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As cryptocurrencies get more mainstream, crypto enthusiasts are witnessing ridiculous and bizarre trends every now and then. Recent examples are the wild swings in tokens such as Squid Game and Shiba Inu.
The latest entrant to this space is the little-known KokoSwap, which saw an eye-popping 76,200 per cent rise in just a single day, data from Coinmarketcap showed.
KokoSwap jumped $7.63 from $0.009999 within 24 hours, the website said. However, it declined to $5.85 at 12.50 pm IST, boasting a market cap of about $2 billion.
The KokoSwap staking platform is undergoing a “game changing” migration as it switches from Ethereum to Binance Smart Chain. This migration allows more users to sign in and gives more access to a large community of gamers in the Binance ecosystem.
Sharat Chandra, a Blockchain & Emerging Tech Evangelist, said KokoSwap was riding high on the NFT-gaming wave. GameFi is drawing gaming aficionados in hordes. “What makes it interesting is the promising KokoStake staking platform that enables users to invest and generate a high APY income stream. The lure of a passive income stream via staking is hard to resist,” he added.
As the popularity of play-to-earn games has risen rapidly recently, staking has become the new trend for gamers to monetise tokens. In the last few months, the craze for NFT and blockchain-based games has shot up exponentially. A new wave of crypto adoption has begun in the gaming community due to its benefits. KokoSwap is a one-of-a-kind platform that encapsulates decentralised NFT gaming, an invite-only celebrity NFT marketplace and robust staking.
Tarusha Mittal, COO and co-founder, OroPocket and UniFarm, said NFTs and gaming were trending at the moment thanks to various influencers and celebrities joining in the NFT revolution. “I feel that the sudden surge is driven by the fear of missing out and people are lapping up the opportunity as it comes. Considering the market volatility, it is best to take out profits and only invest what you can afford to lose.”
Why is KokoSwap migrating?
Ethereum as a blockchain has been one of the most popular and top-notch platforms, but it has congestion issues and high gas fees have caused a gradual shift away from the network. Not only KokoSwap, a number of projects are seeking alternatives to the Ethereum blockchain owing to its slow transaction speed and high charges.
Sohail Merchant, CEO and Founder, PocketBits said that this is a protocol upgrade of KokoSwap from the Ethereum chain (ERC20) to Binance Smart Chain (BSC).
The Balance Smart Chain was launched in 2020.
The KokoSwap platform is a decentralised platform that combines the practices of NFT trading, NFT gaming and crypto trading to create a decentralised and enriching environment.
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TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is hoping its deal with Rogers Communications to allow customers to pay for purchases with smartphones will help it steal clients from banking rivals who must now rush to match the offering.
Canada’s No. 5 bank announced the deal on Tuesday for the so-called “mobile wallets”, which will allow the bank’s credit card customers to make retail payments by tapping their smartphones on a sensor.
The move came a day after Canada’s banking industry published a set of guidelines to support open standards for mobile wallets.
With banks clamoring to offer competing products, CIBC sees value in being the first off the mark. While the service will not be in place until later in the year, CIBC seems to be in the best position to get its mobile wallet off the ground first.
“There’s no doubt we wanted to be early on this, we wanted to be first,” David Williamson, CIBC’s head of retail and business banking, said in an interview.
“We want more clients, and there’s evidence that clients will gravitate to a bank that is innovative or leading.”
Canada’s banks are scrambling to build domestic market share as an expected housing slowdown threatens to put a squeeze on consumer lending volumes, which are the banks’ leading revenue driver.
While CIBC’s larger rivals all have significant international operations to churn out growth, CIBC is more domestically focused.
Williamson noted CIBC was the first Canadian bank to offer mobile banking back in 2010, and said customer take-up of the service has been brisk. He expects a similar rush to mobile wallets and expects customers gained will stick around even when other alternatives emerge.
“The attrition rate for clients who do online banking or mobile banking is much lower, so the loyalty level... is a lot higher,” he said.
David Beattie, an analyst at Moody’s, said offering mobile wallets first would benefit CIBC, but that maintaining the advantage will be a challenge.
“I think that being first mover on mobile wallets would be positive, but transitory, as the industry moves to this next level of payment convenience,” he said. “A sustainable advantage here is unlikely.”
Williamson said he expects to add debit cards to the service at a later date. He said credit cards were the logical starting point due to CIBC’s market-leading market share and because more retailers have credit-card terminals able to scan the phone sensors.
Bank of Montreal, Canada’s No. 4 bank, said it expects to be in the mobile wallet business within 12 to 18 months, while No. 3 lender Bank of Nova Scotia said it will be announcing its plans at the “appropriate time”.
Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank, the country’s two biggest banks, would not comment on their plans to offer their own products.
Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Peter Galloway

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Blue chip conglomerate Aitken Spence PLC reported its interim results to the Colombo Stock Exchange on Monday, showing Rs 3.02 bn as pre-tax profit and Rs 1.95 bn as profit attributable to shareholders for the nine months ended 31st December 2011; an increase of 24 per cent and 20 per cent respectively over the previous year. For the third quarter, the company recorded a growth of 53 per cent in pre-tax profit and a growth of 41 per cent in profit attributable to shareholders to Rs. 1.34 bn and Rs. 819 mn respectively.
The diversified group’s nine-month revenue rose by 15 per cent to Rs. 21.02 bn while the revenue for the third quarter rose by 30 per cent to Rs. 8.06 bn. Earnings per share increased by 20 per cent to Rs. 4.81 for nine-month period while it rose by 41 per cent to 2.02 during the third quarter.
“Our travels, Maldivian resorts, and maritime services sectors contributed considerably to the bottom line. The Group’s port related operation in the African Continent which completed five years of business continued to contribute strongly towards the performance of the Group while the apparel sector successfully surmounted the removal of GSP and having secured strong relationships with customers performed well during the year. The printing sector too performed well and with its continues commitment to quality invested in a new state of the art six colour printing press and an eco friend factory in Mawaramandiya which will be in operation soon.”, said J M S Brito, Deputy Chairman & Managing Director of Aitken Spence PLC.
The Company’s travel arm, the largest inbound operator in the country, which recorded a robust performance during the period under review, is a joint venture with TUI Travel Plc, the world’s largest integrated tourism group. Aitken Spence is amongst five largest resort operators in the Maldives with an internationally-acclaimed chain of resorts under the brand Adaaran. The Group is Sri Lanka’s largest logistics service provider covering the whole gamut of logistics related services including container operations, freight forwarding, maritime services and express.
During the period under review Aitken Spence increased its stake in Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College (Private) Ltd., (CINEC) and now has a significant holding in the country’s largest private sector higher education campus. The Company expects to extend the synergies derived from this affiliation to expand the educational programmes offered by CINEC into other industries that the Group operates in.
Subsequent to the balance sheet date the Company having secured the contract to develop the Colombo South Terminal being the sole bidder in consortium with China Merchants Holdings (International) Company Limited (CMHI), finalised the formalities to sell it’s 30% shareholding in Colombo International Container Terminals Limited (CICT) the project company to CMHI. This sale would realise a capital gain of approximately Rs 630 million to the Group during the year 2011/2012 which will be reflected in the 4th quarter
Aitken Spence in its continuous drive to enhance shareholder value ventured overseas in areas where the group had strong management and operational capabilities. The Group’s power sector successfully bid for and were selected to develop two thermal power plants in Bangladesh on a BOO basis
“With almost 50 functional environmental management systems benchmarked under ISO 14001 across the Group, Aitken Spence is committed manage its impact on the environment systematically. We are pleased to have announced several achievements during the last quarter which will add to our many international and country firsts, in championing sustainable business”, said Deputy Chairman & Managing Director J M S Brito.
Heritance Ahungalla, Sri Lanka’s leading five-star resort, owned and managed by Aitken Spence Hotels was certified for Energy Management System ISO 50001:2011, the first hotel to receive the certification in Sri Lanka. Aitken Spence Hotels’ first hotel property, Neptune Hotel, recently re-opened as Heritance Ayurveda Maha Gedara was the first hotel in the country to enter into a Net Metering Agreement using solar photovoltaic as the renewable energy source. Aitken Spence Cargo, the Freight Forwarding arm of Aitken Spence PLC was awarded ISO 14001: 2004 Environmental Management Systems Certification, the first major freight forwarder in the country to receive the certification.


