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After Apple’s (AAPL) underwhelming new iPad introductions today, sales of the devices are unlikely to rebound much from their recent slump. But that may be just fine for Apple and its shareholders, as many customers are shifting their attention – and dollars -- to higher-priced phones and computers.
Apple introduced two new iPads and a new iMac at the event held at its Cupertino headquarters. A slimmer iPad Air 2 upgrades last year’s iPad Air with better cameras, faster processors and the fingerprint sensor, TouchID, carried over from the iPhone line. A new iPad Mini 3 was almost unchanged from last year’s model, though it also got the TouchID sensor and will be available in a gold colored body now. Apple will also continue selling older models at lower prices, a strategy borrowed from the iPhone line.
The lack of major improvements in the iPad Mini seemed to be almost an admission that many customers who might have considered the smaller tablet in the past will be purchasing an iPhone 6 Plus -- which has a 5.5-inch screen -- instead this year.
But while the new iPad mini 3 starts at $399, the price of the iPhone Plus starts at $749 (and even though some customers pay hundreds less for the phone when they sign a two-year mobile contract, the mobile carrier makes up the difference to Apple). Customers who choose an $899 and up Macbook Air laptop instead of an iPad provide an even bigger boost.
Reflecting the lack of exciting or potential “game changer” new products, Apple’s shares, which have slumped about 2% since the day before the iPhone 6 announcement, were unchanged after Thursday's iPad news. The 2% drop isn’t bad, however, as the overall market as tracked by the S&P 500 Index has lost 7% over the same period.
Apple’s iPad sales have declined on an annual basis for three of the past four quarters and analysts expect more of the same next week when the company reports results for the latest period.
That’s because the tablets haven’t had any earth-shattering new features that would cause enough owners of prior models to upgrade more frequently than the three to four year replacement rate seen of late. And after the rapid growth of the early years, there are many fewer households that don’t own a tablet but plan to purchase one.
More than 60% of U.S. households with broadband Internet service already own a tablet, and 70% of those households with income over $100,000 already own both a tablet and a smartphone, according to a survey by Parks Associates. The iPad's share of households with tablets dropped to 37% this year from 46% two years ago.
Apple’s iPad sales slide is deeper than the overall tablet market, which has seen sales growth continue, if at a slower pace than in prior years. Samsung (005930.KS) and Amazon (AMZN) tablets running versions of Google’s (GOOG) Android software are next leading sellers in the United States, but worldwide some of the toughest competition is coming from much cheaper models from Lenovo (0992.HK) and other Asian manufacturers. Worldwide, tablet sales are expected to increase 11% this year after jumping 55% last year, according to Gartner.
The once-promising iPad accounted for only 16% of Apple’s revenue last quarter, down from 17% in the first quarter. That’s left the company increasingly dependent on iPhone sales, which at least so far, continue to grow strongly. At today's event, CEO Tim Cook said sales of the newest iPhones were up "by a whole lot" compared to prior years.
Corporations and other large institutions are perhaps the only remaining under-exploited niche that could boost iPad sales, notes Parks Associates analyst Tejas Mehta. Apple struck a deal with IBM (IBM) earlier this year to try and bolster enterprise sales.
“There is a lot of potential growth here,” says Mehta. “The key is to extend the functionality of the iPad, so it’s not just used for access and entertainment.”
New applications designed by IBM for specific industries like finance and health care could help. So might the long-rumored iPad with a laptop-sized screen. Reports of a 12.9-inch iPad have surfaced from time to time over the past year, but the phantom device remains just that.


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Switzerland said it aims to kick off 5G spectrum auction this month targeting the participation of all top mobile operators in the country.
Top mobile operators such as Swisscom, Sunrise and Salt Mobile are expected to participate during the spectrum auction for rewarding the 5G spectrum in Switzerland, Reuters reported.
The Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) said it will conduct the auction in January and will reveal the result by the second quarter of the year. It provided no other details – not even which or how many companies would take part – for the sale.
It will conduct clock auction to release 5G spectrum. Authorities have said a clock auction ensures bidders can configure frequency packages which best suit their business models. It lets bidders switch between frequency categories in the course of the auction.
The auction covers blocks of frequencies within the 700 MHz, 1400 MHz, 2.6 GHz and 3.5 GHz ranges. The government could raise at least 220 million Swiss francs or USD 223 million if bids are submitted for all the blocks on offer.
Italy last year raised 6.5 billion euros or USD 7.4 billion in its 5G auction that drew ferocious bidding but has been criticized for draining capital reserves from operators that face hefty network investments.
Germany could raise 4-5 billion euros from its planned auction of spectrum for 5G mobile services, business daily Handelsblatt has reported. Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefonica Deutschland have said they will participate. Companies need to apply by Jan. 25 to take part.―TelecomLead

domain: news


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Krispy Kreme has opened its doors to the South African public – and get ready to queue if you want to get your hands on one of their world-famous doughnuts.
The group opened its first store in the country at The Zone @ Rosebank, with plans to open 31 more stores at locations across the country over the next five years.
The doughnuts are made fresh in store, and according to reports, the Rosebank store can produce up to 110 dozen doughnuts (1,320) an hour, when operating at 100% efficiency.
The launch store offers 16 flavours – the 10 best-sellers in the world, and six flavours unique to South Africa.
This is what the doughnut menu looks like:
- A single original glazed doughnut costs R8.95, with a dozen costing R89.95;
- Assorted doughnuts cost R10.95 for one, or R99.95 for a dozen.
The shop also offers a double dozen (24) doughnuts:
- Original glazed for R169.95;
- Assorted for R189.95;
- Or a combination of the two for R179.95.
The launch of Krispy Kreme marks the entry of yet another international brand in South Africa.
According to Krispy Kreme’s international vice president, Michael McGill, the group is eyeing markets like Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana – but it wants to test the waters first in South Africa.
“Within five or six years we could be in five or six countries in Africa…this is the hottest new market in the world,” he told CNN Money.
Burger King re-entered the local market in 2013, and was met with as much fanfare and long queues when it launched, and Swedish clothing retailer, H&M, recently opened its doors in the country in early November.
Coffee giant Starbucks aims to launch in SA in the first half of 2016, while Krispy Kreme competitor, Dunkin Donuts, has also expressed interest in opening up shop in South Africa.
More images from the grand opening can be found at Jesska.co.za


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Taco Bell: Animal-rights group wants you to go totally meatless
|Taco Bell…save these cows!|
This morning, Nathan Runkle, the founder and executive director of the Chicago-based Mercy for Animals organization sent a letter to Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell, requesting that the fast-food chain go completely meatless.
Taco Bell has been in the eye of an intense media storm for nearly a week since a class-action lawsuit was filed in California claiming that the Tex-Mex chain, owned by Louisville-based Yum! Brands, was serving a beef product that didn’t really have much beef in it.
“Why shouldn’t they go completely meat-free,” says Mercy for Animals spokesman Matt Rice. “They’re already halfway there.”


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China-Based $1-Billion Blockchain Fund Founders to Launch Stablecoin
September 20, 2018
The founders of blockchain fund of one billion dollars are going to start their own stablecoin pegged to the Japanese yen.
Fund co-founder Yao Yongjie has told that the team has already begun working on it. The stablecoin is supposed to be launched in December this year.
Grandshores Technology is the firm with Yongjie as the chairman that is going to raise 100 million Hong Kong dollars (approx. 12.5 million USD) to finance the project.
Currently the fund gains extra financing with Tether by attracting investors outside the People’s Republic of China. Tether is another stablecoin backed by the USD.
One of the Japan’s bank will also take part in the project. Yongjie stated that other stablecoins pegged to Hong Kong and Australian dollars are also likely to be issued.


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First women�s chamber floated in Bangladesh
Added: (Mon Apr 24 2006)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
Some women entrepreneurs floated the first women�s chamber in the port city of Chittagong, the second largest city after the capital Dhaka, aiming at involving more women in trade and business activities through a separate platform, women chamber sources said.
The new trade body for women titled �Chittagong Women Chamber Of Commerce and Industry� drawing over 300 business women emerged with 24 members in its board of directors headed by the president of Chittagong Women Entrepreneurs Association, Monwara Hakim Ali, as its founder president.
But this new women�s chamber is not affiliated or linked up with Bangladesh women�s chamber based in Dhaka, the organisers said. �We have floated this chamber to create a separate platform for business women in Chittagong so that they can have better empowerment and exposure to promote trade and business,� said the founder president Monwara Hakim Ali while talking to New Age.
�Our women involved in business activities always lag behind in terms of promotion and exposure. They mostly fail to be in the mainstream of trade and commerce,� she added. �So we felt the need for a separate chamber for women in Chittagong and accordingly we took steps to float it�.
She hoped that more women would now feel encouraged to join business through this new chamber.
�Earlier, many women used to feel shy to come to business. Now through new chamber we want to give them support to overcome their shyness,� she also said.
When asked she informed that the new women chamber was floated in Chittagong with the permission from the ministry of commerce.
Relying to a question she brushed aside the possibility of any discrimination or clash of interests with Chittagong Chamber Of Commerce And Industry.
Meanwhile, former president of CCCI Farid Ahmed Chowdhury told New Age that there should not be any separate chamber of commerce and industry for women in Chittagong.
�Floating of such a chamber may create discrimination in the trade circle and I don�t find logic for such a platform while CCCI is open to all involved in business activities,� he said.


