text:
Of all the day-to-day worries entrepreneurs have, taxes are more of a nagging concern than a constant burden. Something to think about next year, now that April 15 has passed.
Indeed, a recent survey of entrepreneurs (who’ve started a business in the last five years) found that taxes were down the list of challenges. For the entrepreneurs surveyed, more than half said paying taxes was difficult, placing it sixth after challenges like finding funding, becoming more profitable, and staying up on new laws and regulations. Wantrapreneurs’ (people thinking about starting a business) ranked their perceived challenges similarly to entrepreneurs, the biggest being the ability to compete with bigger, established businesses. Yet, as wantrapreneurs perceived challenges with more intensity than entrepreneurs overall, the majority (78%) ranked paying taxes as a top financial concern.
In a time when profitable large companies like Amazon and Netflix have been receiving flack about paying no federal tax, or even receiving rebates, it is easy to understand why startups would be concerned about their ability to compete. But, the reality is, for the average entrepreneur, trying to compete with corporations on tax avoidance is probably a waste of time.
Nancy McCullough, founder and CEO of e2E, a company providing virtual human resources and finance services and strategy to other growing companies, said that there are both philosophical and practical considerations when it comes to taxes.
"I'm not a big fan of trying to fight the tax battle," she said. "I mean, I get it. Especially, at the rates that you pay in. So, certainly look for ways to try to save the taxes, but don't go overboard. Sometimes I think folks tend to get so involved in the tax piece, that they miss sight of just running a profitable excellent business," she said.
Visit Kauffman FastTrac for the answers to three commonly asked questions by entrepreneurs.
For McCullough, taxes are part of the consideration that figures into one of the first decisions a new company should make, which is what type of entity to form: an LLC, an S Corporation, or a C Corporation. So, while an S Corps has certain tax advantages, such as the elimination of double-taxing of income and taxes only needing to be filed annually instead of quarterly, it puts a limit on the number of shareholders. A C Corps may have more prestige and unlimited growth potential compared to S Corps and LLCs, but faces much more complex regulation and taxation.
"In some entity structures, the owners would get paid W-2 wages. So, the taxes are being withheld as you go, but you're still going to have some kind of income at the end of the year that's going to get passed through from the entity, depending on the entity type," she said.
Other entity types are all "pass-through" income, so McCullough said those firms must plan ahead. "You're supposed to be remitting taxes quarterly, and if you don't, there are penalties and fines for not paying the estimated payments on time, or even at the right amounts if you don't estimate them carefully. So, we find a lot of people get caught off guard with that," McCullough said.
Another conversation McCullough likes to have early on, with implication for taxes, is what accounting system to use. With cash basis accounting, income is recorded as it is received and taxes are paid only when payments are in the bank, a simple method attractive to small businesses. With accrual accounting, taxes are paid based on invoices sent out, thus potentially impacting the year in which those taxes are due. Accrual accounting, while more complex, is used by more businesses because of the more realistic picture it gives of the longer-term viability of the company.
While both the company entity type and the accounting method can be changed later, McCullough said founders can avoid a certain amount of pain and potential financial penalty by making the right choices up front.
Taxes can also be part of the formula when entrepreneurs consider the location from which to operate their business, though McCullough cautions that there are a range of considerations with this decision, also. Entrepreneurs living in the Kansas City area, for example, have a choice of states – Missouri or Kansas – as well as numerous cities to pick from when deciding where to set up shop. For well-established companies, the two states have waged an ongoing "border war," using tax incentives to lure businesses back and forth across the state line. But, for the average startup, taxes alone aren’t going to make that much difference.
"So, legislation changes. The various sort of incentives that are being offered change over time. So, you could put your business in one state, and within a couple of years that benefit is gone, and now it's better to be in the other state because they've put something in place," McCullough said.
"Looking at the whole picture is always important. Where you live, cost of rent, cost of commute if you are the only employee, etc., have to be weighed in with tax rates. There is no use saving 1.2% in taxes if operating costs are 4% higher," she said.
With the rules constantly changing, it can be a challenge for entrepreneurs and people who work with entrepreneurs to stay up on the latest regulations. McCullough cited last year’s Supreme Court ruling on South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., as an example. In that case, online retailer Wayfair argued that it shouldn’t have to pay state sales tax, because it did not have a physical presence, nor staff in South Dakota. The Court ruled in favor of the state, saying that because the company had reached a sales threshold in South Dakota, they need to pay sales tax there – which is now having a ripple that impacts online businesses delivering to many states.
To stay on top of tax and other regulation, McCullough said the bottom line is always to seek out good advice. "And sometimes check with two or three people. That way if you're getting consistent answers, you know you're getting good advice," she said.
The Kauffman survey, "Breaking Barriers: The Voice of Entrepreneurs," was conducted in Fall 2018 on behalf of the Kauffman Foundation by the Global Strategy Group.


text:
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, India’s leading SUV manufacturer, announced today that it will be increasing the prices of its passenger and commercial vehicles by up to 2% and that this increase will be effective from the 1st of January, 2014.
This hike has been caused due to increasing costs of raw materials, inputs and freight prices. Commenting on the price hike, Pravin Shah, the Chief Executive Office of the Automotive Division at Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said, “We have been holding back prices for a while but now it has become necessary to raise them to partly compensate the increase in materials, input and freight costs. As always, Mahindra remains committed to its customers”.
In 2012, Mahindra featured on the Forbes Global 2000 list, a listing of the biggest and most powerful listed companies in the world and in 2013, the Mahindra Group received the Financial Times ‘Boldness in Business’ Award in the ‘Emerging Markets’ category.

domain: news


text:
Brooklyn’s BookCourt Named Best Bookstore in NYC
Although the claim that Brooklyn is the center of the literary universe has been contested in the past, there is no doubt that the second-largest borough in New York City certainly isn’t short of a decent bookstore or two. However, according to The Village Voice, BookCourt is the best.
The family-owned store, which has been in business since 1981, is a firm favorite with readers in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood. Known for the diversity of its inventory and knowledgeable staff, BookCourt has hosted readings and events with some of the biggest names in literature, including Jonathan Franzen, Jennifer Egan, and Emma Straub. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and MacArthur grant recipient Junot Díaz is scheduled to make an appearance at the store next week.
The Voice also cited the lack of elitism found in many independent bookstores as a reason for naming BookCourt as the best of 2012. A recent tweet stating “Considering putting a sign on the register that says: 'I am not judging you for buying 50 Shades of Grey. Please stop looking so ashamed” certainly seems at odds with the common perception of many indie bookstores.
So, Brooklyn-based readers, what do you think? Is BookCourt the best in the borough? What makes an indie bookstore great?
Photo by Malcolm Brown/NYCGo
To leave a comment


text:
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Because of a dwindling oyster population, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is shutting down oyster harvesting in Apalachicola Bay through the end of 2025, dealing a blow to an area that historically produced 90% of the state’s oysters and 10% of the nation’s.
FWC voted unanimously on the closure Wednesday during a virtual meeting. The decision came despite pleas from officials in Panhandle communities to cut the time to three years to protect the local oyster brand and to carve out a western portion of the bay used by locals to gather oysters.
The suspension until Dec. 31, 2025, technically doesn’t go into place until Feb. 1. But commissioners on July 22 directed agency Executive Director Eric Sutton to issue the ban through executive order.
Sutton said Wednesday the suspension could be shortened if efforts to improve the oyster population and revitalize the bay’s collapsed fishery can be done in less than five years.
People in the area are divided between coming up with a long-term plan to save the industry, and allowing it to continue on a limited basis.
“It breaks my heart, man. I’ve watched boats out there my whole life,” said Brandon Martina, who works at Lynn’s Quality Oysters, a bayfront business his family has run since 1971. The business started out as a wholesale oyster-shucking house, but as supplies dwindled, they converted it into a retail seafood shop and restaurant.
But instead of serving Apalachicola oysters, they’re buying them from Texas.
“We went from running tractor-trailer loads to getting maybe eight to 10 bags a day, so we just started doing a hatch shell bar,” he said.
The commission issued an emergency order in July shutting down oyster harvesting on Aug. 1 until it considers the five-year shutdown at Wednesday’s meeting. The industry has struggled for years, in large part due to a drain on freshwater flowing into the bay. Atlanta uses the water upstream as a water supply, and as it has drawn more water, it’s affected the salinity level in the bay that helps oysters thrive.
David Barber owns a wholesale and retail oyster and seafood business in nearby Eastpoint. He’s one of less than a handful of wholesalers in a region that used to have dozens, but now he’s selling Texas oysters.
Still, he thinks a five-year closure is going too far, saying the right conditions could help oyster populations spring back quickly.
“They should listen to the people who work the bay, especially some older guys,” Barber said. “I don’t think nobody in the county is against them closing it for a little while to let them repopulate ... If it takes five years, that’s another thing, but they can do it year by year.”
The sweet, salty, plump mollusks are prized well beyond the region, and tourists have flocked to tiny, lost-in-time Apalachicola — population 2,354 and known to locals as Apalach — to enjoy water views at restaurants that served raw, shucked oysters pulled out of the bay that morning.
The once-booming oyster industry is part of the lifeblood of Apalachicola, a town that has had to reinvent itself over the past two centuries. In the 1830s as the cotton industry grew, the town became the third-largest port on the Gulf of Mexico, trailing only New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama.
Cotton made Apalachicola wealthy, but after the Civil War it turned to a new source of wealth: lumber. When lumber faded, it reinvented itself again and prospered on shrimping and oyster harvesting.
As the seafood industry took a hit, Apalachicola turned to tourism and is now known for it’s 19th- and early 20th-century buildings, quaint independent shops, restaurants, bars and easy-going pace.
Still, the oyster industry provides jobs, leaving many to have to look elsewhere for work. For decades, Apalachicola by far led the state in oyster production, but the decline began about three decades ago and the industry nearly collapsed in 2012.
Shannon Hartsfield used to work the waters, but gave it up eight years ago because of shrinking oyster supplies. He now works with university researchers studying the bay and efforts to help it recover.
“It doesn’t need to reopen until it can sustain 100, 150 families instead of just three or four,” Hartsfield said, recalling the days when the industry was booming. “Shoot, all the way down down beach there were oyster houses, and right now there’s only one. David Barber is the only one that’s even got a shucking house in Eastpoint, and there’s only two in Apalach. That’s crazy. Between Apalach and Eastpoint there were probably over 60 processing plants.”
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.


