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Apple denies iPhone 4 antenna glitch, blames inaccurate signal bars2010.07.02 09:23 by Daniela
Keywords: Apple, iPhone
Apple has denied that its recently released iPhone 4 has any problems with the antenna, as reported by many disgruntled customers of the company's latest device.
Instead the Jobisan outfit has coughed to a glitch with the way the bars are displayed on the phone.
Apple said it would spin out a software fix in the next few weeks.
"We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it's both simple and surprising," explained Apple in a "letter" on its website.
Apple said it would release a software update - incorporating the corrected formula - in the next few weeks. It said the technical cock-up was also present in the firm's previous iPhone incarnations (3GS and 3G), and so a fix will also be provided for those devices too.
Read more -here-


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updated 10:04 pm EDT, Fri July 25, 2014
Boise-based company dubbed 'the Pandora of books' sold for $10-15 million
On Friday, Apple revealed that it had purchased book analytics and discovery company BookLamp for an undisclosed sum, though TechCrunch estimated the sale between $10-15 million. While it acknowledged the deal, the iPhone maker's only comment on the deal was its standard "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans" line. The company is likely to use BookLamp technology in its iBookstore to help readers discover new content.
BookLamp, originally based in Boise, Idaho, had only gone as far as a tech demo of its book content analyzing engine, dubbed the "Book Genome Project" in honor of its similarity to streaming music service Pandora's similarly-named music discovery engine, but was said to be analyzing between 40,000 and 100,000 titles per week. The BookLamp technology offered recommendations and other content based upon what readers already bought and liked, and learned about similar or compatible content by analyzing books using natural-language algorithms, reports AppleInsider.
Sample BookLamp analysis (credit: Mashable)
The firm previously had 10 team members, but according to an unnamed source the entire staff are now working at Apple, leaving no official members working at either of BookLamp's two offices (one in Boise, the other in Cupertino). The BookLamp website is also inactive, with a message thanking supporters but saying the company will "evolve its mission."

domain: news


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Since the Windows 10 announcement conference back in January of this year, one thing has really buzzed through our minds constantly. The ability for Windows 10 users to stream their Xbox One to any Windows 10 computer, laptop or tablet device. Of course with big promises made can also come many major disappointments and instability. In the last few days Microsoft have granted permissions through and Update to the Windows 10 Preview which allows the Xbox One to be streamed to the Xbox App for Windows 10. Naturally we immediately proceeded to download it and give it a whirl.
E3 is one of the biggest gaming events that comes around every single year. It has being running for a long time and every single year we get a view into developer’s minds and their amazing gaming ideas along with new features announced for our devices and downloadable content for our current libraries of games. But obviously it is the new games and experiences that really catches our eyes. For one whole week gaming sites, ourselves included post article after article until a numbness sets in.
The late 80’s and early 90’s introduced one of the biggest rock bands of all time. From a town in Seattle called Aberdeen emerged one of the biggest musical success stories of all time. A three piece grunge rock band called Nirvana. With their raw passion and energetic performances, the band weren’t long in lighting up the world. But even the brightest stars can’t shine forever. Fame comes at a price and there is no greater example than the band’s frontman Kurt Cobain.
We live in a wonderful age. Gaming is at a point where no longer are we shunned by society as nerds. It has become a part of every day life. Much like movie lovers and book enthusiasts, gaming is both accepted and revered by all. There are many subscription based services for tv shows and movies such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Both systems implemented with the ability to stream your favourites from anywhere in the world. In 1080p and 4k in some cases. It seems that these success stories have inspired the gaming industry to follow suit.
Good news today for Xbox One owners as this years NHL game has entered the EA Access vault. This is the most recent inclusion with last month offer Madden 15 as a reward for customers using the yearly subscription based rental system. The game launched late last year to mediocre reviews after leaving out a lot of the features that die hard fans of the series find important to the core experience. These exclusions have since being patched into the game on next gen systems.
Today our rant comes at a frustration that many people have with modern games, stitched together single player. Back a few years ago it was the opposite way around. Developers built compelling solo campaigns with badly designed multiplayer that was attached at the last moment. But reversing the process is having a negative impact on the industry.
It’s that time of year again. EA have announced their new Fifa game with some amazing new features and improvements. A few years back they focused on the 12th man, well this year that is what they plan to deliver.
Choo choo all aboard. The Call of Duty hate train is pulling into town. It’s something that sparks debate amongst our community more often than not anytime we post a story of any kind related to the series. Don’t get us wrong we know where you are coming from and it isn’t just from our page that this debate comes to light.
We are getting ever so klose to the release of the new Mortal Kombat game and what way to hype it more than an insane tv spot featuring the widely successful song Chop Suey by System Of A Down.
Some bad news made its way across the Internet yesterday as it was confirmed that The Legend Of Zelda, which was due for a release date this year has received a delay.
Continue reading Legend Of Zelda Wii U Delayed


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Breaking out of the mould
Trade must convince consumers to opt for mid-range Burgundies, says BIVB
The biggest challenge for Burgundy wine in the UK is to convince consumers to buy middle -range wines, according to Anne Parent of interprofessional organisation BIVB.
Parent, president of the organisation's communications committee , said: "The challenge is to
convince people to try lesser-known ACs
to see Burgundy as not only Chablis or Romanée -Conti. Between these, there are a nice range of wines
for everyday occasions."
Speaking at the annual Burgundy tasting earlier this month - held at Lord's for the first time - Parent described the 2006 vintage as a "vintage of the winemaker".
"In 2006, if you did serious work sorting grapes and were careful with vinification and
extracting the cuvée, then it will be the same quality as 2005," she said.
The younger generation of Burgund y winemakers "has more motivation to improve quality", and hand-sorting of grapes was becoming more prevalent across the region, Parent said.
Sales of sparkling wine Crém ant de Bourgogne were on the increase, she said. "Crémant sales are increasing because the quality is improving. There's a lot of demand because it's fantastic value compared to Champagne."
Speaking to OLN after the tasting, independent retailer David Motion,
of London's The Winery, said he was impressed by the 2006 vintage, preferring it to 2005.
"For me, it's a more classic Burgundy vintage. I'm not a big fan of the really fruity, upfront ones, so this  is much more my cup of tea, more like the 2001 and 2004 vintages."
Exports to the UK for the first half of 2007 were up 22 per cent by value and 5 per cent by volume, according to the BIVB. The UK remains the leading export market for Burgundy - 30 per cent of volumes shipped.


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The future of movies is virtual reality, or at least that’s what Warner Bros and IMAX hope is the case. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the companies are working together on a three-film deal to introduce virtual reality “pods” in select theatres. The initiative begins with Justice League (2017) and Aquaman (2018). However, the third title to get the treatment has not yet been announced.
Virtual Reality and the Blockbuster Film
IMAX and Warner Bros. plan to release one new virtual reality experience per year for the next three years. Both companies are relying on the popularity of DC properties to entice movie-goers into adding VR to their cinema routine. The IMAX website details some of the high-tech advantages of virtual reality, including haptic feedback and room-tracking technology. The site does not, however, have any information on the VR pods or the deal with Warner Bros.
The Hollywood Reporter also explains that the VR pods will begin testing in LA, before expanding to other cities in Califonia as well as New York, the U.K., and Shanghai. Depending on the results of these tests, IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond hopes to expand the concept to a global market.
Gelfond has confidence that these movies are the right choice to popularize virtual reality in movie theatres around the world. “Justice League and Aquaman feature some of the most beloved characters on the planet, providing iconic properties to launch this effort.
Would you add a virtual reality element to your movie ticket? What movies would you like enhanced with VR?


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(CourieMail) THE sale of Queensland’s rail business, QR National Ltd, has been a success and history will remember it as the right decision, Treasurer Andrew Fraser says. The freight haulage company made a positive debut on the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday, trading at $2.65 at 14:30 (AEDT), above the $2.55 IPO price per share for institutional investors and $2.45 price for retail investors. read more
A “success” for whom — the Queensland people or global banksters and the monopoly art of privatisation? The Queensland tax payers already paid off and owned QR, yet now they are being asked to buy shares in something they already own?


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By Elvis Dumba
Triangle – The government’s decision to suspend the offering of loans by financial institutions has affected the manufacturing industry which was relying on the loans for working capital.
Sugar manufacturing giant Tongaat Hullets operations are expected to be greatly affected by the decision as the company relied on the loans for advance payment for sugar cane from farmers.
Tongaat Hullets Chief Operations Officer, James Bowmaker advised the sugar cane farmers in Triangle of the latest developments that he said had a negative bearing on their work.
In a letter to the farmers, Bowmaker advised them of immediate suspension of advance payment until further notice by the sugar milling company.
“We normally fund the advance payment from loan proceeds that we access from the banks. Following the recent suspension of lending by banks, we find ourselves unable to continue offering advance payments,” part of the letter reads.
A sugar cane farmer from Chiredzi confirmed receiving such a letter and said he now faces a dilemma in finding takers for his produce,
“It’s unfortunate that decision just came out of the blue and we no longer know how are we going to sell our sugar cane since we don’t have the capacity to pay our workers. The suspension of loans is really going to affect our operations, ” Kundai Tidigu a sugar cane farmer said.


