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The progression system needs more tweaking.
EA has endured quite a backlash about Star Wars Battlefront 2 focused primarily on the microtransactions in the game and the ridiculously mundane grinding process. Some steps have already been undertaken, but now the company says it is removing microtransactions until the game is well and balanced.
Today, we turned off in-game purchases for #StarWarsBattlefrontII. The game is built on your input, and it will continue to evolve and grow. Read the full update: https://t.co/asGASaYXVp pic.twitter.com/vQSOmsWRgk
— EA Star Wars (@EAStarWars) November 17, 2017
The fact that EA decided to cut the revenue stream right before the full launch when the income would probably be highest, is definitely a sign that it has been hit hard by the criticism.
It remains to be seen whether the game can find a right balance between sensible progression and microtransactions.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 goes live for everybody today, November 17.


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In addition to Bitcoin, the digital currency fell collectively, with the Lite currency down more than 8% and the Ether down by more than 4%. Unlike in the international market, Kakao in Korea specializes in setting up overseas subsidiaries to start blockchain and ICO, and several large IT companies have announced their investments in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors. As a result, the price of Bitcoin in the Korean market is showing signs of recovery.
29, following the announcement of the suspension of cryptocurrency settlement services and advertising by Google, Facebook, Twitter and other major global social networking sites, Reddit, a US social news site known as "the early users of cryptocurrencies", also publicly said it would interrupt bitcoin settlement services, according to industry sources. Back in 2013, Reddit and Coinbase entered into a partnership to invest in a business plan that supports Reddit's membership Bitcoin settlement. Reddit is understood to have said it will decide whether to resume bitcoin settlement services in the future based on actual market demand for Bitcoin settlement. At present, the main websites that support cryptocurrency settlement are Amazon, Microsoft and so on.
Recently, with the investment of a number of large enterprises in South Korea layout blockchain and cryptocurrency areas, overseas media also closely watched and reported on the real-time movement of South Korea. On the 29th, the British media The Daily Telegraph reported that Kakao was building a blockchain technology platform to enter the international market, and reprinted the results of a quarter of South Korean youth investment in the cryptocurrency Bank of Korea.
Bitcoin was trading at $7992 at 8:30 a.m., up 0.76 percent from the previous day, Ethereum at $446, down 1.46 percent, and Ripple at $0.58, down 0.61 percent. At the same time, the price of bitcoin in South Korea was 87.4 million won, up 0.91% from the previous day, ethereum was down 0.95% at 490,000 won and 630 won in Ribo was up 0.96%.

domain: news


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Leaders of VBH, the company behind the GreenteQ hardware brand, have reported expanding the technical support that the business offers customers. Rob Norman, business development director, is now responsible for both the new product development and technical teams.
Rob said: “The two teams share an office space in Gillingham, Kent, working in tandem to develop our new GreenteQ products and also collaborating with our key third-party suppliers to develop their products for the UK market. The guys on the tech side offer support, both from the office and on site, to our customers and partners. We currently have seven members, with the recent addition of Ross Childs, which we are very pleased about.”
Ross Childs has 13 years hardware experience, including 8 years involvement in product testing. He is set to be heavily involved in VBH’s Kitemark test programme with BSI, as well as to look after the facilities at VBH Gillingham that include a neutral salt spray booth. The new facilities are an integral part of the development process of additions to the GreenteQ range, VBH representatives advised.
Rob added: “The recent level of investment that VBH has put into our department has been high. But this will be recovered many times over as we are able to bring products to market very efficiently. Having local facilities rather than relying on our team in south-east Asia means that we retain control of the development process.
“In addition to the appointment of Ross, the customer support side of our technical team is also being expanded further, as we are seeking to recruit another external technical support engineer, to support both our customers and sales team with on-site hardware demonstrations. It’s a great time to take on the management of the VBH Tech and NPD teams!” VBH can be contacted on 01634 263 263 or by emailing firstname.lastname@example.org. You can also tweet @vbhgb or visit vbhgb.com.