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In early 2013, a group of Facebook engineers visited Africa to test its mobile app in poor network environments. The results were predictable, and frustrating for Facebook. The app crashed regularly, photos wouldn’t load, and one engineer used his entire data plan simply downloading and updating the app from the app store.
Simply stated: “Our apps basically sucked,” said Jay Parikh, Facebook’s global head of engineering, onstage at the company’s first @Scale engineering conference Monday.
Facebook has since improved its mobile offering dramatically (it even has a blog post about it), and the story about sending engineers to Africa has become a tale of redemption (also in the blog post).
But while Facebook’s mobile offering may be significantly better today than it was even 12 months ago, Parikh doesn’t believe the company, which prides itself on being “mobile-first,” will ever be satisfied.
The reason is mobile is always changing. Networks change. Devices change. And Facebook is tasked with building a product that works for 1.3 billion people regardless of which device or network they’re using. “I don’t think this is ever going to be done,” he said of perfecting Facebook’s mobile offerings. “I don’t think we will ever be happy with it.”
This mindset isn’t unique to Facebook — you’d be hard pressed to find an engineer who says his or her product is perfect — but it does mean that Facebook has plenty left to accomplish. Perfecting its mobile app, or at least getting close, will be important for Facebook on its march to two billion monthly active users.
The majority of those newbies will join from places in the world where the Internet is new (or possibly nonexistent), and it’s also very likely they’ll be joining the social network through a mobile device. It’s one of the reasons Facebook is pushing hard on Internet.org, the company’s initiative to bring wireless Internet access to everyone on the planet. It’s impossible to join Facebook without an Internet connection, after all.
Facebook wants to be ready when new users hit “login” that very first time. That means a product that won’t crash or use up their data plan before they even connect with friends.
Facebook is seeing some quantifiable success from its mobile mission. The social network has over one billion mobile users, and the company recently announced 100 million monthly active users in Africa, meaning half of everyone on the continent with Internet access uses Facebook.
“As more people use Facebook and we continue to grow our engineering team, we have to bring all this together,” said Parikh. “It becomes very natural to slow down. The bigger the organization is, the bigger the product is, the natural tendency in the world is to slow down.”
Facebook has always been good at moving fast, but now it’s ready to live up to its new, less-than-sexy motto unveiled in April: Move fast with stable infra.
It’ll be key to Facebook achieving (near) perfection on mobile.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.


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A report prepared by LegitScript.com for the Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies
In 2016, LegitScript prepared a report for CSIP on the state of the internet pharmacy market, including market trends, challenges, and opportunities. That report found that about 96 percent of websites marketing pharmaceuticals on the open internet — somewhere between 30,000 and 35,000 — failed to adhere to applicable legal requirements. Of those, the vast majority (all but about five percent) were blatantly illegal and unsafe, selling prescription drugs without requiring a prescription.
However, our report also found that the voluntary efforts of internet and payment platforms such as Google, PayPal, and Bing, among other companies, to curb the online promotion of illicit products have disrupted these illicit businesses’ operations, specifically by removing the options of paid advertising and the most common payment methods.
These successes may have pushed illicit drug dealers to the “dark web.” This portion of the internet, which requires specialized software or configurations to access, is built for anonymity and privacy, and as such is the perfect haven for sellers of illicit products.
In response to that increasingly important question, this report provides an overview of the dark web, describes how it is used for illicit drug sales, and identifies key vulnerabilities.


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The triathlon, that took place yesterday at Eccleston Mere, proved a huge success in commemorating the memory of late Rugby League legend and local hero Steve Prescott MBE, who tragically lost his battle to cancer in 2013.
Not one to shy away from a challenge, Team Tecmark joined hundreds of competitors for the gruelling triathlon, taking to the streets, rivers and fields of St Helens to raise money for charity.
Lead by our fearless team leader and account manager, Aj Mussell, the Tecmark trio swam, cycled and ran their way through the course to raise funds and awareness for The Steve Prescott Foundation.
Over the time, Tecmark have raised a total of over £10,000 for the charity, which will go in helping everyone battling cancer.
2016 is a special year for the SPF. The charity, who work closely with the Christie Hospital, have reached a million pounds worth of donations for its nominated charities, the Rugby League Benevolent and the SPF Special Causes Fund.
Thanks to everyone who took part in the triathlon and to everyone who made a donation. You can still donate to The Steve Prescott Foundation; you’ll find more information on its websites: www.steveprescottfoundation.co.uk.
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About the Author
Hana joined us in September 2014 as a content promotion specialist; now she leads our digital PR team and works with clients to increase their brand awareness and media relations.Visit Hana's Page
Having a solid local SEO strategy in place is becoming more and more important for businesses wanting to keep up in an increasingly digital marketplace. The way customers access information and make a purchase is seamless to the point where if they cannot find contact information for your business instantly, they will ultimately choose one […]
The UK high street has undoubtedly never faced such a difficult period in attracting customers. In 2018 alone, House of Fraser, Mothercare, Carpetright, Maplin, Toys R Us, Prezzo and Poundworld have all either gone into administration and had to start shutting stores, or shut down altogether. This makes it all the more important to see […]
A major part of creating or improving on a local search strategy is ensuring your business can be found within online listings when searched for by potential customers. While there are plenty of sources to find information online, by far the most popular is Google, who offer Google My Business as a functional platform for […]


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The Honda CR-V and the Ford Escape are not the only new and exciting crossover redesigns coming for 2012.
Read This Article
Suddenly it's the weekend and you've been so busy you've barely been able to get on to Automotive.com to get your daily fix of all that's happening in the world of autos.
The fourth generation finally arrives.
When it comes to the North American market, Mazda and Alfa Romeo are a natural pair for a partnership.


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Company sees 277 per cent increase in number of feed-in tariff customers, recording pre-tax profits of £1.4m
Renewable energy supplier Good Energy saw its pre-tax profits rise 27 per cent last year to £1.4m, amidst claims its customers were "turning the market upside down" through a massive rise in the number...
Analysis suggests food banks are helping to tackle hunger and avoid emissions equivalent to the annual carbon output of 2.2 million cars
Derelict and vacant land could be used to regenerate towns and cities, while minimising environmental impacts
Service enables transport firms to charge their EVs at the cheapest time of day using 100 per cent renewable electricity
Food retailer teams up with e-cargobikes.com to offer shoppers in central London zero emission grocery deliveries direct to their oor


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Thanks to a minor system update, Android users can now rest a bit easier. Android version 4.4.4 patches an exploitable OpenSSL flaw, making mobile devices much safer from potential security breaches.
Ars Technica gathered a few separate points of data on the update, which Google unveiled very quietly. The new update brings Android's version up to 4.4.4, and goes by the charming, easy-to-remember name of KTU84P.
MORE: 13 Security and Privacy Tips for the Truly Paranoid
Only Google's own Nexus devices have access to the update at present, which Nexus owners can either download from the Google Developers page or wait until it hits their devices automatically within the next few weeks. In our own tests, we found that a Nexus 10 had not yet received the update, and did not find it when we prompted it to search.
Android 4.4.4 addresses a vulnerability in the OpenSSL protocol. In layman's terms, OpenSSL is a common method that websites and programs use to encrypt user information. A security flaw dubbed CVE-2014-0224 was able to exploit a piece of OpenSSL code that allowed it to decrypt user information while it was in transit online between the user and the receiving party. The new Android update will render that particular bug moot.
According to Sascha Prüter, an Android engineer at Google, the update will also address a number of other minor security concerns. Android developers can expect to see an open source version of the code within the next two days.
All in all, 4.4.4 is not the most exciting update you'll ever install on your Android device, but it may help keep you safe when the next big security breach hits. Those who don't have Nexus devices will have to wait, though. Generally, mobile providers wait much longer than Google to provide Android updates, and for older phones, they may not provide updates at all.
Follow Marshall Honorof @marshallhonorofand on Google+. Follow us @tomsguide, on Facebook and on Google+.
Actually, this could not be further from the truth. OEMs implement their own proprietary kernels, so some exploits might be valid for some devices while other devices are immune from same exploits. Google HAD to go up on their own AOSP-based kernel, since it involves a kernel modification. Other manufacturers might not have to do the same, and it would not be the first time that while some devices were vulnerable, others were immune. IMO, 4.4.4 just includes a couple security features ommited from 4.4.3.
Last but not least GPE devices have received any/all applicable updates within a couple weeks from Nexus devices.
Can't really have great expectations from a website that missed the release of 4.4.3 completely, like it never happened (let alone publishing any change-logs or anything pertaining to the subject). If you want to keep up with Android news this is not the best place to be. iOS, however, is extensively covered . To each his/her own.


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If anyone can attest to the value of executing within the first 90 days of joining a new company, it’s Nicholas Colisto, who interviewed more than 100 business peers upon joining Avery Dennison as CIO in early 2018. The consensus from his findings was clear: Staff sought to be more innovative when it came to injecting digital capabilities into the $7.5 billion provider of label technologies and adhesives.
“There was an appetite, ambition and desire to operate more as a digital business,” according to Colisto, who took his cues from reading The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter, the seminal onboarding tome by Michael D. Watkins. “But we knew we couldn’t just sell digital products overnight.”
Read More from This Article: Avery Dennison boosts profits by rolling out DICE


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Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones has urged the Prime Minister to think again about changing Sunday trading hours.
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions today, she quoted Government retail sector champion Kevin Hawkins who described the current laws as "a workable compromise that most people seem satisfied with most of the time".
Ms Jones (left) said: "There's a balance to be kept here - between opening hours for big stores, the rights of small shops and the rights of shop-workers and their families to enjoy family life.
"The current laws are a good compromise that most people agree with. We should stick with them."