text:
The phone is already avaialble for preorder from various retailers.
Apple is all set to launch its iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in India on October 7 - i.e. day after tomorrow on Friday. So if you haven't preordered it yet, don't worry as you can directly purchase the phone from various oneline retailers like Flipkart, Amazon, Tata Cliq etc as well as from offline retailers.
Meanwhile, Tata Cliq today announced Rs 10,000 deferred cashback on HDFC Debit and Credit cards. The offer is valid from October 5,2016 to October 14, 2016.
Talking about the specifications, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are essentially same except that iPhone 7 Plus has a bigger display, dual-camera set up, and 3GB RAM compared to iPhone 7's smaller 4.7 inch display and 2GB RAM. Both the devices sports Apple's latest A10 Fusion chip.
Both the iPhones feature 12 megpixel rear camera with iPhone 7 Plus having an extra 12 megapixel mono chrome sensor with dual-tone LED flash, OIS and f/1.8 aperture. At the front, there is a 7 megapixel f/2.2 aperture camera. Both the devices come in 3 storage models i.e. 32GB, 128GB and 256GB. The Silver, Gold and Rose Gold variant will sell in all the three storage options while the Jet Black color variant will come in only 128GB and 256GB models.
According to previous rumours, Apple was tipped to introduce iPhone 8 next year given the iPhone series will complete 10 years next year.
Apple officials on Tuesday met senior government to discuss the possibility of opening company-owned retail store in the country.
With the growing number of users (mainly from China) facing 'battery gate' issue on their iPhone 6s, Apple has finally gone on record and admitted that the device does have a problem.
Apple had introduced its new wireless AirPods at the time of iPhone launch and was supposed to start its shipping in the month of October.
As of now, the individual subscription plan for Apple Music in India is Rs 120 per month but with the Student Subscription Plan, one can avail it at Rs 60 per month.
Interestingly, Apple already stocked up the variant without the Touch Bar earlier this month.
For this, Apple has reportedly teamed up with LG who has been the exclusive supplier for dual-cameras for the iPhone 7 Plus.
The hardware malfunction in iPhone 6 Plus is called "touch disease".
Tim Cook recently claimed that the company will continue to invest a lot of time, money and efforts.
This repair program is global and the repair is restricted to the place of purchase.


text:
The iPad commands three-quarters of the Australia and New Zealand tablet market, so Apple doesn't have to worry about Android growth rates just yet. Market watcher IDC released its local tablet sales figures this week. The numbers cover Q2. Android tablet shipments into the region went up threefold quarter on quarter, while …
The Electronics chain Dick Smith in New Zealand (and I would assume Australia) is an outlet for Amazon Kindles.
I also suspect some of the lack of non Apple tablet growth in NZ is that we tend to lag a long way behind in getting the Android ones.
- Geek's Guide to Britain INSIDE GCHQ: Welcome to Cheltenham's cottage industry
- Game Theory Is the next-gen console war already One?
- Analysis Spam and the Byzantine Empire: How Bitcoin tech REALLY works
- 'Catastrophic failure' of 3D-printed gun in Oz Police test
- VIDEO Herschel Space Observatory spots galaxies merging


text:
PC Magazine News
Breaking technology news and in-depth analysis from PCMag.com
Updated: 21 hours 56 min ago
If you're looking for post-Thanksgiving deals without leaving your computer screen, click over to eBay after that turkey dinner settles in.
There are a lot of deals for Black Friday. Here's how to find the ones that really are as good as they sound.
The action camera maker is reportedly developing its own line of "multi-rotor helicopters" outfitted with its high-definition cameras.
Microsoft, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo are reportedly on the short list when Google's contract with Apple ends next year.
Privacy watchdogs agreed on a set of guidelines to help implement the "right to be forgotten" around the globe.
Enter a destination into the Lyft app, and you'll only receive ride requests from passengers who are going the same way, with minimal detours.
There will probably be discounts on 10-pound tubs of mayo, but Sam's Club and Costco also have Black Friday tech deals.
Dotcom's lawyers recently stepped down, leaving the German native to represent himself at Thursday's bail hearing.
Who wants some frog eye salad? Google has found the most distinct dishes you're searching for in every state.


text:
Jane Margesson, AARP Maine Communications Director
firstname.lastname@example.org or 207-229-5628
Maine Consumers Unknowingly Putting Their Digital Identities at Risk, Says New Survey
In an Era of Continuous Data Breaches, AARP Maine Seeks to Empower Public with Simple Tips to
Protect Sensitive Personal Information
PORTLAND – As data breach incidents proliferate, a new AARP survey finds that that an alarming number of Maine residents have failed to take the basic precautions against identity fraud. In response, AARP Maine and the AARP Fraud Watch Network have launched a campaign to raise awareness of identity theft risks and educate consumers on how to enhance the safety of their personal information.
Reports of data breaches have become commonplace -- from Equifax one year ago, to Target, to Uber, to Home Depot. According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse there have been more than 2,000 data breaches since 2015, impacting over 7 billion records. And an eye-opening cover story in the September edition of the AARP Bulletin explains how some of this hacked personal information can end up for sale on the Dark Web.
While some security experts say almost all consumers have likely been affected in some manner by a data breach, AARP Maine’s survey shows that many put themselves in even higher jeopardy due to their risky online behavior:
- Password Re-use - Nearly half (47%) of adults have used the same password for more than one online account.
- Bank Account Access - Only 4 in 10 (42%) respondents reported having online access to all of their bank accounts.
- Credit Report - About half of adults (47%) reported that they have experienced fraudulent charges on their credit or debit card, yet very few (22%) have ordered a security freeze on their credit report.
- Digital ID Know-How – 7 of 10 adults (69%) failed a quiz testing their “digital identity IQ”.
“Our survey results indicate that a lot of people may feel overwhelmed, and have just given up,” said Jane Margesson, AARP Maine Communications Director. “Two-thirds of those surveyed said that given the number of data breaches that have occurred, they think it is inevitable that criminals will be able to exploit their credit at some point. But we are emphasizing that there are powerful things you can do to make sure that stolen data can’t be used against you.”
The AARP Fraud Watch Network campaign recommends people take these three steps to protect their digital identity:
- Order a Freeze - Put a security freeze in place with the three credit reporting bureaus so that no one can access your credit file or open a new credit account with your information. Click here for a guide to the process or visit aarp.org/CreditFreeze. Traditionally there has been a fee for placing a freeze on your credit report, the process has been free in the state of Maine since 2015 thanks to legislation endorsed by AARP. In 2018, Congress passed legislation and placing a credit freeze is now free in all states.
- Set up Digital Access - Set up online access to all of your financial accounts – bank accounts, credit cards, 401(k)s, etc. -- and regularly monitor the accounts so you can stay up-to-date on all transactions and recognize any fraudulent activity that may occur.
- Use Separate Passwords - Make sure you use unique passwords for each of your online accounts. That way, if one account is hacked, it does not put your other accounts at risk. A good way to manage all of those unique passwords is to use a digital password manager. These services keep all your passwords secure and help you create different, strong passwords for each of your online accounts.
AARP Maine’s digital identity theft education and awareness campaign consists of online advertising, social media content, online video, a tip sheet, and other assets that consumers can access at www.aarp.org/FraudWatchNetwork.
AARP’s “Digital Identity IQ Quiz,” consisting of eight true-or-false questions, is also available online. Among the quiz results from AARP’s recent polling of Maine residents:
- Approximately half of respondents (53%) were aware that a fraud alert will not prevent their credit file from being shared with potential creditors. A fraud alert does not block potential new credit, but places a comment on your history so that creditors will contact you prior to opening a new account.
- Just a little over half of respondents (53%) know that purchasing ID theft monitoring services does not prevent identity thieves from stealing your identity. Most ID theft monitoring services will notify individuals if someone is attempting to open new credit in their name, however it won’t prevent it from happening.
- Only about half (52%) of respondents know that when it comes to protecting yourself from fraud, a debit card is not as safe as a credit card. Consumers are responsible for no more than $50 of fraudulent charges on a credit card; however, if money is stolen from a bank account through a debit card, there are no protections on that money.
The AARP Fraud Watch Network launched in 2013 as a free resource for people of all ages. Consumers may sign up for “Watchdog Alert” emails that deliver information about scams, or call a free helpline at 877-908-3360 to speak with volunteers trained in fraud counseling. The Fraud Watch Network website provides information about fraud and scams, prevention tips from experts, an interactive scam-tracking map, fun educational quizzes, and video presentations featuring Fraud Watch Network Ambassador Frank Abagnale.
Abagnale, the renowned fraud expert whose personal story was depicted in the hit movie “Catch Me If You Can,” is also host of an AARP weekly podcast series, “ The Perfect Scam,” that launched earlier this year.
To find out more about AARP Maine’s work to combat identity theft and scams in Maine, visit www.aarp.org/me and follow us on Facebook. Each #fraudwatch Wednesday, AARP Maine posts a new scam alert which is shared by law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, consumers and media outlets across the state.
# # #
In July 2018, AARP engaged the GfK Group to conduct a quantitative research study among U.S. residents ages 18 and older. GfK sampled households from its KnowledgePanel®, a probability-based web panel designed to be representative of the United States. From the 3,592 panel members sampled for the national study, 2,076 completed the survey and 2,024 were eligible for the study, yielding a maximum statistical error of ±2.3 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence. The survey was administered, in English and Spanish, from July 6, 2018 through July 23, 2018. The average length of the survey was 13.5 minutes. For more detail on the methodology, see the survey report, “ Up for Grabs: Taking Charge of Your Digital Identity.”
AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence and nearly 38 million members, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @AARP and @AARPadvocates on social media.


