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When Samsung inadvertently removed the universal search feature from the international Galaxy S III, everyone assumed it was for legal reasons. Not so, says Samsung! As it turns out, the feature was removed on accident and, as of today, the feature has been restored. If you live in the UK, at least. No word yet on restoration to any other devices.
As you can see in the photo above, the device model this is being applied to is t he GT-I9300, which is the model for the international Galaxy S III. Read More
Rounding out the list of budget Android handsets for which details emerged overnight, it looks like Samsung will be releasing the Droid Charge look-alike Galaxy S Lightray 4G to MetroPCS in mid-August.
The Galaxy S Lightray is not your average budget device, though – besides a 4.3" Super AMOLED Plus display (carrying an unknown resolution), 8MP rear camera (with flash), 4G LTE connectivity and (maybe) a 1.3GHz single-core processor, this phone appears to be packing a TV antenna for "Mobile TV" (evidently powered by Dyle TV). Read More
Sprint customers using Samsung's Galaxy Nexus or Galaxy SIII should expect an OTA update to roll in any time now, bringing some enhancements and fixes that – while not entirely exciting – are worth picking up.
The Galaxy SIII update brings the device's software up to L710VPLG8, and includes a handful of improvements, including enhancements to Samsung's Smart Stay feature, voice recognition, and the addition of All-Share Cast support.
The Galaxy Nexus, meanwhile, will be bumped up to IMM76K.L700FG01. Read More
Well, this is awkward. While it was recently reported that Samsung removed the universal search feature from its international Galaxy S III devices, it turns out Samsung didn't mean to. Oops. According to the Korean manufacturer, the company only intended to remove the feature from certain US variants of the handset. Samsung told TechRadar, a UK-based tech publication, that the feature would be returning to the UK variant of the Galaxy S III. Read More
Update: It appears Samsung sent out the update removing universal search from international Galaxy S III's mistakenly. I'd say the point still stands for the United States, though.
On December 1, 2004, a patent was filed in the United States naming Apple as asignee (owner). Its title is "Universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system." This patent, which you can find here, has become Apple's most effective weapon in its fight to see Android dubbed an iOS "ripoff" by courts and consumers. Read More
The Galaxy Tab 7.7 has been banned in Germany for a while. Now, though, the 7.7" tablet is officially banned throughout the whole of the EU. Previously Apple was able to enforce a ban on the smaller of the Tabs because it has proven in German courts that it owns the design IP for black rectangles in reference to the Galaxy Tab 10.1. In Germany, Apple can enforce this injunction against the Tab 7.7 due to a principle known as "kerngleicher Verstoß", or "violation sharing the same core". Read More
Over at FOSSPatents, Florien Mueller has gotten his hands on a copy of a filing containing Apple's damages claim against Samsung in their much-publicized California lawsuit. The contents indicate that Apple is seeking $2 billion in unjust enrichment damages (the amount Samsung has wrongly profited infringing Apple's design patents), along with $500 million in lost profits. A smaller $25 million royalty for various technical patents like tap to zoom and overscroll bounce is included, but only in regard to a few products. Read More
The waiting game for the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 has been going on for several months now, but signs that the release is quickly approaching just keep pouring in. The latest of the bunch is probably the best yet, as it leaves basically nothing uncovered.
Korean blog The Brave Post got its hands on what appears to be a retail version of the device, unboxed it, and took a slew of pictures along the way. Read More
We first heard of Sprint's mythical mid-ranger, the Samsung SPH-L300 (which is now said to be codenamed Gogh), back in early May. It has once again emerged from the shadows to cameo in a picture, this time alongside the HTC One X.
Left: Samsung SPH-L300; Right: HTC One X
This little mid-ranger is said to be packing a modest a 1.2GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, and have 1GB RAM, a 5MP rear shooter, 4" Super AMOLED Plus display at 800x480, Android 4.0.4, and will run on Sprint's LTE network. Read More
When the Galaxy Note came out, the cynics and skeptics (myself included) scoffed. "Too big for a phone, too small for a tablet" we said. Well, as it turns out, quite a few people bought it. However, as much as some people may have liked the Note, it's hard to disagree that the stylus would feel more at home on a full-size tablet. Which is exactly what the Galaxy Note 10.1, shown in this shiny new ad, aimed to accomplish. Read More


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The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is planning to pilot Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons in Los Angeles’ Union Station to track a commuter’s journey and send out relevant information directly to their smartphone. “If the pilot program goes well, the beacons could spread across Los Angeles County to reach hundreds of thousands of commuters on Metro’s sprawling network of bus and rail lines,” LA Times reports.
- Westpac launches payments keyboard for chat apps
- Wells Fargo moves forward with ATM mobile withdrawal plans
- US airport stores to automatically file expense reports for business travellers
- LG to launch mobile payments service using magnetic communication technology
- Samsung Pay goes live across India with support for Paytm and UPI money transfers

domain: news


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Players have been eagerly awaiting the official release of EA and Respawn’s wildly popular battle royale game Apex Legends on mobile devices since it was confirmed in 2020, despite limited beta tests and postponed soft launches over the previous two years. Apex Legends Mobile was officially released worldwide earlier this month, and it has been a huge hit. Apex Mobile reportedly made $4.8 million in the first seven days of its introduction, according to sources. Check out the information below to learn more!
Apex Legends Mobile Made $4.8 Million in 7 Days
Prior to its official release on May 17, Apex Legends Mobile received 15 million pre-registrations worldwide, indicating the game’s tremendous popularity among mobile gamers. According to a Sensor Tower survey released last week, the game has become the most popular mobile battle royale game in 60 nations. It even dethroned BGMI as the most popular app in India’s App Store.
Apex Legends mobile generated $4.8 million in revenue from gamers in the first week of its global debut, according to recent sources. Players’ in-game purchases, particularly Syndicate Gold points, which let them to access the new mobile-exclusive legend Fade, contributed to the earnings. The “Prime Time” Battle Pass, the in-game store, and cosmetic products like gun and legend skins are all sources of money for Apex Legends.
So, while Apex Legends Mobile’s first-week revenues aren’t terrible, they’re not as impressive as COD Mobile’s, which earned a stunning $14.8 million in the first seven days of its release back in 2019. It’s worth mentioning, though, that Apex Legends Mobile’s first-week earnings of $600,000 were much more than PUBG Mobile’s. EA and Respawn are anticipated to add more legends (characters), new battle passes, and other in-game events in the future to improve the game’s revenue streams.
If you haven’t yet tested Apex Legends Mobile on your smartphone, you can do so right now from the Google Play Store or the App Store.


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Despite the ongoing legal battle with the SEC, Ripple has nevertheless initiated plans to expand into Southeast Asia. This was achieved through the acquisition of a 40% stake in a Malaysia-based company. This is sure to open new doors for Ripple as it will regain momentum after recent losses and hardships.
40% of the shares in Tranglo acquired
The above investment has been made with Tranglo, a company based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that deals with cross-border payments. The stake was 40%, and this partnership will potentially enable Ripple to meet the ever-growing customer demand in the region while expanding the on-demand liquidity (ODL) service provided by RippleNet.
According to representatives from Ripple, plans to expand into the Southeast Asia region have been considered for some time. The main reason for this decision was to call for improvements to the cross-border payment system reintroduced there, and this had to be done by using “standard integration”.
To that end, Ripple hired Brooks Entwistle, the former CEO of Uber, to help with these aforementioned expansion plans. Entwistle will lead operations in Southeast Asia as the decision to have him on board was finalized last week. Provided the acquisition itself gets the green light from the relevant regulatory authorities, Entwistle will most likely also sit next to the Malaysian company’s board of directors. Ripple’s Vice President of Product, Amir Sarhangi, will also join him.
Tranglo expands its influence as Garlinghouse promotes the line of credit service and ODL
Partnering with Ripple isn’t the first time Tranglo has decided to go beyond its country’s borders, as it successfully created new and improved payment channels with Ghana and Nigeria in February. Not only are Ghana and Nigeria the two largest recipients of remittances around the world, but Tranglo has also established payment channels with Brazil and Uganda.
In addition, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, emphasized the importance of customers being able to use both ODL and the line of credit service. He claimed that combining RippleNet with the APAC footprint generated by Tranglo would go a long way in providing this service.
In other news, Ripple had recently started granting RRPNet members XRP loans to fund worldwide payments.


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Alexander Lumber Co. is closing five of its smaller Illinois lumberyards and consolidating two other locations into nearby yards. As a result, from now through mid-Spring 2019, each of these seven locations is holding liquidation or stock reduction sales. Everything is discounted; displays are also for sale.
Sale Prices / Huge Discounts:
Everything is now marked 50% off.
The Alexander Lumber locations that will be closing include the following:
Additionally, Alexander Lumber Bloomington will be merging with the company’s Le Roy-based lumberyard. The Gilman location will merge with the yards in Fairbury, Ill., and Watseka, Ill.
The Gilman yard has sold all its inventory and is now closed.
The Bloomington location has significant inventory left and will reopen, after housecleaning and reorganizing, on Monday, March 25. It is anticipated to remain open until at least mid-April.
Visit the closing yards today to take advantage of the deals.