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Personalization is a key way for marketers to delight customers, whether that’s through personalized products, experiences, shopping journeys, content or ads.
And personalization has never been more important, according to Twilio’s third annual State of Personalization Report.
The research found 62% of consumers say brands will lose their loyalty for delivering unpersonalized experiences, an increase from 45% last year.
Personalized shopping experiences from retailers drive brand loyalty, the report states, resulting in 49% of consumers becoming repeat buyers.
“Hyper personalization and an omnichannel experience have become table stakes,” explained Leah Zitter in a recent SmartBrief article.
Personalized product marketing
Customizable products provide marketers with an opportunity to connect more deeply with consumers and deliver the personalized experiences they crave.
There are many examples, such as Nike’s 3D sneaker customization platform, Coca-Cola’s personalized Share a Coke bottles or Gatorade’s Sweat Patch that personalizes product recommendations based on individual sodium and fluid loss.
One new example of personalized product marketing comes from Welch’s. The brand is enabling consumers to personalize the boxes of its Fruit Snacks with names or birthdays and the special boxes are available on Amazon for $24.99.
“With our new Personalized Boxes, we hope that Welch’s Fruit Snacks lovers of all ages will celebrate life’s important occasions, with a customized touch and bring extra joy and happiness to those festive moments,” said Daniel Mendelsohn of parent company PIM Brands in a press release.
The company is building on the success it experienced with its personalized Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day Fruit Snacks Custom Heart-Shaped Boxes.
Personalization relies on first-party data and trust
Personalization also gives marketers an opportunity to collect valuable first-party data. “Personalization is a big topic for consumers across the world, and consumers are increasingly willing to share data so long as they see a benefit,” says McKinsey’s Sandra Welchering in this article about personalization and the wellness industry.
But brand trust is essential to persuade consumers to give up that data.
Twilio’s report found only 40% of consumers trust brands to use their personal data responsibly and keep it safe. However, 63% are happy with personalization as long as brands are using first-party data obtained from them voluntarily, and not purchased data.
“In order to stay competitive today, brands need to invest in delivering personalized shopping experiences that meet customer demands. Personalization is an opportunity to drive revenue growth, increase customer satisfaction and build customer loyalty,” Adobe’s Tory Brunker told Protocol.
For more insights like this, subscribe to our free newsletter.


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Japan Plans To Let Banks Own Bigger Company Stakes
Japan's Financial Services Agency plans to ease rules restricting banks' shareholding in non-financial companies to 5%, the Nikkei newspaper reported Thursday, without citing a source for the information.
Green Mountain 3rd-Quarter Profit Rises; Better Predicts Sales
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR), which saw its third-quarter profit rise 30%, expects to make less money this year than it presumed, but said it has found a way to better predict consumer demand for its Keurig single-serve coffee brewers and packs--a skill it's lacked in recent quarters.
US Drought Threatens QBE Profit -Analysts
QBE Insurance Group's (QBE.AU) hopes of a disaster-free year are withering as analysts now expect its exposure to the U.S. crop-insurance market to hurt its 2012 earnings.


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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Americans were more optimistic about jobs and the overall economy in January, pushing the latest reading on consumer confidence to its highest level since May 2010.
The Consumer Confidence Index shot up to 60.6 in January, from 53.3 in December, the Conference Board, a New York-based research group that compiles the index, said Tuesday.
The jump far exceeded forecasts. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting the index to increase to 53.5.
"Consumers have begun the year in better spirits," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. "Consumers rated business and labor market conditions more favorably and expressed greater confidence that the economy will continue to expand and generate more jobs in the months ahead."
The figure, which is based on a survey of 5,000 U.S. households, is closely watched because consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the nation's economic activity.
The index is still well below a healthy reading. An overall reading above 90 indicates the economy is solid, and 100 or above indicates strong growth.
And while a higher number is a positive sign, the index has been volatile and economists are still waiting for a clear trend to emerge.
"The bottom line is, it's pretty good news," said Mike Schenk, senior economist with the Credit Union National Association. "On the other hand, we're a long way from feeling like happy days are here again."
Consumer confidence wavered throughout last year, plunging to a 17-month low of 48.6 in September.
Since then, end of the year stock market gains have helped fuel optimism, as have slight improvements in the job market, Schenk said. Workers were also happy to receive a 2% raise after President Obama signed a payroll tax holiday into effect at the end of the year, he said.
Gawker conceded Thursday that it has hired bankers to advise them on a possible sale as a "contingency" against multi-million dollars lawsuits filed against it. More
The overwhelming majority of young, wealthy millennials believe that impact investing is important to their decisions, according to a new survey. More
A lawsuit against Snapchat has been put on hold after the company said its app wasn't being used during a car crash. More
In 1998, Ntsiki Biyela won a scholarship to study wine making. Now she's about to launch her own brand. More
The Wall Street bank joins a growing number of employers that seek to provide employees with more qualitative, constructive and ongoing feedback. More


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It was a service that came along as part of an ISP’s deal with the music industry to fight online piracy, but just two years later Eircom’s MusicHub is being closed down.
At the close of 2010, Irish ISP Eircom detailed a new service it would soon begin offering to its customer base.
MusicHub would allow subscribers to stream music from the big labels including Universal, Sony, EMI, Warner and Merlin.
The service, offering unlimited streaming with no restrictions and no advertising, came on the heels of an out-of-court settlement Eircom struck with the labels on the issue of illicit file-sharing. The deal would see Eircom introduce a graduated response system for dealing with copyright-infringing subscribers.
It was hoped that MusicHub would prove attractive to former pirates and regular music fans alike, but it wasn’t to be.
“MusicHub will no longer be available from the 31st July 2013,” reads a notice on Eircom’s website.
“You can continue to stream and download music until this date. If you subscribe to a download bundle, remember to use any download credits and available top up balance prior to this date.”
“Eircom remains committed to addressing the issue of illegal file sharing through its graduated response process which has been in place since 2010,” the company said.


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The United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) is the second-largest automotive market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (G.C.C.), after Saudi Arabia, and relies heavily on imports. Currently, there is no VAT, Luxury Tax or Special Consumption Tax on vehicles in the U.A.E however a proposed 5% VAT is expected to be implemented in 2018. It is expected that VAT on a second-hand vehicle will be different than a new vehicle because a second-hand car has already incurred a non-recoverable VAT at the time of purchase. Experts are predicting that the used car market will strengthen and demand will grow higher as cost of living will marginally go up.
What does the future hold for the automotive market in the U.A.E?
Overall, 2016 was not a good year for U.A.E. new vehicle sales. According to research, there were 319,878 units sold, which was down by 23% percent from 2015. Experts are predicting another slow growth of sales for 2017. With VAT to take effect from January 2018 will there be an influx of new car sales in the last quarter of 2017 driving up the sales figures?
No one wants to pay an extra 5% on the purchase of a new car but after January 2018 the price of every new car will rise by 5%. So, if you buy a brand-new Bentley Continental GT 2017 it would cost you 840,000 AED for the base model. If you buy it from the 1st of January 2018 it would increase by 42,000 AED.
Will VAT effect the used car market?
Our analysts at GAS are predicting that the used car market in the U.A.E will change dynamically and the demand for used cars will increase as car buyers will be more inclined to buy used cars instead of new ones with applied VAT prices. This effect will increase demand for used vehicles, effectively increasing used values.
According to Nielsen’s Global Survey of Automotive Demand which polled over 30,000 internet respondents in 60 countries:
28% of UAE respondents said they will buy a used car in the next two years creating even more demand


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Average breach now costs $4 million
Data breaches are more than just a reputation threat, they’re expensive. And that expense is rising. According to new research from IBM’s security division, the cost of a data breach has risen 29% since 2013, and now comes in at a staggering $4 million per incident. Consider that the major hurdle to properly preparing for a breach is quoted as financing more often than not, and then consider that every single lost record costs an average of $158. See the disconnect?
IBM gives the likelihood of a data breach involving 10,000 lost or stolen records in the next 24 months at 26%, and the chances of many smaller breaches appearing in that time may as well be 100%. The bad news is that, no matter how strong your security, you can’t prevent every breach. The good news is that there are a few things you can do immediately to mitigate the damage you take. According to IBM, creating an incident response team drop the cost per record by $16 each, the biggest savings of any defensive measure. We also have items like use of encryption ($13 saved per record), training employees on proper procedure ($9), threat sharing ($9), and appointing a chief information security officer ($7) that can all reduce your cost for each record lost or stolen in a hack.
Early detection and rapid action following up is perhaps the biggest cost saver, with containment within the first month reducing spend by nearly a million dollars on average compared to those who learn and react further down the road.
We are in the age of the data breach, and while there’s not much you can do to prevent them entirely there’s a whole lot you can do to reduce the impact to your organization and its stakeholders. And, as with many other types of crisis management, your efforts will be significantly more effective if they’re launched before an ugly situation actually appears. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best, the statement’s cliche for a reason.


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In December 2005, Cooke’s family learned that his body had been surgically plundered and the pieces sold to different bidders. A body brokerage company had harvested his bones, falsified his medical records–claiming he had died at 85 of a heart attack–to make them more marketable, and then sold them to at least two tissue banks.
Cooke’s was one of more than 1,000 bodies allegedly stolen by the company, New Jersey–based Biomedical Tissue Services. Prosecutors say the company and the funeral home, Daniel George & Son, made millions of dollars harvesting pieces of the cadavers, instead stuffing bodies for burial with broomsticks and piping. An investigation is ongoing.
Here is the full story, and thanks to Bookman for the pointer.