text:
For the past five years, we’ve been building CompareTV into a destination you can trust for news, reviews, information and price comparisons in the competitive, cutting-edge fields of high-speed broadband, mobile networks and pay television.
Whether it’s narrowing down the best-value mobile phone plan to exactly suit your needs, finding a streaming service that has the shows and movies that matter to you, or finding the perfect broadband plan as the NBN rollout ramps up, we’ve been keeping you informed.
This week, CompareTV’s rapid growth as a key web destination in tech and new media was acknowledged by the Australian Financial Review, who ranked the company in its prestigious annual Fast 100 list of the fastest growing companies in the country.
Previous names seen in the Australia Financial Review (AFR) Fast 100 list have included now-global brands Atlassian and Lonely Planet, as well as household names like Carman’s, Boost Juice, Seek, WebJet and Herron.
The AFR Fast 100 list calculates the fastest growing Australian companies by revenue for the last 3 years. CompareTV achieved an average year on year growth of 51.8% with revenue for 2017/18 sitting at $2.3m.
“It’s great for raising the business’s profile in a crowded marketplace,” founder and Managing Partner of CompareTV, Oliver Mistry, explains. “It’s a great recognition of all the hard work the team has undertaken over the past 5 years.”
The arrival of CompareTV in the Fast 100 is just the beginning of the growth to come, as we expand our team and our scope to keep you even better informed about the sometimes-confusing worlds of technology, entertainment and communications.
Chris Smith, Managing Partner at CompareTV for the past 18 months after a tenure as Head of Media at Foxtel, has no doubts about the reasons for the rapid growth of the site and company. “The entertainment markets of TV, broadband, mobile, gaming and music that our site content covers are all growing, changing and fragmenting,” he says. “They will always generate consumer interest and research. We need to continue striving towards helping our consumers navigate these categories and find the best products and services for their households.”
The first five years has seen a great many consumers more empowered to choose the best products and services for their needs by CompareTV, where easy-to-understand guides live alongside constantly-updated plans and pricing deals – letting customers make truly informed choices in a busy and often confusing world.
Be sure to keep watching as the CompareTV site expands even further, giving you the info you need about the latest developments in the communication and entertainment worlds that are so much a part of all our lives.


text:
Watch the segment here!
It’s that wonderful time of year when H-E-B rounds up hundreds of Texas’ most creative food products to compete for huge cash prizes in the H-E-B Quest For Texas Best! More than 850 entries were received for this year’s event, and now the 20 finalists will compete next week for gigantic cash prizes and a coveted spot on those grocery shelves. As expected, Austin area competitors are in that final round of the contest with some amazing products. I featured some of their entries this morning on “We are Austin” on KEYE-TV CBS Austin.


text:
Taco Bell drive-thru restaurant planned for Northampton
Northampton's first Taco Bell restaurant would create 30 jobs if given approval by councillors.
That is according to a planning application submitted for land around Kentucky Fried Chicken in Walter Tull Way, opposite Sixfields Stadium.
Plans would also see the expansion of the existing KFC to 56 seats, with the new 68-cover Taco Bell drive-thru sitting alongside it to the north. Taco Bell, which serves Mexican food, is part of the same company that owns KFC.
If given the green light by a Guildhall planning committee, 10 part-time and 20 full-time jobs would be created.
A statement on behalf of Adil Group said parking spaces would be lost and the existing drive-thru design at KFC would have to be revised.
"The KFC drive-thru ‘order’ speaker, ‘pay’ window and ‘pick-up’ window would remain in their current location, but a new drive-thru lane configuration would be provided for the KFC, alongside a new drive thru lane and associated facilities for the Taco Bell unit."
According to a traffic impact assessment, which was carried out by Travis Baker for Adil Group, increases in congestion would be negligible: "The forecasts indicate that the increases in generated traffic flows associated with the proposed extension would [not] be significant.
"The actual impact on the adjacent highway network would be lower still, as significant proportion of trips to the new facility would already be on the network visiting adjacent retail or leisure uses."


text:
Technically Incorrect: Apple's CEO tweets a photo of the Denver Broncos' celebrations, presumably taken with his iPhone. It wasn't a good photo.
Hot on Quirky's heels, Insteon's announcing a new smart outlet with two remote-controllable sockets.
If you're looking for a reliable truck to carry you from the city to the playgrounds of the deserts or mountains, it's tough to beat the 2016 Tacoma. Consumers would be well-served by sampling the six-speed manual as well as the automatic before making a purchase.
Vaio has slashed the cost of its Z Canvas tablet by more than half.
The Audiophiliac compares a $380 stereo audio system with one of the very best sound bars, and even he was surprised by what he heard.
The tech giant was the target of a patent troll, a company that makes money by suing other companies.
The beleaguered CEO of the struggling Internet pioneer delivers a "bold" strategic plan. She is cutting jobs, selling patents and real estate, and inviting would-be acquirers to speak up.
In this edition of Ask Maggie, CNET's Marguerite Reardon offers thoughts on when to get a bargain on a TV and why this year in particular is likely to offer some great deals.
The latest Surface tablet is on sale for $100 off the regular price, while Microsoft's second-generation Band fitness tracker is now $50 less.
Standout Super Bowl moments from Left Shark to botched national anthem lyrics have inspired the Internet to make some of its most iconic memes. We're talking about you, Richard Sherman.


text:
There were clear winners and losers when it came to U.S. imports of denim apparel in the first quarter of the year.
Among the Top 10 suppliers of the category–97 percent of which is jeans–imports from China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia and Lesotho were down in value, while shipments arriving to U.S. ports from Mexico, Vietnam, Egypt, Nicaragua and Indonesia saw increases.
The movement in sourcing strategies comes at a volatile time for U.S. trade, particularly with China, which saw its shipments to the U.S. decline 2.2 percent in the first three months of the year to $183.57 million worth of goods. China’s recent downward pattern as a dominant apparel supplier to the U.S., accelerated by the tariff-based trade dispute with the U.S. and higher costs in the country, has left room for several countries and regions to grow their market share.
“For some time now, many companies in this segment have been moving production of China-made goods destined for the U.S. to other countries such as Vietnam or Cambodia,” a report from Moody’s Investor Services said. “However, as more companies move production to lower-cost countries, capacity constraints may result in higher costs of production in the new countries due to rising demand.”
For example, Moody’s said, PVH Corp. recently disclosed that less than 20 percent, or around 8 percent to 9 percent of its total cost of goods sold for its North American product, is made in China. Three years ago, it was more than 40 percent. Moody’s also said while G-III Apparel sourced roughly 61.5 percent of its fiscal 2019 inventory purchases from China, that number is down from 65.1 percent in fiscal 2018 and 72 percent in fiscal 2017.
Western Hemisphere countries are taking up some of the slack in jeans production. Mexico shipped 15.09 percent more goods to the U.S. in the quarter, for a value of $195.04 million, while imports from Nicaragua grew 21.54 percent to $24.48 million.
Among other Asian suppliers, imports from Vietnam jumped 30.24 percent to $63.94 million in the period and Indonesia’s shipments increased 14.89 percent to $19.82 million. On the downside, imports from Bangladesh fell 1.24 percent in the period to $95.11 million, Pakistan’s shipments were down 0.85 percent to $53.86 million and Cambodia’s dropped 11.71 percent to $20.91 million.
Even African countries had their ups and downs. Imports of denim apparel from Egypt rose 4.23 percent to $34.36 million, while Lesotho’s shipments fell 24.78 percent to $9.49 million. Overall, Sub-Saharan countries are growing from a small base as jeans supplier, with imports up 9 percent to $28.75 million from the region, mostly duty-free under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
These swings came as U.S. jeans imports grew 5.82 percent in the January to March period to a value of $810.07 million. For the 12 months through March, denim apparel imports increased 7.46 percent to $3.9 billion.