text: CNNMoney - Markets Air ball! Nobody's buying expensive sneakers 2017-08-18T11:12:14.000000000-04:00 Foot Locker's disastrous earnings are a bad sign for big sneaker companies Nike and Under Armour. Sales of once popular (and pricey) basketball shoes endorsed by famous athletes like Michael Jordan and Steph Curry are fading. U.K. to food industry: Cut the calories in pizzas and burgers 2017-08-18T10:01:10.000000000-04:00 After cracking down on sugar and salt, the U.K. government is pressing food companies to slash calories in pizzas and burgers to reduce obesity. Airline stocks hit by Spain terror attacks 2017-08-18T09:25:18.000000000-04:00 Read full story for latest details. China clamps down on buying spree in sports, movies and hotels 2017-08-18T08:56:53.000000000-04:00 Bad news for sports teams, movie studios and hotels hoping for a big Chinese cash injection: Beijing is tightening the money spigot. Spain attacks hit stocks; Gap surges; Consumer confidence 2017-08-18T05:25:13.000000000-04:00 Here's what you need to know about the markets before you start your business day. Look out, Amazon: China's Alibaba may soon be bigger 2017-08-17T13:35:13.000000000-04:00 Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba reported strong earnings and sales, lifting its market value closer to Amazon's. Alibaba is benefiting from both solid demand from consumers and businesses who host their sites with Alibaba. Should I invest my emergency savings in the stock market? 2017-08-17T13:09:00.000000000-04:00 Read full story for latest details. Premarket: 4 things to know before the bell 2017-08-17T04:52:32.000000000-04:00 Here's what you need to know about the markets before you start your business day. Stunning rebuke for the CEO president 2017-08-16T20:42:02.000000000-04:00 Read full story for latest details. Fed leader: We're halfway there on interest rate hikes 2017-08-16T16:50:46.000000000-04:00 San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams spoke to CNNMoney Tuesday about the U.S. economy.


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Customers Enjoy The Cricket
The Supply Chain Academy (SCA) and the Uniserve Group, in collaboration with the Institute of Directors (IoD), recently hosted a client networking cricket day for customers at Chelmsford County Cricket Ground.
The West Indies cricket team played a three day match against Essex as they prepared for their three match Test Series against England. Essex named a 12-man squad which included teenage pace bowler Sam Cook.
The all-day event was a great opportunity for Supply Chain Academy customers to meet and network with other directors for potential business whilst watching the cricket, which ended in a draw.
Working in collaboration, the Supply Chain Academy and the IoD Essex Branch are in discussion to jointly deliver global trade themed events, using the SCA as the ‘go-to’ lead on global trade and supply chain disruptions issues.
The next event, which takes place at the Academy’s headquarters (Upminster Court, Essex) and includes dinner, is due to be held on 5th October 2017, when speakers will give the latest update on Brexit negotiations and an opportunity to get ahead with global trade opportunities. Please click here for details and book your place.
The Supply Chain Academy is the only worldwide learning centre that focuses solely on the supply chain; offering high level insight and tuition for executives through our exceptional facilities. The Supply Chain Academy is proud to be part of this collaboration with the IoD.
The IoD has been supporting business leaders since 1903 and are a representative voice for members to government.
For more information about how the Supply Chain Academy can help your business, please email Alex Mortimer (SCA’s Commercial Director) at email@example.com.
The objective of any business is to increase profit year on year, underpinned by a business model that answers the key questions; ‘What will we sell?’, ‘To whom will we sell?’, ‘How will we operate?’ and ‘How do we produce an adequate return for our investors?’ ...
In September 2018, in response to the increasing demand for highly skilled supply chain professionals, the Supply Chain Academy through its training arm, CP Training and in partnership with Leeds Trinity University, started the delivery of the first work-based supply...
The Supply Chain Academy, known for providing high quality supply chain expertise through its education and consultancy has been invited to speak and exhibit at an upcoming event to support SMEs, hosted by both Hertfordshire County Council and Hertfordshire’s Growth...


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Apple Makes Deal With IBM to Bolster Its Enterprise Presence
In a joint press release, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and IBM (NYSE:IBM) announced a partnership to collaborate on mobile tools for enterprise, developing new apps to provide big data and analytics tools for iPhones and iPads.
Under the partnership, the companies will develop more than 100 “industry-specific” iOS apps for businesses in areas like retail, healthcare, banking, travel and transportation, telecommunications, and insurance. IBM will introduce the MobileFirst Platform for iOS, which will integrate cloud services, device management, security, analytics, productivity, and mobile integration, optimized specifically for iOS. Apple will offer business-tailored AppleCare service and support, which will be available to IT departments and users 24/7. And IBM will sell iPhones and iPads, along with new and industry-specific services, to help businesses worldwide more easily buy and manage iOS devices.
The press release notes that the first apps created under the partnership will debut this fall, likely coinciding with the launch of iOS 8, which is expected to offer enhanced productivity, security, and device management. Readers are referred to IBM’s MobileFirst for iOS site and Apple’s iPad in Business site, where Apple notes that the collaboration will also bring more tools for enterprise developers to develop “killer apps” for any industry.
The press release also quoted Apple CEO Tim Cook, who called the partnership a “radical step” for enterprise clients: “iPhone and iPad are the best mobile devices in the world and have transformed the way people work with over 98 percent of the Fortune 500 and over 92 percent of the Global 500 using iOS devices in their business today. For the first time ever we’re putting IBM’s renowned big data analytics at iOS users’ fingertips, which opens up a large market opportunity for Apple. This is a radical step for enterprise and something that only Apple and IBM can deliver.”
As Re/code’s Arik Hesseldahl points out, Apple has never “made much noise” about its enterprise sales, or even dedicated a specific sales force to business customers. In spite of that, the company has gained momentum as a supplier of devices to large companies, and corporate customers deploy thousands of Apple devices among employees and executives. IDC recently reported that iPhones accounted for 82 percent of smartphones used at U.S. corporations and 36 percent in corporations globally, while iPads accounted for 73 percent of tablets used at U.S. corporations and 39 percent globally.
A Piper Jaffray report echoed Cook’s comments on iOS’s high levels of penetration into the enterprise market, but downplayed expectations that the partnership with IBM would represent a significant financial benefit to Apple. The report notes that Piper Jaffray doesn’t expect the partnership “to have a measurable impact on the model given that Apple has already achieved 98% iOS penetration with Fortune 500 companies and 92% penetration with Global 500 companies. While we believe that the partnership could strength [sic] these existing relationships, we believe continued success with the consumer is the most important factor to Apple’s model.”
The report argues that even if half of the Fortune 500 were to purchase 2,000 iPhones and 1,000 iPads in addition to what they had already planned to purchase, the result would be a gain of only “half a percent” to Apple’s 2015 revenue. The profitability of the partnership for Apple is limited not only by the number of corporate customers already using iOS devices, but also by the improvements brought by the services offered in concert with IBM. Piper Jaffray expects functionality to be improved “incrementally,” but notes that the Apple-IBM collaboration “is unlikely to be the make or break factor for a large corporation in utilizing iOS.”
How IBM will benefit from the collaboration is pretty clear: The partnership grants IBM access to a large number of business customers. Almost every enterprise-focused software company, established or startup, develops products compatible with the iPhone and iPad, pointing to Apple’s primacy in the market. And even if Apple won’t see a strong uptick in business as a result of the partnership, the deal with IBM does enable Apple to offer enterprise solutions while focusing its own development power in the consumer market. That could be especially important if the advantage afforded by the IBM partnership is short-lived — if IBM, as Piper Jaffray expects, offers similar solutions to Android users as an alternative to iOS.
Even if Apple, in its position of dominance, doesn’t have a lot to gain statistically from its partnership with IBM, it does stand to benefit as existing and new corporate customers perceive iOS being strengthened by new apps and services. Instead of just providing hardware and software that happen to work well for enterprise, Apple is moving to provide dedicated solutions specifically for businesses. It likely won’t be long until competitors scramble to forge similar enterprise partnerships to offer alternatives.