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Shoppers mingle in the aisles of the SPBH Folk Arts Festival last year at the Activity Center in Liberal. The 42nd edition of the festival kicks off Saturday morning and runs through Sunday afternoon. Courtesy photo
By JESSICA CRAWFORD
• Daily Leader
The Society for the Prevention of Bored Housewives will offer its annual Folk Art Festival this weekend for the 42nd year. The Activity Center will be filled with items that are likely to keep the most experienced shopper captivated for quite some time. However, due to the recent loss of a SPBH club member, the weekend will also be a time of remembrance.
“This year the craft show is in memory of one of our club members that passed away,” SPBH President Ada Linenbroker said. “Kathy Purdy was in the club for 20 years. She died on Sept. 10, and her husband, Terry, died this past Sunday.
“We just want people to know she was part of our club,” she added. “She didn’t live in Liberal anymore, but she was still very active in the club. Kathy was an interesting, cool person. We loved her so much, she would come out and help with anything. She was just really cheerful and fun to be around. She is really going to be missed.”
Giving is not a new concept for SPBH members, but this year, Linenbroker said, doing for others is particularly special because it will be in honor of Purdy.
Recently, SPBH bought freezers for four particular food cupboards in Liberal when Wal-Mart agreed to donate food to food banks throughout the city. The program has been so successful thus far, Linenbroker said SPBH will be continuing the project. And during this weekend’s Folk Art Festival, the entire community can get involved.
“We gave those freezers to the food cupboards and got the program set up with Wal-Mart to get them food,” she said. “It is going wonderfully. I heard from Pat (Alsbury) at Stepping Stone Shelter and she said it is going better than expected because they have so much food coming. We decided we would just continue that project throughout the year.
“We have four booths we are setting up at the craft show, each booth will have a table and we are setting up Christmas trees – we will have four trees,” she explained. “People are donating Christmas ornaments. Now, when you bring in your non-perishable food item you can donate it to one of the four food cupboards and you get to pick an ornament off of the particular tree. That way everyone can take a little bit home with them. People can bring as many items as they want, that way they can pick a few ornaments. That way everyone gets something that reflects the holiday spirit.”
Linenbroker said anyone interested in donating ornaments can bring them to the Activity Center from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday.
The four food cupboards SPBH will be assisting are Stepping Stone Shelter, Community Baptist Church, Fellowship Baptist Church and United Methodist Mexican American Ministries.
As always, Linenbroker said, the Folk Art Festival is not just about shopping. From food to entertainment, there will be plenty of excitement for everyone.
“We have Poppa D Clown again this year,” she said. “He will be out there on Sunday afternoon. We will have Mike Brock and Paul Corder out there doing the kitchen. We will be having a gourmet kitchen this year. We will have breakfast and lunch items – people can come out and eat homemade chicken and noodles, pulled pork sandwiches.
“Paul’s wife, Natasha, is from Russia,” she continued. “She makes all kinds of things. We will have German chocolate cake, honey cake and she makes the best cookies. So, we are going to have some good food.
“We are also going to have a special on Sunday,” she added.
“You can come out and eat lunch and have a choice between lemon pepper pork or chicken, vegetables and everything with it as well as a drink for $5.99. It will be a full meal. We will start serving lunch at noon on Sunday and will keep going until we run out.”
The Folk Art Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Seward County Activity Center. Doors will reopen from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
“This year’s festival will host over 100 assorted craftsmen from Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Colorado,” Linenbroker said. “We will have baked goods, homemade cookies, candy, and lots of jalapeno stuff. We have some people coming from Nebraska that are making all kinds of things with honey. For people who like jewelry, there will be plenty of jewelry. People will be doing home decor, Christmas decorating, furniture, paintings – and the list goes on and on.”
The proceeds, Linenbroker said, will be used to give 10 local families a very merry Christmas. Proceeds will also help SPBH stay involved in stocking the City of Liberal’s food banks.
“The proceeds from the festival are used to take care of 10 Christmas families,” she said. “This year, we are doing the food cupboard thing so we may end up giving a lot of money to the cupboards – that has kind of become our project. But, every year we do something. Every year, the money from the craft show ends up with whoever in the community needs it – that is what we do.”
Today I would say to you in the form in which it was indispensable to come has already been given viagra for sale is a intimate choice of each human buy viagra must comprehend every man without assistance.


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In this piece for Markup, Leon Yin and Aaron Sankin expose how Google bans advertisers from targeting terms such as “Black lives matter”, “antifascist” or “Muslim fashion”. At the same time, keywords such as “White lives matter” or “Christian fashion” are not banned. When they raised this striking discrepancy with Google, its response was to fix the discrepancies between religions and races by blocking all such terms, as well as by blocking even more social justice related keywords such as “I can’t breathe” or “LGBTQ”. Blocking these terms for ad placement can reduce the revenue for YouTuber’s fighting for these causes. Yin and Sankin place this policy in stark contrast to Google’s support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
In his response to this piece Cory Doctorow points out that part of the explanation lies in the potential harm targeting these terms can do. When advertisers can target these social justice terms, some of them will use this to place racist content, amplifying those voices. As not all ad placements can be checked, Google and Youtube decided to block all such targeting. However, as Doctorow emphasized, still:
Youtube’s editorial choice has the foreseeable (and, evidently, acceptable to Youtube) outcome of producing an economic boycott of the creators it says it wants to uplift and support.
See: Google Blocks Advertisers from Targeting Black Lives Matter YouTube Videos in The Markup.


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Sales of French arms around the world are declining because of stepped-up competition by the United States, Russia and Israel, says the French Defence Ministry.
Although France remains the third-biggest weapons merchant after the United States and Britain, in the period 2002-3 its share of the market has slipped. From 1994 to 2003, French arms sales accounted for 12 percent of the world’s total, and brought in an average of $6.5 billion per year. In 2002 they dropped to $5.75 billion and to $5.6 billion in 2003.
By comparison, U.S. arms exports accounted for $40 billion of some $200 billion in international weapons sales in 2001 alone and have increased steadily since. Interestingly, part of the success of US arms sales is due to the Iraq wars, its "battle-tested" equipment being more attractive to buyers. By contrast, some of the downturn in French sales arises through its loss of Saddam Hussein who was, for a time, France's biggest customer.
Now, complains Jean-Paul Panie, a senior official in the ministry’s arms procurement and sales section: "The Americans' effort to export is much bigger than it used to be."
But, with US arms sales to China heavily restricted by domestic legislation, French manufacturers have an opportunity to penetrate a market where often superior US equipment cannot be sold. Small wonder, therefore, that France is so eager to see the China arms embargo lifted.


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07 October 2009 | Jake Kanter
UK technology company Smiths Group aims to save £11 million through procurement next year.
The FTSE 100 firm's preliminary results showed it had cut costs by £9 million in the past 12 months as better data enabled it to use group spending power more effectively.
Smiths has saved a total of £17 million since 2008 through restructuring and it wants to make cutbacks of £50 million over the next two years.
The reorganisation involved increasing procurement collaboration across its five divisions to make savings in IT, utilities, packaging and injections moulding. Further opportunities exist to reduce costs on travel spend and raw material prices.
The supply chain at Smiths Medical also showed improvement after problems last year caused by manufacturing relocations and the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning system (Web news, 18 February 2008)


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Over the program of National Payroll Week 2018, we’ve learned that workers really love being rewarded — even more than they love Christmas. For numerous employees, payday determines to pay off debt. We also know that funding employees the correct amount, on time, is significant to both their assurance and their dedication to your company.
But how your workers get paid can be simply as crucial as how much salary you give them.
And if you are still sending your workers home with a cheque each salary day, you might want to think for an updated system.
QuickBooks Payroll lately engaged an independent survey* to find out how workers prefer to be paid. Here is what they found.
Direct deposit is one favorite thing
Direct deposit isn’t only the most popular way for workers to get paid (72 percent say they are disbursed through direct deposit), it’s also the most common. The vast majority of workers (76 percent) like to be paid via direct deposit.
It isn’t difficult to understand why. Direct deposit determines that an employee’s paycheck comes automatically in their bank account on payday, and the costs for employers are minimal.
Paper cheques are an old-school idea
Paper cheques are a suitable payment mode for businesses, and for workers with a smartphone and a banking app, depositing a check can be as simple as snapping a photo. But only 12 percent of workers still prefer this old-school payment mode on payday.
Cheques can easily be misplaced or stolen, and, smartphone or not, depositing checks is still a hassle.
Cash isn’t king
Only 4 percent of workers say they are still remunerated in cash, but 9 percent say they would favor some money as their payment mode — and that number increases to 19 percent at businesses with fewer than 20 workers.
But rewarding employees in cash can introduce a host of tax and payroll complications that SMBs would be smart to avoid. If you choose to pay your workers in cash, accurate and persistent record keeping is a must.
Stop trying to make payroll cards happen
Less than 2 percent of employees would prefer to be paid via a payroll card — and this is true no matter what size the company.
A payroll card serves as an alternative to direct deposit or paper cheques. Workers can use their payroll card anywhere debit cards are accepted, and they can even withdraw cash from an ATM (with a fee, of course).
But for 1 in 5 workers, payday is paying off debt — and payroll cards make it hard to transfer money. Additionally, payroll cards are often followed by monthly maintenance fees, ATM fees, and overdraft fees that can quickly cut into an employee’s pay.
They are a good option for workers who don’t have their own account, but it’s the least favorite option for those who do. “Employees should always have the option of direct deposit into their own account,” says Lauren Saunders, leading attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. “It violates the law to require an employee to use a payroll card.”
Picking the right payment method for your company
In the end, you’ve got to pick the payment mode that makes the most sense for your company and your workers. Just don’t forget to examine your state laws on the matter to evade payroll penalties.