text:
Nigeria’s business mogul and third richest man, who cemented his return to Forbes’ African Billionaires List this year since dropping off it in 2015, says he owes his $1.6 billion net worth to being a disruptor – and to being stubborn.
The inside of Abdulsamad Rabiu’s office, on the corner of Churchgate Street, in Victoria Island’s commercial district in the heart of Lagos that is notorious for chaotic, rambunctious traffic, is marked by a serious lack of clutter.
The expansive room is tastefully decorated in cream and black hues. Rabiu’s desk is organized in a manner that seems as though everything is exactly where it should be; completely spotless and devoid of any distractions that will hinder the 58-year-old founder of BUA Group from managing his vast empire, a conglomerate spread across southern and northern Nigeria.
A firm believer in strategy, the cement and sugar tycoon boosted his fortunes by a whopping $650 million this year when he merged Kalambaina Cement, a subsidiary company of his BUA Cement, with the publicly traded Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), where he was a controlling shareholder.
That calculated move has made him the third richest man in Africa’s largest economy, with a staggering net worth of $1.6 billion, according to the latest Forbes African Billionaires List, which he dropped out of.
“Nigerian cement mogul Abdulsamad Rabiu, who runs and owns the BUA Group, returns to the list for the first time since 2015. He merged his Kalambaina Cement firm into publicly-traded Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, which he controlled, in late 2018. Rabiu now owns 97% of the list entity,” Forbes reported.
He says his fall from the coveted list was due to the devaluation of the Naira, which meant that the exchange rate went from N190 against the dollar, to N300.
“That was the main reason I dropped off the rich list. Also, most of our other assets were not being considered because once you are not listed, it becomes more challenging to get an accurate valuation.
“Our assets, in the cement industry alone, are worth more than $2 billion, but that is because Obu Cement [Plant], which is our biggest cement plant, is not listed,” Rabiu says.
His return to the billionaire boys’ club is due to five years of strategic expansion and a much more stable Nigerian economy. However, it is about more than just numbers for Rabiu.
“It is a good feeling to be on the rich list, the most important thing is not about how much money you make, but the impact you make. Touching people’s lives is more important because money is a number. What you need in terms of your day-to-day is not that much.”
One of the secret ingredients to his tremendous success is that Rabiu is a firm believer in delegation.
His phone purrs only occasionally, but this is also because his plants run with clockwork precision in an environment that is chaotic at the best of times.
He has a calm and soft-spoken demeanour, a trait which is, quite frankly, unconventional for someone who has fought his way through hell and high water in business.
“I am quiet but I am very stubborn. If I want something I go for it and if I don’t want it, no matter how much I’m pushed, I don’t do it. If somebody is stubborn, sometimes it’s seen as arrogant but I don’t think I am an arrogant person,” Rabiu says.
It is also immediately clear that he is not a man who rushes into things. He would rather move methodically, with clarity and precision, a skill he picked up in the early days learning the ropes from his industrialist father. Case in point is how he built his empire brick-by-brick from the early days as an importer.
“In 1988, I started my own business and founded BUA International Ltd. At the time, the in-thing was importation of rice, sugar, fertilizer, agriculture etc. So the challenge was that, if there was scarcity of any product, everybody would now go and import the same thing. This pushes the price up and everybody will say the price of fertilizer has doubled, so everyone would now go and import fertilizer and within a short time, the product would now come down to half price and everyone would lose money,” Rabiu says.
He decided to break the mould and instead adopted a value-added approach. He focused on bringing in raw materials to process it locally.
“We started with oil in Kano. We were processing crude palm oil to refine it. We were also getting peanuts from Kano and then crushing and processing, and that was a good business at the time because it was adding value and people were not used to adding value to anything at all. They were importing everything.”
In 2000, BUA acquired Nigeria Oil Mills, which was a peanut processing company in Kano. In 2005, he set up the BUA Flour Mills factory in Lagos. Rabiu saw very early on that he had to be distinctive in a sea of importers who simply followed the trend.
It is this measured philosophy of value that has allowed BUA Group to innovate and expand capacity to about 2 million tons of cement per annum with its new merger. Rabiu says with the consolidation, BUA Group has a market valuation of about $800 million. A far cry from the company’s humble beginnings.
Returning to Kano as a newly-minted graduate with a degree in economics from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, in the United States, a lot had changed while Rabiu was away.
The country was being run by a military leader and there were severe shortages in foreign exchange which made the business of importation extremely difficult. Following his new ethos of adding value to the production line, Rabiu set his eyes on the sugar business by establishing the 2,000 metric ton (MT) per day capacity plant in Lagos which is the second largest refinery in West Africa, after the Dangote Sugar Refinery.
But the BUA story isn’t without its share of trials and tribulations. The fight began in the early years of business, when the Nigerian government introduced the backward integration policy in the sugar business.
“This is where you were allowed to import raw sugar and process into refined sugar and you must have a sugar refinery facility. So, if you have the facility for a sugar refinery, you were able to import sugar and pay a duty of 5% to 10%, while everybody else was importing refined sugar and paying 50% duty,” Rabiu says.
At the time, it was only the Dangote Group that had the refinery facility, so Rabiu decided the lack of saturation made sugar a viable business to go into.
The government’s backward integration policy is a well-known competitive strategy which allows an organization to control more of its supply chain in order to bring down the costs.
It means that a company is allowed to purchase or internally produce segments of its supply chain. This is done to ensure the supply, along with securing bargaining, leverage on vendors.
To take advantage of backward integration, a company needed to have its sugar refinery at the ports in order to import raw materials in bulk, which made having a terminal at the port a prerequisite.
“At that time, everything was owned by [the] Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), so you had to go and lease land from them, together with the storage. This was a huge capital investment, and to make matters worse, there was no land at the time because everything was taken.”
Luckily, Rabiu was able to find a company that had a facility that was not being utilized.
“We paid a lot of money to that company, got all the designs, bought all the equipment, we were about to start the company, then the lease was revoked and we could not go there. This was during the [Olusegun] Obasanjo regime. Most of our money had been spent on getting the land and equipment and they revoked the lease and gave it to somebody else. It took us a year and almost $50 million in cost before we were able to start all over again,” he says.
Incidentally, that site was given to Rabiu by his father. Once they took off, the business worked out so well that they were able to recoup their money within a very short period of time. The sugar venture was a cash cow.
The company was able to reap huge margins due to the difference in duties for imports of raw sugar, and, yet again, Rabiu found validation in his strategic approach to business.
Even in those early days, his penchant for success was apparent. The sugar refinery is still operating at capacity and Rabiu is in the process of commissioning another refinery at Port Harcourt in Nigeria. They say the apple does not fall far from the tree, and this is true for Rabiu.
His father, Isyaku Rabiu, was a renowned businessman, who also made his fortune in trade decades after Nigeria’s independence.
His wealth grew significantly until the 1983 coup which toppled the government and led to the arrests of President Shehu Shagari and his close allies, including Isyaku, leaving his business empire in a precarious state.
But where his father lost his footing in trade, Rabiu was destined to find his in cement. Opportunity came knocking in 2007 when the price of cement was so high that the Nigerian government decided to introduce yet another backward integration in the cement industry.
The idea was simple. You could only import cement into Nigeria, if you had a cement factory. At the time, there were only two multinational organizations in the country with the capacity to build their own cement plant.
Local companies like the Dangote Group and Flour Mills of Nigeria were the only two other companies that had signed contracts to build cement factories in Nigeria.
“Nobody else was allowed. So President [Umaru Musa] Yar’Adua was alarmed that the prices of cement was going up every day and he called for a meeting when the price was $300 per ton. He said it was too much, so what do we do? He was briefed on the reason nobody else could bring cement into Nigeria and told that there was a policy in place that only those building factories could import cement into Nigeria, and we did not have enough capacity in terms of manufacturing to meet Nigerian demand.”
There were only three or four cement plants in Nigeria at the time producing about 4 million MT per annum against what the country needed – almost 10 million MT.
The president ruled that the existing backward integration policy could not be continued and established a committee who came up with the idea that the policy should allow companies outside manufacturers who were building plants, in order to bring prices down.
“So they selected six companies to be able to import cement and we were chosen as one of the six companies,” Rabiu says.
But there was a big challenge.
“How do you import a million tons in a year or even 100,000 tons a month in bags? That will be like five or six cargos a month, to be able to take the bags out and transport them all over the country, so nobody could actually do it.
“The other guys had terminals, which means they were discharging the cement in bulk and taking it to their warehouses and bagging them in the warehouses and they had been in the business for a long time,” Rabiu says.
In order to reap the rewards in the lucrative cement industry, all the new six companies who had been granted licenses needed to secure terminals at the port. But the barriers to entry were significantly high.
Rabiu decided on a disruptive approach. “So I now came up with the idea of the floating terminal. It is like a factory on a vessel, so it moves. It is a big ship with a terminal in the ship. It was an idea I read about a long time ago and I decided to be innovative.”
He approached the only terminal at the time that was free in Greece and agreed on a price.
Fearing the size of the competition, Rabiu knew he needed to get protection for his business, if he stood a chance of competing favorably in the new venture.
“I knew that we had tough competition from the people who had factories and they were not happy with the government giving us the license because they were making so much money they did not want anyone to come into the business.
“So they were doing everything to frustrate it [the process]. I knew that there would be a problem. So before I bought my vessel, I came to Nigeria and sought an appointment to meet the president who granted me an audience and I explained everything to him.”
Rabiu made an impassioned plea to President Yar’Adua — he knew he could drive down the price of cement from $300 per bag to $150 if he had his own terminal.
However, building the terminal would take more than a year to complete, during which time cement prices would continue to rise, which would be detrimental to the Nigerian economy.
A floating terminal meant that the timeline of going to market was significantly reduced but more importantly, without the blessing from the president, the other giants in the industry would muscle him out of the game.
Once approval from the president was secured, Rabiu purchased his floating terminal and was ready to reap in the millions of dollars awaiting him in bags of cement.
It was logistically impossible for Rabiu to set up shop in Lagos. These circumstances pushed him to explore other means through which he could realize his goal. He approached Port Harcourt and this move proved to be fortuitous for him because all the eastern markets were coming to the port as there was nothing in the east.
However, not everything was ideal as he was allowed only one week in a month after which point he had to leave the port, making it difficult to offload his cement.
Rabiu was faced with more hurdles but eventually, was forced to consult the highest authority in the country to explain the barriers he encountered.
It was only after an order from the president that the impediments to Rabiu’s business stopped and, with that, came the growth of the BUA Group, to become one of the leading conglomerates in West Africa. As the monopolists gradually loosened their grips on the cement industry, Rabiu used the opportunity to build capacity. The company has five plants now.
“That experience strengthened my resolve because it was not easy. I never thought I was going to quit. If you don’t fight back or if you are weak, you will never survive. You have to understand that this is not personal but business and you have to keep fighting. When they see that you are fighting and not giving up then they let go because most of these things are illegal anyway,” says Rabiu.
BUA Group steadily expanded to cover new ground. With the new merger, Rabiu has seen an opportunity outside Nigeria’s borders. The demand between Sokoto and Niger through to Burkina Faso is estimated to be about 4 million MT of cement per annum.
Coupled with the fact that these countries are landlocked, there is a need to import all their clinker, the raw material needed for making cement.
His new merger with CCNN will create the second largest cement company on the Nigerian bourse after African mammoth, Dangote Cement.
Rabiu believes in Nigeria’s ability to produce its own products without relying on imports from other countries and in so doing, create tens of thousands of jobs for the Nigerian economy.
As the avenues to expand in Nigeria get limited, BUA Group has consistently sought to broaden its reach to new territories.
The fighting days are long gone and BUA under the aegis of its bold leader is ready to conquer new turf in Africa.