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Friday, October 25, 2019
The New Generation Phoneography Powerhouse OPPO Reno2 Series Arrives in the Philippines on October 25
October 2019 - PHILIPPINES - OPPO is considered as one of the fastest growing companies in the Philippines. The smartphone giant aims to maintain its strong foothold in the industry by continuously introducing tech-advanced smartphones and expanding its footprint in the premium league through the Reno series. Following the successful launch of the Reno series, is the Reno2 series which is poised as the new phoneography powerhouse. Reno2 retails at PHP28,990 and the Reno2 F retails at PHP19,990. Both are now officially available in all OPPO stores nationwide and through all e-commerce partners starting October 25.
OPPO stands strong with bullish growth in PH
Now reaching its sixth year in the country, OPPO has taken the Philippines by storm in a short period of time. Starting from a humble team of five employees, the smartphone giant is now fueled by the hard work of more than 7,000 employees with more than 6,000 stores nationwide - millions of users across the country.
Additionally, OPPO remarkably achieved strong market presence in the second quarter of 2019 earning 28% market share in the second quarter of 2019, according to leading global technology market analyst firm Canalys.
The brand maintains its momentum towards elevating its products and services, some of which include the following:
The innovations in the customer care services that provided VIP-level experience to all its users, resulting to a 99.6% customer satisfaction score on Q3 of 2019. The recently lauded 1-Hour Flash Fix program that gives customers quick and hassle-free smartphone repair and consultation all in less than one hour; and the recently launched OPPO Service app that helps users get a more convenient service experience within just your fingertips were also launched to create better customer relations experience.
Market Favors the Newest Reno2 Series
OPPO has recently streamlined its latest product roster to best cater to the needs of different consumers: the best-selling, upgraded A Series poised as the mid-range entertainment smartphone for the younger generation; the power tool for creativity the Reno Series, positioned as the premium mid-range smartphone; and the powerhouse of the latest smartphone technologies, the Find Series that is for the high-end market.
The latest to join the roster of OPPO’s Reno series product line, Reno2 series, was built to be the next generation creative tool for aspiring content creators in a highly digital and mobile society. The Reno2 series is built with 48MP Quad Camera setup that is capable of up to 20x Digital Zoom. The Reno2 features Ultra Steady Video, Ultra Dark Mode, Ultra Wide Angle on video and Bokeh Effect on video which is the first of its kind in the industry, and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage that promises smoother user experience.
While the Reno2 F is powered by MediaTek Helio P70 with 8GB of RAM and up to 128GB of internal storage, with a 16MP rising camera module, and the video recording is equipped with Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) for a steadier shot.
Breakthroughs for 2019 and Moving Forward
The brand’s recent achievements are attributed to the many technological and marketing breakthroughs spearheaded by OPPO.
With the goal of expanding its extensive sports and entertainment portfolio, OPPO recently signed a multi-year partnership with Riot Games. This makes OPPO as the exclusive official global smartphone partner for League of Legends Ⓡ Esports international events which will run until the year 2024.
On the technological front, OPPO has recently unveiled its latest “Waterfall Screen” engineering, with the vision to explore ultimate design aesthetics and a seamless visual experience. Similarly, OPPO has also pioneered the Under-screen Camera technology which was unveiled at the last MWC and is set to offer a “true full screen experience”.
OPPO also exhibited its latest achievements in 5G and IoT. The smartphone brand has been working actively with various global network operators to make 5G the new reality. In the latter part of 2019, OPPO is set to unveil a dual-mode 5G smartphone powered by Qualcomm and supports both standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) networks. OPPO has also created IoT products in the hopes of creating an interconnected future. Currently, OPPO has already developed an IoT open platform that connects products from across 20 categories including more than 260 devices from a variety of brands.
This 2019 has proven to be a strong year for OPPO as it has successfully penetrated the premium market segment with the release of the Reno series and unveiled breakthrough technologies. With the release of Reno2 series that’s packed with high quality smartphone videography features, OPPO will surely achieve bigger milestones.
To learn more, visit the website www.oppo.com/ph or check out the official Facebook page at www.fb.com/OPPOPH
OPPO is a leading global smart device brand. Since launching its first smartphone - “Smiley Face” - in 2008, OPPO has been in relentless pursuit of the synergy of aesthetic satisfaction and innovative technology, Today, OPPO provides customers with a wide range of smart devices spearheaded by the Find and Reno series, ColorOS operating system, as well as internet services such as OPPO Cloud and OPPO+. OPPO operates in more than 40 countries and regions, with 6 research institutes and 4 R&D centers worldwide and an international design center in London, OPPO’s more than 40,000 employees are dedicated to creating a better life for customers around the world.


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Speedster and Shooting Brake to join Coupe and Volante
In an era of SUV building, engine downsizing and belt tightening, you don't have to go far to find petrolheads waxing lyrical about the days when supercar manufacturers produced 'proper' cars which sent a shiver down your spine. Well, Aston Martin seems to be on a mission to return us to that era, because on top of the bonkers Vulcan AMR Pro and the game changing Valkyrie, it has now announced that the Vanquish Zagato Coupe is expecting. Yep, there will soon be an entire family of Zagatos! Since the launch of last year's Coupe and the announcement of a matching Volante, our appetites have been whetted by the sight of a Speedster being tested at the Nurburgring. But today comes news that those models will be joined by a Zagato Shooting Brake. Hard to think of three words that sound better together, isn't it?
Now, while the Speedster is due to be revealed at Pebble Beach, all 28 have of course already been sold. However the Shooting Brake, which has only been seen in render form thus far, is due to enter production in 2018, so there's still a chance to flash your Amex Black and secure one of the 99 build slots. Both new models neatly bookend the Zagato line up; the former being a roofless design offering 'raw excitement' whilst keeping the Zagato design ethos intact by creating a representation of the double-bubble roof through the streamlined cowls flowing back from the seats. On the other hand, the Shooting Brake retains that trademark design feature, with the addition of glass inlays. Both make use of the same 600hp V12 found in the Vanquish.
This is the first time a range of Zagato models has been released in the nearly sixty years since the relationship first began with the DB4 GT Zagato. There are 325 cars are to be built in total, 99 each of the Coupe, Volante and Shooting Brake and 28 Speedsters. We wouldn't blame those with deep enough pockets for putting their names down for one of each.
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The next generation chassis and engine formula has been a topic of much debate over the last couple years, and it's only ramped up in recent months since DeltaWing, Swift, Dallara, BAT, and Lola unveiled their proposals. But, since the IZOD IndyCar Series announced the ICONIC Committees decision in mid-July, it's gotten a lot more interesting.
Flashback to Noon on July, 14th at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, location of the 'future strategy' announcement. Packed to it's gills with fans, media, drivers, teams, and league/manufacture representatives, the Toby Theatre at the IMA was also full of anticipation. Once the announcement was finally made, the reactions were all over the board, from overwhelmingly positive to overwhelmingly negative, and everything in between.
One giant piece to the 2012 puzzle are obviously the team owners, and the owners have been very quiet on the situation until more details are released. That was until yesterday, when Speed's Robin Miller published a story on a meeting most of the team owners attended in Sonoma that was devoted to the 2012 decision.
No question that it's not a perfect situation, and additional details need to be unveiled, but at least one team owner is in favor of the new direction the IZOD IndyCar Series is taking, and believes he knows why many of his peers aren't fully supporting the project:
"The majority of them [car owners against the 2012 project] are the ones that were saying all along that the current car needs to be replaced, and were upset when it was pushed from 2011 to 2012. I will have to say that the majority of the owners that are not wanting to get a new car are the ones that invested hundreds of thousands of dollars each into the DeltaWing project. I speculate that this would not have been an issue had the DeltaWing have been selected as the chassis, they would have forced teams to purchase those ugly beasts for quite a bit more than the 2012 Dallara option from the prices I saw. Now that the outcome of the chassis selection did not include the company that those owners invested heavily in, now they want to hold off from purchasing new cars. I think it is guys like these that are doing more harm to the sport than anyone at the Indycar Series, and this type of foolish thinking is exactly why the value of Indycar is not where it needs to be.
Chip [Ganassi], Michael [Andretti] and Roger [Penske] all have the biggest budget of any team (minimum of $8 million per car) and they say they can't afford to spend $600k on new cars in 2012? We all run our teams as a business, and if we know that in 2 years time we will have to make a capital investment of around $600k for new equipment, then we need to manage our businesses such that we can afford to make this investment. $600k would mean having to cut some engineering staff, or mechanics, or not investing in luxury motorcoaches for a season, etc. Let's also remember that the engine lease is expected to go from $935k to about 600k, which means that you have enough savings in the engine lease to roughly purchase one new chassis. This is still a much better climate for chassis than it was in the 80's and 90's when teams were forced to purchase new cars every season, at $250k each. Now, we make a purchase of a chassis and have it for minimum of 3 seasons. Bottom line, teams have to manage their businesses and prepare for a capital expenditure in 2012, they need to make cuts where appropriate to be able to afford new equipment.
I support the Indycar Series and their forward thinking approach to developing a new, fresh, and exciting racing product that we can put on the track. Most importantly, my team needs a good product to go and sell to companies wanting to invest their marketing dollars in my team and the Indycar Series. An old, antiquated, outdated chassis is not going to be exciting for the fans, and thus the sponsors. The Series has an incredible amount of forward momentum in the sports entertainment marketplace, and with many sponsors leaving or greatly reducing their involvement in NASCAR, the Indycar Series is well positioned as a marketing platform with continued growth shown over the past season. A new chassis and look for Indycar will continue to bring excitement and cost effectiveness to the series in the future." - Anonymous team owner


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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — At TennFoold Brewing customers can raise a glass for a good cause.
"So we have a wide range, a good pallet for anyone looking for something very light, up to a stout," said TennFold Brewing partner Bruce Fields.
Their latest brew is called "Resist"— it's a recipe created by displaced Ukrainian brewers.
"Whether it be the Ukrainian atrocities that's going on, or if it's just something in the community where someone just needs something — we always want to be a part of that," Fields said.
Now TennFold head brewer Chad Mueller is bringing the stout to Nashville.
"I think it's easy to feel helpless to do anything and so I was like 'well this is obviously something I can do, and it's something we can do here,'" said Mueller.
The brewery is partnering with East Nashville Beer Works and Fait la Force Brewing Company to offer the stout. For every pint sold, $2 will go to Red Cross humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine.
"It drinks like a really classic stout," said Mueller. "You get a lot of that nice roasted coffee, dark chocolate character out of it. It doesn't sit very heavy, but there is a full body to it- it's got some oomph to it."
It's a simple way for customers to make a big difference, all over a pint of beer.
"Everyone can get behind a good beer," said Mueller. "I think most people can get behind a good cause and it's really easy to bring those things together."
The Resist stout will go on sale at TennFold and East Nashville Beer Works starting Tuesday. Sales will begin at Fait la Force Brewing Company on Wednesday.