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I.D.S. recently completed a phonegap startup project with a PhoneGapExperts.com company claiming to build high performance cross platform apps
One of the recent researches indicated that mobile developers target an average of 2.4 platforms (excluding game market). Many of them are using cross platform development tools. Even companies one wouldn't expect, like Facebook, Oracle, IBM, Amazon, Intel, Cisco -- even Microsoft, recently reported on tools like PhoneGap, Xamarin, Appcelerator, RhoMobile, Appmethod, AppGyver, RAD Studio, Icenium and others.
Cross-platform is the way to go, the advantages are well-known: development and maintenance speed, save expense by using one code base to target iOS, Android, Windows Phone etc. Traditional lower performance concerns and less-native device functionality were addressed by building hybrid mobile apps. Hybrid apps use different types of wrappers to access native device resources such as camera, compass or accelerometer. This method provides mobile native performance -- or nearly so. It also allows you to upload your app to the app stores (unlike Web apps), and reportedly provides other benefits.
We’ve recently completed a phonegap startup project with a company claiming to build high performance cross platform apps (http://phonegapexperts.com). They have provided our PhoneGap developers with phonegap consulting service and did the actual development of the phonegap part of our project. They showed a really responsive phonegap app prototype. Nobody on our team could call phonegap slow. Using a combination of development approaches they optimize phonegap code and make mobile app responsive and usable, like native.
The timing of the project was also good, we were able to receive and valuate the results early and perform the necessary corrections. We recommend PhoneGap as one of the technology for cross platform mobile development and PhoneGap experts as the company who knows how to efficiently use the technology.


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ABOUT 180 jobs will be created in Coventry because of expansion plans for two supermarkets in the city.
Safeway has announced it will create 90 jobs at its store in London Road, Whitley, and another 90 at its shop at Alvis Retail Park, Holyhead Road, Coundon.
Staff are being recruited to work in new departments within the stores, such as noodle and sandwich bars, a pizza counter and juice bar.
Other new services include a florist and a Mediterranean-style restaurant, Cafe Fresco.
Extra staff will be hired as part of a three-year plan to improve services in superstores across the country - generating 12,000 jobs nationwide.
Last year 60 out of Safeway's 478 stores were upgraded as part of the scheme, and 100 redevelopments will take place this year.
Some of the new staff will have learned catering skills at Safeway's own new training school.
Other staff will wear microphones to chat and banter with customers.
Customer service training has also included working with professional actors to develop presentation skills.


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Instagram is celebrating a billion users by giving video platforms a twist with a new app designed for vertical, mobile-first video. On Wednesday, June 20, Instagram officially launched the previously rumored IGTV, a spot for vertical videos up to one hour in length with Story-like fullscreen swipe controls. The new video-focused platform that Instagram co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom calls “our most exciting feature to date” is both a separate app and accessible inside Instagram.
Rather than working as a YouTube or Facebook Watch clone, IGTV feels more like a mix between Stories and the more traditional online video platforms because of both the user interface and the fact that IGTV is a mobile-first platform. That smartphone focus means IGTV uses the vertical videos that don’t require rotating the device for a full-screen view.
Instead of interrupting that full-screen view with navigation controls, IGTV uses swipe-based gestures to navigate to different videos. The app will open directly into a video that starts playing automatically, not a home screen to pick and choose videos. A swipe up, Instagram says, will pull up additional videos, sectioned off into tabs for different categories, including For You, Following, Popular, and Continue Watching. That swipe up navigation also includes a search tool.
While the full-screen design and gestures feel more like watching Stories, IGTV borrows a few more expected features from platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. The platform is divided into channels, with one channel for each user. And while IGTV is designed for mobile viewing, the videos can be uploaded through the app or from a desktop.
IGTV has a one-hour time limit, a big jump from Instagram’s one-minute cap on videos shared inside the feed. The videos also have the same like, comment, and direct shortcuts as content in the Instagram feed.
IGTV will be a separate Instagram app, but the long-form videos will also be integrated into Instagram itself. Instagram shared a screenshot showing the familiar Instagram but with an icon for IGTV with pop-out notifications.
IGTV continues the focus on video for Instagram’s parent company, Facebook. As video stats for online interaction continue to climb,
The popularity of Instagram Stories over other apps variations suggests a video app with similar features may do well among the Instagram crowd, but just how well is yet to be determined. Instagram is a popular home for professional photographers as well as casual users and social influencers — IGTV’s vertical format could mean more influencers sharing than pro-videographers. Instagram says IGTV is coming out “over the next few weeks” for both iOS and Android.
- Meta brings cartoon avatars to video calls on Instagram and Messenger
- New Xfinity Home Video Doorbell coming soon to all Xfinity customers
- Swann dives into home security with new video doorbell and window sensor
- U.S. video game industry sets sales record in 1st quarter as players stay home
- How to add music to Instagram videos


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Reaction round-up - industry welcomes Budget tech investments but insists more can be done
An of commentators from tech businesses and industry bodies offer their thoughts on Philip Hammond's Budget
Today’s Budget included a wealth of technology and data initiatives, including changes to legislation, multibillion-pound investments, and a number of new bodies and programmes designed to lead the UK into a digital future.
You can read a comprehensive breakdown of all the technology- and data-related initiatives in this article. Here is what a range of technology commentators and industry representatives made of chancellor Philip Hammond’s plans.
“Open data is food for innovation and steps to further the Government’s Open Data agenda will benefit industry and citizens alike. As data becomes openly available it is important that we also protect its quality and integrity. We therefore support a new Geospatial Data Commission, with funding of £80 million, to look at these issues in the round. The chancellor is right that in a global economy, getting the tax system right will require a global approach. techUK continues to support the government’s work for an international agreement on these issues and believes that the OECD is the best forum for addressing this issue.”
Antony Walker, deputy CEO, techUk
It's a major boost for existing brands – big and small – to transform and deal with the digital future
“It’s encouraging to see the chancellor recognising the need for extra investment in the tech sector, particularly the support for skills and STEM subjects like maths and computer science. The next generation faces myriad new challenges like cybercrime, fake news and online fraud and it’s vital we give them the necessary support in schools to protect themselves. However, much more needs to be done to address Britain’s digital divide. Too many people are missing out on access to jobs and online education due to limited broadband access and poor connectivity. We need a more comprehensive plan to create a truly inclusive digital society. This means bringing together industry, government and communities to share training and expertise, enabling everyone to prosper in the increasingly competitive digital economy.”
Rachel Neaman, CEO, Corsham Institute
Money is not the key issue... we need to create the regulatory environment where innovation can thrive
“Hammond said that a new high-tech business is founded in the UK every hour, and that he wants it to be every half hour. We agree, and the £500m investment for tech initiatives including artificial intelligence and 5G is a step towards it. Crucially though, it’s also a major boost for existing brands – big and small – to transform and deal with the digital future.”
Peter Veash, CEO at The BIO Agency,
“It’s refreshing to see government investment into connectivity, but 5G will take several years to become mainstream. While it may one day meet expectations, we need a solution now. Our big cities urgently need networks that can support the world class infrastructure that the government wants to build, so instead of holding our breath for 5G we should invest into Wi-Fi technology for a simple, cost-effective solution.”
Nick Watson, EMEA vice president, Ruckus
“The money to be invested in both AI and electric and self-driving cars is a welcome signal from the government that we are committed to making the UK a high-tech nation. The money, however, is not the key issue – there is plenty of funding in the private sector, and we can never hope to match the funding provided in, for example, the US. Instead, the government needs to commit to create the regulatory environment where innovation and tech spend can thrive.”
Johan Hogsander, managing director at Transform
Much more needs to be done to address Britain’s digital divide. Too many people are missing out on access to jobs and online education
“It’s positive to see the chancellor’s ambition at encouraging a new tech business to be founded in the UK every half-hour. However, the ambition to harness innovation should be matched by large-scale, demand-side, outcome-orientated action in the shorter term. While the UK is a successful incubator for start-up tech businesses, companies of all types and sizes should be investing in digital services to drive productivity and competitiveness. Addressing this need for ‘demand side’ support is something that needs a clear commitment and timescales, to ensure the budget announcements are effective at impacting productivity.”
Chris Francis, director, government relations, SAP
“It is most welcome that the government is investing in the next generation of tech talent, pledging £600 to our schools for every new student who takes up A-level maths, and particularly in tripling the number of computer science teachers to 12,000. It’s not enough to have a computing curriculum, it needs to have talented experts who can teach it in an engaging and useful way that reflects the needs of industry. I will be interested to see how the £21 million in Tech City UK – now Tech Nation – is apportioned and spent, if it is about connecting clusters then they need to do a much better job of engaging with existing clusters and organisations and the regions must hold Tech City UK to account and ensure that London does not dominate its budget."
Katie Gallagher, managing director, Manchester Digital
The chancellor is right that in a global economy, getting the tax system right will require a global approach
“It is a positive step forward to see the government pledge to triple the number of qualified computer science teachers to 12,000, which will help to reinforce the importance of plugging the skills gap in the STEM industries. This will help to protect the UK’s future interests in this advancing technological age. From my own experience, encouraging STEM leadership has been essential to industry developments.”
Susan Bowen, EMEA general manager, Cogeco Peer 1
“The UK is already a leader in the transformational technologies that the budget addresses, namely Artificial Intelligence and driverless cars. We’re a technology company that has its roots in Cambridge University and has been working in AI for almost two decades, so we tick the box as an example of one of the UK’s technology innovators. We like that the budget is channelling funds at improving the UK workforce’s digital skills in AI as that will help foster innovation and improve the UK’s standing as a leader in this field.”
Heather Richards, CEO, Transversal
Department for International Trade to work with internet giant to help small businesses cash in on overseas opportunities
A serjeant-at-arms was dispatched to a London hotel room to take papers believed to include emails from Mark Zuckerberg
Use of search engine’s imagery forms part of the era of ‘data abundance’, according to the UK’s national statistician
Trade association techUK has backed the proposed deal – but campaign group Tech For UK is fervently calling for a public vote
With the annual worldwide cost of cybercrime set to double from $3tn in 2015 to $6tn by 2021, BT offers advice on how chief information security officers can better protect their...