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Wall Street banks are writing some of their biggest checks ever to fund AT&T's takeover of Time Warner as they seek a bonanza of fees. But there's a dose of concern that the $40 billion loan pledge may get caught up in a ...Read more
WASHINGTON -- In the tradition of P.T. Barnum, an earlier showman-turned-politician who is credited with saying there's no such thing as bad publicity, Donald Trump may have thought he had nothing to lose in running for ...Read more
The number of flipped houses is at a six-year high. But while such rapid turnover helped fuel the housing crisis a decade ago, advocates and analysts say the current wave is helping to ease a shortage of affordable housing...Read more
MIAMI -- It's 10:30 a.m. on the morning after the second presidential debate, and Ricardo Brown is live on the air on WURN-AM Actualidad Radio hosting his daily political talk show "Panorama Nacional." But instead of a ...Read more
Sedans may have fallen out of fashion during the recent crossover craze, but the 2017 Audi A4 is one of the most fashionable four-door sedans out there.
Audi design has been exhibiting sharp lines in recent years, yet ...Read more
I just got back from speaking at this year's eCom Chicago conference for online retailers. A little history: About eight years ago, when eBay started cutting back on its popular outreach programs for eBay sellers, ...Read more
It's the time of year when we start saying things like, "Wow, I can't believe it's almost the end of the year" and, "Wow, I've accomplished literally none of the career goals I set out to achieve" and, "Wow, I'm despondent...Read more
Q: I like my job, but there are a couple of people there who get away with bullying others. While I haven't been directly targeted so far, I find it very stressful. I also feel like I should be doing something to help stop...Read more
Perspective: A Driver's TalePeter Kerestur
Perspective (A driver’s tale) is an inexorable product of the modern democracy in its present decline and metamorphosis into yet another monstrous police state, The pen is sometimes vitriolic, never apologetic, always striving for objectivity and reason, and the language at times effusive,...
Gloria Samayoa at SapientNitro's Miami office has been sifting through resumes as the New York-based digital marketing agency expands its new career return program to her office. The 12-week paid program for advertising ...Read more
Q: My boss recently informed us that his son "Kyle" will be working here as an intern for several months. He then announced that Kyle will be reporting to me. This seems to have put me in a very uncomfortable position.
Nationally, three out of 10 small businesses are owned by women. A measly 2 percent of them have broken the $1 million mark in revenues. Why?
That question motivated Erin Joy, founder of Black Dress Partners, a business ...Read more
SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk answered questions about his plans to send humans to Mars in a Reddit Ask Me Anything session Sunday afternoon that prompted thousands of reader comments.
The question-and-answer session ...Read more
Aviation communications and electronics supplier Rockwell Collins Inc. will acquire aircraft cabin equipment maker B/E Aerospace Inc. for $6.4 billion, the companies announced Sunday.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Rockwell ...Read more
DETROIT -- Buick is ranked third in the latest annual Consumer Reports ranking of the most reliable automotive brands, marking the first time a domestic brand has been in the top three.
Even so, Asian brands continued to ...Read more
WASHINGTON -- The nation's biggest banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., and Bank of America Corp., are rolling out a new money-transfer app called Zelle to take on Venmo and other mobile payment ...Read more
MINNEAPOLIS --Target is recalling about 127,000 decorative Halloween gel window "clings" because they pose a choking hazard to children.
The recall of the Chinese-made window adornments, announced last week by the U.S. ...Read more
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Airplane interior maker B/E Aerospace has agreed to be acquired by Iowa airline supplier Rockwell Collins for $6.4 billion, the companies have announced.
As a result, B/E Aerospace's headquarters ...Read more
ST. LOUIS -- Discount brokerage Scottrade is being acquired by rival TD Ameritrade for $4 billion.
The companies announced the deal early Monday, following several weeks of news reports about the merger. The sale is ...Read more
LOS ANGELES -- AT&T has worked 140 years to perfect phone service, while Time Warner Inc. has spent decades churning out popular magazines, television shows and movies for the big screen.
But the two companies, which both...Read more
LOS ANGELES -- With Halloween just days away, the box office took a turn to the supernatural, with "Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween" taking hold of the top spot and leaving other new releases and holdovers behind.


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NVIDIA to Acquire Arm
SEPT. 13, 2020
NVIDIA to Acquire Arm for $40 Billion. When news came out, it was a Breaking News for semi-conductor industry watchers. NVIDIA is a trend-setter in using GPU ( Graphics Processing Unit) for Gaming, High Performance Computing, AI, robotics and autonomous cars. ARM licenses CPU design to be used in phones to cars.


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A kosher staple is closing up shop on Long Island. Entenmann’s is shuttering its Bay Shore factory, the baked goods company’s only Long Island facility, after nearly a century of operation, Newsday reports. William Entenmann Jr. opened a bake shop in 1924 in Bay Shore, later expanding the enterprise with a factory on five acres nearby. His father, William Entenmann, opened the first Entenmann’s bakery in 1898 in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
“The bakery was closed because it can no longer effectively compete in the market,” said David Margulies, spokesman for Entenmann’s parent company, Bimbo Bakeries USA, which bought Entenmann’s in 2009. “The transition was smooth, with no disruption to the marketplace.”
Of the plant’s 265 workers, 176 were laid off as the company shifted production to other locations, including Pennsylvania.
The factory’s closure is being keenly felt in Bay Shore, as longtime employees, some of them second-generation Entenmann’s workers, seek jobs elsewhere. (In the 1990s more than 1,500 people worked at the plant.) But it’s also a blow to local fans of the company’s donuts—particularly those who keep kosher, for whom the trademark white Entenmann’s box—which bore a kosher certification—was both a delight and a relief.
According to Gil Marks, author of The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, the kosher certification of Entenmann’s in the early 1980s was a major moment in the history of the temple kiddush. “At my shul in Richmond, Va., the kiddush ladies would buy a bunch of Entenmann’s on sale and stick them in the freezer,” Marks told Tablet contributor Leah Koenig in 2012.
The closure likely won’t affect Entenmann’s stock in grocery stores—the company’s owner, Bimbo Bakeries, operates 75 manufacturing facilities around the country, so those Entenmann’s coffee cake donuts aren’t going anywhere just yet.
Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.


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Starting with a new work building, it seems that 2021 will be when HYBE Labels develops its concrete plans. In turn, subsidiaries are ready to introduce to the audience promising new projects in the coming time. Also, global business collaborations have received much attention.
Besides focusing on promoting BTS, TXT, or ENHYPEN, Big Hit Music will launch a Japanese group in mid-2021, operating in Korea. Besides, another boy group may also be released in 2022. It is known that this lineup was selected from online auditions for male candidates, held throughout the year 2020.
Meanwhile, this year, Source Music will debut a new girl group after more than 6 years since GFRIEND debuted to the audience. As for Pledis Entertainment, this label also plans to release the next generation male group in 2022, hoping to continue the success of SEVENTEEN or NU’EST. In particular, the survival program “I-LAND” is said to hold a new season with female trainees to select a rookie group lineup for the following year.
The activity diagram also indicates that Universal Music Group will launch a project in 2022. However, details remain confidential. Earlier in February this year, Big Hit Entertainment (now HYBE Labels) announced business cooperation with this famous corporation. Representatives have revealed their intention to introduce a brand new boy group through auditions held globally. Besides, the “American group” mentioned in the HYBE report also made the audience curious.
There are also rumors that Zico’s company – KOZ Entertainment (now also under HYBE Labels)-plans to launch a new artist. Also, the handshake between HBPE Labels and YG Entertainment will definitely bring many surprises to the audience. Moreover, the latest merger with Ithaca Holdings promises to open up many opportunities for HYBE in asserting its strong position in Kpop and internationally.


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By Nina Adam
FRANKFURT--German manufacturing orders pulled back in November after rising strongly in October, the economics ministry said Friday, noting that the overall trend in orders is still pointing up.
Total manufacturing orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and calendar effects, fell 2.5% in November from October. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 1.5% drop. The ministry attributed the result to "a weak development in bulk orders."
"Despite the decline in November, the results point to a very favourable trend in orders... and a pickup in industrial activity in the winter-term," the ministry said.
In annual terms, total orders for Germany's important manufacturing sector surged 4.1% from November 2015 and gained 3.0% when taking account of the number of working days in each month.
In a separate news release, Germany's Destatis statistics body said that retail sales in November dropped 1.8% from October. The data take account of inflation and seasonal effects.
For 2016 as a whole, turnover in Germany's retail sector rose by about 2% from 2015, Destatis said in a preliminary estimate. A buoyant labor market and rising wages have been fanning consumer spending in Europe's largest economy.
Write to Nina Adam at email@example.com


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Patrick Mills, the quest designer for Cyberpunk 2077, says that players can expect the game to feature some kind of political commentary.
“Cyberpunk 2077 is a game about people with power at the top and people at the bottom with none,” said Mills in an interview with Official Xbox Magazine (as reported on by PC Gamer). “That power can come from money, hierarchies, technology, and violence. The original Cyberpunk 2020 setting, like the setting of The Witcher stories, was a complex critique of the author’s world, and we don’t shy away from that in our games. On the contrary, I think it’s one of the things that sets us apart […] Cyberpunk is an inherently political genre and it’s an inherently political franchise.”
One of the most important things to take away from Mills statement is that it sounds like the team isn’t necessarily going out of their way to make statements based on current political events and are instead staying true to the roots of the genre by implementing general social commentary into the experience.
For those who don’t know, the cyberpunk genre was born from the New Wave science fiction movement of the ’60s. Authors were trying to use the sci-fi genre to comment on a rapidly changing world and were increasingly disinterested in utilizing the common idea of a happy sci-fi future. Cyberpunk, and the tabletop game Cyberpunk 2020, eventually emerged from that idea.
That’s not to say that Cyberpunk won’t feature more specific pieces of commentary, but rather that it sounds like the Cyberpunk team aren’t willing to avoid the inherently political nature of the Cyberpunk concept in order to avoid some potential controversy.
Speaking of controversy, Mills also explained that the game’s somewhat controversial first-person perspective was implemented in order to enhance the immersive nature of the experience and create something that felt distinct from The Witcher 3.
Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine Here!