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The cryptocurrency heists just keep on coming: Vulcan Forged announced Sunday that 4.5 million PYR was recently stolen from 148 compromised wallets.
Vulcan Forged described itself as "an established non-fungible token (NFT) game studio, marketplace and dApp incubator with 10+ games, a 2,000+ community and top 5 NFT marketplace volume" in the whitepaper (PDF) announcing its PYR token.
PYR's value pales in comparison to other tokens. CoinMarketCap puts its highest price at $46.62 on December 1. It was trading around $30.98 before Vulcan Forged's disclosure; its price has dropped to approximately $22.14 at the time of writing.
148 wallets holding PYR have been compromised. Over 4.5m PYR has been been stolen.While we will replace the PYR taken, our first steps are understanding what’s happened.No words can do much right now, we know that. We’ll keep updated.December 13, 2021
That drop means whoever stole the 4.5 million PYR made off with $99.6 million rather than $139.4 million. (And that's assuming they can offload nearly one-quarter of the token's circulating supply, which CoinMarketCap puts at 18.9 million tokens.)
This haul is much smaller than the $600 million stolen from—and later returned to—Poly Network in October either way. But it comes in pretty close to the more recent theft of $150 million worth of ETH and BSC tokens from BitMart.
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Afroblocks, the national blockchain association of Ghana has specifically warned the central bank of Ghana to refrain from developing the proposed CBDC on the basis of traditionally old methods as it would jeopardize the purpose of the CBDC. According to Afroblocks, the Bank of Ghana has been utilizing the methods which are usually adopted in any financial system.
Bank of Ghana (BOG) has been warned by the national blockchain association of the country, Afroblocks, to carefully proceed with the CBDC project. BOG aims to conduct initial testing of the national CBDC while it is in its development phase. BOG has also revealed recently that it wants to become the first country in the African region to provide for CBDC. However, Afroblocks is concerned that the wish of BOGs could hurt the CBDC project very badly. It has grown concerns that BOG would be testing the CBDC at an early stage which is not needed for the time being.
Afroblocks has suggested to BOG that the CBDC is not developed on the basis of old methods and tools. Instead, it has been done on the basis of modern tools, equipment, and infrastructure. The old methods are for the existing financial system which is currently available in the country. However, the digitalization of a currency requires out-of-the-box thinking and the adoption of unique methods. Omar Majdoub, one of the founders of Afroblocks, stated that BOG should need to work on projects which are decentralized and borderless. He said that if BOG will be able to work on the suggested model, then Ghana’s CBDC project will be a successful one.
Majdoub’s comment came when BOG had earlier revealed its intention to become the African leader in launching the CBDC.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that a fintech company, particularly from Germany, Gisecke Devrient, has been engaged by the BOG. This company has been assigned the task of testing Ghana’s under-development CBDC. In fact, whatever technical assistance and solutions are required for the successful testing of CBDC, will be rendered by this German company.
On the other hand, Majdoub has suggested that he has failed to understand why Afroblocks have been sidelined. He said that being an association of the digital currency industry, BOG should have consulted with it. However, since the inception of the CBDC project, Afroblocks haven’t been taken into confidence by the BOG. He commented that being an essential part of Ghana’s digital market, Afroblocks should have been taken on board. However, Afroblocks had never been told by BOG about the progress of the undergoing project. In fact, all the information with regard to Ghana’s CBDC was taken from the print and electronic media, told Majdoub.
He urged the BOG to utilize their expertise and knowledge for which the association is willing to contribute voluntarily.


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PARIS • The coronavirus crisis has weighed heavily on print newspapers already battling for survival around the world, with the number of copies sold tumbling while less profitable digital readerships surge.
Simply delivering printed papers to the shops – or having customers come in to buy them – has become a challenge, worsening a years-long decline in sales and advertising revenue.
“Consumption of printed newspapers has fallen as lockdowns undermine physical distribution, almost certainly accelerating the shift to an all-digital future,” the Reuters Institute’s 2020 annual report said.
Major dailies in Brazil and Mexico have already switched to online-only or dropped some days’ editions, while in the Philippines, 10 of the 70 newspapers in the PPI association have shuttered.
“Times are hard. There are no advertisers and no one is reading us,” PPI executive director Ariel Sebellino told AFP.
The archipelago nation’s small local newspapers were hardest hit during lockdown as street sales tumbled. “The industry is under siege and we’ve all taken bruises,” Mr Sebellino said.
Far from affecting only journalists, the disappearance of print papers deals out pain all along the production chain, taking in printers, paper makers and delivery people.
Major British media brands could boast of 6.6 million new online readers in the first quarter, in what their industry association said was a new record.
But most have not seen the same bounce in print sales.
The coronavirus has become “the greatest threat to the global news industry since the 2008 economic crash”, wrote industry publication Press Gazette – which itself went online-only in 2013.
Between 2005 and 2018, some 250 local papers closed across Britain, while today, one in three journalists’ jobs is believed to be under threat.
The picture is similar in the United States, where dozens of papers have closed or merged with local competitors. Between 2008 and last year, half of all workers in American newspapers lost their jobs, according to a Pew Institute count.
Around the world, audiences have melted away for the free sheets once handed out in busy urban centres. Unable to count on funding from advertisers, some have paused publication, including Metro and Destak in Brazil, and 20 Minutes in France.
With Germany’s ageing population used to holding a paper in their hands, the country’s newspaper publishers “were all making money before the coronavirus crisis, even if circulation figures kept falling”, said Mr Frank Uberall, president of the DJV journalists’ federation.
“Things are different now,” he said, but added that text journalism still has good days ahead. “Old people, in particular, are far from adopting digital technologies en masse.”
“Printing is expensive,” said Mr Gilles Dechamps, head of a printing company in northern Paris, but he argues that “it’s important for readers and for advertisers to have the landmark” of a printed paper.
Despite efforts like cutting their size to save paper or investing in the Web over the past 30 years, few papers have found the winning formula to make money from 21st-century journalism.
“Even in the smallest markets, Facebook and Google siphon three-quarters of the digital revenue,” said Ms Penelope Abernathy, a former Wall Street Journal and New York Times vice-president who now teaches media economics at the University of North Carolina.
“That leaves all other legacy media fighting for the digital scraps.”


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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was the only tech executive at Wednesday’s antitrust hearing who unequivocally said China is stealing technology from American companies.
“I think it’s well documented that the Chinese government steals technology from American companies,” the 36-year-old Silicon Valley executive said after Rep. Greg Steube asked him if China is stealing from U.S. technology companies. The Florida Republican posed the same question to CEOs Tim Cook of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Sundar Pichai of Google. Read More
They command corporations with gold-plated brands, millions or even billions of customers, and a combined value greater than the entire German economy. One of them is the world’s richest individual; another is the fourth-ranked billionaire. Their industry has transformed society, linked people around the globe, mined and commercialized users’ personal data, and infuriated critics on both the left and right over speech. Read More
President Donald Trump said Sunday that Apple CEO Tim Cook told him paying economic tariffs would make it difficult for his company to compete with the likes of Samsung. Read More
President Donald Trump said Friday on Twitter that Apple will “not be given Tariff wavers” for product parts made in China. Read More


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Bausch Health in Canada is recalling all current lots of Emerade epinephrine auto-injectors due to the risk of mechanical failure.
Health Canada, the government health agency, announced on May 5 the company’s recall of Emerade auto-injectors in 0.3 mg and 0.5 mg strengths. The agency noted that “testing by the company identified the potential risk that the auto-injector may fail to activate, or it may activate prematurely if dropped.”
Then on May 9, the U.K.’s Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) also recalled the Emerade epinephrine injectors for the British population. The MHRA cited the same possible device risks. In the U.K., the Emerade pens are sold as 300 or 500 microgram strengths.
Health Canada stressed the importance of the recall to patients who are at risk for serious reactions. “Failure of the auto-injector to activate may result in patients not receiving the required dose of epinephrine, leading to the worsening of symptoms of anaphylaxis which could be life-threatening,” it said in a statement.
What to Do if You Own an Emerade?
In Canada, Health Canada says to:
• Contact the pharmacy where you bought your Emerade devices. Request a set of replacement epinephrine auto-injectors, as soon as possible. Ensure you understand how a different device works. (In Canada, Allerject, known as Auvi-Q in the U.S., and EpiPen epinephrine injectors are widely available.)
• Keep your Emerade auto-injectors until you can get the alternative brand devices.
• In case of anaphylaxis before you can pick up your new injectors, “use the Emerade device.” The agency says to then seek emergency medical attention.
• Contact Bausch Health, Canada if you have recall questions. Phone 1-800-361-4261 or email [email protected].
In Britain, the MHRA gave similar replacement advice to patients who own Emerade auto-injectors. However, as a prescription is required, those patients will need to contact their doctors for a new prescription before contacting their pharmacy. Read more here.
Health Canada does not anticipate any shortage of other epinephrine devices. It says: “the Department will continue to actively monitor the supply situation.” The MHRA’s chief safety officer says the U.K. government “has confirmed that there are appropriate supplies of EpiPen or Jext adrenaline pens available for patients across the U.K.”
Bausch Health introduced the Emerade auto-injector in Canada in 2020. It is known in Canada and in Europe for the higher dose 0.5 mg epinephrine strength.
See Health Canada’s May 2023 recall announcement here. MHRA’s U.K. statement is here.