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[BUSINESS] Indian-Born Indra Nooyi Appointed CEO of PepsiCo Inc.
- PepsiCo Names Successor to CEO
Indra Nooyi is replacing Steve Reinemund at the maker of beverages
and snack foods.
By Molly Selvin, Times Staff Writer
With Monday's appointment of Indian-born Indra Nooyi as chief
executive, PepsiCo Inc. has positioned itself to compete for key
emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East, analysts say.
Nooyi, who had been the soft drink giant's president and chief
financial officer, will replace Steve Reinemund, 58, who announced
that he was ending his five-year tenure to spend more time with his
wife and four children.
Reinemund praised Nooyi, a 12-year PepsiCo veteran, as a talented
"I'm very excited and at the same time very humbled," Nooyi told
analysts during a conference call.
The 50-year-old Nooyi will be the rarest of CEOs: a wife, a mother
and a woman of color. Only two other women, Patricia Woertz of
Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Irene Rosenfeld of Kraft Foods Inc.,
lead larger (by annual revenue) U.S. corporations.
Nooyi's appointment makes her only the 11th female CEO of a Fortune
500 company, said Kara Helander, western regional vice president of
Catalyst, a nonprofit group that promotes women in business.
At PepsiCo, Nooyi played key roles in the purchase of Tropicana, the
public offering of Pepsi Cola bottling group and a merger with
Ken Harris, a partner at consulting firm Cannondale Associates in
Evanston, Ill., called Nooyi "a world-class CEO," adding that
she "has that special chromosome. She has presence."
J.P. Morgan analyst John Faucher said her challenge was to continue
the company's "phenomenal" results of recent years. Over the last
five years, PepsiCo's sales have increased an average of 5%,
compared with 3% for archrival Coca-Cola Inc.
Nooyi's background could be an asset as the company expands
internationally. She is comfortable in a variety of cultures, said
Carolyn Buck Luce, a partner with Ernst & Young who chairs a task
force on women executives for the New York-based Center for Work-
Life Policy. Nooyi's record suggests she is able to "celebrate
differences, not just tolerate them," Luce said.
Asia and the Middle East represent major emerging markets for soft
drink makers. Although Coke dominates the world, PepsiCo has the
edge in the Middle East, Faucher said.
Since 2003, PepsiCo and Coke have wrestled with allegations in India
that their soft drinks contain pesticide levels that exceed European
standards. Executives at Coke and Pepsi deny the allegations.
Faucher said the charges represented more of a threat to the
companies' images than their bottom lines.
Faucher said that "it certainly can't hurt" to have Nooyi at the
helm to demonstrate that PepsiCo is a global company.
Nooyi is known for her directness, wit and habit of singing in the
Helander credited PepsiCo with doing more than most corporations to
reward women and minorities.
Catalyst research found that 16.4% of Fortune 500 corporate officers
are women; at PepsiCo that number is 26.7%.
PepsiCo's success in nurturing and promoting women executives is an
integral part of its business strategy, said Judy Olian, dean of the
UCLA Anderson School of Management.
"It's not just about creating a diverse employment pool," she
said, "but doing it while creating new customer bases and new
product lines. That's the unique aspect."
Nooyi came to Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo after working as a
corporate strategist at Motorola Inc. and Asea Brown Boveri Inc., an
electronic components maker.
Reinemund will continue to serve as chairman and a director until
May. Although the timing of his announcement took some by surprise,
he told analysts that he had been considering retirement for the
Shares of PepsiCo rose 62 cents Monday, or 1%, to $63.95.
Women at the top
PepsiCo is the third-largest company by annual revenue to have a
female CEO. Here are others.
Company Chief executive (In billions)
Archer Daniels Midland Patricia Woertz $36.6
Kraft Foods Irene Rosenfeld 34.1
PepsiCo Indra Nooyi 32.6
Rite Aid Mary Sammons 17.3
Sara Lee Brenda Barnes 16.0
Lucent Technologies Patricia Russo 9.4


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Chicago-based MarketsandMarkets predicts that the global methanol market will expand to $36 billion in five years from nearly $31 billion in 2021, reports Reuters.
Methanol-to-olefins and methanol-to-propylene end uses will account for the fastest growth during the period, the market research company says.
The growth is due to the rise of investments in plants in China to produce olefins through methanol. Methanol is used in construction, automotive, electronics, coatings, insulation, pharmaceuticals and solvents.
Coal will account for the fastest growth in the methanol feedstock segment from 2021 to 2026, the company adds. Read the entire story.


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Panos Panay introduced the Surface Laptop 5 Surface event 2022So we naturally expected Microsoft’s chief product officer to unveil the next generation of laptops and tablets on Thursday. “What’s on Thursday?” you ask. The 2023 surface event. But this time Panay will not be present.
On September 18, Panos Panay caused a stir in the technology landscape after tweeting about his departure from Microsoft. “I am forever grateful for my time at Microsoft and the amazing people I had the honor of building products with,” said Panay.
The tweet may have been deleted
As The edge emphasized that Panay’s departure was sudden and unexpected. After all, just last month, he tweeted about how “excited” he was to be at the Surface event on September 21st in New York. Accordingly Windows CentralThe Redmond-based tech giant is reportedly launching a new Surface Laptop Go 3, Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Surface Go 4.
A Microsoft Surface Pro 10 may also be in the works, introducing a new variant (an 11-inch tablet) alongside the more familiar 13-inch model. However, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus in the rumor mill as to whether it will appear at the Surface event. (Windows Central suspected that it will be presented at Windows vNext – not on Thursday).
Where is Panos going next?
Accordingly BloombergCiting “people familiar with the situation,” Amazon is hiring Panos to replace Dave Limp, the major retailer’s former hardware chief. He will lead the Alexa assistant and Echo smart speaker division. Panos will be replaced by Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s consumer chief marketing officer.
Panos joined the Microsoft bandwagon in 2004 as a program manager for PC software. In 2021, Panos joined the company’s leadership team as Executive Vice President, a role that allows Panos to work closely with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. During his tenure, Panay led the company through many key products and services, including the Surface lineup and Windows 11.
Accordingly CNBCAlthough the Surface Laptop lineup inspired other PC OEMs to follow Microsoft’s playbook (such as the 2-in-1 convertible form factor), after ten years on the market the devices failed to do more than one gain a few percentage points. Bloomberg also mentioned that Microsoft has “reduced” Surface operations in recent years, likely due to slower selling products.
Microsoft Surface family
Image credit: Microsoft
What does Panos’ departure mean for the upcoming Surface event? The livestream, scheduled to air on September 21st at 1:00 p.m. ET, will continue as planned. Expect a variety of Surface devices, as well as some AI updates to Bing, Microsoft Edge, and Microsoft 365.


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Facebook is working on an international remittance service via mobile devices as part of its strategy to crack emerging markets, according to a Financial Times report.
The social networking giant has discussed potential partnerships with mobile remittance specialists Azimo, Moni Technologies as well as Transferwise, which offers online money transfers.
Facebook is reportedly “only weeks away” from receiving regulatory approval as an e-money provider in Ireland, authorisation that would be valid throughout the European Union.
Users in European countries could use Facebook accounts on their smartphones to send money home to friends and family in emerging markets.
According to sources, Facebook offered mobile remittance firm Azimo $10 million to hire one of its co-founders as a director of business development. The social networking firm did not comment.
Transferwise is backed by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures who also was an early investor in Facebook.
“Facebook wants to become a utility in the developing world, and remittances are a gateway drug to financial inclusion,” said a source familiar with Facebook’s strategy.
Money transfer would also represent an additional revenue stream on top of advertising for the company.
The likes of Azimo are trying to build market share by undercutting traditional money transfer players such as Western Union on fees.
The money transfer project is led by Sean Ryan (pictured), Facebook’s vice-president of platform partnerships.
This is not the first instance of using Facebook as a P2P money service. India’s ICICI Bank has launched a banking app that enables customers to carry out a range of services, including sending money to other users of the social network.
Facebook already has some exposure to financial services in the US where it has authorisation so that it can process payments for developers who charge users for in-app purchases.


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Construction work is proceeding rapidly at Tesla’s German gigafactory site just outside Berlin
Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk stated at a conference in Germany recently that it would “make sense” to build a more compact car for European markets. This doubles down on earlier comments where he said Tesla would “not succeed in our mission if we don’t make cars affordable”.
Considering the company is part-way through constructing a new factory outside Berlin, speculation has risen that this will be the build site for a new, smaller Tesla model tailored to European tastes.
Initial production at the Berlin plant will be occupied by the Model Y crossover but, considering that model currently retails for more than EUR58,000 in Germany, Tesla needs a more affordable model to draw in more customers. This new model would attempt to replicate the success…