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If you take a minute to think about what society gets upset over it can be rather idiotic and crazy. Change.org is a petition site where individuals can go and start petitions about issues that they they have concern with. I am sure you have seen it all in your news feed on Facebook before and are probably getting sick and tired of it.
A children’s book was recently released and it caused quite a controversy. So much that people started a position to get it banned. The book is called “I Want To Be Bacon When I Grow Up!”
According to Mad World News, hardcore liberal Jeff Hirst started this petition to have this booked banned from book stores. The petition is called,“Stop promoting and selling the children’s book about a piglet who says, ‘I want to be bacon when I grow up,'” and over 6,300 people have signed it so far. Hirst does not believe that we should be informing our children that animals simply want to grow up to be meat, and liberals have added that pigs are incredibly offensive to Muslims.
This continues to be what is wrong with society.


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Technology encompasses world’s first free-standing / self-supported electrode with a cathode that has 4x the energy density of lithium-ion
Nikola Corporation is excited to announce details of its new battery that has a record energy density of 1,100 watt-hours per kg on the material level and 500 watt-hours per kg on the production cell level. The Nikola prototype cell is the first battery that removes binder material and current collectors, enabling more energy storage within the cell. It is also expected to pass nail penetration standards, thus reducing potential vehicle fires.
- Technology encompasses world’s first free-standing / self-supported electrode with a cathode that has 4x the energy density of lithium-ion
- Achieves 2,000 cycles
- Cell technology expected to cost 50% less to produce than lithium-ion
- Could drive down the cost of hydrogen and double the range of battery-electric vehicles worldwide
- Nikola will share IP with all other OEM’s around the world that contribute.
This battery technology could increase the range of current EV passenger cars from 300 miles up to 600 miles with little or no increase to battery size and weight. The technology is also designed to operate in existing vehicle conditions. Moreover, cycling the cells over 2,000 times has shown acceptable end-of-life performance.
Nikola’s new cell technology is environmentally friendly and easy to recycle. While conventional lithium-ion cells contain elements that are toxic and expensive, the new technology will have a positive impact on the earth’s resources, landfills and recycling plants.
This month, Nikola entered into a letter of intent to acquire a world-class battery engineering team to help bring the new battery to pre-production. Through this acquisition, Nikola will add 15 PhDs and five master’s degree team members. Due to confidentiality and security reasons, additional details of the acquisition will not be disclosed until Nikola World 2020.
“This is the biggest advancement we have seen in the battery world,” said Trevor Milton, CEO, Nikola Motor Company. “We are not talking about small improvements; we are talking about doubling your cell phone battery capacity. We are talking about doubling the range of BEVs and hydrogen-electric vehicles around the world.”
“Nikola is in discussions with customers for truck orders that could fill production slots for more than ten years and propel Nikola to become the top truck manufacturer in the world in terms of revenue. Now the question is why not share it with the world?” said Milton.
Nikola will show the batteries charging and discharging in front of the crowd at Nikola World. The date of Nikola World will be announced soon but is expected to be fall of 2020.
- Nikola’s battery electric trucks could now drive 800 miles fully loaded between charges
- Nikola trucks could weigh 5,000 lbs. less than the competition if same battery size was kept
- Nikola’s hydrogen-electric fuel cell trucks could surpass 1,000 miles between stops and top off in 15 minutes
- World’s first free-standing electrode automotive battery
- Energy density up to 1,100 watt-hours per kg on a material level and 500 watt-hours per kg on a production cell level including; casing, terminals and separator — more than double current lithium-ion battery cells
- Cycled over 2,000 times with acceptable end-of-life performance
- 40% reduction in weight compared to lithium-ion cells
- 50% material cost reduction per kWh compared to lithium-ion batteries
Due to the impact this technology will have on society and emissions, Nikola has taken an unprecedented position to share the IP with all other OEM’s, even competitors, that contribute to the Nikola IP license and new consortium.
OEMs or other partners can email firstname.lastname@example.org for more information.
ABOUT NIKOLA CORPORATION
Nikola Corporation designs and manufactures hydrogen-electric vehicles, electric vehicle drivetrains, vehicle components, energy storage systems, and hydrogen stations. Nikola is led by its visionary CEO Trevor Milton. The company is privately held and headquartered in Arizona. For more information, visit www.nikolamotor.com.
China is well advanced in switching to the NCM 811 type of lithium-ion cathode for EV batteries.
The new NCM 811 lithium-ion battery chemistry takes the Chinese passenger xEV (BEV, PHEV, HEV) market like a storm.
According to Adamas Intelligence, In September, NCM 811 was responsible for 18% of passenger xEV battery deployment (by capacity).
The NCM 811 is a low cobalt-content cathode (nickel:cobalt:manganese at a ratio of 8:1:1).
The expansion is tremendous compared to 1% in January, 4% in June and 13% in August.
NCM 811 cells combines high-energy density with affordability (lower content of expensive cobalt), which probably is enough for most manufacturers to make the switch from NCM 523 and LFP (often bypassing NCM 622).
“In China, for the second month in a row, NCM 811 was second-only to NCM 523 by capacity deployed, while the once-popular NCM 622 now finds itself in fifth spot with a mere 5% of the market.
In the pursuit of lower costs and higher energy density, a growing number of automakers in China have seemingly opted to bypass NCM 622, shifting instead straight from LFP or NCM 523 cathode chemistries into high-nickel NCM 811.
Since January 2019, the market share of NCM 811 in China’s passenger EV market has rapidly increased from less than 1% to 18% and shows little signs of slowing its ingress. Outside of China, however, automakers have been slow to adopt NCM 811 to-date but we expect to see the chemistry make inroads in Europe and North America by as early as next year.”
NCM 811 share globally is also growing and in September it was at 7%.
The other leading low cobalt chemistry is Tesla/Panasonic’s NCA.
Source: Adamas Intelligence
Energy storage installations for homes and businesses — involving battery technology — are on the rise in areas where extreme weather threatens the electric power grid, such as flood-prone Houston, wildfire-stricken California and hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.
A sustained power outage can lead to serious consequences, such as loss of income and even death. Because of climate change, the frequency of these extreme weather events and outages will climb.
Traditionally, buildings would rely upon gas-powered diesel generators during outages. These generators have their own problems and do not necessarily help the electric grid become more resilient.
With recent technological changes, could batteries become the new generators?
Tracking sharp growth in the past year
Small-scale, so-called behind-the-meter energy storage accounted for 60% of battery capacity in the United States during the first quarter of this year.
Deployments grew 138% in the past year, driven in part by families and business leaders who are seeking resilience against power disruptions in our increasingly volatile climate.
When properly designed, electric energy storage can not only provide additional grid resilience, it can further minimize greenhouse gas and local air emissions compared with the conventional gas generators.
Vulnerable regions look to storage for relief
The race for storage is on:
- In California, solar installation companies have been reporting a steady uptick in solar-plus-storage orders this year. All of the state’s large electric investor-owned utilities are implementing Public Safety Power Shutoff programs, which would de-energize an electric line and intentionally cause a blackout. The goal is to prevent wildfires in high-wind conditions when power lines are at risk of igniting a wildfire. As a result, a growing number of Californians with the economic capability to invest in solar-plus-storage are weighing this option.
- In Puerto Rico, installations of such systems doubled after Hurricane Maria in 2017. Battery suppliers such as Tesla had difficulty keeping up with orders. Before Maria, only about 5% of solar installations Tesla did came with storage; today 95% do, Energywire reported.
- And in a rural New Hampshire town where residents and business owners struggle with outages after ice storms and heavy snowfalls, a local utility is proposing to back up the town with energy storage batteries that may also save ratepayers money over time.
Energy storage incentives align
Falling costs and new deployment incentives are fueling record investments in energy storage. Analysists expect such investments to soar by $620 billion globally over the next two decades.
In the U.S., 15 states so far have adopted policies that make it easier or more affordable to invest in energy storage.
Coinciding with these market changes is a realization in states such as South Carolina — which until recently lagged in clean energy investments — that people and businesses in coastal areas are increasingly vulnerable to storms.
With widespread power outages from hurricanes Florence and Irma fresh in mind, the state recently passed legislation supporting solar and energy projects.
As more states help expand the market, it is important to start thinking of energy storage as a key strategy to make buildings cleaner and more grid resilient. The technology will only become more important to prevent outages during extreme weather events.
At the Tesla Autonomy Event in April, Elon Musk said the Disruptors of Detroit were working on a new battery pack that would last a cool million miles, and said it would be available next year. Now Tesla battery research partner Jeff Dahn and his team have released a paper in which they describe this million-mile battery cell.
The new Li-ion battery cell features a next-generation “single crystal” NMC cathode and a new type of electrolyte. Dahn’s team has extensively tested the cells, and believe they could enable a battery pack that lasts over a million miles in an EV.
The team’s paper, A Wide Range of Testing Results on an Excellent Lithium-Ion Cell Chemistry to be used as Benchmarks for New Battery Technologies, was published in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society. The following brief excerpt (via Electrek) describes the results of testing the new cells:
“Up to three years of testing has been completed for some of the tests. Tests include long-term charge-discharge cycling at 20, 40 and 55° C, long-term storage at 20, 40 and 55° C, and high precision coulometry at 40° C. Several different electrolytes are considered in this LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2/graphite chemistry, including those that can promote fast charging. The reasons for cell performance degradation and impedance growth are examined using several methods. We conclude that cells of this type should be able to power an electric vehicle for over 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) and last at least two decades in grid energy storage.”
This is a huge advance – the new cells last two to three times longer than Tesla’s current cells – and if the company can bring the new technology into production in a reasonable timeframe, it could radically change the economics of EVs.
The paper notes the importance of long-lasting batteries for such vehicles as robotaxis, long-haul trucks and transit buses. In these applications, a battery’s ability to deliver a high number of charge/discharge cycles is critical, in contrast to the consumer vehicle market, in which maximum range is the most important feature (at least from a marketing standpoint).
The paper also mentions vehicle-to-grid applications, which could someday allow EV owners to earn revenue from their cars while they aren’t being driven (see the upcoming issue of Charged for a profile of Fermata Energy, a pioneer in this space).
Meanwhile, job listings on Tesla’s web site seem to confirm rumors that the company plans to start manufacturing its own battery cells (as reported by Electrek).
The possibilities are endless.
Samsung phones will have super fast graphene, rather than lithium, batteries within the next two years.
According to leaker Evan Blass, Samsung is developing graphene batteries for its smartphones — and we could see the first ones arrive as soon as next year.
The reason for the change is clear: exceptionally fast charging. Reportedly a full charge will now take just half an hour on a graphene battery, and despite recent leaps forward in fast-charging that would still be a significant improvement on the standard lithium ion battery.
The news is the latest update we’ve heard since Samsung reported in 2017 that they had developed a graphene ball that could charge 5x faster than standard phone batteries (reported by Cnet). So why is it taking so long for the batteries to make it onto the market? Blass surmises that’s it’s simply a question of economics: “they still need to raise capacities while lowering costs.” Once that balance is found, this tech innovation could be a true game changer.
This news comes shortly after the release of Samsung’s latest flagship phablet, the Galaxy Note 10. It boasts an impressive 3500mAh battery, while it’s big brother — the Galaxy Note 10 Plus — has a whopping capacity of 4300mAh. But they’re not just about batteries. While both run on the powerful Exynos 9825 chip, specifications diverge significantly. The Galaxy note 10 has an 6.3-inch 1080 x 2280 resolution screen, with 8GB of RAM and a triple camera set-up; meanwhile, the Galaxy Note 10 Plus has an even larger 6.8-inch screen with a sharper 1440 x 3040 resolution, 12GB of RAM, and its triple rear camera is complemented with a Time of Flight 3D sensor.
With all the recent innovations in smartphone batteries, from huge capacities to Qi wireless charging, you might have thought there was nowhere else to innovate. But graphene technology could point towards an era of even faster charging. All that’s left to be seen is how pricey is it, and whether the capacity will be enough to satisfy demanding users.
The BEV offer in the U.S. is getting more attractive on both ends – affordable and high-end.
First of all, from July on, Tesla buyers can count on only $1,875 of federal tax credit (instead of $3,750). Secondly, Tesla lowered prices of 3/S/X and dropped some versions entirely. Other than that, we didn’t note any important changes, but as always in the car business – the real prices can be much lower than MSRP (like the Chevrolet Bolt EV, for example) or much higher than MSRP (when a particular model is production constrained).
Below we attached a comparison in the form of a table as well as charts, sorted by range and by price. Each position is a separate model (or version if there are differences in range or powertrain).
All-Electric Cars Compared By Range, U.S. – July 22, 2019
The range of BEVs varies from less than 60 miles to 370 miles (595 km), according to the EPA. Six Tesla versions are above 300 miles, in total 16 BEVs are above 200 miles.
All-Electric Cars Compared By Price, U.S. – July 22, 2019
Taking into consideration MSRP and deducting the federal tax credit, the base 200+ mile range electric cars start at around $30,000.
As many Chevrolet dealers often lower the Bolt EV price by several thousand, you could get a 200+ mile BEV for less than $30,000.