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Sooke Oceanside Brewery to close its current location; relocate to 5700-block of Sooke Road
Sooke Oceanside Brewery is closing its brewery and tasting room on Sooke Road at Laidlaw Road adjacent to the Esso gas station, and relocating to the 5700-block of Sooke Road next to a surf and bicycle shop.
The current brewery will close this Sunday after five years at its location.
“We are extremely excited for our new location,” says operator Ryan Orr. “We will have 14 taps featuring our award winning beers as well as some non-beer options.”
The new brewery space at 5781 Sooke Road will also feature a larger tasting room/lounge and views of the Sooke Basin. Eventually, Orr says, food options from the brewery will be available but until then food trucks will operate alongside the lounge. The crew is working to open the new space “ASAP,” although no opening date has been published yet.


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Add sheer visibility to the growing list of concerns surrounding the explosive growth of the Internet of Things (IoT).
Tripwire recently surveyed over 220 security professionals at this year’s Black Hat conference in Las Vegas. The security company discovered that apart from the slot machines and blackjack tables the city is famous for, organizations were also gambling with the safety of their corporate networks while IoT devices proliferate within their organizations.
When asked if their organizations accurately track the number of IoT devices on their networks, 52 percent of respondents said no. Only 34 percent said their businesses kept tabs on their IoT devices. Discouragingly, another 15 percent said they didn’t know if their organizations kept a precise count.
Considering the IoT’s rapid growth – IoT devices are expected to leave mobile phones in the dust by 2018 – Tripwire’s finding are alarming. Earlier this year, Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei forecast that the IoT would grow to cover 100 billion devices by 2025, that more than 13 devices for every person currently alive (based on a world population estimate of over 7.3 billion people).
Most organizations are not prepared for the security risks IoT devices pose. Thirty-seven percent of those surveyed admitted that they weren’t ready, but would be soon. Another 27 percent said they simply weren’t equipped to deal with IoT security while 5 percent claimed they weren’t worried.
Most security professionals are concerned that their IoT-enabled electronics may be turned into a damaging botnet-like army. Seventy-eight percent of respondents were anxious about the possibility of their IoT devices being enlisted for a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.
DDoS attacks are a plague among many websites and online service providers. In January, HSBC’s online banking system in the UK was rendered unavailable for several hours. This week, popular online gaming company Blizzard Entertainment suffered a DDoS attack preventing some customers from logging in or affecting their gameplay experience.
“It seems that security professionals see IoT devices as a sort of ‘zombie appliance army’ that’s worthy of great concern,” Dwayne Melancon, chief technology officer and vice president of Research and Development at Tripwire, in a statement. “That makes sense, since many of the current crop of IoT devices were created with low cost as a priority over security, making them easy targets. The large number of easily compromised devices will require a new approach if we are to secure our critical networks.”
Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Datamation. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.


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British low-cost pub chain to open fifth pub in Dublin.
British pub group JD Wetherspoon has announced a €15 million development of a “superpub” and 98-bedroom hotel in Dublin's city centre.
Works on the venue, a derelict stretch of Camden Street in the south-central Portobello district, will begin in February 2018, with the pub and hotel set to open in early 2019.
The development will be Wetherspoon's biggest single investment, resulting in its largest hotel and adding to its five existing pubs in the Irish republic – four in the capital and one in the southern city of Cork.
Founded in 1979 the chain operates around 1,000 outlets, mainly in the UK, and is known for its no-frills service and cheap alcohol prices.
Its arrival in Dublin in 2014 prompted protest from Dublin vintners who were concerned that the company's practice of selling low-cost English stout – not sold elsewhere in Ireland – would damage their drinks sales, dominated by Heineken and Diageo.
Three years later the company says its pubs in the Irish republic are "thriving" and that its Camden Street development will be a "great asset" to Dublin.