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Stock market news – Stocks rose Tuesday as traders viewed as the most recent batch of corporate earnings benefits and mulled prospects of another robust stimulus proposition getting passed.
The S&P 500 hit a shoot intraday high, as well as the Nasdaq additionally advanced. The Dow shook off of Monday’s declines as shares of Dow pieces Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) plus 3M (MMM) jumped after their fourth-quarter results and full-year forecast topped estimates by Robert Smith Fintech Zoom analyst.
Stocks this week have been closely tracking traders’ assessments of the path forward for more fiscal stimulus, specifically as concerns over brand new variants of the coronavirus as well as a disorderly vaccine roll-out raise the specter of longer-term virus-related damage to the economy.
President Joe Biden has been pushing to do well in a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief proposal through a hesitant Congress but said during a brand new conference on Monday that he was ready to accept negotiate several areas of the proposal, such as the call of his for further direct checks of $1,400 for the majority of Americans.
In terminology of timing, nevertheless, hopes for a quick passage of another stimulus package dimmed, after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he aimed to advance the next round of virus help legislation by mid-March, Bloomberg reported Monday.
I anticipate the stimulus costs to get passed, though I believe it’s going to likely take several days for that to occur. We’ve a divided Congress, a $1.9 trillion recommended bill right after a $900 billion costs that slightly underwent within December, thus I don’t believe the $1.9 trillion is actually apt to actually be passed, Colleen MacPherson, Penobscot Investment Management director of research, told Yahoo Finance. however, I do reckon that inside the stimulus expenses, it will be more targeted to individuals. We may not have that $1,400 within direct payments. There perhaps will be negotiations there. And I don’t believe that the federal minimum wage will be [raised] to $15.
Meanwhile, investors are also closely monitoring this week’s packed schedule of corporate earnings results and economic data. Notable companies including Raytheon Technologies (RTX), General Electric (GE), DR Horton (DHI), Lockheed Martin (LMT), American Express (AXP), plus Verizon (VZ), the parent company of Yahoo Finance, each one reported scans Tuesday morning, and Microsoft (MSFT) in addition to the Starbucks (SBUX) are actually thanks to report results after market close.
Stock market news – 10:00 a.m. ET: Consumer confidence ticks up on January: Conference Board
Customer confidence increased much more than expected in January after having a fall in December, the Conference Board claimed in its month report on Tuesday.
The title Consumer Confidence Index edged higher to 89.3 in January following a downwardly changed print of 87.1 contained December. Below the headline figure, a subindex tracking consumers’ expectations for revenue, company and labor market factors rose to a three-month high of 92.5 from 87.0. Nevertheless, an index tracking consumers’ assessments of existing conditions fell to 84.4 through 87.2.
Consumers’ appraisal of present day factors weakened further in January, with COVID-19 still the key suppressor, Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, said within a statement. Consumers’ expectations for any economic climate and tasks, nevertheless, advanced further, hinting that buyers foresee conditions improving in the not-too-distant long term.
Stock market news 9:23 a.m. ET: Stocks open higher
Here were the main movements in markets shortly following your opening bell:
S&P 500 (GSPC): 13.28 points (0.34 %) to 3,868.64
Dow (DJI): 149.34 areas (0.48 %) to 31,109.34
Nasdaq (IXIC): 42.28 points (0.28 %) to 13,674.10
Crude (CL=F): $0.11 (0.21 %) to $52.88 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): -1dolar1 0.60 (0.03 %) to $1,854.60 per ounce
10-year Treasury (TNX): 0.8 bps to yield 1.047%
Stock market news 9:24 a.m. ET: Johnson & Johnson, 3M, Verizon 4Q earnings and full year outlooks best estimates
Dow pieces Johnson and Johnson, 3M and Verizon every posted fourth quarter results and delivered full-year 2021 guidance which topped popular opinion estimates, contributing to a parade of stronger-than-expected quarterly results so far this reporting season.
Johnson & Johnson’s fourth quarter outcomes were fueled by another jump in pharmaceutical sales, which rose more than 16 % year-over-year. Sales of Stelara, Imbruvica and Remicade each topped opinion estimates. J&J’s customer fitness segment sales also ticked up over year that is last as over-the-counter goods like Tylenol sold strongly. The company sees full-year adjusted earnings of $9.40 to $9.60 a share, beating Bloomberg-compiled consensus estimates for $8.96, along with full year sales growth of 8.4 % to $22.5 billion. The guidance excludes any impact from COVID-19 vaccine sales, but Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk told Bloomberg Tuesday early morning that J&J will likely alter the guidance of its in deep April to account for their vaccine outlook.
3M grew both sales and income over year which is last inside the fourth quarter, as product sales in each of its safety and industrial, transportation and electronic, healthcare & customer segments topped estimates. Safety and industrial net product sales of $3.1 billion got another boost from need for personal safety products, and consumer revenue increased as remodeling sales offset a decline inside office-related product sales. The company said in its earnings release that end market demand remained strong in personal safety, home improvement, general cleaning and semiconductors , but remained weak in healthcare and oral care elective methods, hospitality, consumer electronics, office supplies as well as healthcare IT.
Verizon topped product sales as well as profit expectations but posted weaker-than-expected subscriber growth in several of its key segments. Monthly wireless members of 703,000 were below estimates for over 1 million, as well as postpaid phone net purchaser additions of 279,000 were brief of the 525,000 anticipated. The business expects capital spending this season to complete as much as $18.5 billion as it works to build out 5G Ultraband in brand new and existing areas.
Stock market news 9:10 a.m. ET: Home priced growth surges by the most in six years in November
Home price tags jumped by the most after 2014 within November, as booming demand for single-family homes during the pandemic encroached further on real estate affordability.
The S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller national home price index posted a 9.5 % yearly gain of November, speeding up through 8.4 % in October. Consensus economists had been trying to look for an increase of 8.85 %, according to Bloomberg consensus data.
The Case Shiller 20-City Composite index, which monitors house price trends in 20 of the largest towns and cities, posted home priced progress of 9.08 % of November, outstripping estimates for a gain of 8.7 %. This metric grew by an upwardly revised 8.01 % in October.
7:30 a.m. ET Tuesday: Stock futures tick up
Below had been the principle moves in marketplaces, as of 7:20 a.m. ET Tuesday:
S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 3,850.75, up 2.25 areas or even 0.06%
Dow futures (YM=F): 30,925.00, up fifty seven points or even 0.18%
Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 13,474.25, down 1.25 points or perhaps 0.01%
Crude (CL=F): $0.28 (0.53 %) to $53.05 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): 1dolar1 0.80 (0.04 %) to $1,854.40 a ounce
10-year Treasury (TNX): 0.7 bps to yield 1.047%
6:01 p.m. ET Monday: Stock futures open somewhat lower
Here were the principle moves in marketplaces, as of 6:01 p.m. ET Monday:
S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 3,843.5, done 5 points or perhaps 0.13%
Dow futures (YM=F): 30,842.00, done 26 points or perhaps 0.08%
Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 13,451.5, printed 24 points or 0.18%


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Opinion: Flavored tobacco ban would hurt businesses
Feb 16, 2021: The Bridgeport City Council was planning to introduce an ordinance Tuesday that bans the sales of flavored tobacco products in the city in an effort to keep kids from getting hooked on tobacco.
City Council President Aidee Nieves said she hopes a similar ban becomes state law.
I am a local business owner who sells tobacco products. You don’t have to like tobacco. I don’t, but I can proudly say that I am on the same side as officials when it comes to keeping e-cigs and cigarettes out of the hands of minors. As a father of four children and as an employer of 10 Bridgeport residents whose livelihoods depend on my stores staying open for business, I take age verification laws seriously.
Bridgeport has been my home since 2005. I’ve been lucky enough to own a convenience store here for 16 years, and just last year, I opened a second location. Just like I wouldn’t want my kids using tobacco products, I do everything I can to prevent other people’s kids from getting their hands on these products. If an employee were to sell tobacco to a minor, I would fire them on the spot. That is my policy, and I believe it is the same for other store owners in my industry. We’re not the enemy of officials. We’re on the same team.
Like most convenience store owners, 45 percent of my revenues come from tobacco product sales to adult customers, not minors. Of those revenues, 75 percent come from flavored tobacco sales. That revenue is used to stock shelves with grocery items and pay my employees’ wages — mothers and fathers, like me, whose families rely on them. The Bridgeport community has also been able to count on me. Because of my business’ success, I was able to work with the Bridgeport Police Department to host an exotic car rally recently at my store. We raised enough money to donate 250 turkeys and 200 pounds of fruits and vegetables to local families.
I’ve devoted my life to this city and this business. Imagine you are me, and despite doing nothing wrong, your entire life’s work could be destroyed with the vote of a single council member. If a store gets caught selling products to minors consistently, then take away their tobacco retailer’s license. If an e-cig company is caught marketing to youth, then ban just that product, but banning hundreds of products because of a few bad actors doesn’t add up.
If officials ban the sales of flavored tobacco in Bridgeport and across the state, people aren’t just going to stop smoking flavored cigarettes or vaping. They’re just going to get these products from the black market or go to another city or state and bring them home. Officials should clamp down on the illicit market and social sources that sell to minors. Invest in smoking cessation programs and education programs that we know are working to bring smoking to all-time historic lows among teens. The Bridgeport City Council shouldn’t punish responsible, law-abiding businesses. After all, we’re on the front line, too, and fighting the same fight.


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Amazon-backed electric vehicle maker Rivian is aiming to bring EV pickup trucks to market first and plans to open a second manufacturing plant in the United States, sources told TechCrunch. Previous report from Reuters..
Rivian didn’t elaborate on when he planned to build the factory, but confirmed that he was in the process of locating the second factory. Reuters reported that the factory, called Project Tera, will also include battery cell production. This is a detail that boosts the cost and scale of the factory.
“Although in the early stages of the evolutionary process, Rivian is looking for a location for a second manufacturing facility in the United States,” spokesman Amy Mast said in an email. “We look forward to working with a collaborative, technology-advancing community to build a partnership as strong as our partnership with Normal, Illinois.”
The news comes from Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe as a customer Postpone delivery The long-awaited R1T electric pickup truck and R1SSUV have been in production for several more months due to production delays due to the “chained effect of the pandemic”, especially the global shortage of semiconductor chips. Scaringe wrote in a message that R1T delivery began in September and R1S will continue “soon.”
Rivian will assemble consumer products (R1T, R1S) and a planned commercial delivery van for Amazon at its Normal plant in Illinois. The plant, which once produced Mitsubishi Eclipse through a joint venture between Mitsubishi and Chrysler, has been completely renewed and expanded.
A typical factory has two separate production lines that produce vehicles. One is for R1 vehicles only and the other is for commercial vans only. Amazon ordered 100,000 of these vans and began delivery in 2021.
The car makers are Ford, Cox Automotive and T. We have raised over $ 8 billion from a variety of backers, including Lowprice Associates, Inc., Fidelity Management and Research Company, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Courts, and D1 Capital Partners. That capital is needed to keep 7,000 employees up and running, and building an assembly plant is a project that costs at least $ 1 billion, according to industry estimates.
Rivian is planning a second U.S. factory – TechCrunch Source link Rivian is planning a second U.S. factory – TechCrunch