text:
Due to a steering wheel glitch, approximately 841,000 vehicles worldwide are being recalled by Nissan Motor Co.
The automaker will be recalling vehicles in the following regions: Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.
The recall was announced Thursday and will include the automaker's Micra compact car, also known as the March. The Micra models were produced in Britain and Japan between 2002 and 2006
, Retuers reported.
Also included in the recall is the Nissan Cube, which was produced in Japan during the same dates.
Latest: Is Obama in Cover-Up on Benghazi? Vote Here
In a statement filed to the Japanese transport ministry, Nissan stated that the bolt used in the car's steering wheel might not have been adequately tightened, affecting the steering wheel's functionality.
Nissan spokeswoman Noriko Yoneyama said in a statement that no accidents, injuries or deaths have been reported as a result of the steering wheel malfunction.
All recalled automobiles will either have their steering wheel bolts tightened or steering wheels replaced outright by Nissan depending on the severity of the malfunction.
The repair will take approximately 40 minutes, added Yoneyama, who declined to comment on how much the recall will cost Nissan.
This is the second large-scale recall from Japanese automakers in recent weeks.
In late April, 3.4 million Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans, and Mazda's were recalled worldwide for defective airbags
The defect reportedly caused the airbags to deploy with too much pressure.
Similarly, no injuries were reportedly caused by the faulty airbags the various automakers claimed.
The airbags in question were manufactured by Japan-based supplier Takata Corp. according to Toyota spokeswoman Shino Yamada.
The 3.4 million vehicle recall consisted of 1.7 million Toyotas, including the popular Corolla, Matrix and Tundra models, 1.1 million Hondas, 480,000 Nissans, and 45,000 Mazda's.
Urgent: Is Obamacare Hurting Your Wallet? Vote in Poll
Japanese automakers weren't the only car manufacturers affected by the defective airbags.
General Motors also plans to recall approximately 48,000 Pontiac Vibes that were manufactured in the same factory as the Toyota Matrix.
Additionally, Germany's BMW reportedly used the same airbag inflators in some of its cars.
The German automaker says it is in the process of determining which models might have featured the faulty part.
Nissan Recalls SUVs to Fix Brake Problem
Tesla $465 Million Loan Paid Back to Government 9 Years Early
© 2016 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


text:
During the âSpring Loadedâ event in April, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) unveiled new hardware, including new iPad Pros and a new iMac.
Application for Mac, iPad through the roof: Demand for the Mac and iPad over the past 12 months has been strong thanks to trends in remote work and learning, said Gene Munster, managing partner of Loup Ventures and renowned Apple analyst, in a note .
Loup Ventures’ spot check of Apple’s delivery times for these products suggests that demand still exceeds supply as the June quarter comes out, the tech venture capitalist said. Estimated delivery dates for some iPad and Mac models are over a month away, he added.
The highest turnaround time is for the iPad, 22 to 32 business days, while for the 24-inch iMac model, it is 18 to 23 days, Munster said.
“During periods of supply-demand balance, lead times are generally less than two working days.”
Apple saw strong growth of 70% for the Mac and 79% for the iPad during the March quarter. Things could get even better for Apple, according to Munster.
Related Link: Why Apple’s Stock Valuation Might Present a Long-Term Buying Opportunity
Munster on the dynamics of Apple’s supply and demand: Supply constraints will likely take a few more months to smooth out, according to Loup Ventures.
This will likely moderate Mac and iPad results modestly in the September quarter, Munster said.
The high demand will last longer, thanks to the tailwind of working and learning from anywhere, as well as the ongoing transition of the Mac line to M1 chips, he said.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro, 27-inch iMac, and Mac Pro – which account for around 30 percent of Mac revenue – are expected to transition to M1 chips over the next 12 to 18 months, the analyst noted.
Wolf Ventures estimates that Mac and iPad revenue could grow 8%, 7%, 6%, and 4%, respectively, in fiscal years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, as opposed to the steady performance seen over the five years. preceding the pandemic.
âNet net, we consider the positive tailwind of demand to be much stronger and more lasting than any headwind of supply,â Munster said.
AAPL price action: Apple shares were trading up 0.65% to $ 137.22 in the last check on Wednesday.
Related Link: Here’s Why Apple’s Sales Jumped in India in Q1
Photo: Apple iPad. Courtesy photo.


text:
Remember the news about the Intel Meltdown and Spectre chip vulnerabilities that emerged last year? Remember all the panic and the patches? Well, get ready because you’re about to go through all of that again with the latest Intel chip vulnerability.
This one has a lovely nickname all its own, called ZombieLoad. It’s pretty serious and it reportedly affects every Intel chip since 2011. Chances are your clients are running computers with Intel chips in that time period.
Remember the panic about the chip vulnerabilities that emerged last year? You’re about to go through it all again with the latest #Intel chip vulnerability called #ZombieLoad
It’s a crazy thing, but what’s really crazy is your clients are going to come to you looking for advice. They are going to see the scary headlines about the chip vulnerability that enables hackers with the right skills to steal secrets from your computers and they are going to want to know how to handle it (or maybe they won’t and it’s up to you to tell them).
TechCrunch’s (where I also write) security editor, Zack Whittaker described how the vulnerability works in an article last week:
ZombieLoad takes its name from a “zombie load,” an amount of data that the processor can’t understand or properly process, forcing the processor to ask for help from the processor’s microcode to prevent a crash. Apps are usually only able to see their own data, but this bug allows that data to bleed across those boundary walls. ZombieLoad will leak any data currently loaded by the processor’s core, the researchers said. Intel said patches to the microcode will help clear the processor’s buffers, preventing data from being read.
To help your clients through this latest chip crisis, your job will be to act as a psychologist and a trusted adviser. As you might expect, the onslaught of patches has begun and you must install them to keep them safe.
You also have to watch for new patches and monitor the news cycle for whatever is coming next, because from the sounds of things, this might not be the end of it. As Intel and other chip companies have pushed for more powerful chips, they made some compromises to achieve that, leaving vulnerabilities in their wake.
You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who is happy about this situation. Your CPU is your CPU, it’s not like you can just swap it out for a safer model. Unfortunately, there aren’t going to be any easy answers and you probably have to live with this situation for the time being. In the meantime, watch for patches and guide your clients as best as you can.
Photo: Mau47 / Shutterstock


text:
@Microsoft and Canonical announce native .NET availability in @Ubuntu 22.04 hosts and containers https://t.co/tQJyhw9CA9@dotnet being added as an official and supported option from Ubuntu 22.04 LTS makes it the first Distroless-sized #Ubuntu-based container image release.
Canonical is proud to welcome the .NET development platform, one of Microsoft’s earliest contributions to open source projects, as a native experience on Ubuntu hosts and container images, starting in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
.NET developers will be able to start their Linux journey with Ubuntu, benefiting from timely security patches and new releases.
.NET 6 users and developers can now install the .NET 6 packages on Ubuntu with a simple apt install dotnet6 command. Optimised, pre-built, ultra-small container images are also now available to use out of the box.


text:
Photoshop is the granddaddy of image-editing apps, the O.G. of our airbrushed, Facetuned media ecosystem and a product so enmeshed in the culture that it’s a verb, an adjective and a frequent lament of rappers. Photoshop is also widely used. More than 30 years since the first version was released, professional photographers, graphic designers and other visual artists the world over reach for the app to edit much of the imagery you see online, in print and on billboards, bus stops, posters, product packaging and anything else the light touches.
So what does it mean that Photoshop is diving into generative artificial intelligence — that a just-released beta feature called Generative Fill will allow you to photorealistically render just about any imagery you ask of it? (Subject, of course, to terms of service.)
Not just that, actually: So many AI image generators have been released over the past year or so that the idea of prompting a computer to create pictures already seems old hat. What’s novel about Photoshop’s new capabilities is that they allow for the easy merger of reality and digital artifice and they bring it to a large user base. The software allows anyone with a mouse, an imagination and $10 to $20 a month to — without any expertise — subtly alter pictures, sometimes appearing so real that it seems likely to erase most of the remaining barriers between the authentic and the fake.
The good news is that Adobe, the company that makes Photoshop, has considered the dangers and has been working on a plan to address the widespread dissemination of digitally manipulated pics. The company has created what it describes as a “nutrition label” that can be embedded in image files to document how a picture was altered, including if it has elements generated by artificial intelligence.
The plan, called the Content Authenticity Initiative, is meant to bolster the credibility of digital media. It won’t alert you to every image that’s fake but instead can help a creator or publisher prove that a certain image is true. In the future, you might see a snapshot of a car accident or terrorist attack or natural disaster on Twitter and dismiss it as fake unless it carries a content credential saying how it was created and edited.
“Being able to prove what’s true is going to be essential for governments, for news agencies and for regular people,” Dana Rao, Adobe’s general counsel and chief trust officer, told me. “And if you get some important information that doesn’t have a content credential associated with it — when this becomes popularized — then you should have that skepticism.”
The key phrase there, though, is “when this becomes popularized.” Adobe’s plan requires industry and media buy-in to be useful, but the AI features in Photoshop are being released to the public well before the safety system has been widely adopted. I don’t blame the company — industry standards often aren’t embraced before an industry has matured, and AI content generation remains in the early stages …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment


text:
Fashion retailer Blue Inc has opted not to pursue an IPO and instead intends to place shares privately with new investors, it is understood.
The decision is thought to have been prompted by concerns about the performance of shares of newly listed retailers which, in the recent spate of IPOs, have frequently fallen in the days following their floats.
The recent share price crash of Asos, following its profit warning earlier this month, and Supergroup, on the back of a derating after disappointing first quarter sales, have also spooked some investors.
It is understood that Blue Inc has caught the eye of several institutional investors but the turbulent conditions have led to any potential share sale being conducted away from the pressure-cooker environment of the public market.
Blue Inc, which is being advised by Cantor Fitzgerald, was set to unveil its offer price tomorrow. The IPO was thought to value the firm at £60m.
Etailer MandM Direct this week opted for a sale rather than an IPO that had been scheduled for this month. Fat Face pulled its IPO last month, which boss Anthony Thompson put down to “retail IPO indigestion”.
This week B&M Bargains and My Sale, the etailer backed by Sir Philip Green, began trading on the stock market.
B&M, in which unconditional trading started on Tuesday, set its offer price at 270p, valuing the discount retailer at £2.7bn and catapulting it into 10th place by market capitalisation. Today, it was trading slightly above its float price.
MySale’s shares slumped 17% in its first two days of trading after confusion when its shares appeared to be trading at 2.26p rather than 226p.
The retailer was forced to issue a clarification after an error inputting its price led to auto-selling.