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Google Glass creator headed to Amazon
In his blog post, Parviz said he's "super excited" to be headed to Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN).
"I founded and led a few efforts at Google (among them, Google Glass and Google Contact Lenses are public so far :) prior to moving to Amazon and work on a few other things now..." he said in his blog.
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First online art exhibition underway
The first online art exhibition in Namibia, ‘Art-with-A-Heart’, which started on 1 September, is well on its way to becoming a major annual showcase for artists around the country to display a wide variety of works, without being confined to one venue and limited exhibits.
Art lovers are now spoiled for choice, and viewers visiting this website are in for a feast of 41 brilliant paintings, as well as dozens of pieces of ceramics, pottery and photography. Artists participating in this first time platform are from around the country, and have joined forces to help raise funds towards the Have-A-Heart (HAH) Spay and Neuter Clinic in Outjo, for the benefit of township animals.
The mastermind of this online art exhibition is Outjo artist and animal activist Lindie Prinsloo.
She has combined her graphic design expertise to set up the ‘Art-With-A-Heart’ website, together with her fund raising abilities for the HAH project, which has become a national sterilization campaign for animals living with families without adequate pet care resources.
She told the Windhoek Observer this week that every exhibitor has donated at least one of their works for the cause, and that the online exhibition is supported by artists who care about animal welfare in Namibia.
Profits from this exhibition will go directly to the Have-a-Heart Spay and Neuter Clinic in Outjo.
Prinsloo is hoping to raise at least N$20 000, which will be used towards developing the recently renovated animal clinic into a permanent facility, plus fitting it with the required veterinary equipment.
“I am hoping this online exhibition trend is going to catch fire, and want to turn this into an annual event every September,” said Prinsloo, who is the founder and CEO of the HAH Project which she started in Outjo in 2012.
The project has to date sterilised over 3,000 township animals, for owners who would otherwise not have been able to afford a veterinary care for their pets.
Participating artists include some big names such as Nicky Marais, Anita Roux, Betsy van Rensburg, Heidi Louw, Lukas Amakali, Sonia Bergh, Wilma de Bruin, Betsy van Rensburg and Lindie Prinsloo herself.
Already eight pieces have been sold with one oil painting fetching N$6 500. Interest is said to be picking up daily.
All information as well as full colour illustrations of each piece of art up for grabs can be found on www.art-with-a-heart.com. The exhibition runs until 30 September. township animals.


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Northern India International Trade Fair 2009 held in LudhianaJune 20th, 2009 - 5:51 pm ICT by ANI
By Karan Kapoor
Ludhiana, June 20 (ANI): A large number of people in Ludhiana recently got an opportunity to appreciate the artefacts of Pakistan displayed during the Northern India International Trade Fair 2009.
The week-long trade fair was an initiative to improve trade relations between India and Pakistan. It provided an opportunity to 36 members of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry to set up their stalls and showcase their products.
Pure embroidered cotton suits, handloom and the world famous traditional `Kasuri Jutti’ were on display during the fair.
Most of the Pakistani exporters, who brought special embroidered clothes from across the border already have good client base in India. But the fair helped in better interactions with Indian clients.
“The embroidery of Multan is well-known. Multan is considered the home of embroidery and all sorts of embroidery work is done there. We have a collection of handwork, threadwork, Kota work and Kamdani. We have tried to bring almost all sorts of embroidered suits from the region,” said Sabeen, one of the exhibitors.
“Such fairs definitely bridge the gap between countries. If they come here and we cross over to the other side that for sure will reduce the gap. The Government should understand that this is the best way to lessen differences. The local public too enjoys the flavours of the fair,” said Arpana Agarwal, a visitor.
Meanwhile, other major attraction of the fair was Onyx marble, which is exclusively available in Pakistan.
The success of Indo-Pak trade fair helps give a fillip to trade between two neighbours, particularly in the context of a recent study that indicated a downturn trend.
According to a survey by Federation of Indian Chambers of Industry and Commerce (FICCI), cross-border trade between India and Pakistan is likely to witness a 60 per cent decline in fiscal 2009-10 as a result of deteriorating Indo-Pak relations after the terror attacks in India.
“The government took a very good step. I came especially when I heard that Pakistan is coming to the fair. I came to know about Pakistani culture and other things, which are famous there. The onyx pieces and showpieces are very attractive which I am seeing for the first time. Such things are not available in Ludhiana,” said Sunil Kumar, a visitor.
“Whenever there is any conflict between the countries it has a direct impact on the business. India and Pakistan should be natural partners; India is better in some fields whereas Pakistan is better in others. We should encourage cross-border trade without depending on other countries but for this to happen the differences should end,” said
Tanveer Ahmed Sheikh, former president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
The key sectors in India-Pakistan bilateral trade included textiles and clothing, cotton, agricultural products, steel and chemicals.
Such fairs provide a hope that better relations between both countries will give a boost to business as well. (ANI)
- Week-long Indo-Pak trade fair begins at Ludhiana - Jun 11, 2009
- India's commerce secretary to visit Pakistan next week - Apr 21, 2011
- India takes over presidency of Saarc business chamber - Jan 23, 2012
- Bangladeshi prisoners embroider a new life in Jammu jail (Feature) - May 10, 2012
- India urged to expand border trade with China - Jul 27, 2012
- India may allow Pakistani investments - Feb 16, 2012
- Pakistani businessmen upbeat on MFN - Nov 17, 2011
- Amritsar looks at trade revival - with Pakistani help - Dec 20, 2010
- India, Bangladesh cross-border trade looking up - Dec 02, 2010
- Pakistan seeks India's help at WTO - Jul 05, 2011
- India, Pakistan to dismantle trade barriers (Round-up) - Feb 13, 2012
- 'Made in Pakistan Expo' in Mumbai - Aug 30, 2012
- CII looking forward to meeting between Indo-Pak Commerce Secretaries - Apr 25, 2011
- 60 percent fall in Indo-Pak trade post Mumbai terror attacks: FICCI - Mar 10, 2009
- 'Small negative list can take India-Pakistan trade to $6 bn' - Dec 16, 2011
Tags: border trade, chambers of commerce, chambers of commerce and industry, embroidery work, ficci, fillip, handloom, india and pakistan, india international, indian chambers, indian clients, karan kapoor, kasuri, ludhiana, multan, northern india, pak trade, pakistan chambers, pakistani exporters, sabeen


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With the evolution of the internet and the popularisation of smartphones, the retail industry has seen a massive shift in the way consumers pay for goods.
While contactless payments aren’t exactly new, there continues to be interesting innovations in the space. And with it being possible to stick an NFC chip in pretty much anything these days, 2019 could be the year that we see a drastic change in the way we hand over our hard earned cash.
Perhaps I’m just old, but it didn’t feel like it was too long ago that paying with card instead of cash was a novelty. Today, you’d be surprised to walk into any high street retailer and be told they don’t accept plastic. And in addition to credit and debit cards, paying with smartphones and smartwatches have also become the norm.
According to a report from Zion Market Research, the global mobile payment technology market was valued at around $123.5 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach approximately $3,371.6 billion by 2024. This massive jump outlines just how fast-paced the mobile payments industry is moving, so it’s no surprise that we’re now starting to see some futuristic examples of innovation in this area.
One payment-related story that caught my eye towards the end of 2018 was a partnership between Costa Coffee and Barclays to produce the “Clever Cup”. This smart device harnesses contactless payment technology and uses it to turn customers’ reusable coffee cups into a “fast and convenient way to pay”.
Powered by bPay by Barclaycard technology, Clever Cup users can track their spending, top up their balance, and take control to block or cancel the contactless payment element online or using the dedicated iOS and Android bPay app.
Sold in packaging made from recycled coffee cups, the Clever Cup features a silicon base and contactless chip, which is detachable for ease of washing.
“Contactless technology has become increasingly prominent in our daily lives and through the launch of the new Costa/Barclaycard Clever Cup we hope to appeal to those tech-savvy customers to help facilitate and drive environmentally friendly behaviour,” says Jason Cotta, managing director at Costa Coffee.
Although this may seem a bit out of the realm of IT and tech retail, the technology within the cup can actually be used wherever customers see the contactless symbol and not just Costa Coffee stores. And as Barclays’ head of sales and partnerships, Rob Morgan, explains, this simple idea could be replicated an a number of different ways.
“Today’s shoppers are looking for seamless and ‘to hand’ ways to pay. Our wearable chip technology allows almost any accessory to be transformed into a smart payment device, unlocking the benefits of speed and ease in everyday purchases,” he says.
It looks like the retail and payments sectors aren’t stopping at just making various physical objects credit card replacements though, as smart checkout technology looks go to one step further in a bid to compete with the ease of online shopping.
Retail giant Amazon has a number of Go stores in the US which have no lines and no checkouts. Instead, the ceiling of the store has multiple cameras and the shelves have weight sensors, so when a customer takes an item off the shelf, it will be added to the person’s virtual cart. If a customer places an item back on the shelf, it is automatically taken back out of their cart.
The card attached to their account is automatically billed when they leave the store, and the Amazon Go app also allows customers to add spouses and children to their account so anything taken from the store can be charged correctly.
Amazon is reportedly eyeing up London’s West End as the location of its first Go store in the UK and is planning to open as many as 3,000 stores across the globe by 2021. But aside from Amazon’s plans for futuristic supermarkets, is the rest of the retail world really interested in making their stores truly contactless?
If Juniper Research’s latest report about future in-store tech is anything to go by, not only are retailers getting on board, but consumers are willing to adjust their habits too.
The company forecasts that retail spend at frictionless payment stores like Amazon Go will grow from an estimated $253 million in 2018 to over $45 billion by 2023.
The new report also found that self-scanning apps, an alternative to ‘Just Walk Out’ technologies, will be used by over 32 million shoppers by 2023, driving higher engagement.
While WiFi will continue to remain the biggest engagement point for customers, Juniper expects smart checkout apps to act as gateways to technologies like Bluetooth beacons and augmented reality.
The research found that customer service is a key area for in-store innovation, with retailers experimenting with automated handling of customer queries. It predicts that voice assistants and in-store robots will support this in 2023, with robots generating over $20 million in revenue for their manufacturers.
Early leaders here include Softbank’s Pepper, Bossa Nova Robotics’ shelf-scanning, and Lowe’s customer service robots, says Juniper.
“Many of these technologies can bring multiple benefits to retailers,” explains research author James Moar. “For example, Robots and RFID can be used in both customer service and inventory management; making both elements of in-store retail more efficient.”
On the subject of futuristic retail tech, at a recent webinar hosted by cloud company UKFast, Simon Wharton, director of business strategy at eCommerce agency PushON, noted how augmented reality could bring a new lease of life to our high streets in 2019, and presents the opportunity for retailers to expand their reach both online and offline.
“Retailers have the chance to create a shopping journey that is thoroughly experiential, where you visit a store as more of a social event to experience products through augmented reality and omni-channel technology,” said Wharton.
“As we head into a new year, it is clear that providing a high standard of customer experience and seamless user journeys remain the key focus for online retail strategies moving forward.
“The online marketplace is flourishing and UK businesses must find new ways to take advantage of this environment that is filled with opportunity.”
While it remains to be seen whether these types of tech will truly affect the way consumers shop on a large scale, if the current state of the high street is any indication, retailers must ensure that whatever they decided to do – whether it’s clever coffee cups, smart shelves, or AR – it keeps their brand fresh in the minds of today’s savvy shoppers.
The PCR Awards 2019 take place on 6th March at The Brewery, London. Buy your tickets here.