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- Commenting on the funding, Tunde Kara, CEO and co-founder of Vendease, said, “our mission is to enable the efficient flow of food across the continent, from point of production to point of consumption. It is more than just placing orders for supplies, we want to transform how the entire sector works and remove the bottlenecks that stunt the growth of restaurants and food businesses. With greater efficiency in the supply chain, we believe we can unlock more growth opportunities across board, which is why we are excited to have raised this round, led by two of Africa’s biggest VCs, who understand what it takes to power such an ambitious mission.”
Vendease, a Y Combinator-backed digital platform that allows restaurants in Africa to buy supplies, access financial services and power their business operations, has raised $30 million in an equity and debt funding round.
The fund will help consolidate its growth and operations in Nigeria and Ghana, as well as support its expansion across the continent.
The series A equity round of $20 million was co-led by TLcom and Partech, in a rare joint investment by two of the biggest Africa-focused funds. The equity round also included VentureSouq, Hustle fund, Hack VC, GFR Fund, Kube VC, Magic Fund and Kairos Angels, who re-invested after participating in the previous round. The $10 million debt round was raised from the local finance market.
Africa’s restaurants and food businesses feed 700 million people across the continent daily. However, these businesses lose $100 billion annually due to expensive and unreliable supply, limited access to data to inform procurement decisions, wastage and theft, as well as limited access to capital to fund procurement.
Vendease’s digital procurement engine makes it easier for restaurants in 8 cities across Nigeria and Ghana to buy food supplies at considerably cheaper rates than open market prices, with guaranteed 12-hour delivery.
The company is building the operating system that automates the flow of food from farm to restaurant, optimises business operations across the value chain through accurate data deployment, reduces wastage and drives profitability.
Restaurant owners simply need to download the app, complete the registration process in a few clicks and they will be able to access all the benefits of Vendease’s platform. They can also access working capital through Vendease’s Buy-Now-Pay-Later offering to maximise the growth opportunities available to them.
Despite ongoing inflation and global shortage in food supply, Vendease’s solutions have delivered significant savings for its users and provided relative stability for their stock levels. Over the last 12 months, Vendease has moved more than 400,000 metric tonnes of food through its platform, helping its users save more than $2,000,000 in procurement costs and more than 10,000 procurement man-hours.
Its data has also helped them reduce wastage from overstocking by an additional $485,000. The company has seen 3x growth in the number of users on its platform and 5x growth in its revenue over the last 12 months. Users have also accessed more than $12 million worth of inventory via its embedded finance product.


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Car dealers should be more transparent in order to gain the confidence of consumers increasingly confident in the ‘internet of things’ connecting everything to the virtual space, from watches to household goods.
Auto Trader’s insight director Nick King (pictured) will explain why at this year’s AM Digital Dealer Conference on September 15 at Silverstone.
There are now 23 million connected cars whilst consumers rely on their smartphones to keep them connected.
Such access to information means dealers will need to ensure all their processes such as valuations are transparent and open to scrutiny.
King said: “There is a disconnect between the way dealers believe their relationship with customers is viewed and how customers perceive dealers.
“However, dealers can change customer perception and win them over.
“For example, dealers think they have made booking a test drive extremely easy yet our research tells us customers view the process with trepidation.
“Dealers who deliver and market their test drives differently and much more openly can convey the message that it is actually straightforward and simple.”
Meanwhile, the research also shows that dealers attitudes to ‘millennials’, those aged around 17-34, can be counterproductive.
“Millennials tend not to be taken seriously by dealers, yet often the younger ones are living at home and working so have more disposable income whilst those in their mid-20s to mid-30s could well be professional people with good salaries.”
Auto Trader’s research and data suggests car buyers are becoming even more impatient and are less likely than ever to make an appointment before visiting a dealership making both the dealer’s website and their customer service when they do appear on the forecourt crucial elements of the purchase decision making process.
Auto Trader in the US is finding 89% of car buyers now no longer make appointments and simply turn up expecting to be able to test drive and transact.
Whilst the UK lags behind at 58%, that figure continues to grow and for millennials it’s even higher at 67%.
“The sales process is not keeping pace with how times are moving.
“For example, the test drive process is likely to be a predetermined route which does not take into account individual requirements such as whether you’re more likely to be a motorway driver or being able to negotiate tight, town centre car parks is more important to you,” said King.
“Our research is telling us that if dealers look at everything they do and improve each a small amount and provide consumers with a timely, respectful and bespoke experience when they interact with the business, sales and ultimately profits will increase.”
This year’s AM Digital Dealer conference focuses on the key components of a consumer’s interaction with a business:
the online content which drives them to make contact
the analytics and data which provides intelligent insight
and the experience itself, both online and when they visit the dealership.
A series of masterclasses will take place before and after lunch which enables dealers to tackle some of the major digital challenges in greater depth.
Tickets are only available to dealers and vehicle manufacturers. To book, please contact Emma-Louise Kinnaird on 01733 395133, email email@example.com or visit www.amdigitaldealer.co.uk.
Suppliers wishing to exhibit please email firstname.lastname@example.org or call 01733 366467.
Silverstone Wing, Silverstone Circuit NN12 8TN
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A new smartphone from Coolpad will soon see the light of the day. The smartphone that goes by the moniker Coolpad A9S has been spotted on the certification website, Geekbench.
The device was earlier spotted on other certification sites such as GFX Bench and TENAA. According to the Geekbench listing, the Coolpad A9S will feature 4GB RAM coupled with Helio P20 (MT6757) processor.
Check out: Cool hidden features of your Android device
However, according to the previous listings, the smartphone will come in two variants of 4GB RAM and 6GB RAM. Both the variants will run on Android Marshmallow 6.0.1.
Here’s what we know about the Coolpad A9S based on all the listings:
Coolpad A9S Specs
Coolpad A9S will feature a 5.5-inch full-HD display with the dimensions of 152 × 75.5 × 7.85 mm and will weigh 171 grams. There will be two variants of Coolpad A9S. One will feature 4GB RAM with 64GB memory, while the second variant will feature 6GB RAM with 64GB internal memory. While 6GB variant will be powered by 2.35GHz octa-core processor, 1.64 GHz processor will power the 4GB variant.
The other specifications will remain same for both the variants. Both the variants will run on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system and will be backed up by a 3,800 mAh battery.
In the camera department, you will find 12MP rear camera with LED flash and an 8-megapixel front facing camera for selfies. On the rear side, you will also find a fingerprint sensor placed below the rear camera.
The Coolpad A9S will come in two color options of Golden Dawn and Johnnie Walker Gold color.
Coolpad A9S release date
Although Coolpad has not officially announced the device yet, it is expected to release in 5-7 weeks.


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Whistler ranked one of 10 most expensive ski resorts in the world
It’s known worldwide as a premier ski destination, and now the Resort Municipality of Whistler has been named among the world’s 10 most expensive ski resorts in which to purchase property.
The new ranking comes courtesy of Engel & Völkers, who recently took a look at the world’s priciest places to purchase your own slice of snow paradise. Whistler was the only Canadian resort to make the list.
The data used in the ranking is based on the highest asking prices for private residences and the top prices per square metre for freehold apartments currently on the market in ski resorts around the world where Engel & Völkers is represented.
- See also:
According to Engel & Völkers, buyers in these markets are attaching particular importance to the year-round usability of the property, safety and convenience to reach the location, sufficient space to ensure privacy, and reliable technology for a seamless work from home office.
Here are the 10 most expensive ski resorts according to the ranking:
- Gstaad, Switzerland
- Vail, USA
- Kitzbühel, Austria
- Aspen, USA
- St. Moritz, Switzerland
- Zermatt, Switzerland
- Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
- Davos, Switzerland
- Whistler, BC
- Courmayeur, Italy


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The Biscay Tall Ships Regatta will start in Merseyside on Friday 25 May 2018. The fleet has sailed on the River Mersey on four previous occasions, in 1984, 1992, 2008 and 2012. Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said he hoped it would be "the best Tall Ships Regatta to date
Or spend time shopping you are spoilt for choice when it comes to Liverpool. From boutique arcades, Bohemian streets and farmers markets to the new designer ‘Liverpool ONE’ shopping centre which houses over 160 high street stores, you really will be able to shop till you drop on this day trip.


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Coinbase was not at fault for the multiple charges some customers experienced, according to a joint statement by Visa and payment processor Worldpay. While the two companies had initially blamed Coinbase for the duplicate charges, upon further investigation, they found that Coinbase was not at fault. The cause of the mistaken charges was a change in the merchant category code (MCC) that Visa uses to identify cryptocurrency purchases.
Coinbase Not at Fault for Double Charging Customers, Says Visa, Worldpay
Sat, 02/17/2018 - 19:12
As Bitcoin (BTC) Price Hits $39,000, Spot BTC ETF Finally Gets Official Approval Window
DOGE Price Analysis for December 1


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Here’s some good news for independent artists. SoundCloud has announced it’s expanding its direct monetization program, SoundCloud Premier, which launched four years ago.
Previously an invite-only program, the program is now available to SoundCloud Pro and Pro Unlimited subscribers with “eligible content,” at no additional cost. SoundCloud is inviting creators with 5,000 plays in the past month in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands or New Zealand to participate, with plans to grow the program over time.
There are a few more caveats: Artists must be over 18 and only publish original material to be part of the program. Oh, they can’t have any copyright infringement claims against them.
Obligatory press release gush from SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainor: “SoundCloud is the world’s largest open audio platform, with content from more than 20 million creators. Expanding SoundCloud Premier’s direct monetization offering from thousands, to hundreds of thousands of eligible creators is an exciting step in our commitment to empowering as many creators as possible to grow their careers first on SoundCloud.”