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Wilkes-Barre police are investigating an armed robbery of a minimart that happened Tuesday night.
The report of the robbery at the Hazle Mart at 532 Hazle St. came in around 7:45 p.m. Sgt. Joseph Mangan said a man in a gray hooded sweatshirt came in to the store and pointed a gun at the cashier and demanded money.
The amount of money taken was undetermined as of last night as police continued to investigate and viewed security video footage. Mangan said the man fled the store on foot on Hazle Street.
Just over a week ago, an armed robbery happened at the same location. The owner said he was in the store around 8:30 p.m. making coffee when a man came in wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, jeans, white gloves and black boots and mask, according to police.
The man pointed a black handgun at the store owner and told him to go behind the counter and open the register, police said. The man then followed the owner behind the counter, removed the cash and took an undisclosed amount of money from the register, police said. Before leaving the store, the man also took a carton of Kool cigarettes, according to police.
No arrests have been made for either robbery.


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Peter Smith, co-founder and CEO of, the world’s most popular bitcoin wallet service provider, believes blockchain technology did not fail as of yet and mainstream market adoption awaits, despite the troubles of most blockchain startups.
2016 has been a challenging year for the blockchain industry, its startups and investors. Banks, financial institutions, and corporations that allocated over a billion dollars in the development and funding of blockchain projects failed to commercialize the technology to a larger scale. Consumers were displeased by the struggle of highly anticipated projects like R3 Corda, which received harsh criticism from cryptocurrency and Bitcoin developers such as Peter Todd.
Not once do the Corda docs talk about who actually is supposed to have access to keys; whole point of crypto is to know who did what!
— Peter Todd (@peterktodd) November 30, 2016
The disappointing open-source debut of R3 Corda played a vital role in theincluding JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs amongst other multi-billion dollar financial institutions that refused to take part in R3’s $150 million funding round for 2017.
As a result, banks left blockchain consortiums and startups and moved on. Former bank executives have joined Bitcoin startups. Specifically, former Barclays Bank group chief executive Antony Jenkins joined the board of directors of Blockchain, the most popular bitcoin wallet service provider worldwide.
However, Smith, the CEO of Blockchain, expressed his enthusiasm and optimism towards the blockchain industry. In an annual recap report, Smith said that it isat its infancy.
He further emphasized that the blockchain industry is going through an experimental phase, in which experiments and implementations will fail. Those who do remain in the industry and continue to focus on the development of blockchain will taste the success and commercialization of the technology.
“During this time, many will fail and exit the market, while those that survive will continue to enjoy market success, secure investment dollars and march forward along a path to widespread market adoption.”
Another important factor that could further push the development and commercialization of blockchain technology as explained by Smith is the increasing venture capital investments in blockchain startups. VC firms are becoming increasingly aware of the vast potential of blockchain startups and are willing to fund multi-million dollar rounds for long-term development.
Some Bitcoin startups also pivoted away from Bitcoin to the Blockchain. Startups likeeliminated bitcoin trading services to focus on blockchain-based peer to peer payment systems to target the global remittance market.
As long as startups continue to push radical innovation, experiment with newly introduced concepts and see success in implementation, Smith reckons the blockchain hype will continue throughout 2017 and beyond.
“I believe that radical innovation comes not from incrementally improving the current system but, rather, from building a new system purpose-built for today’s global world. And as far as blockchain is concerned, that will continue throughout 2017 and beyond,” explained Smith.
Blockchain technology is set to see the light in the other primary industries outside the realm of finance, in the likes of insurance and real estate industries.


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The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has raised its forecast for new car registrations for this year to 2.216 million units, 8.4% ahead of 2012.
The forecast change follows the 17th consecutive month of growth with July registrations up 12.7% to 162,228 units. Private registrations increased by 11.9% to 71,549 units.
The Ford Fiesta took the top spot for registrations once again with 9,089 units in July.
Already this year, registrations have exceeded 80% of 2012 full year volumes and are 11 times higher than 2010. The market forecast is now only 8.3% behind pre-recessionary levels in 2007 when new car registrations hit 2.4 million units.
The SMMT said the growth reflects increased availability of products across the UK and wider interest from motorists looking to minimise CO2 emissions and take advantage of tax breaks.
Mike Baunton, SMMT interim chief executive, said: “Strong business and consumer confidence in July saw the new car market continue to rise, posting double-digit growth in the month.
“Now we have evidence of consistent growth, we have raised our forecast for 2013 new car registrations.
"Recently, we've seen a range of economic indicators point to improving conditions and our raised sales forecast emphasises how positively we view the rest of 2013."
Sue Robinson, director of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), said: "It is extremely encouraging that new car sales continued to improve in July with year-to-date growth now at 10.3%.
“Consumer confidence continues to grow with the British Retail Consortium reporting an increase in high street retail sales of 2.2% during July.
“Dealers are reporting increased footfall in showrooms as consumers are drawn in by new products and services offered by dealers and manufacturers. With such strong manufacturer and finance offers currently available dealers are reporting that it is proving much easier to close a sale. However competitive pricing and strong incentives remain important if the sales trend is to continue throughout 2013.”
Derek McAllan, UK head of automotive retail at KPMG, said: "July was a truly glorious month for the UK.
"A combination of the great weather and wave after wave of British sporting achievement (Murray at Wimbledon; The Lions down under; Chris Froome in France and Ashes success at home) have all contributed to a real feel good factor.
"While we cannot rely on this tide of positive sentiment to continue throughout the winter, the continued availability of cheap and subsidised finance, a recovering economy and a sustained house price recovery should ensure that the motor retail market remains strong for the remainder of the year and into 2014.
“I expect full year sales of new cars to exceed 2.2 million units and, if this market continues, it may be necessary for the SMMT to raise their expected outturn for the year again.”
Winners and losers in July
Ford posted big growth in July with a 38.16% increase in July, while rival Vauxhall saw a slight increase of 0.92%. VW, Nissan, Peugeot and Toyota all posted growth in the volume sector.
Brands like Mitsubishi, Fiat, Seat and Mazda were all in recovery in July, posting registration growth of 24.45%, 24.19%22.65% and 20.33% respectively. Suzuki also posted impressive growth in July with volumes up 24.39% to 1,739 units.
Audi led growth for premium brands in July with registrations up 18.33%, while Mercedes-Benz followed with 15.9% growth. BMW also saw a double digit increase with registrations up 14.9% in July.
Jaguar is also storming ahead in July with registrations bolstered by models like the new F-Type which has helped boost volumes by 29.48%. However, Land Rover volumes were static showing slight growth of 0.67%.
Small franchises like Perodua continue to tick over in the UK with only 13 registrations in July, while no Protons were registered in the month.
Chrysler saw a massive drop in volumes in July with registrations down 59.24% as the Delta and Ypsilon struggle to find buyers in the UK.
SsangYong saw registrations fall by 63.1% in July down to 31 units. Subaru is still looking to recover its registrations in the UK and the brand is still waiting for its new Forester to help sales with July volumes down 33.08%.


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DURECT Co. (NASDAQ:DRRX) Director Jon S. Saxe acquired 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $0.55 per share, for a total transaction of $13,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,295.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.
Shares of DRRX traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $0.50. 8,225 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 479,607. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.13 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a current ratio of 3.74, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. DURECT Co. has a 12 month low of $0.46 and a 12 month high of $2.24.
DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.50 million. DURECT had a negative net margin of 125.76% and a negative return on equity of 108.92%. On average, research analysts forecast that DURECT Co. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Separately, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of DURECT in a research report on Thursday, April 18th.
ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WARNING: “DURECT Co. (NASDAQ:DRRX) Director Buys $13,750.00 in Stock” was first reported by Baseball Daily News and is owned by of Baseball Daily News. If you are reading this report on another publication, it was stolen and reposted in violation of US and international copyright & trademark laws. The original version of this report can be viewed at https://www.baseballdailydigest.com/news/2019/06/12/durect-co-nasdaqdrrx-director-buys-13750-00-in-stock.html.
DURECT Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, researches and develops medicines based on its epigenetic regulator and pharmaceutical programs. The company offers ALZET product line that consists of osmotic pumps and accessories used for experimental research in mice, rats, and other laboratory animals; and a range of biodegradable polymers for pharmaceutical and medical device clients for use as raw materials in their products under the LACTEL brand.
See Also: Bull Market
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BGaming and Betara Collaborate to Expand in LatAm iGaming Sector
BGaming, an iGaming content provider, is enhancing its presence in the LatAm region through a strategic partnership with Peruvian casino and sportsbook operator, Betara.
The collaboration aims to solidify BGaming’s position and increase its visibility in this varied and profitable market.
Under the agreement, BGaming will offer its extensive portfolio, comprising over 100 games with features powered by AI and contemporary mechanics, to Betara’s platform.
This partnership is an addition to a series of collaborations that BGaming has forged in the Latin American iGaming arena this year, underscoring the rising appeal of its slots segment.
Olga Levshina, Chief Commercial Officer at BGaming, said: “Actively developing our business in LatAm by establishing our reputation for delivering high-quality content, seamless integration and a smooth start-up continues to be a top priority for us.
“We look forward to a successful ongoing partnership with Betara and providing our ever-expanding portfolio to its players.”
Daniel Vargas , Head of Marketing at Betara, said: “We are very pleased to welcome BGaming which is a fast-growing iGaming content provider that turns betting into gaming. Thanks to its team of experts and player-oriented approach, BGaming creates innovative and attractive products that will be present at Betara, which seeks to position itself as the best sports betting and online casino in the Peruvian market.
“The studio is also known for its exclusive brands created in collaboration with the main operators in the sector where Betara will have a special participation to launch exclusive games and branded with its own brand. At Betara we are absolutely sure that our players will be very happy with this partnership.”