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Chinese group buys PizzaExpress in £900-mn transaction
14 July 2014
A Chinese firm has bought PizzaExpress in a deal worth £900 million, a transaction described as the largest in the European restaurant sector in five years.
The UK restaurant chain operates 436 outlets in the UK and 68 in other countries, including 22 in China.
According to Gondola Group, which owns PizzaExpress, it agreed to the sale to Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital with investments mostly in consumer, manufacturing and healthcare sectors.
John Zhao, chief executive of Hony, said Hony Capital was delighted with the acquisition of PizzaExpress, a well-established and exciting brand, radio station klfm967 said on its website .
He said with PizzaExpress, the company had the opportunity to leverage its local expertise to accelerate its growth in the Chinese market, as well as to continue to drive its business forward in the UK.
According to Harvey Smyth, chief executive of Gondola Group, PizzaExpress was an iconic brand in the UK restaurant sector with a strong and growing international presence.
He added, this had been reflected in the considerable interest the company received in buying the business and in today's transaction with Hony.
According to Richard Hodgson, chief executive Pizza Express, the acquisition of PizzaExpress was a very positive development at an exciting time for the business.
He added, Asia was a key part of Pizza Express' future growth strategy and Hony's expertise in this region would be invaluable, The Guardian newspaper reported.
Hony Capital beat Citic, another Chinese investment group in an auction process as also, four other private equity firms in what was the biggest European restaurant sector deal in the last five years.
Opening its first outlet in Beijing two months ago, Pizza Express already operates 12 restaurants in Hong Kong and nine in Shanghai.
The Pizza Express chief executive, Richard Hodgson, said the sale was a positive development for the 504-outlet chain.
According to Zhao, he was pleased to acquire what he described as a well-established and exciting brand.


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Australians have a love affair with Cunard. Each year when the ships go Down Under, the market gets stronger and it seems the Australians can't get enough. And each year in response, Cunard comes up with new itineraries to give Australians more reasons to sail again. Australia is one of the luxury brand's strongest traffic generators.
The line is expanding their Australian season but next year and again the following.
The complete story appeared in the February 28 edition of Cruise News Daily.


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AI-Based ICOs Will Continue to Trend in 2019
Even though the blockchain technology could have many applications in the real economy, when it comes to companies creating new impressive ICOs there seems to be a lack of vision. We have so many projects wanting to launch cryptocurrency exchange platforms, which make us question whether the actual project will turn out to be successful enough in order to sustain the token price.
Because of that lack of new breath-taking projects, people wanting to invest in ICOs had been focusing on companies wanting to provide high-tech solutions, in particular projects who use Artificial Intelligence or other innovative technologies, used in combination with the well-known blockchain technology.
Back in March, Binance’s Launchpad platform hosted new fundraising for an interesting project called Fetch.AI. It brings together machine learning, artificial intelligence, multi-agent systems, and decentralized ledger technology in order to create an economic internet.
Fetch.AI will be a semantic, geographic and decision-based navigation for autonomous agents to deliver seamless problem-solving. It will also provide a unique scalable ledger to support high transaction speed.
People were eager to invest in exchange-backed ICOs, choosing to get involved in projects features on platforms like Launchpad. Those who trade with TDS Capital or other trading platforms were also able to invest in new featured ICOs.
In the case of Fetch.AI, the project turned out to attract huge interest from retail investors, as the $6 million in hard cap was reached within minutes and almost 70 million FET tokens had been sold to Binance users.
New similar projects coming?
With Fetch.AI in the rear mirror, there are other projects who want to use AI. The Seed Token Project is an open, independent, and decentralized marketplace for developers, publishers, and other people.
The platform provides development tools, intellectual property, and a tokenized network for delivering front-ends to AI technologies. SEED actually pays consumers for their contribution to AI systems.
Even though the ICO date had not been yet provided, SEED is expected to be one of the top ICOs in the second half of 2019. The project is created by a group of experts from the industry and had already received significant media attention.
Other projects that will provide innovative and improved software solutions will be among the top-rated ICOs, as investors as looking for companies that aim to create disruptive applications – ones that could generate an increase in productivity and more effective digital systems.