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Etihad Cargo takes on SkyWheels with new automotive transport service
Etihad Cargo, the cargo and logistics arm of Etihad Airways, has launch FlightValet, a new product designed to help streamline the process of transporting motor vehicles around the world.
Adding to Etihad Cargo’s ongoing motor transport service, which transports hundreds of high-value vehicles annually, the new product assists customers through the booking process.
Commenting on the launch, Abdulla Mohamed Shadid, Etihad Airways managing director Cargo and Logistics, said: “We are delighted to introduce this new tailored product to the marketplace. Demand from our customers has grown significantly in recent years, and in an effort to improve our service offering, we have introduced vehicle handling capability at key new stations in 2018.”
Outside of its regular clientele, FlightValet is expected to offer new opportunities for both car dealers and manufacturers to deliver their products globally with fewer complications.
In particular, Etihad Cargo has positioned itself to cater to the needs of owners of Italian supercars at Milan Malpensa airport. Vehicles of such type will be transported either on Etihad Airways passenger aircraft or on chartered and scheduled freighter aircraft.
“FlightValet is the latest addition to Etihad Cargo’s suite of high-value products, which includes our arts and musical instruments product FlyCulture, launched last year with the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and our signature pharma and life sciences product TempCheck, to name just a few,” added Mr Shadid.
“This is a key part of our strategy to leverage Abu Dhabi’s natural position as a logistics centre for the world, and drive growth in Air Cargo high-value product segments that diversify our portfolio and reinforce our position as the Air Cargo partner of choice.”
The new service is extremely similar to that offered by Emirates SkyCargo. Emirates SkyWheels – a specialised transportation product for high value automobiles, was launched in 2016.


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This collaboration between MINI and KISS resulted in a stunning art car that reflects the band’s iconic makeup.
Created by Butler Shine Stern & Partners, the campaign, which launched at the New York Auto Show, mixes the art car with a social cause to help children in Japan and emergency efforts around the world. The project incorporated four custom-painted Mini Countryman cars for fans to bid on with signature KISS designs. The autographed vehicles are set to auction on eBay between May 29 and June 7, with proceeds going to UNICEF.
This superb idea to blend the iconic KISS with a car while contributing to charity captures the power of marketing and public-relations brilliance.


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15 SEARCH RESULTS FOUND
Pulses 2.1: Shipping & Logistics Outlook
PULSES 2.1: Event Link Now Active
Join us at the largest virtual event for the global pulse industry!
Shipping & Logistics Outlook at Pulses 2.0
After the initial complications caused by COVID-19, the shipping and logistics industries have largely recovered. Are there bottlenecks still to resolve or coming down the pike?
Strengthening the Global Food Chain During COVID-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Food Security
Argentina’s 2020 Dry Bean Planting Season
Strong prices saw more hectares seeded to beans this year, but a dry spell quashed all hopes of repeating last year’s high yields.
A Look at the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Container Shipping
AGT Poortman Dennis Sivyer talks about his experience sourcing product during the coronavirus outbreak.
Many Challenges for Pulse Trade in Brazil
By Marcelo Eduardo Luders
Interviews with members of our industry
Facing the challenges: Agrocorp’s Mostyn Gregg on the 20/21 season and his predictions for next year
Currently Head of Pulses at Agrocorp International, Mostyn Gregg has been a key player in the pulses industry for over 12 years.
Trade talk with Manuel Hernandez, founder and CEO of Avianje
What experience teaches us: How someone with 24 years in the business deals with crises
Trade Talk with Gurav Bangeja: India Reopening
The director of Saibaba Agrilink Pvt. Ltd. on the reactivation of India’s HoReCa sector, the imposition of stock limits, kharif sowing progress and more.
Dealing with Drought: An Outlook on 2021 U.S. Pulse Exports to Colombia and Peru
In advance of his presentation at the GPC’s Ask the Experts South America, we chatted with Esteban Davila of JM Grain.
Diversification in Covid Times
Pedro Cortes of Akila group on leveraging their global network in a crisis and the outlook for this year's Brazilian bean crop.
COVID-19 and the Black Sea Region’s Pulse Trade: An Interview with Denis Plenkin of Agropa Trading
The CEO of a leading brokerage firm dealing in pulses from the Black Sea region weighs in on what to expect in 2020-21.
Science news and articles on pulse research


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Red White & Bloom Brands Inc. RWB TDRYD said Friday it has inked a licensing rights deal with Hightimes Holding Corp.
Under the agreement, the Toronto-based company is authorized for the branding of High Times medical and recreational dispensaries as well as CBD and THC products in Michigan, Illinois and Florida.
RWB also obtained the rights from HT Retail Licensing LLC to use the "Culture" brand of hemp-derived CBD products.
The company also intends to sub-license to an investee in Michigan, allowing it to rebrand its 18 dispensaries in Michigan as High Times stores.
Red White & Bloom CEO Brad Rogers praised the new partnership.
"When you combine the incredibly valuable data that High Times can supply through their world renowned Cannabis Cups, millions of monthly unique visitors to their websites and massive social media presence with our experience in growing standardized, award-winning premium flower and extracts, we have a winning formula to deliver the best and most consistent quality products in the market under a trusted brand that will be the hallmark of the industry," Rogers said.
The company plans to include High Times flower, vapes, tinctures, topicals, and edibles in its offer within owned and other third-party outlets.
RWB employs over 600 employes in its 22 facilities spanning 4,000,000 square feet across Michigan, Illinois and Massachusetts.
The company said it intends to utilize its Illinois-based 3.6-million-square-foot facility for the cultivation and manufacture of the first-class products.
High Times' Expansion To Retail Sector
In April, the cannabis media and events company signed an $80-million deal with Harvest Health & Recreation HARV HRVSF to acquire some 13 California dispensaries.
Some of High Times' attempts to expand have failed. Last month, the company canceled an M&A deal with Humboldt Heritage.
High Times put its cultivation and processing expansion on hold following the last CEO departure, when Stormy Simon stepped down in May.
In May, High Times appointed Peter Horvath — a former CCO of American Eagle Outfitter and former Victoria's Secret's COO — as its new chief executive.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference is coming to Florida
The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference is returning to Florida, in a new venue in Hollywood, on April 16 and 17, 2024. The two-day event at The Diplomat Beach Resort will be a chance for entrepreneurs, both large and small, to network, learn and grow. Renowned for its trendsetting abilities and influence on the future of cannabis, mark your calendars – this conference is the go-to event of the year for the cannabis world.


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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Veritas Software VRTS, -5.25% expects to add 1,500 employees to 4,500 employees this year said Mark Leslie, the storage management company's CEO. "We have a tremendous energized sales force right now," Leslie said. In addition, the company will spend $2.3 billion in research and development over the next five years, he said at the Banc of America Securities Technology Week 2000 conference Thursday. Fast-growing segments of Veritas include its professional services organization and its education services business which boosted sales ten times in the past 18 months.
Corporate portal software maker Verity VRTY, -40.74% said that it's comfortable with analysts' sales targets for 2000 despite its recent revenue shortfall. Ronald F. E. Weissman, the company's vice president of strategy and corporate marketing, said there were "no excuses" for the shortfall in Verity's most recent quarter. "The only explanation we have is poor performance," Weissman said. "There is no place to hide." The company failed to close three large deals it had expected to contribute to the quarter. Management says it plans to spend more time with its sales force to get a better forecast of Verity's sales pipeline in the future.
Computer products distributor Tech Data TECD, -1.68% predicts its fiscal year 2000 sales will increase 47 percent to $17 billion. The company is hoping to further boost revenue in the future by offering to fill orders for manufacturers that sell online. "We're talking to anybody -- it's not just computer systems companies," said Jeffery Howells, Tech Data's chief financial officer. Howells wouldn't say what companies Tech Data is already providing with order fulfillment services.
By 2004, wireless electronics with Web access will outsell personal computers, predicted Reed Hundt, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 1993 to 1997, in a speech at the Banc of America conference on Thursday. Hundt also said that wireless Internet technology eventually will be more widely used than the television. Speaking at the San Francisco confab, he added that broadband technology that can send audio and video over the Net will be on the market within two years.
Gateway spots opportunity
Gateway gtw Chief Financial Officer John Todd said in 2000 PC maker will proceed with the goals of increasing its distribution channels and business units. Gateway has adapted its business units to changing consumer behavior as spending has shifted away from consumer products. Part of that strategy includes adding to Gateway's capability through partnerships with companies like America Online. Todd reiterated first-quarter guidance of earnings per share at 41 cents and said Gateway's consumer business is off to a good start.
DSP to go
Texas Instruments TXN, +0.03% Executive Vice President Rich Templeton said that he expects the company to see 100 million DSP wireless shipments in the first few months of 2000. Templeton also said the company sees a growing market for its DSP products as a user may have multiple devices for Internet access including PCs, handheld devices, mobile phones, etc.
The Web and Windows 2000
Speaking at his first investor conference since assuming the post of chief financial officer at Microsoft in early January, John Connors told an audience of fund managers and analysts that the soon-to-be released Windows 2000 software is "fundamentally core to the company's Internet efforts."
Windows 2000, now scheduled to be introduced Feb. 17, offers stronger system architecture, more reliable applications, fewer reboots and mobile support among other features, Connors said at the conference in San Francisco.
Windows 2000 will be accompanied by a number of other software products, including the Exchange 2000 server, SQL Server 2000, Commerce Server and a few others. Microsoft " had been criticized as being late in recognizing the significance of the Internet.
Connors also highlighted Microsoft's Next-Generation Windows Services, a project he said Bill Gates has been working on, which offers a new programming approach for building applications for multiple devices. The introduction is set for this May. Connors said the new product will have a new user interface, file system and voice, speech and other forms of input methods.
Connors said that Microsoft's Internet properties, which include MSN and Microsoft.com, are the third-busiest on the Web, though he didn't cite a source. He emphasized, however, that the Internet as a whole still has a long way to go. The Web faces challenges with information sharing and multiple data formats, he said. Varying digital and analog voice technologies, as well as privacy and security, are also major challenges, he noted.
ExciteAtHome plans to double subs
ExciteAtHome plans to double the number of its cable subscribers this year. The largest broadband company ATHM, -2.13% finished 1999 with 1.15 million subscribers and chief financial officer Ken Goldman says ExciteAtHome will have 2.5 to 2.8 million subscribers this year. "This is the year of broadband. Everything is in place," Goldman said.
Shares of the company have withered in recent months to just above a 52-week low on investor concerns about the company's contracts with cable companies. Those fears are overblown, says Doug Shapiro, analyst at Banc of America Securities. "The market is focusing on the risk, not the opportunity," says Shapiro, who picked up coverage of the company with a "buy" rating last week. The stock is off 1 1/4 at 36 3/4, down from a 52-week high of 99.
Analog Devices sees strong sales
Analog Devices ADI, -0.70% chief executive Jerald Fishman said that the combination of the company's signal processing and a robust semiconductor industry will help the company to increase revenue by 45 percent in 2000, resulting in well over $2 billion in sales. He said that sales to communications customers in 2000 could reach 50 percent, that's up from 40 percent last year. Shares are up 8.2 percent to 104.
Meanwhile, National Semiconductor nsm CEO Brian Halla said the company sees third-quarter revenue slightly up from second-quarter. He also sees improved profit for February, spearheaded by growth in the analog market. National Semi stock is up 7.1 percent to 59 3/16.
CA says 'We're a Net play, too'
About one-third of Computer Associates' sales are tied to the Internet, says Nigel Turner, head of CA product strategies. "It a very closely held secret," Turner adds, indicating the market hasn't given CA the premium that other Net software companies command. The software giant CA, -10.18% is offering single Web-enabled products built around its flagship Unicenter TNG, which has some 10,000 users. Schwab " uses CA products to secure its transactions, for instance.