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Empty supermarket shelves, dire warnings from store bosses about food shortages and major chains running out of supplies must not be solved by compromising safety, the West of England’s metro mayor has warned.
Dan Norris said the Government’s attempts to speed up recruitment of HGV drivers to meet a shortfall of as many as 100,000 were "short term and dangerous".
The Labour Metro Mayor said the measures being consulted on are "simply not enough" to address the scale of the crisis and "could put lives at risk", with exhausted drivers who have passed diluted tests driving on Britain’s roads.
The Metro Mayor for the West of England has spoken out after the road haulage industry asked the Government to relax rules around the training of lorry drivers - which Mr Norris said he is concerned about.
The Government has already increased the legal working hours of HGV drivers in response to the shortage of drivers, to the dismay of some industry representatives.
Now it has announced that the driving tests people need to undertake to qualify as HGV drivers could be changed to speed up the process - including removing off-road manoeuvres and rigid lorry practical tests from the testing obligations for new drivers.
“The government have offered short-term solutions which risk compromising safety,” said Mr Norris. “I don’t want tired drivers on our roads who have passed less demanding tests. We need gold standards on British roads.
Amid concerns about the shortage of food and other goods jeopardising Christmas, he added: "We need action now."
In a statement earlier this month Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport , said: "We understand the need to maintain the professional standard of our vocational drivers, ensuring the safety of all our road users, and the proposals set out how we feel we can best achieve this while looking towards a more innovative way in which we can test our drivers."
The scale of the food and drink crisis
Food industry bosses, supermarkets and cafe and restaurant chains have all warned of shortages - and many are now experiencing them for real.
On Wednesday and Thursday this week, the chairman of Tesco, John Allen, said supermarkets are struggling to source stock, while Steve Murrells, the boss of Co-op, said the current food shortages were "the worst I have ever seen".
McDonald's removed milkshakes from its menus across Britain this week - although when our reporter went to check this out at Cabot Circus this week, he found plenty of milkshakes on offer.
But it’s a shortage in the supply of chicken that is having the most immediate effect.
Nandos closed 50 branches across the country last week because there isn’t enough chicken in the country, KFC also announced shortages, and yesterday, Greggs and Costa both told customers some items - including Greggs' popular chicken bake, were not in stock for the time being.
This has been building for a few months, and the crisis has developed rapidly in August.
A week ago, Richard Griffiths, the chief executive of the British Poultry Council, blamed worker shortages for the crisis the industry is facing - not just lorry drivers.
“When you don’t have people, you have a problem - and this is something we are seeing across the whole supply chain. The labour crisis is a Brexit issue,” he said.
The poultry industry is responsible for producing half of all the meat eaten in the UK, but at the moment, one in every six jobs in farms, abattoirs, factories, processing plants and in the supply chain, are vacant.
“The alarming number of gaps only continue to grow due to a Government that continually acts against the best interests of British food producers,” added Mr Griffiths last week.
Is it Brexit?
Industry leaders like Mr Griffiths from the Poultry Association and store bosses like the man in charge of Co-op have both blamed Brexit, as has the Road Haulage Association.
What has changed over the summer is that EU nationals who would normally work in the food industry, in factories and on farms, are not nowhere in the same numbers, because they cannot get work permits under the new post-Brexit rules that have now come into effect.
Industry leaders have all asked the Government to create new categories of workers that can get work permits to work as lorry drivers and in food factories, but so far the Government has not budged - and instead has encouraged recruitment from within the UK.
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The effect of the pandemic
When supermarket shelves began to look a bit empty, in July, many refused to blame Brexit and instead pointed out that hundreds of thousands of people had been told to isolate after being ‘pinged’ by the Covid app, as cases of coronavirus soared to record levels.
This was a factor, however, there is a similar situation in France - where covid cases are actually higher - and in Northern Ireland, and neither country is experiencing empty shelves and food shortages.
But the pandemic is a factor in more long-term ways. It is estimated that there is a shortage of between 76,000 and 90,000 HGV drivers, and this shortage of HGV drivers is one of the main factors in the stuttering supply chain.
There has been a growing shortage of lorry drivers for many years, with more older drivers leaving the industry than younger ones joining the workforce on the roads, each year.
The pandemic has meant that the number of people taking tests to start their career as HGV drivers is down 30,000 from 2019 figures - exacerbating what was already a crisis.
But Brexit is still cited as the biggest factor causing the driver shortage in Britain.
Tens of thousands of EU nationals worked as lorry drivers in this country but now can’t - they aren’t allowed work permits to do so. And the EU drivers and their haulage firms based on the Continent are far less likely to come into Britain and work temporarily because of the huge amount of extra paperwork involved at what was once a friction-less border.


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Greens Senator David Shoebridge calls on major parties to show courage on Temu
Greens NSW Senator David Shoebridge has called on the major parties to show leadership and have the courage to discuss data security concerns linked to Chinese e-commerce platform Temu.
His comments come after the Albanese Labor government and the federal opposition refused to disclose whether any of their members had used the online marketplace.
Senator Shoebridge, who has admitted to purchasing a set of air fryer cooking liners on Temu before deleting the application, said the e-commerce platform highlighted privacy concerns associated with the internet.
“The critical need is for Parliament to show some leadership on protecting people’s privacy regardless of the platform,” said Senator Shoebridge, who is also the Greens’ Digital Rights spokesperson.
“Temu highlights these data and security concerns and of course the two old parties should at least have the courage to talk about it.”
Temu operates as an online marketplace connecting sellers and consumers and has a network of about 80,000 vendors that are largely based in China.
Security experts have raised concerns over Temu as China’s national security laws require companies to cooperate with Chinese Communist Party security agencies while prohibiting them from publicly disclosing whether they have accessed the data.
US lawmakers have also warned there was an “extremely high risk” products sold by Temu could have been made with or linked to forced labour.
The Federal Government has banned bureaucrats and politicians from having Tiktok on government-issued devices due to the security risk from the breadth of data it can access but has not moved on any other apps.
Senator Shoebridge said he downloaded Temu after being bombarded by ads on social media but deleted the application upon learning of the data security concerns and lack of supply chain safeguards.
When asked if the government should ban Temu like TikTok, Senator Shoebridge said online regulation should focus on privacy risks instead of from which country they are based.
“Rather than playing a geopolitical game of whack a mole where only applications based in some countries are sanctioned, regulation should focus on real privacy risks to the community for all platforms regardless of where they are based,” he said.
The Home Affairs Department is developing a framework to address “vendor-based national security risks” that will go to the Government for consideration in the second half of 2024 and has brought forward a review of the data broker ecosystem.
Temu has launched an aggressive advertising campaign across social media platforms including Facebook and TikTok as cost of living pressures push consumers towards bargain options and retail spending falls in Australia.
The discount marketplace sells consumer products at aggressively discounted prices such as handheld vacuum cleaners for $12.31 and is believed to be trying to imitate the rise of Chinese fast fashion brand Shein.
According to Temu’s data security policy, the e-commerce platform only collects the minimum amount of information necessary to run the app, including managing and completing orders.