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Apple says it is phasing out tracking software
Apple Inc. AAPL -0.13% said it is phasing out use of a diagnostic program from Carrier IQ Inc. that has raised concerns about privacy, following research reports claiming some smartphones record and share extensive personal information.
The Cupertino, Calif., company said it had stopped supporting Carrier IQ in most of its products when they were upgraded to the iOS 5 mobile operating system, which was released two months ago alongside the iPhone 4S. Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris added that the consumer electronics giant plans to “remove it completely” in a future software update.
The controversy over Carrier IQ comes as consumers and security researchers have become increasingly conscious of how and when personal information is collected by products and services they use. A video, posted to Google Inc.’s (GOOG) YouTube video-sharing site, has described software from Carrier IQ being used to track button presses and text messages on a phone made by HTC Corp. (HTCXF, 2498.TW) running Google’s Android mobile operating system.
HTC said Carrier IQ’s software is required by “a number of U.S. carriers,” and that it isn’t a customer or partner of the firm. HTC also said it doesn’t receive any data from the company or the carriers that partner with Carrier IQ. The company declined to comment about whether it uses any other diagnostic tools.
Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Carrier IQ directed inquiries to a statement on its website that said the software it makes is used to monitor and improve device performance, not to collect personal information.
Apple said its customers must opt in to sharing diagnostic data about how their devices are used. Any data Apple collects are anonymous and encrypted as well. “We never recorded keystrokes, messages or any other personal information for diagnostic data and have no plans to ever do so,” Apple’s Kerris said.


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Dell has posted healthy third-quarter results, thanks in part to renewed enterprise spending as the world recovers from recession.
Large enterprise sales rose by 27 per cent to $4.3bn (£2.6bn) over the three-month period, while SME revenues reached $3.7bn (£2.3bn).
Dell said in its Q3 earnings statement that the introduction of new PowerEdge servers, PowerVault storage and PowerConnect networking solutions had contributed to a 40 per cent increase in operating income to $391m (£244m).
Consumer revenues grew four per cent to $3bn (£1.8bn), while public sector sales rose to $4.4bn (£2.7bn).
Dell chairman and chief executive Michael Dell put the successful quarter down to the breadth of the company's offerings.
"Our strong results demonstrate that we are listening to customers and delivering what they want," he said.
"It validates our strategy to offer choice and efficiency at every level of the IT enterprise computing stack, and we are more focused than ever on being a true partner, not merely a provider, to our customers. Dell is growing in the right areas, and I am very excited about our momentum."
Dell has not had a trouble-free year, however. Earlier in 2010 it was suggested that Michael Dell wanted to buy back the firm he set up because he was frustrated with some areas of its business.
Dell chief financial officer Brian Gladden said earlier this month that the company is considering its options, and that "we have lots of cash on hand".
"We talk about everything from keeping everything the same, to doing a bigger and broader buyback while still keeping the company public, all the way to doing a leveraged buyout and taking the company private with Michael Dell as the primary shareholder."
Gladden described Dell as a company undergoing change, a statement backed up by its entry into the tablet market.
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Press Release – NZ Beef and Lamb
New Zealand red meat sector welcomes entry into force of Economic Cooperation Agreement with Taiwan21 November 2013
New Zealand red meat sector welcomes entry into force of Economic Cooperation Agreement with Taiwan
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) and the Meat Industry Association (MIA) welcome the announcement that the Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECA) between New Zealand and Taiwan will soon come into effect.
The Agreement, which was signed in July, will commence on 1 December, the government announced earlier today.
“All tariffs on beef exports will be gone by 2015 and for sheepmeat exports the tariffs will be eliminated by 2017. This is an excellent result,” Beef + Lamb New Zealand Chief Executive, Dr Scott Champion said.
The ECA also includes mechanisms to address any technical or non-tariff barriers that have the potential to restrict New Zealand export opportunities.
“This Agreement will make New Zealand’s red meat exports more competitive in what is already the sector’s eighth-largest export market, and it also complements New Zealand’s existing free trade agreements with China and Hong Kong,” Champion said.
New Zealand’s $208 million of sheep and beef product exports to Taiwan in 2012 incurred around $18 million in tariffs.
MIA Chairman Bill Falconer said Taiwan is a key market for the New Zealand sheep and beef sector, with red meat consumption steadily increasing there over the past decade.
“Taiwan is an important beef market, being our third largest by value (NZ$134 million) and fourth by volume (19,647 tonnes) in 2012. Taiwan is New Zealand’s largest market for primary beef cuts, with New Zealand beef being well received because of its grass-fed origin and superior nutritional benefits.
“Demand for New Zealand sheepmeat is also strong in Taiwan, with New Zealand exporting NZ$52 million (9,510 tonnes) of sheepmeat in 2012. New Zealand exports predominantly frozen sheepmeat there and historically that’s included a high proportion of mutton for traditional dishes,” Falconer said.
B+LNZ and MIA represented New Zealand sheepmeat and beef farmers and meat company interests, respectively, alongside government when the agreement was being negotiated. Both organisations support the Government’s current FTA negotiations with other significant trade partners in the Asia-Pacific including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Korea, India and, more recently, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.


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Crypto exchange CoinDCX has revealed how the 1% TDS rule will be implemented on its app. Let us know what CoinDCX has to say in its blog post.
TDS on Crypto from July 1: CoinDCX, one of the largest crypto exchanges in India, recently announced the introduction of 1% TDS rule on crypto transactions through its app. Explain that from July 1, investors will have to pay 1 percent TDS on all crypto transactions. The Government of India has announced that 1% TDS will be applicable from 1st July 2022 on the sale of crypto and other virtual digital assets. In the Union Budget 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that from July 1, TDS of 1% will be levied on payments made for the sale of virtual assets. In addition to 1% TDS, Sitharaman also announced 30% tax on income from transactions of digital virtual assets, including crypto and NFTs.
Stock Market: How is the income tax on the earnings from the stock market, know what are the rules related to it
In an official blog post, CoinDCX has explained how the 1% TDS rule will be implemented on its app. Let us know what CoinDCX has to say in its blog post.
TDS will not be deducted on these transactions
- No TDS will be applicable on Buy, Limit Buy, CIP and Earn orders.
- CIP is an acronym for Crypto Investment Plan offered by CoinDCX. This is also a type of Buy order.
TDS will be applicable on these transactions
- 1% TDS will be deducted on sale and limit sale orders.
- The exchange has said that all users will have to compulsorily complete their KYC process on or before July 1, 2022, to do any transaction on the app.
- 1% TDS can be claimed as refund while filing ITR for the financial year if the income tax deduction payable is less than TS.
- The exchange has said that 1% TDS will be applicable on sale transactions on all crypto assets.
Floating Rate FD: Yes Bank’s special floating rate FD, get more returns in the era of rising rates
The exchange further wrote in its blog post, “TDS will be applicable on every sale transaction on all crypto assets from 1st July 2022. You can view TDS deduction by clicking on the (i) button on the Sell order screen before selling the crypto asset. You can also visit the “Order Details” page to view your TDS deduction in all the transactions. This way, you do not need to pay TDS to withdraw INR from CoinDCX Wallet to your bank account as you have already paid TDS when you sold your crypto and received INR in return in your wallet.”
(Crypto and other virtual digital assets are un-regulated in India. They are considered extremely risky to invest in. Please consult your financial advisor before making any investment decision.)