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Square Enix raises forecasts thanks to increased MMO revenues
HD game sales still down year-on-year as Guardians of the Galaxy "undershot initial expectations"
At a glance:
- Nine-month sales up 8% year-on-year to $2.4 billion, profit up 117% to $346.9 million
- MMO sales up 63% to $420.2 million thanks to rise in Final Fantasy 14 subscribers and Endwalker release
- Full-year profit forecast increased from $209 million to $305 million
In its latest financial results, Square Enix has reported increases in sales across all divisions, with particularly strong performances seen from its MMO subsegment.
The Japanese publisher reported net sales for the nine months ended December 31, 2021 as ¥273.6 billion ($2.4 billion), up 8% year-on-year.
Operating income rose 22% to ¥50.1 billion ($436.7 million) while ordinary income rose 41% to ¥54.4 billion ($474.2 million).
Profit attributable to parent more than doubled, up 117% to ¥39.8 billion ($346.9 million)
The bulk of revenues were delivered by its Digital Entertainment segment, which handles its video game operations. Sales for this division rose 4% year-on-year to ¥211.7 billion ($1.8 billion) while operating income rose 17% to ¥49.4 billion ($430.6 million).
Games for smart devices and browsers remain the biggest revenue generators, with net sales getting the slightest uplift of 0.6% to ¥97.8 billion ($852.4 million).
The publisher notes that while existing mobile and browser titles actually saw weaker performance, this increase in sales can be attributed to a revision of revenue recognition standards.
Over in HD game sales, which encompasses its traditional PC and console games, sales are down 14% year-on-year, but as with its first-half results from November, this is due largely to a tough comparison with the prior year.
The first three quarters of its previous financial year saw the release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Marvel's Avengers, whereas the comparable release slate this fiscal year has hinged on Outriders, Nier Replicant and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.
While the latter launched to critical acclaim, the publisher said in an investor briefing that launch sales "undershot our initial expectations." However, it notes that discounts and sales promotions run since November have improved its performance and Square Enix hopes to continue this to "make up for the title's slow start."
There was no comment on Outriders performance. Despite Square Enix previously saying the game was "off to a good start" and marked the start of its "next major franchise", the game's developer People Can Fly claimed in August that the game had failed to break even in its first quarter as it had yet to receive royalties that were to be paid once the game became profitable.
In its latest financials, Square Enix reports a 63% year-on-year increase in sales from its MMO subsegment, reaching ¥48.2 billion ($420.2 million). This has been attributed to the sharp rise of paid subscribers for Final Fantasy 14, as well as the December release of its Endwalker expansion.
Other segments, such as publishing, merchandise and amusements also saw sales rise. For that latter, this was largely thanks to COVID restrictions lifting in Japan.
As a result of this strong nine-month period, Square Enix has revised its forecasts. The company still expects full-year sales to amount to ¥340 billion ($3 billion), but not expects both operating and ordinary income to reach ¥50 billion ($435.9 million), previously predicted to be ¥40 billion ($348.7 million).
Profit attributable to parent is now forecast at ¥35 billion ($305.1 million), up from the previous estimate of ¥24 billion ($209.2 million).


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Eu Yan Sang to get up to US$35m from HCare to boost China business
EU Yan Sang International (EYSI) will receive funding of up to US$35 million from HCare Investments Holding Ltd, as the integrative health and wellness company looks to make further inroads in China.
HCare Investments Holding, an investment vehicle managed by CareCapital Advisors, will provide initial funds of US$10 million. To support future business growth, HCare has made available a further sum of up to US$25 million.
Under the deal, EYSI will provide matching funding of US$1 million in the initial stage and a further sum of up to US$2.5 million, the group said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange on Friday.
In return, HCare shall subscribe for new shares issued by Eu Yan Sang China Holdings Ltd (EYSCH). EYSCH is a newly incorporated company which would hold the entire issued share capital of Eu Yan Sang (China Venture) Ltd and Eu Yan Sang Trading (Guangdong) Co Ltd.
The transaction will be completed after satisfying certain conditions, including the entry into licensing and supply agreements.
EYSCH will be the exclusive platform of the Eu Yan Sang brand in China, and shall conduct product research and development, manufacturing, distribution and retailing of TCM-related products, said the group. Robert Eu, chairman of EYSI, and Dai Feng, managing director of HCare, will serve as co-chairmen of EYSCH. The cooperation is expected to fast-track the growth of EYSI's business in China, which contributed one per cent revenue to the group's FY2015 financials, it said.


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Packaging Corporation of America today reported record first quarter net income of $104 million, or $1.09 per share. Earnings included charges for special items related to facilities closure costs of $1.9 million. Excluding special items, first quarter 2016 net income was $106 million, or a record $1.11 per share, compared to first quarter 2015 net income of $100 million, or $1.01 per share. First quarter net sales were $1.4 billion in both 2015 and 2016. Packaging segment EBITDA, excluding special items, in the first quarter of 2016 was $235 million with sales of $1.1 billion compared to first quarter 2015 EBITDA of $222 million with sales of $1.1 billion. Paper segment EBITDA, excluding special items, in the first quarter of 2016 was a record $51 million with sales of $281 million compared to first quarter 2015 EBITDA of $49 million with sales of $297 million.
International Paper (IP) intends to stop newsprint production at the Madrid mill in Spain in mid-September, according to Euwid. The sites PM62 will be converted to production of containerboard slated to start in the fourth quarter of this year, as planned. The company is targeting a full ramp-up of the machine for early 2018.
IP acquired the Madrid mill from Holmen in mid-2016 with the aim to make it a mill for recycled corrugated case material. PM 62 has the capacity to produce 330,000 tpy of newsprint.


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Newegg opens bitcoin payments to Canadian shoppers
Newegg has announced Canadian consumers now have the option of paying with bitcoin on its site, according to a press release.
The company first offered a bitcoin payment option to its U.S. customers in August 2014 as one of the first major retailers to do so. Newegg said that since that time, it's been a small but growing stream of purchase transactions. Now with the increasing mainstream awareness of cryptocurrencies, Newegg is extending the bitcoin payment option beyond the U.S. and into Canada, according to the release.
"In 2014 Newegg was among the first major companies to offer customers a bitcoin payment option," Danny Lee, Newegg's CEO, said in a release. "Since that time the value of bitcoin has skyrocketed and customers holding bitcoin have considerably more purchasing power. We believe the time is right to broaden our acceptance of bitcoin to our customers in Canada."
Newegg's longstanding partner BitPay will remain the bitcoin payment service provider, managing all of Newegg's bitcoin-related transactions in the U.S. and now in Canada.


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SK hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip maker, will focus more on high-performance memory chips such as DDR4, LPDDR4 and NAND Flash for mobile and solid-state drives to compensate for sluggish demand in the DRAM market for PCs. "To respond to the rapidly changing market condition, we will boost the production of DDR4 and LPDDR4 memory chips to meet expanding demand while reducing the manufacturing of DDR3 products," SK hynix President Kim Joon-ho said during a conference call, Thursday.
"We will also expand production of 10-nano triple level cell (TLC) NAND Flash memory chips and the second-generation 3D products. We will also speed up development of TLC-based third-generation products to meet the expanding 3D NAND Flash market."
The South Korean company on Thursday reported an operating profit of 1.375 trillion won ($11.83 billion) for the second quarter, up 27 percent from a year ago.
Sales stood at 4.639 trillion won, up 18 percent in the same period. Net profit was 1.1 trillion won in the quarter.
The global semiconductor industry has suffered a decrease in DRAM prices, triggered by worse-than-expected demand for PCs. The introduction of Microsoft's Windows 10 OS later this month as well as Intel's "Skylake" processors in the latter half of the year are not expected dramatically to boost the PC market.
The company, however, remains confident about the profitability of products for server applications and mid and low-priced smartphones.


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LONDON – Marks and Spencer plc, the UK’s largest clothing retailer, is
expected to announce layoffs of up to 1,000 employees on Wednesday,
according to The Times.
A spokeswoman for M&S, which will announce its quarterly results
Wednesday, said the report was “just speculation,” and declined further
comment. M&S has a workforce of about 75,000.
Like most British high street retailers, M&S has been suffering the
impact of the credit crunch. In the run-up to Christmas, the store held a
series of one-day sales in a bid to spur consumer demand. On Wednesday, it
is expected to report its worst Christmas sales for a decade.
For complete coverage, see Wednesday’s WWD.