** Some models estimated.
Article re-posted from InsideEvs.
*** This article appeared in TESLARATI and was re-posted in Fully Charged. We have Followed and Written a LOT about the ‘Coming EV Revolution’, about Advances in Charging Stations and Battery Technology. Most recently we posted an article ‘What If Green Energy Isn’t the Future?’
So maybe … just maybe, ‘Green Energy’ might NOT be able to meet the current Projected Carbon Fuel Replacement Schedule …. However, could the EV/ Hydrogen Fuel Cell Revolution replace forever the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)? (Hint: We Think So!)
Let Us Know What YOU think! Leave us your thoughts and comments. (below)
Headed by vehicles like the Tesla Model 3, the electric car revolution is showing no signs of stopping. The auto landscape today is very different from what it was years ago. Before, only Tesla and a few automakers were pushing electric cars, and the Model S was proving to the industry that EVs could be objectively better than internal combustion vehicles. Today, practically every automaker has plans to release electric cars. EV startup Bollinger Motors CEO Robert Bollinger summed it up best: “If you want to start a (car company) now, it has to be electric.”
CATALYSTS FOR A TRANSITION
A critical difference between then and now is that veteran automakers today are coming up with decent electric vehicles. No longer were EVs glorified golf carts and compliance cars; today’s electric vehicles are just as attractive, sleek, and powerful than their internal combustion peers. The auto industry has warmed up to electric vehicles as well. The Jaguar I-PACE has been collecting awards left and right since its release, and more recently, the Kia Niro EV was dubbed by Popular Mechanics as the recipient of its Car of the Year award.
A survey by CarGurus earlier this year revealed that 34% of car buyers are open to purchasing an electric car within the next ten years. A survey among young people in the UK last year revealed even more encouraging results, with 50% of respondents stating that they want electric cars. Amidst the disruption being brought about by the Tesla Model 3, which has all but dominated EV sales since production ramped last year, experienced automakers have responded in kind. Volkswagen recently debuted the ID.3, Audi has the e-tron, Hyundai has the Kona EV, and Mercedes-Benz has the EQC. Even Porsche, a low-volume car manufacturer, is attracting the high-end legacy market with the Taycan.
At this point, it appears that Tesla’s mission is going well underway. With the market now open to the idea of electric vehicles, there is an excellent chance that EV adoption will only increase from this point on.
BIG OIL FEELS A CHANGE IN THE WIND
Passenger cars are the No.1 source of demand for oil, and with the potential emergence of a transportation industry whose life and death does not rely on a gas pump, Big Oil could soon find itself on the defensive. Depending on how quickly the auto industry could shift entirely to sustainable transportation and how seriously governments handle issues like climate change, “peak oil” could happen a couple of decades or a few years from now. This could adversely affect investors in the oil industry, who might be at risk of losing their investments if peak oil happens faster than expected. JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, described this potential scenario in a statement to CNN. “Look at what happened to the coal industry. You have to keep that in the back of your mind and be vigilant. It can turn very, very quickly,” the strategist said.
Paul Sankey of Mizuho Securities previously mentioned that a “Tesla Effect” is starting to be felt in the oil markets. According to the analyst, the Tesla Effect is an increasingly prevalent concept today which states that while the 20th century was driven by oil, the 21st century will be driven by electricity. This, together with the growing movements against climate change today, does not bode well for the oil industry. Adam White, an equity strategist at SunTrust Advisory, stated that investors might not be looking at the oil market with optimism anymore. “A lot of damage has already been done. People are jaded towards the industry,” he said.
An analysis from Barclays points to the world’s reliance on oil peaking somewhere between 2030 and 2035, provided that countries keep to their low-carbon goals. The investment bank also noted that peak oil could happen as early as 2025 if more aggressive climate change initiatives are adopted on a wider scale. This all but makes investments in oil stocks very risky in the 2020s, and this risk gets amplified if electric vehicles become more mainstream. Sverre Alvik of research firm DNV GL described this concern. “By 2030, oil shareholders will feel the impact. Electric vehicles are likely to cause light vehicle oil demand to plunge by nearly 50% by 2040,” Alvik said.
Some of today’s prolific oil producers appear to be making the necessary preparations for peak oil’s inevitable decline. Amidst pressures from shareholders, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and Total have expanded their operations into solar, wind, and electric charging, seemingly as a means to future-proof themselves. On the flipside, there are also big oil players that are ramping their activities. Earlier this month, financial titan Warren Buffet, who recently expressed his skepticism towards Elon Musk’s plan of introducing an insurance service for Tesla’s electric cars, committed $10 billion to Occidental Petroleum, one of the largest oil and gas exploration companies in the United States.
A POINT OF NO RETURN
The auto industry is now at a point where a real transition towards electrification is happening. Tesla’s efforts over the years, from the original Roadster to the Model 3, have played a huge part in this transition. Tesla, as well as its CEO, Elon Musk, have awakened the public’s eye about the viability of electric cars, while showing the auto industry that there is a demand for good, well-designed EVs. Nevertheless, Tesla still has a long journey ahead of it, as the company ramps its activities in the energy storage sector. If Tesla Energy mobilizes and becomes as disruptive as the company’s electric car division, it would deal yet another blow to the oil industry.
At this point, it is pertinent for veteran automakers that have released their own electric cars to ensure that they do not stop. Legacy car makers had long talked the talk when it came to electric vehicles, but today, it is time to walk the walk. German automaker Volkswagen could be a big player in this transition, as hinted at by the reception of its all-electric car, the ID.3. The ID.3 launch was successful, with Volkswagen getting 10,000 preorders for the vehicle in just 24 hours. The German carmaker should see this as writing on the wall: the demand for EVs is there.
The Volkswagen ID.3 is not as quick or sleek as a Tesla Model 3, nor does it last as long on the road between charges. But considering its price point and its badge, it does not have to be. Volkswagen states that the ID.3 will be priced below 40,000 euros ($45,000) in Germany, which should make it attainable for car buyers in the country. If done right, the ID.3 could be the second coming of the Beetle, ultimately becoming a car that redeems the company from the stigma of the Dieselgate scandal. Thus, it would be a great shame if Volkswagen drops the ball on the ID.3.
Tesla will likely remain a divisive company for years to come; Elon Musk, even more so. Nevertheless, Tesla and what it stands for is slowly becoming an idea, one that connotes hope for something better and cleaner for the future. And if history’s victories and tragedies are any indication, once something becomes an idea, an intangible concept, it becomes impossible to kill.
Watch and Learn More
Mobility Disruption | Tony Seba
Tony Seba, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Author and Thought Leader, Lecturer at Stanford University, Keynote The reinvention and connection between infrastructure and mobility will fundamentally disrupt the clean transport model.
Nano-Enabled Batteries and Super Capacitors
Building a better lithium-ion battery involves addressing a myriad of factors simultaneously, from keeping the battery’s cathode electrically and ionically conductive to making sure that the battery stays safe after many cycles.
In a new discovery, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new cathode coating by using an oxidative chemical vapor deposition technique that can help solve these and several other potential issues with lithium-ion batteries all in one stroke.
“The coating we’ve discovered really hits five or six birds with one stone.” Khalil Amine, Argonne distinguished fellow and battery scientist.
In the research, Amine and his fellow researchers took particles of Argonne’s pioneering nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathode material and encapsulated them with a sulfur-containing polymer called PEDOT. This polymer provides the cathode a layer of protection from the battery’s electrolyte as the battery charges and discharges.
Unlike conventional coatings, which only protect the exterior surface of the micron-sized cathode particles and leave the interior vulnerable to cracking, the PEDOT coating had the ability to penetrate to the cathode particle’s interior, adding an additional layer of shielding.
In addition, although PEDOT prevents the chemical interaction between the battery and the electrolyte, it does allow for the necessary transport of lithium ions and electrons that the battery requires in order to function.
“This coating is essentially friendly to all of the processes and chemistry that makes the battery work and unfriendly to all of the potential reactions that would cause the battery to degrade or malfunction,” said Argonne chemist Guiliang Xu, the first author of the research.
The coating also largely prevents another reaction that causes the battery’s cathode to deactivate. In this reaction, the cathode material converts to another form called spinel. “The combination of almost no spinel formation with its other properties makes this coating a very exciting material,” Amine said.
The PEDOT material also demonstrated the ability to prevent oxygen release, a major factor for the degradation of NMC cathode materials at high voltage. “This PEDOT coating was also found to be able to suppress oxygen release during charging, which leads to better structural stability and also improves safety,” Amine said.
Amine indicated that battery scientists could likely scale up the coating for use in nickel-rich NMC-containing batteries. “This polymer has been around for a while, but we were still surprised to see that it has all of the encouraging effects that it does,” he said.
With the coating applied, the researchers believe that the NMC-containing batteries could either run at higher voltages—thus increasing their energy output—or have longer lifetimes, or both.
To perform the research, the scientists relied on two DOE Office of Science User Facilities located at Argonne: the Advanced Photon Source (APS) and the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM). In situ high-energy X-ray diffraction measurements were taken at beamline 11-ID-C of the APS, and focused ion beam lithography and transmission electron microscopy were performed at the CNM.
A paper based on the study, “Building ultra-conformal protective layers on both secondary and primary particles of layered lithium transition metal oxide cathodes,” appeared in the May 13 online edition of Nature Energy.
More information: Gui-Liang Xu et al, Building ultraconformal protective layers on both secondary and primary particles of layered lithium transition metal oxide cathodes, Nature Energy(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41560-019-0387-1
Journal information: Nature Energy
Provided by Argonne National Laboratory
Every year, Bloomberg NEF’s advanced transport team builds a bottom-up analysis of the cost of purchasing an electric vehicle and compares it to the cost of a combustion-engine vehicle of the same size. The crossover point — when electric vehicles become cheaper than their combustion-engine equivalents — will be a crucial moment for the EV market. All things being equal, upfront price parity makes a buyer’s decision to buy an EV a matter of taste, style or preference — but not, for much longer, a matter of cost.
Every year, that crossover point gets closer. In 2017, a Bloomberg NEF analysis forecast that the crossover point was in 2026, nine years out. In 2018, the crossover point was in 2024 — six years (or, as I described it then, two lease cycles) out.
The crossover point, per the latest analysis, is now 2022 for large vehicles in the European Union. For that, we can thank the incredible shrinking electric vehicle battery, which isn’t so much shrinking in size as it is shrinking — dramatically — in cost.
Analysts have for several years been using a sort of shorthand for describing an electric vehicle battery: half the car’s total cost. That figure, and that shorthand, has changed in just a few years. For a midsize U.S. car in 2015, the battery made up more than 57 percent of the total cost. This year, it’s 33 percent. By 2025, the battery will be only 20 percent of total vehicle cost.
My colleague Nikolas Soulopoulos, author of the research note, provided further insights. The first is that he expects electric vehicle chassis and body costs to drop slightly, while those same costs will rise modestly for combustion vehicles “as a result of light-weighting and other measures to help comply with emissions targets.”
Second, Soulopoulos expects bigger cost improvements in the electric powertrain, as “large-volume manufacturing is only now beginning for such parts.” By 2030, costs for motors, inverters and power electronics could be 25 to 30 percent lower than they are today.
The incredible shrinking electric vehicle battery doesn’t just mean cheaper electric passenger cars. It also means all sorts of other vehicles that weren’t previously practical to electrify now are — and beyond proof-of-concept scale, too.
Equipped with an in-house developed new charger, high-voltage converter and other devices, it offers excavation performance on par with the internal combustion model of the same power output, while achieving zero exhaust gas emissions and a dynamic reduction in noise levels. It is an environment and people-friendly machine. Komatsu expects a wider range of applications for this machine, including construction work near hospitals or schools or in residential areas, where contractors have conventionally paid special attention to exhaust gas and noise during work, as well as inside tunnels or buildings.
There are new electric vehicles at sea as well. Stena Line plans to install batteries in one of its car ferries between Sweden and Denmark, rolling out its battery systems incrementally. The first, a 1 megawatt-hour battery, will power the ship when it is maneuvering in port. The next, a 20 megawatt-hour battery, will provide power for port operations and “about 10 nautical miles” beyond. The final, a 50 megawatt-hour battery, will provide 50 nautical miles’ worth of power. “As both the size and cost of batteries decrease, battery operation becomes a very exciting alternative to traditional fuels for shipping, as emissions to air can be completely eliminated,” says Stena Line’s CEO Niclas Martensson.
Smaller EV batteries will soon be flying, too. Harbour Air Ltd., which operates 42 planes in 12 short routes in British Columbia, is adding an electric plane to its fleet. “The intent is to eventually convert the entire fleet,” says founder and CEO Greg McDougall, who offers a familiar rationale for his optimism: Ranges and capabilities “are changing very rapidly with the development of the battery technology.”
McDougall’s company is seeking approval for his plans ahead of today’s battery economics in anticipation of what’s coming. “We don’t want to be trying to get through the regulatory process after it becomes more economically viable; we want to do it now,” he says.