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Some of the world’s wealthiest people started out dirt poor. Wealth tends to create more wealth, but a rich background is not the only way to the top. These 11 people not only climbed to the top of their industries but also became some of the richest person in the world.
Here are 11 rags-to-riches stories that remind us through determination, grit, and a bit of luck anyone can overcome their circumstances and achieve extraordinary success.
1. Starbucks’ Howard Schultz grew up in a housing complex for the poor.
Net worth: $3 Billion
In an interview with British tabloid Mirror, Schultz says: “Growing up I always felt like I was living on the other side of the tracks. I knew the people on the other side had more resources, more money, and happier families. And for some reason, I don’t know why or how, I wanted to climb over that fence and achieve something beyond what people were saying was possible. I may have a suit and tie on now but I know where I’m from and I know what it’s like.”
Schultz ended up winning a football scholarship to the University of Northern Michigan and went to work for Xerox after graduation. Shortly after, he took over a coffee shop called Starbucks, which at the time had only 60 shops. Schultz became the company’s CEO in 1987 and grew the coffee chain to more than 16,000 outlets worldwide.
2. Jan Koum, the CEO and cofounder of WhatsApp, once lived on food stamps before Facebook made him a billionaire.
Net worth: $7.7 Billion
Jan Koum came to the US from Ukraine when he was 16 years old. His family, struggling to make ends meet, lived on food stamps that they picked up a couple blocks away from Koum’s future WhatsApp offices in Mountain View, California.
In 2009, he and cofounder Brian Acton launched the real-time messaging app with an aim to connect people around the world. It essentially replaces text messaging. WhatsApp, which now has over 600 million global users agreed to a $19 billion buyout from Facebook earlier this year. The deal made Koum a multibillionaire.
3. Born into poverty, Oprah Winfrey became the first African American TV correspondent in Nashville.
Net worth: $3 Billion
Winfrey was born into a poor family in Mississippi, but this didn’t stop her from winning a scholarship to Tennessee State University and becoming the first African American TV correspondent in the state at the age of 19.
In 1983, Winfrey moved to Chicago to work for an AM talk show, which would later be called “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
4. Forever 21 founder Do Won Chang worked as a janitor, gas station attendant, and in a coffee shop when he first moved to America.
Net worth: $4.8 Billion
The husband and wife team Do Won Chang and Jin Sook behind Forever 21 didn’t always have it so easy. After moving to America from Korea in 1981, Do Won had to work three jobs at the same time to make ends meet. They opened their first clothing store in 1984.
Forever 21 is now an international, 480 Stores Empire that rakes in around $3 billion in sales a year.
5. Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal came from modest beginnings in India.
Net worth: $13.6 Billion
A 2009 BBC article says the ArcelorMittal’s CEO and chairman, who was born in 1950 to a poor family in the Indian state of Rajasthan, “established the foundations of his fortune over two decades by doing much of his business in the steel industry equivalent of a discount warehouse.”
Today Mittal runs the world’s largest steel making company and is a multibillionaire.
6. Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison dropped out of college after his adoptive mother died, and he held odd jobs for eight years.
Net worth: $47.4 Billion
Born in Brooklyn, New York, to a single mother, Ellison was raised by his aunt and uncle in Chicago. After his aunt died, Ellison dropped out of college and moved to California to work odd jobs for the next eight years. He founded software development company Oracle in 1977, which is now one of the largest technology companies in the world. This September he announced his plans to step down as Oracle’s CEO.
7. Kenny Troutt, the founder of Excel Communications, paid his way through college by selling life insurance.
Net worth: $1.45 Billion
Troutt grew up with a bartender dad and paid for his own tuition at Southern Illinois University by selling life insurance. He made most of his money from phone company Excel Communications, which he founded in 1988 and took public in 1996. Two years later, Troutt merged his company with Teleglobe in a $3.5 billion deal. He’s now retired and invests heavily in racehorses.
8. John Paul DeJoria, the man behind a hair-care empire and Patron Tequila, once lived in a foster home and his car.
Net worth: $3 Billion
Before the age of 10, DeJoria, a first generation American, sold Christmas cards and newspapers to help support his family. He was eventually sent to live in a foster home and even spent some time in a gang before joining the military.
With a $700 dollar loan, DeJoria created John Paul Mitchell Systems and sold the shampoo door-to-door while living in his car. He later started Patron Tequila, and now invests in other industries.
9. At one time, businessman Shahid Khan washed dishes for $1.20 an hour.
Net worth: $5.8 Billion
He’s now one of the richest people in the world, but when Khan came to the U.S. from Pakistan, he worked as a dishwasher while attending the University of Illinois. Khan now owns Flex-N-Gate, one of the largest private companies in the U.S., the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, and Premier League soccer club Fulham.
10. Jack Ma taught English before founding Alibaba in 1999.
Net worth: $21.8 Billion
Born in Hangzhou, China, Ma grew up in poverty. He couldn’t get a job at the local KFC. He failed the national college entrance exams twice before finally graduating and starting his career as an English teacher.
Then, in 1995, he had his first visit to the US. He saw the internet for the first time.
Recognizing that there was little in the way of Chinese content online, he started China Pages, a directory that was arguably the very first Chinese web startup. It promptly failed.
In 1999, he founded Alibaba. Today, the online retailer handles double the merchandise of Amazon. With September’s IPO, Ma became China’s richest person.
11. Leonardo Del Vecchio grew up in an orphanage and later worked in a factory where he lost part of his finger.
Del Vecchio was one of five children who was eventually sent to an orphanage because his widow mother couldn’t care for him. He would later work in a factory making molds of auto parts and eyeglass frames.
At the age of 23, Del Vecchio opened his own molding shop, which expanded to become the world’s largest maker of sunglasses and prescription eyewear with brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley.[su_box title=”More From DSIM:-” box_color=”#c7c7c7″ title_color=”#000000″ radius=”5″]1) How ZO Rooms is growing in the budget chain hotel industry?
Learn from real practitioners not just trainers.