text:
Later this year, Featherproof is releasing Blake Butler’s Scorch Atlas, a book about which I’ve already rambled a bit. And, as it turns out, they’re also seeking remixes of one story for a digital collection to be released concurrently with Scorch Atlas.
We really hope you’ll join us in killing and reviving Blake’s fiction. It’s going to be fun.
Butler has more on it on his blog. Given that Chris Eaton’s The Grammar Architect and Rick Moody‘s “The Double Zero” (among others) have brought the concept of the cover version into fiction, it’s nice to see the remix collection doing the same. And I eagerly await seeing how the mixtape translates into literary terms.
[Brooklynites may also note that Butler is taking part in a reading at Greenpoint's Word Books on Thursday.]


text:
The two new London showrooms come as Edit Suits.Co celebrates its most successful year to date and signals a strong post-pandemic recovery for the company, which saw its business rely on online sales as bricks and mortar shops were forced to close their doors.
Edit Suits Co. was founded by Patrick Jungo and Reto Peter to fill a gap in the market for affordable made-to-measure tailoring and casual wear. They decided to launch a modern showroom model rather than traditional high street stores to reduce chain costs by making garments to order. They offer bespoke suits from 349 pounds and shirts from 69 pounds, alongside made-to-measure chinos, overcoats, field jackets and shorts.
“Like many retailers, the pandemic meant closing our physical stores and working round the clock to ensure the success of our online service,” explains Peter in a statement. “During that time, it was no surprise that we saw an increase in sales of our casual lines, but more recently our tailoring offer has seen a boost too, as weddings are now in full swing and many of us have returned to working in the office.”
The newly launched London showrooms offer customers the chance to shop for smart and casual menswear via an appointment with a personal stylist who works with them to understand their requirements and share the extensive array of customisations and fabrics they offer. Each custom-made suit takes around three to six weeks to create, depending on fabric choice.


text:
The typical American wine lover is driven by the love of discovery and the desire to find unbeatable bargains. In light of these twin motivations, the wines of Portugal just might be the next big thing.
Until recently the Portuguese wine market was predominantly a domestic one, with a large percentage of its production filling local and regional markets. Nowadays, having been torn inside out by the economic thunderstorms buffeting the European Union, Portugal has been forced to establish itself in the global marketplace. And, while America ranks only fifth in the Portuguese export hierarchy, behind Angola (former colony), France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, it is a promising arena for the exciting wines now finding their way across the Atlantic.
If you’d like to read more of this article, head over to The Alcohol Professor. Enjoy!
**Photo courtesy of World Wine Marketing


text:
Five to Follow: Women Impacting Global Sustainability in Different Ways
Solar Schools regularly spotlights research and innovations that address climate change but often the people behind these stories remain relatively obscure. Here are five passionate and motivated women working to make the world a better place.
1. Mindy Lubber
CEO – Ceres
Head of Ceres, a non-profit organization that has been advocating for sustainability leadership for over two decades, long before it was fashionable! Mindy and Ceres have successfully worked with large corporations, investors and non-profits to minimise carbon emissions and environmental impacts.
Mindy has been recognized by the UN as one of the ‘World’s Top Leaders of Change’ and is considered an expert with regular features in news sources including the New York Times, and Wall Street Journal.
2. Kate Brandt
Sustainability Officer – Google
Kate was the United States government’s very first Federal Chief Sustainability Officer and now leads sustainability across Google’s worldwide sustainability activities covering operations, products, and supply chains.
The Google product universe is enormous, and Kate advises on projects ranging from web applications to real estate, to working spaces for Google employees. This also includes the fourteen massive, carbon neutral data centers that are critical to the internet as we know it. Other green, in-house projects include air monitoring and electric vehicle infrastructure.
3. Orsola de Castro
Founder and Creative Director – Fashion Revolution
An artist and entrepreneur, Orsola started sustainable fashion label ‘From Somewhere’ way back in 1997. It was one of, if not the first to address the issues of waste and recycling within fashion. Collaborations with major companies such as Jigsaw, Robe Di Kappa, and Speedo solidified Orsola’s profile in the industry.
Following the Rana Plaza tragedy in 2013, Orsola founded Fashion Revolution in memory of those who have died in sweatshop garment factories. The movement has inspired millions of social media users around the world to tag brands and ask “#Who made my clothes?”
4. Joanna Yarrow
Head of Sustainable and Healthy Living – Ikea
IKEA is famous for its flat-packed furniture and maze-like showrooms but does the company care about the planet? Joanna Yarrow is working to ensure Ikea furniture is not only affordable but planet positive. Before joining Ikea in 2013, Joanna founded ‘Beyond Green’ providing advice to organisations looking to become more sustainable. Bringing this experience to IKEA means Joanna is assessing all aspects of the business from how raw materials are sourced to the design and retail facilities.
The company recently added vegan meatballs to its cafeteria menu (tasty!) but more importantly, recently announced it would only use renewable and recycled materials by 2030.
5. Greta Thunberg
The youngest but probably most recognisable on this list is Greta Thunberg, the student activist from Sweden. After skipping school to protest government inaction on climate change, Greta sparked the international #ClimateStrike movement. Greta’s dedication to the cause and stirring speeches have garnered global media attention and inspired students everywhere.
With a Nobel Peace Prize nomination and the vocal support of world leaders including New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern and Paris Mayor Anne Hildalgo, Greta has established herself as a climate action figurehead with a bright future.


text:
Samsung M30, Realme 3 and Xiaomi Note 7 smartphones are slated to be launched in the upcoming two weeks
Locked in a battle of being the number one smartphone brand in the country, Samsung, Xiaomi and Realme are gearing up to launch their next smartphones in the country. The launch of Xiaomi Note 7, Realme 3 and Samsung M30 smartphones, have been scheduled by the respective brands for the last week of February and first week of March 2019.
A report by Statista had referred towards India as one of the most popular destinations for smartphone companies. It had estimated the number of smartphone users in India to increase to about 442.5 million in 2022. The report said that the volume of India’s smartphone shipments is forecasted to increase to about 700 million in 2020.”
It read, “The combination of very high sales volumes and the average smartphone consumer behavior has made India a very attractive market for foreign vendors.”
Brand and blame games
The battle of being the number one smartphone brand in India seems to be putting so much pressure on these smartphone brands that their executives are not leaving any stone un-turned in making these upcoming smartphones a success, even prior to the official launches.
Realme’s CEO Madhav Sheth, recently took to Twitter to announce the difference between photos taken by a 13 megapixel Realme camera and a touted ’48’ megapixel camera. Interestingly Xiaomi’s Note 7 smartphone will be seen sporting a 48 Megapixel camera in India.
Madhav’s exact tweet read, “Just took some sample shot. One is taken by a 48 MP camera but actually 12 MP by default with due respect has been in news recently. The other one is taken by a 13MP Realme camera. Can you spot the differences? Is it hardware or software optimised.”
Xiaomi’s India MD Manu Kumar Jain had also recently questioned the authenticity of media and product bloggers on Twitter. He, without mentioning the name of any smartphone brand or smartphone model, said that it was ironical to see tech bloggers getting up on stage at product launches.
His tweets mentioning the same had come right after Samsung’s M20 smartphone launch in the country. It is to be noted here that a lot of tweets and social media posts shared by the Xiaomi team have tried to show superiority of the upcoming Note 7 smartphone. These posts, time and again, have emphasised on alphabet M in one way or the other.
Samsung, the oldest and most experienced of these three in the market, have not yet used any such marketing gimmicks. Samsung is also the only Korea-based company in this battle as the other two are primarily based out of China. It is to be noted here that Samsung might have taken an edge over the other two brands by launching its M10 and M20 smartphones.
What do the research companies say
A recent report by IDC had said, “Xiaomi maintained its fourth position globally with 19.6 per cent YoY growth in Q3 2018. It remained ahead of Samsung for the number 1 position in India, one of its major markets, during the quarter. Redmi 5A, 6A, & Note 5/5Pro were a few famous models during the quarter that helped the company to keep up the pace. Xiaomi continued its effort to grow in foreign market through channel partnerships while witnessed its first annual drop in the domestic market during the quarter.”
Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint Research, had said in a report, “The top three smartphone brands, Xiaomi, Samsung and Realme captured 57 per cent of the overall Diwali festive season smartphone sales. Xiaomi sold the most number of smartphones during this period thanks to strong performance in online channels. Xiaomi widened the gap with Samsung which still did relatively well in offline channels capturing 30 per cent share.”
Pathak added, “The newly launched online only smartphone brand, Realme had a record festive performance for any new brand ever in India. Realme immediately captured 9 per cent share jumping to the third spot in overall sales volume performance and also became the second largest in online segment with 18 per cent share.”