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Think back to a few years ago when the Halloween Whopper from Burger King was causing some people to poop blue and green.
That burger was released in time for Halloween and people were waiting in line to try it, even though it produced such a strange side effect.
Now that those days are behind us, we can say that the side effect was not overly unusual. You can change the color of your stool green by eating a lot of kale or change it red by eating beets. The A1 steak sauce they used to color the bun had a similar effect.
It seems as if Burger King is, trying to one-up themselves this Halloween by giving out another spooky burger creation.
They are looking for clever ways to get people into the restaurant during October, so the executives at Burger King must be big fans of the holiday.
This year, they have something new on the menu and the color must be inspired from the side effect of the burgers that were out a few years ago.
It’s known as the “Nightmare King,” and the buns are bright green. The food chain says that all natural coloring from watermelons is used to achieve that unusual color.
Burger King is also making the claim that the new Halloween Burger has been scientifically proven to invoke nightmares.
The NY Daily News said that the burger chain worked along with Florida sleep & Neuro- Diagnostic Services Inc. to study how the Nightmare King would affect 100 participants.
“According to previous studies, 4 percent of the population experiences nightmares in any given night,” Dr. Jose Gabriel Medina, the study’s lead doctor, said in a statement. “But, after eating the Nightmare King, the data obtained from the study indicated that the incidence of nightmares increased by 3.5 times.”
It seems that the combination of cheese and protein in the burger is what causes the nightmares
Burger King has also posted the following video to get you ready for the new burger.
the Nightmare King, coming 10/22.you’ve been warned.only available at participating locations.
Posted by Burger King on Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Some people are anxious to try the new creation but others are hesitant.
Will I have the same problem in the bathroom like the last one?
— JeezLuis (@luis_jeez) October 22, 2018
I wonder what color our poop will turn now? Purple maybe… maybe green… how cool would it be if it’s pink?
— Princess Lea (@jazeldarae) October 22, 2018
Some are also comparing this burger to the Krabby Patty made by Squidward on SpongeBob SquarePants.
Health Inspector in coming pic.twitter.com/oeZglldckh
— Noah (@DaNoahLP) October 22, 2018
People debating the effectiveness of the Nightmare King but others are talking about the new Frozen Fanta Scary Black Cherry slushies.
This slushy is another Halloween treat from Burger King this year. It is selling for only one dollar.
It is still debatable if it is a trick or a treat but some people have had unusual experiences after trying the new drink.
— David Leninhawk (@HuggsyOOTP) October 13, 2018
The Nightmare King burgers will be available at select locations on October 22.


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The Dutch department store chain Bijenkorf has finally launched its Austrian webshop. The launch was announced in early 2020 and was initially planned for the second half of that year, but that timing suffered some delays.
» Read more
Ikea is building a new, green city store in Vienna: there will be no parking, but the seven-storey building will have green balustrades and roofs with no less than 160 trees.
» Read more
Charlie Temple, a Dutch online optician belonging to the GrandVision group, is expanding to two more markets: Austria and Belgium.
FMCG-giant Mondelez is accused of having delivered large quantities of biscuits and chocolate, including Milka, on the grey market in Austria for many years. This would be the conclusion of several searches last month.
German chain Rewe has been given permission to acquire most of Lekkerland. The Austrian competition authority however fears that the German supermarket group would gain too much power in the 'on-the-go' segment, particularly in shops at petrol stations.
Austrian retail group Signa Retail (the owner of German department store chains Karstadt and Galeria Kaufhof) has founded a New Business branch, that should bring about more digital competences and innovation.
In Vienna, Chinese cellphone brand Huawei is soon opening its first store outside of China. While it claims it is already the second largest smartphone supplier in Austria, it is looking to strengthen its position in the rest of Europe.
Irish Smyths Toys has announced a deal with bankrupt toys giant Toys ‘R’ Us to take over all of its 93 stores in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Financial details about the deal were not disclosed.
Saturn has opened Europe’s first checkout-free electronics store in Austria. The former Metro Group chain offers its customers traditional sales assistance, but payments have to happen using an app.
With Order Exchange Service, Zalando has found a way to simplify the return of a piece of clothing. Customers can use the service to return something and get a different size of that same item delivered.
German Metro opened the very first energy neutral Metro store in Sankt Pölten in Austria. The store implemented all types of sustainable techniques, which result in a store without any energy consumption.
After it had already closed a number of stores in Morocco, Panama, Puerto Rico, Taiwan and Thailand, ailing deal site Groupon will now also close its divisions in Switzerland, Austria and Portugal.


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By Meeyoung Cho
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea will scrap caps on rice imports from 2015, potentially opening up the politically sensitive market to more imports from countries such as the United States and China, in a move that has been fiercely resisted by many farmers.
Seoul said steep tariffs would be used to protect its farmers. While this is likely to prevent a short-term surge in imports, farmers are worried that it could open the floodgates to foreign sales down the line in a country where locally grown rice has traditionally enjoyed almost mythical status.
Under pressure to open its markets, Seoul has little room for maneuver over the issue with a 20-year-old World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement on import quotas expiring at the end of 2014.
"The rice market will be protected by setting maximum tariffs in accord with the WTO," agriculture minister Lee Dong-phil said in a statement.
At a news briefing, he added that this level would be from 300-500 percent. That would bring prices for imported rice in line with local grain.
Around 30 farmers gathered in front of a government complex in Seoul to protest against the move, with an official from left-wing farmers' group the Korean Peasants League saying farmers should have been consulted more thoroughly.
The government has held a series of discussions with the public on plans for its rice policy and some farmers have accepted that change was inevitable, instead focusing on the exact level of tariffs.
"We consider the switch to the tariff scheme for rice unavoidable," said Son Jae-beom, secretary general of the Korean Advanced Farmers Federation.
He said that tariffs should be at least 400 percent and that the level should not be amended as part of any free trade deals with other nations.
CHINA, UNITED STATES
Under the current WTO agreement, South Korea must buy exactly 408,700 tonnes of foreign rice this year, or 9 percent of its demand. The amount that must be purchased abroad has gradually increased from 51,000 tonnes in 1995.
Under the new scheme, Seoul would still be required to import at least 408,700 tonnes a year, with the higher tariff rate charged on any imports beyond that, agriculture ministry officials said.
China usually accounts for at least half of total imports, the United States for 20-30 percent and Thailand for 10-20 percent, government data shows.
Of the 159 WTO members, only South Korea and the Philippines have tight controls on rice imports. The Korean government, farmers and civic groups have been closely monitoring negotiations between Manila and WTO members on the future of its restrictions.
Opponents led by the left-wing farmer groups have said the tariff would eventually fall via free trade deals, opening the door to more imports and hitting domestic growers hard.
"We have many concerns about whether the duty can really stay at 300-500 percent levels as the government now vows, because the agriculture ministry's roles include not only stabilizing production but also helping provide food at low cost for the country's people," a farmer said at a public consultation in June.
Government officials have said that rice would be excluded from any free trade agreements, with Agriculture Minister Lee repeating that position on Friday
A free trade agreement between South Korea and the United States took effect in March 15 last year, while Seoul has been in talks with China on a similar deal and also wants to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.
To reassure farmers further, Lee said that a higher emergency tariff could be introduced if imports suddenly spiked.
A pick up in imports has the potential to benefit Chinese growers, who produce the glutinous Japonica variety of rice preferred by Koreans and found in dishes such as bibimpap, a spicy mixed rice meal with vegetables.
But a source at China's agriculture ministry has said the country would focus on its own food security and would not increase rice exports to South Korea even if caps were removed.
The United States also exports Japonica, although market participants in South Korea said Chinese rice is closer in flavor to locally grown grain.
South Korea aims to produce 4.15 million tonnes of rice in the crop year that ends in October 2015, down 2 percent from a year earlier as the number of rice fields shrinks, a government official said in April. Its appetite for the grain is estimate at 4.07 million tonnes during the crop year.
(Reporting by Meeyoung Cho; Additional reporting by Ju-min Park, Christine Kim, Chris Lee in Seoul, Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Niu Shuping in Beijing; Editing by Joseph Radford and Ed Davies)


text: We kick off the 2014 campaign by going right to the top with two key ammunition manufacturers, who pointedly address the 'factory ammunition shortage' that has at times riled up and frustrated consumers across the country. Hornady president Steve Hornady and Black Hills president Jeff Hoffman, two companies that produce tens of millions of rounds of ammo annually, zero-in on the hot topic and offer their perspectives. You'll only see this exclusive report on Guns & Ammo TV. Ruger has traditionally introduced significant new products every year for the last decade, and 2014 will be no different. To kick off 2014, Ruger will launch its 7.62 piston-driven rifle as part of its Modern Sporting Rifle (AR) lineup, and we believe you'll be impressed with its features and performance. In our new Ballistics Lab report, we take a look at Black Hills .223 and .22-250 factory ammo, topped with Hornady bullets, we check out SIG's 'Force on Force' class as we premiere our Back To School segment, and then put one of Ruger's .45 pistols into a batch of concrete to see if it can survive this extreme torture test.


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On November 1, according to foreign media reports, when Huawei, Samsung and other competitors successively launched 5g smart phones, apple failed to catch 5g's first bus for various reasons, and the iPhone 11 series that did not support 5g was not very good after being launched. However, from the perspective of financial reports, the market performance of the new iPhone is not bad.
On Wednesday, local time, Apple released its financial report for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, which showed that iPhone revenue of 33.362 billion yuan still contributed more than half of Apple's revenue, accounting for 52.1% of Apple's $64.04 billion revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019 as of September 28.
The fourth quarter ended Sept. 28, the first quarter of the iPhone 11 series, also shows the performance of the new iPhone in the market when compared with the same period of the previous fiscal year.
In the third quarter of fiscal 2019, the fiscal quarter ending June 29, iPhone revenue was $25.986 billion, accounting for 48.3% of Apple's revenue, according to Apple's previous financial statements.
Compared with the third quarter, iPhone revenue in the fourth quarter increased by $7.376 billion, 28.38% month on month, which means that after the launch of the iPhone 11 series, the market performance of the iPhone is significantly better than the previous quarter.
However, the iPhone 11, which failed to catch up with the 5g wave this year, has not contributed as much to Apple's financial statements as last year's iPhone XS series.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, iPhone brought us $37.185 billion in revenue to apple, which contributed 59% of the total revenue of apple in that quarter. Both the scale and proportion of revenue were higher than that in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, in which revenue was 11.5% higher.
However, since the first fiscal quarter of 2019, Apple has not announced the specific sales volume of hardware products such as iPhones in each quarter, so it is not known the specific sales volume of iPhones in the fourth fiscal quarter at present, but in terms of the change of sales price, the starting price of iPhone 11 series is lower than that of iPhone XS series which began to be sold in September last year, so the sales volume may not be lower than that of iPhone XS series Last year's fourth quarter was much lower.