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A recent study published by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) reveals, the textile and clothing sector in the country is in a fragile state and not in tune with international changes. Surprisingly, after having been the leader of Tunisian exports, the sector continues to decline to the point that the whole economy suffers.
This is indeed a sad statement from a high employability sector given its low competitiveness that is no longer able to face global competition. This strongly impacts on the wages of labour, mainly women. Not to mention that this precarious condition of the industry is largely due to the crisis in the eurozone which has significantly altered the security situation and stability in Tunisia, particularly after the revolution. This led many investors to leave the country and bring down investments in the sector, according to FTDES.
Surprisingly, the number of companies in the sector fell sharply to 2,500 in 2005 and 1,907 in 2012. The number of job posts also decreased from more than 250,000 prior to 2005 to 185,000 in 2012, added the study that was conducted on a sample of 28 industrial enterprises specialized in the field of garment for export spread over the various delegations of the governorate of Monastir and 260 women working in the textile sector.


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Croatian supermarket chain Konzum has recently announced that it is accepting payment in cryptocurrencies. Now, customers can purchase groceries and other home products using crypto via their online store.
The supported cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, DAI, EOS, Stellar and stablecoins such as Tether and USD Coin.
Konzum partnered with HANFA-regulated crypto payment processing company Electrocoin so that it could help enable the new crypto payment feature by implementing PayCek, a system that enables merchants to accept payments in cryptocurrency.
The announcement stated that the PayCek system ensures that buyers are charged at a fixed exchange rate at the start of the transaction, which provides sufficient time for successful execution. Konzum spokesperson commented that the supermarket chain will not be holding any crypto as part of the initiative.
When it comes to crypto payment, Konzum doesn’t have any interaction with cryptocurrencies, we receive only fiat into our bank account. Electrocoin does the payment processing from crypto to fiat through their cryptocurrency exchange platform in a simple and secure way.
Electrocoin has plans to add three more cryptocurrencies into PayCek by the end of 2021, which would allow Konzum to accept payments in Solana, Litecoin and Dogecoin.
The crypto payment option will remain exclusive to online shopping for now, although the chain stated that they have plans to allow crypto payments across its physical outlets in the near future.


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Talk of currency war is in the air, while China and Japan are skirmishing in the East China Sea. In the U.S., trade is taking some blame for the hot-button issue of the year: inequality. Emerging markets such as Brazil and Turkey swooned over the Federal Reserve’s plans to cut back bond purchases. Banks say regulators are balkanizing finance by requiring each local affiliate to have the capital to stand on its own.
Leaks about surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency have caused hard feelings among allies and rivals alike, with the spying scandal hurting U.S. suppliers of cloud computing as countries opt to keep data based at home.
Without violating trade rules, countries have found ways to close borders. Australia now bans overseas storage of electronic health records. Argentina requires foreign luxury automakers to offset their imports of cars with exports of local products, such as Malbec wine, all in the name of “trade balancing.”
Some companies are reacting by going home. Actavis Plc, the second-largest generic drugmaker, plans to end its operations in China because doing business there “wasn’t worth the aggravation, the frustration, or the concern,” Chief Executive Officer Paul Bisaro said this week.
Investment controls and antitrust rules are sometimes “intimidating people from doing cross-border deals because of risks today that didn’t exist before,” said Thomas Vinje, chairman of the global antitrust practice in the Brussels office of law firm Clifford Chance.