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48pc mobile money users in urban areas: study
Nearly 48 percent of mobile finance service (MFS) users live in urban areas while 32 percent reside in rural areas and 20 percent in semi-urban neighbourhoods, a study finds.
Less than 20 percent of the users are female, according to the study: Mobile Financial Services Consumer Insights.
Rural users prefer receiving money rather than sending, the study suggested, which was prepared by pi Strategy Consulting in partnership with the CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) of World Bank.
The average monthly income of the MFS users stands at Tk 8,007, which is lower than the national average, and nearly three times the poverty line average income, said Pial Islam, managing partner of pi Strategy Consulting.
The majority of the MFS users do not have bank accounts in formal financial institutions, he said.
The average ticket size of mobile banking transactions is Tk 3,370, which is much lower than that of courier service transactions, Islam said.
More than four fifths of the users transfer funds between the members of same economic household, he said.
He spoke at the launch of the research findings at the Westin Hotel in the capital yesterday.
Nearly 1,000 respondents from four divisions of the country took part in the research, he said.
The study reports that those who are using mobile banking tend to conduct more frequent transactions of lower monetary value compared to their fund transfer patterns in the past.
All six mobile phone operators are involved with MFS providers in some capacity while by now 28 banks have MFS permission and 19 are in active operation, according to the central bank.
Key players in MFS are: bKash, DBBL Mobile Money and M-Cash of IBBL with 1.32 crore registered customers with about two lakh agents nationwide, generating more than 10 lakh transactions amounting more than Tk 221 crore a day.
The central bank's number one goal was to widen financial inclusion, so the bank released the mobile financial service in a bank-led pattern, Atiur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank, said at the programme.
He highlighted the importance of mobile financial services towards achieving financial inclusion by offering appropriate services to vast majority of the unbanked in Bangladesh.
“This is the most comprehensive study on mobile financial service customers' insights that has ever been conducted in Bangladesh.”
“The interviews that were ultimately accepted were thus of the highest quality while allowing the findings from the research to be statistically significant with a confidence level of 95 percent,” Islam of pi Strategy said.