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kelly osbourne style
Kelly, did you get dressed in the dark? The stylish star stepped out in a very interesting get-up — did you like her outfit?
We’re not too sure exactly what look Kelly Osbourne was going for when she was recently caught in this particular ensemble. Wearing a graphic tank top, layered underneath a black and red button-up and a light denim vest, paired with cut-offs, a huge belt and flip flops Kelly has a lot going on!
Was the ‘Fashion Police’ co-host a victim of a terrible get-up on the red carpet?
Kelly Osbourne showed off her svelte frame in a teeny mini and silver glitter pumps at the premiere of the documentary about her father, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne — and while the man of the hour failed to show, Kelly definitely had all eyes on her in a very interesting get-up!
LOVE or LOATHE: The star showed off her svelte frame and put her curves on full display in an interesting get-up — but were you a fan?
While Dancing With the Stars helped Kelly Osbourne obtain her svelte frame, the star has managed to keep it off — and she loves showing off her curves!
The stylish star is so dedicated to her latest project she’s going to spend her birthday working on her line!
Kelly Osbourne‘s style has definitely evolved over the years– she went from an awkward teen to a totally gorgeous girl! At the Interior Designer of the Year Awards show at the Pacific Design Center in LA on Oct. 18, she told HollywoodLife.com exclusively that she’s in the process of launching a fashion line! Considering she loves to flaunt her petite frame in pretty dresses and critiques fellow celebs on their style choices each week on Fashion Police with Joan Rivers I’m not surprised!
“I have a meeting about it [her clothing line] on my birthday which is very exciting,” she gushed when asked about her latest project.


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Executives from European online players including Spotify and Deezer called for the EU to toughen-up laws intended to address alleged unfair business practices of US giants such as Apple and Google, Financial Times (FT) reported.
In a joint letter, the executives and representatives from the gaming and broadcast sectors, argued regulations drawn-up earlier this year do not go far enough in addressing “abuse of privilege” by the platform providers in their dealings with businesses.
The letter brands the tech giants “gatekeepers to the digital economy”, by using their dominant position to impose conditions to gain access to their channels. Apple, for example, tightly controls access to iOS devices, even specifying which payment methods can be used.
FT said EU competition and business ministers will meet this week to discuss the draft legislation, which will then pass through the European Parliament and European Commission before it can come into force.
While the guidelines will improve communication on how platform companies rank products and call for a formal complaints process, the executives wrote “transparency alone will not rebalance the relationship between platforms and the businesses that depend on them”.
The calls are, of course, not new, and Spotify and Deezer have been particularly vocal in their complaints. Google, Apple and Amazon all have their own music streaming services, but for them it forms part of a wider ecosystem around content and devices, whereas for Spotify and Deezer it is the be-all and end-all.Subscribe to our daily newsletter Back


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motorcycle brand, Ducati India will be introducing 12 new motorcycles in 2021, which
will all be BS6 compliant, starting with the Scrambler Icon which has been
updated to meet the BS6 norms.
year 2020 saw Covid induced disruption in the business, due to which all
planned new launches were delayed. However, by end of the year, Ducati was
quick to jump back on the track and launched three BS6 motorcycles in quick
succession which included all new models like the superbike Panigale V2, the Scrambler
1100 Pro, and the Sports Tourer Multistrada 950S. A major contribution to the
2020 sales came from the Panigale V2 range with enthusiasts stepping into the
world of the racetrack and making the launch of Panigale V2 a big success.
2021, the product range is now even more complete, with the entry of new
motorcycles across the Monster, Scrambler, Multistrada, Panigale, Diavel, and
the much anticipated Streetfighter family. The first quarter of 2021 will begin
with the launch of the BS6 Scrambler, Diavel and the new XDiavel. This will be followed
by the launch of all new motorcycles based on the revered V4 engine platform
including the Multistrada V4, the Streetfighter V4 and MY2021 Panigale V4.
latter half of the year will see Ducati spice up the super naked segment with
its all new offering, the Monster, followed by the SuperSport 950 and the
Hypermotard 950 RVE. The Scrambler Ducati side of things will also see more
action as the BS6 Scrambler Icon will be joined by other Scrambler models like
Scrambler 1100 Dark Pro, all new Night Shift and the popular Desert Sled.
the need of the hour, Ducati also started the Ducati Cares Program to welcome
customers again at the dealerships and will continue to ensure that all safety
protocols related to Covid are met at its stores. Bookings for the BS6
Scrambler Icon and Scrambler Icon Dark are now open and customers can book
their motorcycle at the nearest Ducati dealerships, for a booking amount of Rs 50,000.
Reise Moto, a division of Mahansaria Group, announced the launch of their premium two-wheeler tyre brand ‘Reise’ in India.
In the future, Continental will offer Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) solutions based on the “CV3”artificial intelligence (AI) system-on-chip (SoC) family from semiconductor company Ambarell...
Post a successful foray into the auto tech segment with the launch of the Smart Dashcam, Qubo, Hero Electronix’s consumer technology brand is expanding the portfolio with their latest Dashcam Pro 4K.


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MySpace users can now sync posts, photos, video on Facebook amid overhaulBy AP
Monday, August 30, 2010
MySpace users can now sync posts to Facebook
LOS ANGELES — MySpace, which recently revamped itself to look more like Facebook, is now allowing users to sync their posts to Facebook, too.
That means people on Facebook can see their friends’ MySpace items without leaving Facebook. It’s a sign the site seeks to carve out a niche that is no longer about competing with Facebook but coexisting.
MySpace users will also be able to share music, videos, game applications, links and photos across both social networking sites.
The changes announced Monday are part of an overhaul at MySpace, which has faced falling advertising revenue and stagnant user growth. MySpace users can already sync their Twitter accounts with the site, so that they can post updates on MySpace through Twitter and vice versa.
Research firm eMarketer estimates that advertisers worldwide will spend $347 million on MySpace this year and $297 million in 2011. Facebook, meanwhile, is expected to generate $1.29 billion in online ad revenue this year and $1.76 billion in 2011, according to eMarketer.
MySpace, which is owned by News Corp., is also in the midst of renegotiating a search partnership as its deal with Google Inc. is nearing a close.
Tags: Los Angeles, North America, United States


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Earlier this month, Australia and Brazil dragged India to the WTO for its market-distorting policies on sugar. Their contention was that the subsidies, including the extent of farmer assistance, far exceeded the norms set by the WTO resulting in higher sugar production/exports which dampen the international prices and, consequently, hurt their domestic producers. This is… Read More »
Sugar prices at the Vashi market rose by ?15-20 for the fine variety on Monday in improved demand. On Saturday 18-20 mills sold 38,000- 40,000 bags at ?3,100- 3,160 a quintal of S-grade and ?3,130-3,180 of M-grade. Bombay Sugar erchants Association spot rates: S-grade ?3,222-3,292 and M-grade ?3,276- 3,370. Naka delivery rates: S-grade ?3,210-3,240 and M-grade ?3,230-3,290.
Brazil’s Copersucar, the world’s largest sugar merchant, expects global sugar trade flow to reach an equilibrium between supply and demand in the second half of 2019, which could lead to a price recovery for the sweetener. According to the company’s strategy director Tomas Caetano Manzano lower sugar production in some of the main producers such… Read More »
Pakistan has taken a lead over India by winning a 300,000-tonne sugar export quota from China, according to traders. India has been waiting since long to bag the export quota from China. “We are waiting to get sugar export quota to China, which is a huge market,” said Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of the National Federation… Read More »
Brazilian mills are expected to cut cane allocation for sugar production in the 2019/20 crop, diverting more cane to ethanol output, amid low sugar prices and strong local demand for the biofuel, Canaplan consultancy said on Thursday. Canaplan’s chief analyst Caio Carvalho said during a presentation at a sugar conference in Piracicaba that he had… Read More »