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Wessex wage bill and finance costs clip earnings before tax by 11%
Wessex Water has reported underlying profit before tax down 11% to £134.7m on revenue up £7m to £547.7m for the year to 31 March 2019.
A prior period reduction in pension costs arising from a shift in inflation measurement from retail pice index basis to consumer price index in 2018 created an exceptional gain of £30.9m cutting operating costs to £273m.
Before the exception item total operating expenses for 2019 were up £13.4m to £319.3m leaving operating profits down year-on-year by £6.3m to £228.4m. Wages and salaries up 9% from 2018 to 96.5m.
Financing expenses were up in the report year by £10.3m at £93.7m.
In his report statement, Wessex managing director, Andy Pymer (pictured), addressed, at least tangentially, political criticism of the sector’s ownership insisting Wessex had “always been structured and financed in a simple and transparent way,” adding: “Our gearing will continue at under 70% and we will continue to maintain a straightforward corporate structure. We paid our taxes, contributing more than £60m last year in corporation tax, business rates and other taxes and are classed by HMRC as low risk.”
Meanwhile In his statement, the company chairman, Dr Francis Yeoh CBE, addressed the private ownership issue direct: “Renationalising the water industry will not lead to great savings or radical improvements to
quality or service. Our quality is already among the best in the world,” he wrote.


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"Fallout 4" to say that it's a success would be an understatement.
As reported by Tech Insider, "Fallout 4" was just launched and it's making history in the video game industry.
And according to Steam's internal numbers and Steam Spy, the game already sold 1.2 million units for PC in just one day of being available.
Moreover, the game broke another Steam record because according to GameSpot, it currently has the most number of concurrent players at one time, for a game not developed by Valve.
That honor was previously held by another record breaking game, "Grand Theft Auto V," which peaked at over 300,000. For comparison, "Fallout 4" has peaked with 445,000 concurrent players in its first day.
In addition to that already amazing stats, the latest title from Bethesda Game Studios is also the top game on all of the Steam Store right now, and in terms of current players, it's also the top-selling game on the platform.
But what's amazing is, despite those already gigantic numbers, it only pertains to one store. The current data on how well the game sold on consoles fare, as it was launched simultaneously on the PC, PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.
Safe to say, the sales figures are being projected as good and the good news is expected to be announced sometime this week or early next week.
But what makes the game great? According to Games Radar, one reason is "Fallout 4" gives a believable portrayal of what would the U.S will look like in the event of an actual nuclear fallout.
Of course for the sake of excitement and the spirit of video gaming, it can be a tad exaggerated, but still compared to other games and even movies, "Fallout 4" was described as trying to portray a plausible scenario.
And although it's already fun on its own, Forbes was kind enough to note what other things you can do to even make it more fun.
While playing "Fallout 4," it is advised to refrain from using the so called "Fast Travel" so you can better explore the game's map and environment. One reward for doing so, or rather, not doing so is you can find all sorts of neat things along the way.
Furthermore, the player is also advised to build settlements. Yes, it's not exactly an easy thing to do but building settlements are designed to provide the player a few useful features.
To conclude, "Fallout 4" is shattering records all for a good reason. And with the numbers to back it up, this may be the best game Bethesda Studio has done yet.


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The iPhone is about to do for smartphones what the iPod did for digital music players: put one in everyone’s pocket.
That’s the message Warren East, CEO of Arm Holdings PLC, brought to Computex Wednesday in a talk about the future of mobile computing.
The idea of putting computing power into a small device has been around for years. Apple put out the Newton personal digital assistant (PDA) in the early 1990s, followed by U.S. Robotics with its Pilot (which later became the Palm). Adding computing functions to mobile phones, to create smartphones, happened soon after. Now, demand for Internet access while on the move is making small computing devices even more popular. Even the computer industry has taken up the challenge, with its ultramobile PC.
“This has been an emerging market for a long time,” East said in an interview. And the hype surrounding the iPhone will put smartphones in the lead as demand for Internet access at all times takes off, he said.
In fact, he believes that smartphone sales could double this year if the iPhone proves to be the hit that some people expect. Sales will end up close to 200 million units, or double last year’s figure, if the iPhone is a hit, East said, because smartphone demand overall will take off. “Within the next few years, smartphones will make up half the mobile phone market,” he said.
East stands to gain from such a prediction, of course. Arm processing cores are in around 95 percent of all smartphones, so his company will be a direct beneficiary of the growing market. They are also in certain iPods, leading to speculation that several of its chip designs will end up in iPhones. East declined to comment on the matter, saying Apple prefers to keep such details secret.
Another key to the success of smartphones and other small devices is software. A lot of computing software that works well on a PC has trouble on portable gadgets because of the smaller screen size. Mobile web browsers, for example, don’t shrink all Web sites very well. Arm is working with software makers on rewriting their applications to better fit smaller devices, East said.
The ultramobile PC is also an area that East doesn’t mind competition from, since Arm processing cores go into them, too. The new product category is also boosting interest in devices such as smartphones, he said. Besides, the mobile industry has an advantage over the computer industry’s ultramobile PC: its expertise in power consumption.
Mobile phone makers have worked for years to ensure users have plenty of battery power on their handsets. Companies focused on the ultramobile PC come from a far different background, where power consumption has not been a big issue until recently. That gives the mobile phone industry an advantage, East said.
It won’t take long to see if East’s predictions are correct. The iPhone will be out in the U.S. around the end of this month. It may end up creating a smartphone craze, as the iPod did for digital music players. At the very least, the much hyped product should spur interest in small computing devices.
“Apple’s iPhone … is clearly the most widely anticipated product the industry has seen for years, potentially ever,” said Michael Ounjian, a research analyst at Credit Suisse, in a recent report.


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The Coolest Cooler burst onto the crowdfunding scene hoping to raise a mere $50,000. A re-do of a failed Kickstarter project from the year prior, creator Ryan Grepper spent several months assessing what worked, and what went wrong, before re-launching his crowdfunding project that closed at over $13 million. It held the title of most funded ever on Kickstarter until this past March when Pebble showed up for a victory lapped and topped $20 million.
Now almost a year later, Coolest Cooler is nearing backer fulfillment. Is delivery late? Yes. But will backers receive their promised perks? It looks pretty good.
In a backer update Grepper explained the fulfillment timeline;
“If you’ve been following our weekly production updates at Coolest/Countdown, then you know we’ve been working like mad to complete the pre-manufacturing phase exactly as we laid out last November.
“We are on track, and we will begin our phased rollout of Coolest Coolers next month in July. ”
“As we’ve mentioned in the last couple of updates, the factories can’t possibly make 60,000+ units in a month so not every backer will get a Coolest Cooler this summer (See below for full details). That’s why I’d like to THANK you all again for being part of Kickstarter and this campaign.”
Coolest signed up with Dragon Innovation to assist with manufacturing and shipping. Designing a new product and getting it delivered at scale is no small task. Grepper made a solid decision when he partnered with an experienced group of production specialists.
Grepper also stated that early purchasers will be receiving a product that will eventually retail at $485.00. This is a significant premium to what backers paid. Of course the downside is they have to wait.
So the Coolest Cooler is looking pretty good. Some backers will be able to enjoy this souped up cooler this summer. Others will have to wait a bit longer.
Have a crowdfunding offering you'd like to share? Submit an offering for consideration using our Submit a Tip form and we may share it on our site!