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Costa Cruises marks its 10th Anniversary in Asia
Costa Asia celebrated being the first international cruise company to reach the 10th anniversary milestone in Asia. Since its maiden Asia voyage in July 2006, Costa Asia has achieved a number of industry firsts. It was the first international cruise company to deploy year-round homeport cruises in Asia. To date, it has served two million passengers in the Asian markets.
The cruise company though isn’t resting on its laurels as they are set to welcome new vessels to the fleet. Costa Asia will welcome the arrival of Costa neoRomantica in 2017, and in 2019 and 2020, two newly built 4,200 berth vessels specifically designed for the Asia market. In addition, leading German cruise brand AIDA Cruises will also join Costa Asia in 2017 by stationing a ship in Asia year-round for the first time.
Costa Asia is also extending its port of calls in the region with new Penang departures as well. Between October 2016 and January 2017, the Costa Victoria will call at Singapore, Phuket in Thailand, as well as Malacca, Langkawi and Penang in Malaysia for itineraries ranging from three to five nights.
To enhance accessibility and convenience, guests based in Malaysia will be able to embark and disembark at Penang for departures in October and November 2016. This will enable them to enjoy the unique “Italy at Sea” cruising experience right at their doorsteps.


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LAS VEGAS, NV— American entrepreneur Peter Thiel, co-founder and former CEO of PayPal says if he was still running the company, legal transactions involving firearms would be permitted through its online service. Thiel appeared before attendees at the libertarian oriented Freedom Fest at Planet Hollywood Saturday, when he debated Whole Foods CEO John Mackey.
“They wouldn’t be doing that if I was still running it,” Thiel said when asked by The Daily Caller.
PayPal’s policy on transactions that involve firearms “prohibit all account holders from buying or selling any type of firearm and certain firearm parts and ammunition.”
As a result of PayPal’s restrictive mandate, online firearm auction sites like gunbroker.com are banned from using PayPal’s services. PayPal is not the only online payment processor service that restricts account holders from buying and selling firearms. The Square reader and Apple Pay also ban their account users from legal firearm transactions.
Even the leading credit card payment handler, Authorize.net, a major credit card payment service, cut its relationship with the North Carolina based The Hyatt Gun Shop—the self-proclaimed nation’s largest gun store.
Thiel, an ardent libertarian, is out with a new a new book titled Zero to One. Thiel explores ways aspiring entrepreneurs can build startups in this particular release.


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OM in the News: Wal-Mart Tries to Skill Up
Wal-Mart, famous for keeping costs down (including employee-related costs), is testing a new approach: investing in workers through higher wages and training, on the theory that this will pay off all around—for customers, the company and employees. The firm plans to roll out the new training program to all of its 4,500 U.S. stores by early 2016. And by then, Wal-Mart hires will earn at least $10 an hour.
Wal-Mart isn’t alone in its new focus on training front-line workers, reports The Wall Street Journal (Sept.5-6, 2015). The trend, known as “upskilling,” is rippling across the retail and service industries. McDonald’s, Starbucks, Gap, CVS Health, Kaiser Permanente, and UPS are moving in the same direction. It’s a big change, even for companies with a reputation for taking care of employees. Many firms train college-educated workers and managers, but few focus on front-line workers.
Employee turnover costs money— $5,000 per front-line worker, or 20-30% of an entry-level salary. Standard turnover in retail is 50% in the first 6 months. If Wal-Mart can reduce this churn, persuading people to stay at least 12-18 months, it will save tens of millions of dollars a year. Wal-Mart also hopes that the new training will result in better customer service and happier shoppers.
Front-line employees—cashiers, cart pushers and sales associates—will now spend their first months in a supervised on-the-job training program. In the past, they sat through a few days of orientation and safety drills. The only real job training happened in the store—knowledge passed on by more experienced employees. The new program, called “Pathways,” delivers instruction in gamelike computer modules—each just 2-3-minutes long. New employees spend their first six months practicing what they’ve learned from the games and drills, watched over closely by managers and preparing for a “gateway” assessment that can earn them a dollar-an-hour raise and sometimes more.
Classroom discussion questions:
- What are the advantages of these training programs?
- Why has it taken so long to see such changes?