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Proving that contact center technology is still desirable, Invoca raises $83 million – TechCrunch
Invoca, a platform that uses AI to analyze calls for marketing, sales and customer agent training, today closed an $83 million funding round that values the company at $1.1 billion after financing. Invoca has raised $184 million to date, most of which is being used to support product development focused on Incova’s contact center offerings, international expansion and potential acquisitions, according to CEO Gregg Johnson.
There is evidence to suggest that poor customer service experiences, such as long wait times, can affect revenue. Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to put a strain on call centers in particular, which have had to deal with not just the “new normal” of remote working, but a historic labor shortage. For example, in 2020, T-Mobile was forced to move 12,000 customer service employees from 17 call centers to work-from-home platforms. Last July and August, the company’s annualized attrition rate — a measure of the number of employees leaving in a year — hit 65%, up from around 20% before the pandemic.
Invoca does not claim to solve all these problems. But through services like agent coaching and “automated contact center quality assurance,” the company aims to increase conversion rates, customer satisfaction and service levels in a largely hands-off way. .
“Business-to-consumer (B2C) brands are focused on growing revenue, delivering exceptional customer experiences and reducing churn. And at a time when they’re getting more incoming calls and have fewer qualified reps to handle them, delivering a quality customer experience is vital,” Johnson told TechCrunch in an email interview. “The contact center has re-emerged as a strategic solution and this is increasing investment in technology to modernize the contact center.”
Invoca was founded in 2008 by Colin Kelley, Jason Spievak and Robert Duva in Santa Barbara, California. The founding team worked together at CallWave, a communications company that was eventually acquired by Voice over IP 8×8.
According to Johnson, Kelley, Spievak and Duva foresaw the intersection of two major trends: the shift of advertising and marketing to digital telephony and the Internet. Johnson joined Salesforce in 2016, where he was senior vice president of product management at Marketing Cloud, with a vision to extend the Invoca platform and leverage emerging technologies around AI, natural language and voice.
An IPO was in preparation. But Johnson and the management team ultimately decided the timing wasn’t right.
“Invoca solves a critical problem for businesses – the broken customer experience,” Johnson said. “Invoca’s technology enables revenue teams to better understand the end-to-end consumer shopping experience and immediately act on the insights consumers share through phone conversations. In our case, “revenue teams” include marketers, contact center sales and loyalty teams, as well as digital commerce and customer experience teams. »
Invoca aims to provide “actionable” data from phone calls between sales or service agents and customers in real time. Entirely cloud-based, Invoca acts as a centralized platform that combines AI-based speech analytics, automated call scoring, call routing, and conversational Interactive Voice Response (IVR) capabilities.
Invoca customers get metrics for call handling, call intent, and conversation outcomes, as well as a searchable database of call transcripts and recordings.
“Invoca’s flagship product is used by acquisition marketers from major consumer brands, such as AutoNation, Banner Health, DirecTV, ORKIN, Rogers Communications, Mayo Clinics and University Hospitals,” Johnson said. “Over the past year, Invoca has added AI-powered products for contact center teams to improve customer experience through better quality management, coaching and agent performance. , call routing, conversational IVRs (virtual agents) and unanswered call handling.”
The call center technology market has seen something of a revitalization in recent years as startups and incumbents pursue what is – and will be – a lucrative opportunity. Grand View Research predicts that global contact center software revenue will reach $149.58 billion in 2030, up from $28.09 billion in 2022. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft offer products that automate common contact center tasks. contact and perform analysis on call data. The same goes for new entrants like Replicant, Tenyx, Observe.ai, Loris and Level AI. Earlier this year, Uniphore, which uses AI to suggest actions to service agents, raised $400 million in one of the largest call center technology deals to date.
Johnson says what sets Invoca apart are its machine learning capabilities, particularly its classification systems. The platform can detect call results such as purchases made, appointments set or job applications submitted, he explained, and group conversations into topics based on speech similarities – identifying topics of conversation. appeal (e.g. filing a complaint) and most pronounced words (e.g. “best price”) and possibly pushing and pulling data to/from third-party marketing applications, including Google Ads. For example, a customer e-commerce merchant can see data from Invoca such as their estimated household income, their last web pages viewed, and the number of times they have called.After the call, the retailer can be notified if the caller mentioned or purchased one of its products.
“[We’re] see multi-site chains and large-scale enterprises start using or even doubling up on contact centers so workers can focus on in-person guests,” Johnson said. “The contact center is representative of something much larger: a fundamental element of the company. As a result, Invoca [has seen] a dramatic increase in the number of customers calling businesses, handling more than 337 million calls, or the equivalent of 1.579 billion call minutes.
One of Invoca’s less advertised features is automatic call scoring, which allows customers to set criteria to “quantify agent performance and track script compliance” and “monitor agent performance…against to the basic KPIs”. Although the rating is par for the course when it comes to call center analytics software, the functionality may not be suitable for agents already under pressure due to increased call volumes. A 2021 ExpressVPN survey of 2,000 workers found that employees were dissatisfied with workplace monitoring software, overall, with 43% seeing it as a breach of trust.
Johnson championed automatic call scoring as a way to improve agent performance through teachable moments, also despite the technical challenges inherent in voice recognition. When an agent fails to meet expectations, a manager can step in to review the conversation and provide feedback, he said, which apparently saves time.
“[Invoca] generates huge efficiencies in our customers’ QA process, allowing them to be much more efficient without additional resources,” he continued. “It also helps our customers improve morale and elevate their agent coaching programs by improving access to data and facilitating increased collaboration between agents and their supervisors.”
Customers were not deterred. Johnson said Invoca surpassed $100 million in revenue, with annual recurring revenue reaching $97 million. The company broke even on an EBITDA basis in the last fiscal year (ending January 2022) and plans to grow its workforce by 50 from 380 this year, targeting new customers beyond its main markets from the United States and Canada to Europe and Mexico. , and South America.
Signaling its broader ambitions, in 2020 Invoca expanded with the launch of Invoca Exchange, a portal where businesses can find third-party integrations for applications such as e-commerce and sales. And last year, Invoca made its first acquisition in DialogTech, a startup that creates tools for marketers to analyze incoming phone calls and other contacts.
“As technology company valuations have fallen 50% year-to-date, investors have a critical eye on verified business fundamentals and long-term market potential,” Johnson said. “They are moving away from investing in companies with high vision and back to strong, stable and proven companies. Invoca’s cycle bucks the current trend in tech valuations and validates the strong long-term fundamentals that are driving its business.
Silver Lake Waterman led Invoca’s latest funding round with participation from Upfront Ventures, Accel and HIG Capital.


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A 400 Horsepower Return to Glory? Nissan Debuts the Twin-Turbo 2023 Z
Today, nearly a year after Nissan showed its “Z Proto,” and nearly 13 years after the outgoing 370Z debuted, Nissan has finally unveiled its highly anticipated new Z Car—officially known as the 2023 Nissan Z.
One glance at the car shows a form that’s nearly identical to the prototype version shown last year, with only the most minor differences in the production version.
Like the prototype, the 2023 Z has the unmistakeable Z profile, with a basic roofline and wheelbase similar to the 370Z but front and rear fascias inspired by classic Z models like the S30 240Z and the Z32 300ZX.
The 2023 Z Engine
In the year since the prototype was shown, the biggest question was what’s going to be under the hood of the next generation Z, and now we know. It's a twin-turbocharged 3.0L V6 that makes 400hp and 350 pound feet of torque, and it will be standard in all Zs.
Just as important, the twin turbo V6 will be available with a six-speed manual transmission, something that’s increasingly rare today even in dedicated sports cars. A new, nine-speed automatic will also be available.
The interior is a drastic departure from the plasticky confines of the outgoing Z, featuring both an all-digital instrument display and analog gauges on the dash as a classic Z Car nod.
2023 Z Sport, Performance and Proto Spec
For launch there will be three different grades of the 2023 Z, Sport, Performance and a "Proto Spec" inspired by last year's prototype and limited to just 240 examples.
2023 Nissan Z Pricing
One of the biggest questions about the next generation Z has been its price, and for now Nissan is being quiet about that.
Pricing will be an important, because the new Z will enter a crowded market that includes cars like the Toyota Supra, the the less powerful Toyota GR86 and Subaru BRZ as well as domestic competitors like the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro.
The original 240Z was known for being a performance bargain and during the course of its life the Z bounced around between price ranges—but the potential of 400 horsepower, a manual trans and a lot of heritage could make for lots of interest.
And most of all we are just happy that there’s a new Z at all. Just a couple years ago the ability of Nissan to bring a new sports car to the market seemed questionable, and the 2023 Z could be a welcome return to glory for the popular Japanese brand.
Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the spring of 2022.
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