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OMAHA (DTN) -- Most retail fertilizer prices continued to shift lower the third week of April 2023, according to retailers tracked by DTN. However, for the first time in several months, multiple fertilizers were slightly higher.
One fertilizer achieved a significant milestone that has not been seen in about a year and a half.
Six of the eight major fertilizer prices were lower compared to last month, although none fell a considerable amount. DTN designates a significant move as anything 5% or more.
These six fertilizers were all just slightly lower compared to last month. Potash had an average price of $643 per ton, urea $626/ton, 10-34-0 $740/ton, anhydrous $995/ton, UAN28 $423/ton and UAN32 $507/ton.
Multiple fertilizers were higher in price for the first time since the fourth week of November 2022. DAP and MAP were both up just slightly with DAP having an average price of $826/ton while MAP is at $812/ton.
On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was $0.68/lb.N, anhydrous $0.61/lb.N, UAN28 $0.76/lb.N and UAN32 $0.79/lb.N.
The notable milestone in last week's prices was set by anhydrous, with an average price of $995/ton. This marks the first time the nitrogen fertilizer has been under $1,000/ton since the fourth week of October 2021 when the price was at $982/ton.
Anhydrous had a four-digit price for 77 consecutive weeks or just short of 20 straight months. The highest price the fertilizer saw during this time was $1,534/ton for the third and fourth week of April 2022.
While the sub-$1,000/ton anhydrous price is still historically expensive, the fact anhydrous, as well as other fertilizers' prices, fell so much in the first quarter of 2023 was striking. I interviewed several fertilizer analysts in late November and early December of 2022 and not a single one thought that by planting time in spring 2023 retail fertilizer prices would be 18% to 35% less expensive from last year at this same time.
A recent Twitter thread between farmers discussed how sitting on your hands and doing nothing in terms of locking in fertilizer prices this winter turned out to be the correct move to obtain lower-priced fertilizer prices. Some debate ensued -- as it always does on social media.
All fertilizers are now double digits lower compared to one year ago. 10-34-0 is 18% less expensive, DAP is 21% lower, MAP is 25% less expensive, potash is 27% lower, UAN32 is 31% less expensive, UAN28 is 33% lower, anhydrous is 35% less expensive and urea is 38% lower compared to a year prior.
DTN gathers fertilizer price bids from agriculture retailers each week to compile the DTN Fertilizer Index. DTN first began reporting data in November 2008.
In addition to national averages, MyDTN subscribers can access the full DTN Fertilizer Index, which includes state averages, here: https://www.mydtn.com/….
Fertilizer prices continue to weaken, but they may be near the bottom, according to a recent report from CoBank. You can read it here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….
|Apr 18-22 2022||1050||1079||879||1012|
|May 16-20 2022||1059||1083||878||993|
|Jun 13-Jun 17 2022||1046||1074||879||961|
|Jul 11-15 2022||1030||1052||885||861|
|Aug 8-12 2022||982||1032||881||812|
|Sep 5-9 2022||952||1009||878||800|
|Oct 3-7 2022||934||997||869||826|
|Oct 31-Nov 4 2022||930||981||857||826|
|Nov 28-Dec 2 2022||926||960||831||795|
|Dec 26-Dec 30 2022||885||891||765||751|
|Jan 23-Jan 27 2023||855||865||714||708|
|Feb 20-Feb 24 2023||836||834||673||666|
|Mar 20-Mar 24 2023||821||812||645||627|
|Apr 17-21 2023||826||812||643||626|
|Apr 18-22 2022||906||1534||631||730|
|May 16-20 2022||906||1529||634||731|
|Jun 13-Jun 17 2022||905||1516||630||730|
|Jul 11-15 2022||904||1449||606||701|
|Aug 8-12 2022||881||1365||578||678|
|Sep 5-9 2022||866||1357||579||658|
|Oct 3-7 2022||813||1390||565||652|
|Oct 31-Nov 4 2022||759||1426||583||680|
|Nov 28-Dec 2 2022||753||1416||583||681|
|Dec 26-Dec 30 2022||751||1325||573||679|
|Jan 23-Jan 27 2023||754||1237||523||630|
|Feb 20-Feb 24 2023||741||1124||470||554|
|Mar 20-Mar 24 2023||740||1036||429||514|
|Apr 17-21 2023||740||995||423||507|
Russ Quinn can be reached at Russ.Quinn@dtn.com
Follow him on Twitter @RussQuinnDTN
(c) Copyright 2023 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.


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New Entrant Looks to Transform Insurance at POS
Think: a venture backed startup that’s on a mission to transform how insurance is offered at the point of sale, by enabling e-commerce retailers to offer a best-in-class consumer warranty program with minimal technical resources.
Founded in 2018 and based in NYC, Mulberry is led by founder and CEO Chinedu Elyeanya, who also cofounded Zibby, a Cognical company that has raised $286M to offer retailers a risk-free payment option geared toward consumers who don’t qualify for traditional financing options. Additional Mulberry cofounders include Lee Johnson and Ali Chaudry, who are both former Cognical employees.
The company plans to add integrations for major e-commerce platforms such as Magento, WooCommerce and Shopify. Speaking of Shopify, thinking of Clyde and Cover – the former missed its launch date and the latter offers a service that isn’t working (according to one review posted on April 12).
PS. Domain name Warryn.com – owned by Coverager – is up for grabs. Warryn is one of several origins of the name Warren, which means to protect or defend. It also has a good ring to it – best-in-class warranty program by Warryn. Pretty personal.


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Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new direct enrollment process for individuals that will allow them to complete their enrollment directly through a third-party website. Previously, consumers who attempted to enroll in a plan through a broker, agent or insurer’s website were redirected to healthcare.gov in order to complete the enrollment. Under the new process which will start for the 2018 plan year, consumers will be able to complete the entire enrollment process on the third-party website. Initially, this will only be available to those who are enrolling in states that use the federally facilitated marketplaces or in state-based marketplaces which utilize healthcare.gov. For more information, check out the CMS press release as well as the official guidance from CMS on the new procedure.
You are here: / / CMS Introduces New Direct Enrollment for 3rd Party Sites


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André Leon Talley brought Black to fashion’s palette
From his legendary capes to his candor, the former ‘Vogue’ editor created his own rules
André Leon Talley’s impact on the fashion world was as immense as his 6-foot-6 stature. Talley, who died on Tuesday at 73, climbed to the top of the fashion industry, becoming the first Black man to be creative director for Vogue from 1988 to 1995 and an editor at large from 1998 to 2013.
Talley’s influence in fashion goes beyond his personal style. He spoke candidly about the need for diversity — both on and off the runway — in a predominantly white industry.
Here’s a look at his life through photos.
AP Black history class revised after criticism
Florida Gov. DeSantis had threatened to ban the class
Missy Elliott nominated for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
A Tribe Called Quest and The Spinners are also among the 14 nominees
The Tyre Nichols video wrenches the heart of Black America
We might be disappointed that 5 Black officers are charged with beating a Black man to death, but we’re not surprised


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PayTabs Egypt, Waffarha Partner on Digital Payments for Online Shopping
Shoppers will be able to pay for their purchases quickly and seamlessly with credit cards and save their card details for future use, and merchants will be able to appeal to more customers by offering easier payment methods, according to a Wednesday (Aug. 10) press release.
“We couldn’t be prouder of this partnership, as it is a crucial step to facilitating payment solutions for a large consumer market such as Egypt,” PayTabs General Manager Africa Hany Soliman said in the statement. “Collaborating with a savings giant such as Waffarha has enabled us to avail an innovative, user-friendly platform where end-users can pay their bills in a few minutes and with just the click of a button.”
The World Bank’s Global Findex database revealed that in 2021, 73% of Egypt’s population were unbanked and that even among account holders, about 70% of Egyptians had never used a payment card, mobile phone or the internet to make a digital payment.
As Egypt lags other countries on the world stage in these respects, a number of FinTechs are seeking to address the situation and increase access to key financial services in the country.
The PayTabs announcement comes three months after the company launched a new social commerce platform called Paymes for customers in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region.
In April, the company announced it partnered with Visa to bring “Tap to Phone” service to mobile users in the Middle East.
“Millions of merchants will now be able to rely purely on contactless software-based solutions to accept payments,” PayTabs said at the time.
View full press release on:


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Fans won’t have to wait much longer to get their hands on highly coveted nonfungible tokens featuring Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady.
DraftKings Marketplace, the NFT ecosystem that will house Brady’s Autograph platform, is now live, with Autograph’s first preseason pass collection dropping Wednesday and featuring Brady, Wayne Gretzky, Tony Hawk, Naomi Osaka, Derek Jeter and Tiger Woods.
Premier editions of Brady’s NFTs will begin dropping throughout the day Wednesday, followed by Signature editions on Friday, featuring authentic digital signatures from Brady. Gretzky will follow Brady as the next athlete showcased.
At 44, Bucs QB Tom Brady says ‘I’ve found my voice more.’ Why now?
Tom Brady gets custom tequila for his birthday
‘Grateful’ AB ready for ‘new chapter’ with Bucs
“NFTs bring an entirely new dimension to the collector experience, and I cannot wait for people to discover and engage with this first ever drop of Autograph’s official digital collectibles,” said Brady, who co-founded Autograph along with Dillon Rosenblatt. “We created Autograph as a way for fans and collectors to own a piece of iconic moments in sports and entertainment through authenticated and official digital collectibles and we are just getting started!”
NFTs, created in 2014, serve as digital assets of unique items that live online and cannot be duplicated or copied. Think of them as digital trading cards, although they can be anything from autographs, pieces of art, sound clips or video highlights, and because they live in the digital world, they don’t run the risk of damage and are easily authenticated.
Fans and collectors with DraftKings accounts can access the line on DraftKings Marketplace on desktop and mobile devices. The companies tout multiple price points to cater to fans just beginning NFT collections as well as more experienced collectors. All DraftKings Marketplace NFTs feature an eco-friendly Ethereum Layer 2 solution for customers to store in their DraftKings Marketplace portfolios, and they will have the ability to transfer the NFTs to their own wallets on Ethereum Mainnet and view their collections on Autograph’s platform. Collectors also can list their NFTs on DraftKings Marketplace’s secondary sale market.
Brady is one of several prominent NFL athletes involved with NFTs. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes sold $3.4 million in NFTs in one night alone back in March. Brady’s Bucs teammate Rob Gronkowski’s NFT trading card collection on OpenSea sold for $1.2 million. And Peyton and Eli Manning created their own line on MakersPlace called the “Manning Legacy Collection.”
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Toyota is going artsy to promote its new 2012 Scion iQ. Take a look: There is a lot more to see at ScionAV.com, which is a textbook content marketing play.
Archives for March 2012
Coca-Cola is planning to increase revenue to $200 billion in 2020 from $95 billion in 2008. Joseph V. Tripodi, executive vice president and chief marketing and commercial officer at Coca-Cola, concedes that doubling revenue is “a big, hairy, audacious goal,” a.k.a. BHAG. Yet, he believes global megatrends like urbanization and the rise of the middle […]
Every company is a media company. You hear this line from me all the time, typically as an argument for content marketing. What I don’t often discus is how brands can also profit by running ads (often from competitors) on their brand-sponsored media properties, like Target does at Target.com. Newsosaur Alan D. Mutter, writing in […]
Most of the ad people visiting Austin for SXSW have made their way back to New York City, L.A. and every other corner of Adlandia. But not all. Some are staying behind, as I used to do, for SXSW’s Film and Music Conferences. Brent Grulke, creative director at SXSW, told Fortune, that big companies have […]
Watching the Dollar Shave Club video take off last week, it got me wondering: How many brands out there can get by without advertising agency help? And what does it take for ad agencies to survive these days and in the future? The rise of digital, social, and mobile marketing, on top of all the […]


