michael Geist holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. He can reached at email@example.com or online at www.michaelgeist.ca.


text:
This Gustav Klimt Painting Is The Most Expensive Artwork Ever Sold In Europe
Klimt’s “Lady With a Fan” is also the second most expensive portrait ever sold at auction.
Austrian painter Gustav Klimt’s Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan) fetched $108.77 million, including a buyer’s premium, at the end of a 10-minute bidding war.
That makes the 39.5 by 39.5-inch oil painting the most valuable Klimt to date and the most expensive artwork ever sold in Europe—the previous European artwork sales record was set by a $104.3 million sale of Alberto Giacometti’s sculpture Walking Man I in 2010, according to CBS News.
Lady with a Fan is also the second most expensive portrait sold at any auction, second only to Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which became the world’s priciest artwork when it sold for $450 million in 2017.
Klimt, who is perhaps best known his iconic 1908 Art Noveau marvel The Kiss, passed away in 1918 with Lady with a Fan on his easel. As Sotheby’s notes, “The captivating depiction of a nude figure reveals Klimt exploring a new approach to color and form, resulting in a masterpiece by an artist at the height of his powers.”
“Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan) is an absolute testament to Klimt’s artistic genius—a work that captured the imagination of everyone who saw it. It was an honor to see that high level of enthusiasm play out here in London tonight, and to see the painting so hotly pursued,” Helena Newman, auctioneer and chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said in a statement.
“Of course, the greatest honor to bring down the hammer on a work that has, quite fittingly, made auction history,” Newman said.