text:
McDonald’s to offer free Internet access
Portland, Ore. McDonald’s Corp. plans to offer free wireless Internet access at most of its U.S. fast-food restaurants as a part of a move to become more of a destination spot.
The company has offered Internet access for about five years, but in mid-January it will lift the $2.95 fee it has charged for two hours of Internet access at 11,000 of its 14,000 U.S. locations. There will be no time limit after the fee is lifted.
McDonald’s is providing the wireless service through a partnership with AT&T.
Kroger awards frequent shoppers with free minutes
CINCINNATI Kroger announced a first of its kind loyalty program that rewards frequent shoppers with free wireless service using the company’s own wireless phone service, branded i-wireless.
The free minutes rewards program enables customers to earn free airtime on their i-wireless phone, available exclusively at more than 2,200 Kroger stores nationwide, when they purchase groceries at the Kroger family of stores.
“The free minutes rewards program empowers customers to directly influence the amount they spend each month on their wireless service. The more they shop at Kroger, the more they’ll save on their wireless bill,” said Paul McAleese, CEOof i-wireless. “For loyal Kroger shoppers, free minutes enables i-wireless to deliver the best value in the marketplace today, making it an incredibly attractive option for the millions of shoppers that visit a Kroger store on a weekly basis.”
i-wireless customers that subscribe to a monthly rate plan or a pay-as-you-go plan will receive 20 free minutes of airtime for every $100 they spend in-store. Customers are notified via text message of their reward in an immediate fashion, often receiving the message by the time they reach the parking lot following their shopping transaction.
Former Wrigley CEO joins Whirlpool board
Benton Harbor, Mich. Whirlpool announced the appointment of William Perez, former president and CEO of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. to its board of directors.
Perez was president and CEO of Wrigley from 2006 to 2008, when it was acquired by Mars Inc.. From 2004 to 2006, he served as president and CEO of Nike.


text:
What you need to know
- A new leak suggests multiple Android OEMs could launch phones with 100W wireless charging support next year.
- The fastest wireless charging phone currently supports only 50W speeds.
- OPPO announced its 65W wireless charging tech earlier this year, but it hasn't been used in a commercial device yet.
In August this year, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi unveiled the Mi 10 Ultra, the first world's first phone to support 120W fast wired charging. The phone utilizes Qualcomm's Quick Charge 5 tech, which enables the phone's 4500mAh battery to be fully charged in just 23 minutes. According to a new leak, quite a few Android OEMs are now working on 100W wireless charging solutions (via Android Authority).
If leaker Digital Chat Station is to be believed, several smartphone makers are planning to launch new phones with 100W wireless charging next year. Even though the leaker hasn't provided any additional information, it is highly likely that companies like Xiaomi, Huawei, and OPPO will be among the first to roll out phones with 100W wireless charging.
The fastest wireless charging phone currently is the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra, which supports 50W wireless charging. Xiaomi claims its 50W wireless charging solution allows the phone to be fully charged in just 40 minutes. OPPO's Reno Ace 2 and Huawei P40 Pro Plus, which are more widely available than the Mi 10 Ultra, support 40W wireless charging speeds.
While it remains to be seen if phones with 100W wireless charging will indeed be a thing in 2021, we can expect 100W+ wired fast charging to become more common on Android flagship phones next year.
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
The Atom XL is small, rugged, and a chore to use
Small phones are rare and so are rugged phones, so to find that combo in a single affordable device is near unicorn status. The Atom XL from Unihertz offers some great features focused on a rugged life, however, the company forgot to build in a decent camera or display for outdoor lighting.
OnePlus 9 is releasing in March 2021 — four weeks earlier than usual
The OnePlus 9 will be released in March 2021, significantly earlier than any flagship OnePlus has launched yet. The early launch allows OnePlus to better position its 2021 flagship against the likes of Samsung, Xiaomi, and others.
Nest Secure is discontinued — here's what's going on and why it matters
Nest's home security alarm system is only three years old, and yet its already heading to the Google Graveyard. This announcement is sudden, unexpected, and quite honestly unreasonable on Google's part, as it leaves users and their home safety in limbo.
These are the best rugged Android phones
Living the rough and tumble life? Get yourself a smartphone that can handle everything you throw at it — or throw your phone at.


text:
The biggest name in luxury watches is jumping into the secondhand game.
Rolex is starting a certified pre-owned program, which will enable its official retailers to sell secondhand models it has certified as authentic.
All the watches sold in the program must be at least 3 years old, in a seeming attempt to discourage “flippers.”
The certified pre-owned watches will be sold with a guarantee card, which confirms that the watch is genuine. The watches carry an “international guarantee” for two years after their date of resale.
The Rolex Certified Pre-Owned program will launch this month at Bucherer boutiques in six countries—Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. Other official Rolex retailers can join the program in the spring of 2023.
“This is earth-shattering,” says Paul Altieri, founder and CEO of Bob’s Watches, an online secondhand retailer. “It’s like we wake up in the morning and read the U.S. has bought Canada. Rolex controls 50% or more of the secondhand market. So for them to dive in, it’s a big splash.”
He adds that a lot of the details remain to be seen.
“Steve Jobs said execution is everything. It’s taken us 12 years to develop our program. I have a million questions and no answers. Who does the pricing? Who does the authentications? Will they offer cash? Will there be trades? Will the watches be sent out? We will just have to see how it works out.”
He believes “some authorized dealers may decide they don’t have the personnel or expertise to do it,” and that the program will ultimately help him and other secondhand dealers.
“It’s validating the pre-owned category. Will there be some players that are affected? Probably. But it gives further credibility to the market,” Altieri says.
He notes that the Rolex-certified pre-owned watches will not likely be sold online, so e-tailers like him will still have a certain advantage.
Rolex’s statement announcing the program closed with a clear shot at other secondhand dealers, as well as gray-market sellers, stating that “Rolex watches—new or secondhand—should only be bought from Official Rolex Retailers, who are authorized to sell and care for Rolex watches.”
Rolex is not the first watch brand to join the secondhand watch bandwagon, even if it is surely most prominent. In 2018, watch giant Richemont purchased secondhand online trading site Watchfinder, which is launching an online platform for other brands.
The news comes amid reports in the Swiss press that Rolex is constructing a new production facility in Bulle, Switzerland, to meet what has been a chronic supply shortage. The one-billion franc facility should open in 2029, the reports said.
Last month, a Rolex filing confirmed that it had appointed Nicolas Brünschwig its new chairman.
Top: A Rolex-certified pre-owned seal (photos: Federico Berardi/courtesy of Rolex)Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine


text:
‘AfCFTA implementation will push consumer spending to $1.4 trn by 2020’
NOTN makes case for Nigeria’s ratification trade agreement
The Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiation (NOTN) says the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) will assist to address the issue of unemployment, market access and economic growth for Nigeria and Africa.
The African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson, Ambassador Kwesi Quartey had stated that the AfCFTA is expected to boost consumer spending to about $1.4 trillion in 2020 and increase intra-African trade by as much as US$35 billion per year, or 52 percent above the baseline by 2022.
“But in order to trade, Africa first has to produce; and not just primary commodities. We must begin to apply science and technology to production. Statistical evidence has demonstrated that intra-African trade has tended to be mainly in processed foods, that is, goods and commodities to which value has been added,” he said.
Amb. Chiedu Osakwe, Director-General of NOTN, said this during a stakeholders forum on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), yesterday in Lagos.
The AfCFTA is an initiative of the African Union (AU) to create a single continental markets for goods and services, as well as a customs union with free movement of capital and business travellers.
Osakwe noted that about one million Nigerians and an estimated 18 to 20 million Africans enter the job market yearly, adding that AfCFTA would not only address unemployment issues but deepen intra-Africa trade and regional integration for economic development.
The ambassador noted that AfCFTA was much more than a trade agreement but a deal that strategically reorganises the geo-economic landscape of Africa, Nigeria’s leadership position, competitiveness and modernisation.
He noted that certain provisions were placen the Articles of agreement to safeguard local economies, especially manufacturers and SMEs.
According to him, Exclusive and Sensitive list, Modification of Schedule, Trade Remedies which addresses issues of anti-dumping, Special Economic Zones and Infant industry protection; serves as some of the provisions.
He said that the provisions could be reviewed periodically to modify the agreement of each member countries; adding that consultation with various trade organisations, manufacturers, unions was ongoing nationwide to sensitise them on AfCFTA economic benefit.
Osakwe said that AfCFTA would birth the largest free trade area in the World, in terms of numbers of countries, population of 1.2 billion people and $4 trillion, if all 55 countries in Africa signed the agreement
President of LCCI,Babatunde Ruwase, said that Nigeria’s argument for not signing AfCFTA was the fear of numerous bilateral trade agreements of some AU countries with the rest of the world and Nigeria’s underdeveloped industrial and infrastructural sector.
“It has been argued that this will make Nigeria a dumping ground due to our uncompetitive manufacturing profile, market size and population.
“These are legitimate concerns, it is therefore imperative to deepen consultation across all sectors, in order to address these genuine concerns from stakeholders,” he said.
Dr Ayo Teriba, LCCI’s Chairman, Economic and Statistics Committee, said that the trade negotiator needs to further sensitise the public on the benefits of the agreement to Nigerians economy, the traders, SMEs manufacturers and consumers.
He added that the negotiator should be explicit about what could go wrong in signing the agreement and how to mitigate it toward allaying people’s fear and protecting the economy.
Dosumu Oluwole, an official of New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), said that the country needs to address issues of infrastructure challenges, economic stability and competitiveness, before it could benefit from signing the agreement.
On March 21, 44 African countries signed the agreement during the 18th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of AU Heads of State and Governments in Kigali, Rwanda.