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Posted in: Infrastructure,
by Patrick DeHaan on Jan 15, 2013 01:35 PM
The American Society of Civil Engineers has a stark warning for motorists and politicians: failing to invest enough into roads and bridges could mean a massive $3 trillion hit to gross domestic product by 2020.
ASCE’s Failure to Act economic report series shows the economic consequences of continued underinvestment in our nation’s infrastructure, and the economic gains that could be made by 2020 in terms of GDP, personal disposable income, exports, and jobs if we choose as a country to invest in our communities.
The culminating report was released on January 15, 2013 and presents an overall picture of the economic opportunity associated with infrastructure investment and the cost of failing to fill the investment gap.
ASCE finds that with an additional investment of $157 billion a year between now and 2020, the U.S. can eliminate this drag on economic growth and protect:
-$3.1 trillion in GDP, almost the equivalent of Germany’s entire GDP
-$1.1 trillion in U.S. trade value, equivalent to Mexico’s GDP
-3.5 million jobs, more than the jobs created in the U.S. over the previous 22 months
-$2.4 trillion in consumer spending, comparable to Brazil’s GDP
-$3,100 in annual personal disposable income
ASCE’s economic report on surface transportation, released in July 2011, found that our deteriorating infrastructure will cost the American economy more than 876,000 jobs and suppress the growth of our GDP by $897 billion by the year 2020.


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The market value of Jubilant Food-Works, which operates Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts, has fallen 45 per cent since May 25, 2015, to Rs 6,357 crore on Thursday. Westlife Development, the operator of McDonald’s outlets in the west and south, and Speciality Restaurants, the owner of Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta, saw their market capitalisation fall by 22 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively.
The combined market value of the three companies stood at Rs 10,112 crore, down by Rs 6,453 crore ($940 million) over the past nine months.
"Delayed recovery in same-store sales over the medium term seems not just cyclical but also structural. There seem to be no signs of revival," Abneesh Roy, an analyst at Edelweiss Securities, wrote in a report on February 12. "We believe the (Jubilant) stock is unlikely to rerate unless same-store sales growth returns to high single digits."
Same-store sales growth at Jubilant was unchanged at 0.05 per cent in FY15, down from 2 per cent in FY14 and 16 per cent in FY13, the company said in a presentation on its website this month. Growth picked up to 3.3 per cent in the first nine months of the current financial year.
"Certainly, the economy there (in India) has gone through a little bit of a downturn. But I think the economy is continuing to improve," J Patrick Doyle, chief executive officer of Domino’s Pizza, said on a conference call on Thursday evening.
Domino’s crossed the 1,000-store milestone in India earlier this month, its biggest market outside the US. With significantly lower valuations, this could be the right time to buy shares of these companies. About 69 per cent of analysts have a ‘buy’ rating on Jubilant shares now, compared with almost 50 per cent a year earlier.
While Westlife and Jubilant have started posting improved sales numbers, Yum! Brands, which owns KFC and Pizza Hut, continues to struggle. Same-store sales at Yum! fell 18 per cent in the July-September quarter of this financial year.
"Yum! results clearly reflect that the QSR environment remains weak. Even though we like Jubilant’s execution capability and market dominance, we wait for visibility on a same-store sales growth trajectory improvement," analysts Manoj Menon and Gaurav Bhatia of Deutsche Bank wrote in a report.
Fragmentation in market
QSRs have also been affected by the entry of rivals including Wendy’s, Burger King and Johnny Rockets and a fragmentation in the market, which offers customers a wide range of cuisine choices.
"All the mature F&B (food and beverage) players know that running such businesses is more complicated than moving ones and zeros. The new players in the market — curator-entrepreneurs and national or global chains alike — have definitely put incumbents on notice and it will definitely lead to the emergence of a few more mega-successes in the coming three to five years," said Jaspal Sabharwal, a partner at Everstone Capital, which owns the Burger King franchise in India.
QSRs including McDonald’s and KFC are stepping up focus on home delivery and the growing prominence of online food aggregators such as TastyKhana and Zomato, which could widen their consumer base.
"Domino’s has tied up with various food tech/aggregators, though contribution from these remains marginal," said Latika Chopra of JPMorgan Securities.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- Brands & Companies
- PSBs to Submit Plan to Deal with Key Biz Risks
State-run banks will within two weeks submit to the government a detailed scenario-mapped plan of various business risks, people familiar with the development told ET. They will also outline a communication strategy to deal with any exigency, they said.MFs Push Debt Schemes Before Tax Deadline
Mutual funds are going all out to get investors to put money in their debt schemes before March 31, when the tax advantage these products enjoy will come to an end.RCap Lenders Fear Recovery Below Liquidation Value
Lenders of bankrupt Reliance Capital fear their loan recovery could fall below the liquidation value of ₹12,500-13,000 crore for the financial services company since both bidders, Hinduja Group and Torrent Investments, are reluctant to improve their offers, bankers dealing with the matter said.
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BrightEdge Announces Share18 NY Speakers
SAN MATEO, CALIF. (PRWEB)
BrightEdge, the global leader in enterprise organic search and content performance, today announced the return of Share Global Insights Tour in 2018. The Share18 Global Insights Tour will kick-off on March 14 in New York City with featured speaker Derek Redmond, former Olympian and motivational speaker who will be joined by speakers from the Marketing AI Institute, IBM, Comcast and L’Oréal. The tour will then stop in London, San Francisco and Chicago, bringing together the most innovating, data-driven marketers across SEO, content and digital marketing.
In its eighth year, Share has been recognized by Forbes and Inc.com as a “leading industry event for digital marketers by digital marketers. In addition to the two-day marquis event in Share San Francisco, the Share Global Insights Tour will build on the community momentum and success of 2017 with day-long events in New York, London and Chicago.
“This year in particular, the Share18 Global Insights Tour is a special time for BrightEdge and the digital community as it coincides with our 10th anniversary as a company,” said Jim Yu, CEO of BrightEdge. “We have our customers to thank for helping us achieve this special company milestone. We will continue to show our appreciation to our customers with more investment in the community – and a laser-focus on helping each and every one of our customers exceed their goals and deliver on the customer experience.”
Search, Content, and the Customer Experience
The Share18 Global Insights Tour theme is focused on Search, Content and the Customer Experience. Share18 aligns with the growing need among marketers to truly understand the voice of the customer, in order to engage with prospects and customers in far more meaningful ways, across multiple channels. Sessions will also explore how agile organizations are using AI and automation to unify search and content marketing strategy and deliver personalized digital experiences.
“Throughout the Share18 Global Insights Tour I will be sharing real life examples on how building and inspiring teams to be innovative in their thinking can impact personal and professional performance, Redmond said. “In organizations and sports alike, it is vital that marketers have an awareness of not only their own role, but also put themselves in their customers’ shoes. The result is a shared experience and the ultimate win-win.”
The Path to an AI-First Future
New to the agenda this year are sessions based on the benefit of AI and its impact on digital marketing. Successful brands are now beginning to recognize that AI, deep learning and automation are now mission-critical for staying ahead of market trends, consumer preferences and competitive shifts in the market.
“BrightEdge is transforming the way that search, content and digital marketers build experiences to connect with customers across every part of the customer journey,” said Paul Roetzer, Founder and CEO of the Marketing Artificial Intelligence. “I am really looking forward to sharing insights and connecting with like-minded marketers at Share NYC.”
“Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is an interesting area we’ve been exploring to weave into our SEO strategy at IBM and our partnership with BrightEdge is critical to staying ahead of the digital marketing curve,” said Ellen Mamedov, Head of SEO at IBM.
New York City 18 Sessions and Speakers
Share18 will include sessions from leading brands and industry thought leaders across search, content and digital marketing disciplines. Sessions have been designed to include speakers from multiple roles to ensure a diverse and dynamic level of insights are shared with the community. Breakouts will focus on industry trends and best practices, as well as hands-on BrightEdge product training and certification.
“The level of exposure to expert resources and thought leadership we’ve gotten from attending Share has been invaluable to our organization,” said Carlos Spallarossa, Director of SEO, L’Oréal. “I look forward to taking the Share18 stage in New York this March to share SEO insights and best practices while spending the day leveraging the BrightEdge Community.”
New York City 18 speakers include:
- Carlos Spallarossa, Director of SEO, L'Oréal
- Sean Kainec, Director, Search Engine Optimization, Comcast
- Jordan Hamilton, Digital Marketing Specialist, ProntoForms
- Eliot Podgorsky, Marketing Manager, Aviator Sports
- Karina Tama-Rutigliano, Digital Marketing Senior Manager, Caring People Inc.
- Connie Connelly O'Brien, Chief Marketing Officer, Tungsten Network
- Kevin Bobowski, SVP of Marketing, BrightEdge
- Paul Roetzer, CEO and Founder, Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute
- Ellen Mamedov, Head of SEO, IBM
Share Global Insights Tour Schedule
The single-day conference dates are as follows:
New York: March 14, London: April 19, San Francisco: October 9 – 10, Chicago: November 1
You can view live updates on speakers and register on the Share18 Global Insights Tour page.
BrightEdge, the global leader in enterprise organic search and content performance, empowers marketers to transform online content into business results such as traffic, conversions and revenue. The BrightEdge S3 platform is powered by DataMind, a sophisticated deep learning engine and is the only company capable of web-wide, real-time measurement of content engagement across all digital channels, including search, social and mobile. BrightEdge’s 1,500+ customers include global brands such as 3M, Microsoft and Nike. The company has eight offices worldwide and is headquartered in Foster City, California.