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Viewers of landmark series on Amazon Prime Video like “The Boys” or “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” will soon be offered something never made available on the service before: TV commercials.
Amazon Prime Video, one of the last mainstream streaming services to eschew the injection of regular commercial breaks into its movies and shows, plans to start letting them run early next year. Amazon follows a host of other streaming hubs — including Disney+, Netflix, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max– that also offer ad-supported tiers, a move that suggests the world of streaming may just eventually mirror the world of traditional television in the not-too-distant future.
“The TV industry has really never been able to truly control itself when it comes to aggressive monetization,” says Tim Hanlon, CEO of Vertere Group, a media-industry consultancy.
The company says it plans to run fewer ads on Amazon Prime Video than traditional broadcasters or broadband rivals. Four minutes per hour seems to be a benchmark for the lowest amount of ad time on a streaming platform. Commercials will first appear the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Canada in early 2024, followed by France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Australia later in the year. Those who want to keep Amazon Prime Video ad-free can still do so — for an additional $2.99 per month in the U.S. on top of the annual subscription to Amazon’s overall Prime service.
Amazon declined to make executives available for comment.
Most media-sector executives agree that streaming video represents the future of the business, and companies ranging from NBCUniversal to Apple have scrambled to make comedies, dramas and sports available to people who no longer watch traditional broadcast or cable TV. And yet, doing so is costly, requiring millions of dollars in content and infrastructure costs — all while new entrants take to the field. Wall Street initially encouraged companies like Paramount Global and Fox Corp. to chase after Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney’s Hulu. Now, investors are demanding timelines of when all the activity will be profitable.
Such pressure has spurred even the most resistant streamers to embrace advertising. Executives from Netflix for years insisted the service would never rely on commercials. Earlier this year, the company planned to mount a glitzy presentation during the TV-industry’s annual “upfront” week, when networks try to carve out deals with Madison Avenue.
Amazon said the decision to run ads during Prime Video selections would help it “continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.” In addition to paying millions for the rights to the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football,” Amazon acquired MGM Studios in May of 2021 for $8.5 billion. Over the years, it has launched premium series including “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” and “The Wheel of Time.”
Big media companies like CBS and Disney have thrived for decades on two big sources of revenue: advertising and subscription fees from cable and satellite companies. Streaming services, many of them launched with few ads, and, sometimes, none, remove a major source of cash flow.
“It’s a lesson that we all learned in the 1990s when cable really came into its own,” says Hanlon. “The most beautiful business model is media, where you get paid for subscribers and you get paid for advertising.”
Amazon already runs ads elsewhere. Its Freevee service does not require a subscription and lets users view movies and TV series in exchange for looking at ads that tend to interrupt content at sudden and random moments. And the company also seeks ad support for its weekly stream of “Thursday Night Football.” It has also introduced new commercial formats in such areas as its Amazon Fire broadband service. Some ads pair sponsors with movie recommendations, and others allow subscribers to make quick e-commerce purchases.
Amazon’s decision means few if any of the nation’s large streaming services reject ads outright. Apple TV+ does not run ads in its scripted programs and features.
The introduction of a limited number of commercials to streaming services may soon prompt fears that the big media companies will continue to add more, as they have done on their TV networks. “The relatively small ad loads that we see in today’s premium streaming is probably as good as it is going to get,” says Hanlon. He expects commercials in streaming environments to “become more prominent” over time, with bigger ad loads per break and “more opportunities to squeeze in ad messaging along the way, especially if it is perceived as a cost saver for consumers.”
Most media and content platforms have embraced at least some form of advertising, the executive says, and the companies that run such operations will need to govern the flow of commercials, lest consumers perceive streaming to be as stuffed with ads as the TV networks they once watched. “I’m not certain that advertising solves all problems,” he says. “It could make some of them worse.”
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New York Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez confronted CEOs of gun manufacturer companies during a tense hearing on Wednesday.
Testifying before the House Oversight and Reform Committee and the parents of one of the children killed in the Uvalde massacre, Daniel Defense CEO Marty Daniel and Ruger CEO Christopher Killoy maintained their companies have played no part in the epidemic of mass shootings in the US.
During the hearing, Ms Ocasio-Cortez showed one Daniel Defense 2017 ad featuring an image of a shooter with a tattoo of a Valknot, a Norse symbol that has become increasingly popular among far-right and white supremacist groups such as the Proud Boys, the boogaloo boys, and the Oath Keepers.
The New York representative proceeded to show a picture of the self-proclaimed ‘‘Q-Anon Shaman’’ when he stormed the Capitol on Jan 6. The picture featured the man’s chest and his Valknot tattoo in the middle of it.
Mr Daniel said he was not aware of the iconography and that he did not directly participate in advertising. He decried the recent wave of massacres across America but said they were a ‘‘local problem that should be addressed locally.’’
“Mass shootings were all but unheard-of just a few decades ago,” Mr Daniel said.
“So what changed? Not the firearms. They are substantially the same as those manufactured over 100 years ago.”
Addressing Mr Killoy, Ms Ocasio-Cortez inquired whether he condemned the gun industry’s explicit marketing of weapons at domestic terror threats.
‘‘I’d never seen that ad before, I didn’t know what it was tied to. I am not an expert in that field,’’ Mr Killoy answered, referencing a Palmetto rifle with a similar floral pattern to that used by the boogaloo boys.
The committee’s inquiry, opened in May, found disturbing details about the marketing tactics used by the biggest five gun manufacturers in the US.
Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the AR-15-style rifle that the Uvalde gunman used to kill 19 children and two teachers, offers its firearms for sale through a buy-now, pay-later, financing system advertised on its website.
It takes just five clicks to order the weapon, Quartz reported. The company’s revenue from AR-15-style rifles tripled from 2019 to last year, from $40m to more than $120m.
Meanwhile, Ruger’s gross earnings from the same style rifles nearly tripled from 2019 to 2021, from $39m to over $103m. Ruger’s rifles and pistols were used by mass shooters in Sutherland Springs, Texas, in 2017 and Boulder, Colorado, in 2021.
Ruger acknowledged that it only learns about incidents where individuals have been killed with its weapons through its “customer service department,” the media, or “occasionally” from lawsuits.
‘‘These companies used disturbing sales tactics—including marketing deadly weapons as a way for young men to prove their manliness and selling guns to mass shooters on credit—while failing to take even basic steps to monitor the violence and destruction their products have unleashed,’’ New York representative Carolyn Maloney said in a statement.


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What Happens In Vegas…
Doug Jarvis, our Product Marketing Manager for Cloud Solutions, related to me a tale of something interesting that happened in Vegas back in December – and yes, something we can actually tell you about.
Doug was attending the Gartner Data Center Conference, a great chance to meet with customer and vendors in the cloud computing sector, and while there he noticed something new happening in the cloud sector.
Because of SUSE’s alliance with SAP, it’s not news that SUSE gets a lot of inquiries about migrating from SAP on UNIX to SAP with SUSE. After all, 70% of SAP installations run atop SUSE Enterprise Linux Server, and we’re the exclusive operating system for the SAP HANA database appliance.
During several of his conversations with customers looking for more information about moving from UNIX to Linux, Doug noticed that there were a lot more customers shifting away from HP-UX installations, as opposed to migrations from Solaris. Historically, migrations have been coming more from the former Sun Microsystems, now Oracle flavor of UNIX.
Doug attributed this new trend to Oracle’s recent decision not to certify their database on HP-UX, giving those customers a choice between migrating to a supported UNIX platform (like Oracle’s Solaris) or just moving to a Linux solution. Clearly Oracle would prefer a transition to Oracle Linux, but their HP-UX customers seem less than enchanted by Oracle’s certification games and appear to be opting for a move to a SAP-based solution.
Which leads them to SUSE.
Given SUSE’s relationship with SAP and integration with SAP applications (plus over 10,000 other certified apps), it seems customers are starting to recognize what we’ve been saying all along: we adapt and they succeed.


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Lenovo’s departing Australia and New Zealand boss Alan Munro will put himself at the mercy of the industry when he steps down at the end of the month.
Munro told iTnews he will end his nine year stint at Lenovo “on a high” when he steps down on March 31.
Matt Codrington, Lenovo’s transactional business leader for A/NZ who joined the local team several months ago, will take on the role in the interim.
Munro told iTnews the idea to move into a new role had been playing on his mind for almost a year. He joined IBM in 1986 and took its PC unit over to Lenovo upon its acquisition in 2004.
He said he had built up skills and experience that were transferable and had decided it was time to use them. He said he’d prefer to go out on a high after Lenovo last quarter recorded its highest ever market share in its Asia Pacific/Latin America region, of 11.3 percent.
“I felt like it was time and I’m still young enough to apply my skill set elsewhere. I haven’t got anything solid, but I’ve got a lot of ideas,” he said.
“I felt I wanted to go out at the top rather than grow old and die slowly in the role, that’s not something that interests me. It wasn't an easy decision, leaving when the company is going well.”
Munro is not planning time for a break, and instead will hunt down new opportunities in start-ups, boards and the corporate field. He said he would stay in the technology industry.
“Technology is what I know and I really like it. It’s where I’m from and it’s been my whole career, and it’s what interests me. I read the IT press every day,” he said.
“I’ve been on the board of the ANZRP [Australia and New Zealand Recycling Platform] for the last two years since that started up, and unfortunately I’ve had to resign because I won’t be at Lenovo anymore. That’s given me an insight into board activity so I’m interested in that.”
“I’m interested in start-ups. I basically started Lenovo here - even though it was a sizeable business, it was like a start-up,” he said.
“And on the corporate side, the PC industry is so fast-paced, the discipline I’ve got from that could apply itself in the corporate world as well.”
He said good experiences at both Lenovo and IBM meant he’d even be interested in working for one of the rival companies he’s spent 26 years fighting.
“I wouldn’t say no to anything,” he said. “I’ve spent my time fighting those guys so it’d be interesting to work for them.
Of his interim predecessor Codrington, Munro said the company would be in good hands even though it might be a “little early” given the new GM only came on board a few months ago.
“But in this industry you’ve got to be flexible.”
Codrington spent the last four years as general manager for partner sales in Lenovo’s Japan office. He first joined Lenovo as its Asia Pacific director for notebooks, consumer products and enterprise systems group.