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Real estate private equity investor Jones Lang LaSalle India is reportedly due to hit the market with a INR3.5bn ($48.7m)-targeting AltAssets.net, 2 days ago
Indiabulls AMC launches alternative investment realty scheme - Hindu Business Line, 1 week ago
Indiabulls to launch private equity fund - India Brand Equity Foundation, 2 months ago
1 images for "lasalle india"
JLL Indias Segregated Funds Group announces Second Investment through its Residential Opportunities Fund
DELHI Jones Lang LaSalle India's Segregated Funds Group has invested INR 20 Cr.(USD 3.5 million approx.) with Chennai based Plaza Group in a residential project. The investment has been carried out through its fund, Residential Opportunities Fund ...APN News, 1 month ago JLL invests Rs 20 cr in Chennai residential project Hindu Business Line, 1 month ago JLL Segregated Funds Group invests $3M in Plaza Group's Chennai project VC Circle, 1 month ago
India has 300 operational malls of which only 20 are doing well, says Beyond Squarefeet, mall management firm. Many malls are empty and retailers have been impacted by increasing rentals, lower sales and growing e-commerce. ...4 Traders, 1 month ago Empty malls echo India's sorry retail story Business Standard India, 1 month ago
GURGAON: Ahmedabad is poised to be an automobile manufacturing hub in India, said Jones Lang LaSalle Property Consultants Pvt Ltd (JLL) Monthly Real Estate Monitor in November 2014. According to the report, industrial developments at Sanand and ...Edge Property, 2 weeks ago JONES LANG LASALLE : Demand for office space rises 58% in sep 2014 quarter: jll 4 Traders, 1 month ago Jones Lang LaSalle : OFFICE SPACE DEMAND UP 58% IN SEPT QUARTER: JLL 4 Traders, 1 month ago
Indiabulls Asset Management Company Limited (IBAMC) is entering into the alternative investment space through its maiden offering Indiabulls Real Estate Fund. This fund has been rated AAA (AIF) by CARE Ratings and is targeting investments in ...India Infoline, 1 week ago Indiabulls Asset Management appoints Maheshwari as CEO of AIF Business Standard India, 2 months ago
The streets of Little India had an extra dose of creativity over the past five days. Colourful murals, video screenings and live art exhibitions were a common sight, as part of Artwalk Little India, which ran from last Saturday till yesterday. The ...Asiaone, 4 days ago Embracing Little India's history and tradition through art Channel NewsAsia, 1 week ago
CHENNAI: Builders are hopeful of speedy revival of real estate market following Reserve Bank of India's decision to cut its key policy rate by 25 basis points on Thursday. Some banks like United Bank of India and Union Bank of India have already ...Times of India, 1 week ago
With 66% of its population under the age of 35, India is home to the largest cohort of young people in the world—825 million. The median age of the country is just 27 years, much below 37 in the US and 46 in Japan. Numbers like these suggest that ...Financial Express, 1 week ago
With the new government in place, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Tourism Fest 2014, witnessed discussions on various opportunities for the tourism and hospitality sectors in India By Archana Sharma The second edition of the Confederation ...Financial Express, 1 week ago
US-based online retailer, Amazon and its Indian competitor, Flipkart, are once again scouting for a significant amount of office space in Bengaluru to keep pace with their accelerated growth and hiring plans. Both Amazon and Flipkart are looking ...Financial Express, 2 weeks ago
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After waiting for about 2.5 years, Kawasaki has once again launched its bike Ninja 400 in the Indian market. 2022 Kawasaki Ninja 400 was introduced in the global market just a few days back, now it has reached the Indian market. The company has launched it at an initial price of Rs 4.99 lakh. However, many changes have been made in the 2022 model, due to which this bike looks even more stylish and powerful.
Bookings for Kawasaki Ninja 400 have started.
The company says that bookings for the Kawasaki Ninja 400 have been started. Soon its delivery in India will also start. Now the Kawasaki Ninja 400 model is BS6 emission compliant as compared to earlier. This bike has been updated a lot. Actually, earlier this bike was not compliant with the BS6 emission norms implemented in April 2020.
Know how powerful the new model is.
According to the company, the new version has been significantly upgraded as compared to the previous model. This makes this bike look even more powerful and stylish. To give power to the bike, 399 cc, liquid-cooled, parallel twin motor engine has been given. This engine comes with a six-speed gearbox. Apart from this, disc brakes are available at both the ends with dual channel ABS. Directly the Kawasaki Ninja 400 competes with none in the Indian market, yet it will compete with the KTM RC 390. The bike is coming with two new colors, Lime Green and Spark Black with Metallic Carbon Grey.


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"Everything we do effects our environment, so we’re committed to developing and marketing solutions that not only improve our everyday lives through high-performance materials, but also reduce environmental impacts," said Renee Henze, global marketing director, DuPont Industrial Biosciences. "Our ultimate goal is to be a part of a circular economy, and by partnering with The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s important initiatives, we can collaborate with forward-thinking leaders around the world to progress a more sustainable marketplace."
In another step toward promoting sustainability and the bio-economy, DuPont Biomaterials has joined The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Circular Economy 100 (CE100) initiative. The pre-competitive innovation programme brings together corporates, governments and cities, academic institutions, emerging innovators and affiliates in a unique multi-stakeholder platform to learn and collaborate for a circular economy.
As a member of CE100, DuPont Biomaterials will participate in collaborative projects with other members; attend the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Annual Summit and bi-annual workshops; and join an ongoing discussion around promoting a circular economy across businesses and industries.
"The CE100 is designed to explore, develop and act on new ways to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. With a fine balance between collaboration, innovation, and education, the network stimulates organizations like DuPont to achieve faster, greater successes than could be achieved alone. With DuPont joining the CE100, the network gains a wealth of experience in material science, and engineering rigour," said James George, business engagement lead, Ellen Macarthur Foundation.
DuPont Biomaterials is committed to the ongoing conversation about the need for renewable, performance-based materials and continued collaboration within the fashion industry to contribute to circularity. In addition to its participation in Ellen MacArthur Foundation initiatives, DuPont Biomaterials recently announced that the Sorona brand is a new bluesign system partner, and that they have expanded their Kinston, North Carolina, facility for increased production of Sorona polymer. (RR)
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BEIJING, Dec. 16 -- The mainland company Unigroup's investment in Taiwan's semiconductor industry is purely commercial and should not be politicized, a mainland official said Wednesday.
Unigroup, controlled by the prestigious Tsinghua University, is buying stakes in three Taiwanese chip giants with a total price of 17.3 billion yuan (about 2.7 bln U.S. dollars), in an effort to ascend to top chip-maker status.
However, the purchase has met rejection on the island as some politicians claim it is a "threat to Taiwan industry" and "mainland conspiracy."
At a press conference, the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang called for objective and sensible views on mutual investment, adding the voluntary cooperation between companies of the two sides is mutually beneficial and will help the island's economy.
It has proven that in the past 20 years, the two sides have complementary advantages through cooperation. "It's not one side eating the other, nor is it one side buying or controlling the other," said Ma.
The cooperation has brought Taiwan a huge trade surplus, and the mainland has been the most important economic hinterland for maintaining Taiwan's GDP growth and its industrial upgrades.
"The cross-Strait cooperation trend is inevitable, and can not be converted by human will," he said.
While Taiwan put restrictions on mainland investment, the mainland has further opened its market to the island.
The spokesman said the mainland welcomes the plan by Taiwan-based TSMC, a world leading semiconductor foundry and producer of Iphone CPUs, to build factories on the mainland, enabling Taiwan companies to share development opportunities.
Ma also announced eased restrictions for Taiwanese to do business on the mainland, expanding another 24 sectors such as advertising, packaging and clothing to individual Taiwanese entrepreneurs.
The mainland approved 2,288 projects with Taiwanese investment in the first 10 months of 2015, a year-on-year increase of 20.9 percent, the Ministry of Commerce announced last week.


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As you might imagine, no one’s particularly happy about Infiniti’s new nomenclature. The fanbase has gone from being confused to downright outraged, with plenty of angry posts seen on their Facebook page. But Infiniti has reacted with a statement from President Johan de Nysschen, in which he promises a 550+ horsepower flagship sedan. How’s that for compensation?
The statement starts by explaining that the new system is much more flexible for Infiniti. Under the old system, any other fitting alphanumeric combinations were already trademarked by other manufacturers. Nysschen says that Infiniti is “embarking on a massive product offensive,” so they are going to need the flexibility of this new naming system. He also claims that the current system has been confusing consumers in markets where Infiniti is a relatively-new brand.
However, the most interesting part was the promise of “smaller, lighter, more fuel efficient yet more powerful” engines. Nysschen explains that the current nomenclature would force them to name “a new high-tech 550+ horsepower performance flagship” as the M30, when the car should be positioned above the current M56. This part of the statement reveals to us that we can expect a 550+ horsepower, 3.0L “potent charged induction V6” to be stuck under the hood of the Infiniti Q70 (previously the Infiniti M) sometime in the future, which makes for a very promising performance sedan. And when you’ve got a car like that on your hands, the name becomes rather irrelevant, doesn’t it?
Source: Infiniti on Facebook


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On average, data innovators release twice as many products and increase employee productivity at double the rate of organizations with less mature data strategies, according to a Splunk Inc. survey.
“In today’s world, data is a strategic asset helping organizations not just survive, but thrive,” says Doug Merritt, president and CEO, Splunk. “Our current era of innovation is propelled by those who are doing more than just storing and managing data. Organizations that have invested in placing data at the core of their operations are twice as innovative and twice as productive as those that aren’t.”
- Investing a mature data approach increased employee productivity by 16% in the past year, nearly double the increase of beginner-level innovators (9%).
- 50% of manufacturers applying data innovation to improve materials report a significant or game-changing impact.
- Over 50% of retailers using data innovation to optimize inventory or personalize offers, product recommendations and customer service report a significant or game-changing impact.
- 75% of healthcare organizations prioritize investments in data-innovation platforms (vs. point tools).
- 61% of financial services firms are impacting product/service development with data innovation, the highest percentage of all industries surveyed.
- 69% of North American organizations tend to prioritize investments in data innovation platforms (vs. point tools), slightly more than in Europe (67%), and notably ahead of APAC (58%).