text:
E-mail this story
Green Wheels: Hawaii Plugs Into Electric Cars
BIG ISLAND, HAWAII — On the grounds of the Natural Energy Lab on Hawaii's Big Island, I saw a Nissan Leaf, one of about 100 electric cars operating here. Doug Teeple founded the Big Island EV Association, which now has 70 members, and he points both to great natural advantages — great weather, ease of charging with renewable energy — and big challenges, which include high grid electricity costs, long distances between major towns (the Big Island is the size of Connecticut), and local car dealers who don't bother selling electric cars.
By Jim Motavalli
September 18, 2013


text:
The electric vehicle (EV) investing conversation still largely revolves around Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and, to a lesser extent, China’s Nio (NYSE:NIO), but the reality is that the universe of EV stocks expands well beyond that pair, and this ecosystem is about much more than just vehicle manufacturers.
The IQ Cleaner Transport ETF (CLNR ) is among the various exchange traded funds tapping into those themes. CLNR, which debuted last October, follows the IQ Candriam Cleaner Transport Index.
As its name implies, CLNR is a broader thematic play on the future of transportation. It’s lineup, which includes about 80 stocks, features exposure to Tesla and Nio, but it goes well beyond those names, touching multiple corners of the electric vehicle universe. As it turns out, CLNR’s depth solidifies its credibility as something of a value idea following big declines by growth stocks.
Investors “can apply the old Gold Rush maxim of focusing on the shovel and pick sellers. In this case, as electric vehicles go from being a niche product to mainstream and traditional automakers ramp up production, the opportunities among suppliers is set to grow exponentially in coming years,” wrote Morningstar analyst Lauren Solberg. “At the same time, companies that supply key auto parts to electric vehicles, such as BorgWarner (BWA), Sensata Technologies (ST), and Aptiv (APTV), are trading below their fair value estimates.”
Sensata isn’t a member of the CLNR portfolio, but Aptiv and BorgWarner are. Perhaps adding to the allure of CLNR for patient investors is that Aptiv and BorgWarner are among the dozen electric vehicle stocks that Morningstar says are currently undervalued, indicating that investors don’t need to pay up to directly own shares of some richly valued EV makers.
“Eight of the 21 companies in the electric vehicles portion of the Morningstar Electric and Autonomous Vehicles Index are currently trading at 4- and 5-star undervalued prices, up from just three companies at the start of the year. The index overall is currently trading at an 11.6% discount from its aggregate fair value, while the broader market’s valuation is estimated to be discounted 6.8% from its aggregate fair value estimate,” added Solberg.
Due to robust intangible assets and high switching costs, Aptiv has some credibility as a wide moat stock. As Morningstar noted, the company’s contracts are typically long, sometimes up to 14 years. BorgWarner has favorable traits, too.
“BorgWarner benefits from a substantial global manufacturing presence, highly integrated and long-term customer ties, and a moderate level of pricing power from the regular commercialization of new technologies,” concluded the research firm.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the Dual Impact Channel.


text:
TOKYO -- The spread of artificial intelligence technology has raised thorny legal questions about how to distribute rights to and profits from AI products, issues that Japan's industry ministry hopes to address with guidelines due out next year.
Japan has next to no legal precedent on AI-related contracts, leaving companies to navigate these largely uncharted waters on their own. Drawing up contracts can take nearly half a year in some cases, and terms are sometimes set based on the power balance between the businesses involved.
AI-related development in Japan is commonly outsourced to startups. Traditional outsourcing contracts often give the customer full ownership of the intellectual property produced and all rights to its use. Developers in the field have called for a new model that recognizes the importance of their expertise and compensates them for it.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will release guidelines as soon as March to provide practical examples for companies to use when drawing up contracts, focusing on how to allocate usage rights and profits.
For example, a financial institution looking to offer a service using AI to craft individualized financial products hires a developer to handle the project and provides customer data to train the AI. The institution seeks sole rights to use the AI as well as all profits generated by the service. Under the ministry guidelines, the developer will have the right to seek a share of the profits.
The guidelines will list factors to consider when deciding how to split usage rights and profits, probably including the division of development costs, the rarity of the supplied data and the uniqueness of the developer's technology.
The ministry will also examine who should hold the rights to use an AI developed by one company and trained using data from another. Developers sometimes patent such AIs and offer them to other businesses. The guidelines will call for developers to offer better terms to data suppliers, such as lower licensing fees for the AI in question.
The issue of legal responsibility in cases such as accidents caused by AI-equipped machinery will be addressed as well. Where the liability lies differs depending on whether the problem stems from the design of the AI or equipment, or from the data used for training.
The industry ministry guidelines will stipulate that the company furnishing data should be responsible for guaranteeing its quality, and the developer responsible for ensuring that the AI is working properly. The ministry will also consider whether a business should be held liable for problems that could not be predicted with current technology.
More cases are likely to crop up in which the root cause of an accident is not clear-cut. The ministry will recommend that companies maintain liability insurance and agree in advance to cooperate with any investigations.
An expert committee set up by the ministry is studying a wide-ranging set of cases from big businesses to identify the legal issues that need to be addressed. Members include representatives from Toyota Motor, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association and the Japan Chemical Industry Association.


text:
Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt:
The company had just passed a milestone—1 billion devices in active use—and CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri took turns encouraging analysts to imagine how much money those customers may someday spend each quarter to pay for Apple services and devices.
“It’s an unbelievable asset for us,” Cook gushed, happy to be discussing something other than slowing iPhone sales growth.
Of course, Apple AAPL -1.95% already sells several services by the month, and starting last September it began selling iPhones that way too. For starters:
- iCloud storage ($0.99-$9.99/month)
- iTunes Match ($24.99/year, $2.08/month)
- Apple Music ($9.99-$14.99/month)
- iPhone Upgrade Program ($32-$45/month)
- Coming soon? TV Streaming (?? per month)
It’s not hard to imagine the company bundling these things together and selling a package of hardware, software, and cloud services for, say, $100 a month. With a billion devices out there and 800 million credit cards on file, you can do the math.
Monthification as a strategy is one Adobe has pedaled to the metal with Creative Cloud — quite successfully. Apple has dipped a toe in these waters with the iPhone Upgrade Program, but thus far the uptake has been, well — let's just say slow for now. Still, with Cook and Maestri's encouragement, it's not hard to see how bundling could quicken that pace.


text:
Square Enix Leads the Charge with a Great Gamescom Lineup
Almost a year ago, Sony revealed a plethora of gaming news on the Gamescom stage including the unforgettable PS3 Slim announcement which shook the gaming industry. Now that the same stage is being prepared for more excitement during mid-August, many are craving information for their favorite upcoming titles. Fans of Square Enix have plenty to look forward to based on the official lineup for the company this year.
Square Enix has released the full list of titles that it will be showing during Gamescom this year. The games include the following:
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light
- Front Mission Evolved
- Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
- Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
- Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
Out of those, all but Final Fantasy: The Heroes of Light will be available on a PlayStation platform. While Final Fantasy XIV’s recent release discrepancy for the PS3 stirred a bit of controversy, it is still shaping up to presumably be a successful MMO title. With only about a week separating us between now and the European Gamescom convention, there is plenty to look forward to for fans of the PS3 and Square Enix alike.


text:
Sunday, April 22, 2012
This week Chromium OS tweaker Hexxeh has announced plans to develop and release builds of Chromium OS Vanilla for the new $35 Raspberry Pi computer very soon. The new Chromium OS will be able to be loaded onto an SD card, inserted into the new Raspberry Pi computer (when you can get your hands on one) and boot directly into the Google Chromium operating system.
This post was published by: AppSapp
AppSapp is a professional blogger, entrepreneur and internet visionary. Follow him on Twitter


text:
One of the games reportedly canned as Google Stadia struggled to gain traction was from Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima. It appears to have been canceled last year, though the studio is also working on a different game.
According to VGC, a game Hideo Kojima had mentioned getting canceled in 2020 was set to be an episodic horror game released for Stadia. Former studio head at Stadia Jade Raymond had visited Kojima Productions prior to this, but the report says it was Stadia boss Phil Harrison who stopped the project. Prior to working for Google, Harrison had been an executive at both PlayStation and Xbox during some of the brands’ lowest points, including the launch of the PS3 and Xbox One.
Kojima is no stranger to having projects canceled. The horror reboot Silent Hills, which he was creating with film director Guillermo del Toro, was canceled by Konami after the high-profile PT was released. Kojima later put del Toro’s likeness in Death Stranding, along with planned Silent Hills actor Norman Reedus in the lead role.


text:
Fresh hope worst of inflation pain might be over as producer prices continue to fall from last summer’s eye-watering high – but are still running at 16.5%
- Producer input prices rose by 16.5% in year to December – down from June peak
- Producer output prices – known as factory gate prices – also continue to fall
- ONS says the prices of equipment and petrol has driven decline since summer
According to data from the Office for National Statistics, producer input prices – the price of materials and fuels bought by UK manufacturers – rose by 16.5 per cent in the year to December.
This was a fall from 18 per cent in the year to November 2022 and down from the eye-watering record high of 24.6 per cent in the year to June 2022.
It is the sixth consecutive month that the annual rate of input producer price inflation has slowed.
The ONS figures also showed that producer output prices – known as factory gate prices as it is the amount UK producers receive for goods they sell to the domestic market – rose by 14.7 per cent in the year to December.
This was down from 16.2 per cent in the year to November and down from 17.5 per cent in the year to October.
The annual rate of output producer price inflation recently peaked at 19.9 per cent in the year to July 2022 and has now slowed for a fifth consecutive month.
The ONS said the prices of equipment and petrol had driven the decline in both input and output producer price inflation.
There was fresh hope Britain might be over the worst of the cost of living pain as producer price inflation continued to slow in December
The ONS said the prices of equipment and petrol had driven the decline in both input and output producer price inflation
The annual rate of inflation for services sold by UK companies, known as the Services Producer Price Index, was 5.2 per cent in October to December last year
Jeremy Hunt is under increasing pressure from Tory MPs to cut taxes at his budget in March – but the Chancellor could have to deal with gloomier growth forecasts
The annual rate of inflation for services sold by UK companies, known as the Services Producer Price Index, was 5.2 per cent in October to December last year, according to the ONS data.
This was down from a record high of 6.2 per cent in July to September 2022.
The ONS figures will further fuel hopes that inflation is finally on the way down to ease the cost of living crisis for households.
The annual CPI rate of inflation, the headline figure, was 10.5 per cent in December, which was down from 10.7 per cent the previous month.
Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England Governor, last week said Threadneedle Street thought inflation would ‘fall quite rapidly’ during 2023 as energy prices decrease.
But he also stuck to the Bank’s expectation that Britain would soon fall into recession, which Mr Bailey said could be ‘long, but shallow’.
The Times reported today that the Office for Budget Responsibility has warned Chancellor Jeremy Hunt that it intends to revise its growth forecasts down ahead of his March budget.
This could limit Mr Hunt’s room for manoeuvre at a time when he is facing growing calls among Tory MPs to cut taxes.