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It’s Thanksgiving, and IBM, via its Benchmark data service, is once again tracking how U.S. consumers are taking to the web to kick off holiday season shopping. Early indications are that this year once again shows growth, but less than in 2012. Overall, Thanksgiving online sales are up 9% over last year. On the same day in 2012, they were up by over 14%. The average value of an online order is down slightly, too. IBM tells me it is $132.13 so far for today; in 2012, it was $132.57.
IBM says its numbers come from tracking millions of transactions from 800 retailers online in real time.
IBM’s results indicate that newer platforms like mobile are getting ever more popular: mobile accounted for over 35% of all online traffic, up almost 30% compared to 2012. Mobile sales were over 22% of all online sales. It’s no surprise that mobile continues to grow: apart from the bigger trends that are seeing ever more people adopting smartphones and tablets, on Thanksgiving specifically, many people are together with friends and family, and often converging in living rooms and maybe in front of TVs or at parades or other events. That means less time at computers and more time turning to smaller and more portable screens to catch the latest deals showering down from cyberspace.
IBM’s data is bearing out a trend we’ve seen elsewhere that tablets, rather than smartphones, are driving more actual conversions to purchases. Smartphones today have so far driven 22% of all online traffic, IBM says, versus just 12.5% for tablets. But tablets have driven 13% of all sales online, 1.5 times the rate for handsets at 9%. The bigger screens of tablets are also driving more valuable orders — $125 versus $114.21 when items are purchased on smartphones.
In terms of platforms, iOS is trumping Android yet again when it comes to engagement. It may be losing to Android in overall marketshare globally, but when it comes to the U.S. market, iOS wins out for the most voracious consumers. IBM says iOS has seen more than three times the amount of sales that Android has — or 17% versus 5% of all online sales. iOS users spent $120.03 per order, IBM says, with Android at $114.19 (very close to the smartphone average basket value, in fact). iOS devices have accounted for 24% of all online shopping traffic so far; Android 10.5%.
Last year, IBM stirred up a bit of controversy when it noted that social networks were driving only 0.2% of online sales. This year, the numbers are a bit better: social networks so far are driving about 1% of sales, IBM tells me — “which is not to say social is not important, it has more of an indirect influence on sales — i.e. consumer perceptions of products, brands, customer experience,
which influences purchasing,” a spokesperson tells me.
So far, Facebook is winning out over Pinterest in terms of driving more valuable purchases, at $108.41 per order compared to $102.61 per order for Pinterest. Facebook referrals converted sales at a 43% higher rate than Pinterest referrals, “perhaps indicating stronger confidence in network recommendations,” IBM notes.
IBM says that it will update again with fresh numbers in a few hours. Last year, sales crept up the whole day, and by midnight, they were up 17.4% over 2011, with an especially strong push for mobile commerce. Some 25.3% of consumers used mobile devices to visit retailers’ sites in 2012, up 66% over 2011. And 18.3% of consumers used a mobile device to buy goods, up 65% over 2011.
As for the bigger picture beyond Thanksgiving, Forrester Research has more optimistic predictions compared to the numbers coming from IBM today. It estimates that U.S. online holiday sales will reach $78.7 billion this year, up 15% over 2012’s $68.4 billion. Forrester predicts that 167 million shoppers will do their holiday shopping online, spending an average of $472 for the season. “Strong economic growth and low unemployment rates project a healthy playing field for online holiday sales and outweigh any lingering dampening effect of the government shutdown,” writes Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru.
Update: IBM’s next number instalment from a 3pm Eastern reading indicates a slight rise in online sales, which are now up 9.4% on 2012. Mobile is also up slightly to 36%, as are mobile-based sales, now at 23% of all online sales. Smartphones are driving 23% of traffic, with tablets at 13%. Tablets rose slightly to 14% of all online sales; mobile handsets declined to 8.5%. Tablets average sales are also climbing up: $126.26 spent per order on average vs. smartphones at $113.19. The gap between iOS and Android in sales is also widening, 18% versus 5%. Same with sales, with iOS up to $121.46 per average order and Android down to $111.12. One-quarter of all e-commerce traffic is coming from iOS devices.
In social, Pinterest is now outpacing Facebook in terms of the value of referral traffic — I guess pinners just needed a little longer to wake up? Facebook referrals now average $108.19 per order, while Pinterest is averaging $110.38.
Update 2: More of the same, with sales now up 10% over last year and incremental increases across the rest of the metrics. The one notable change is back in “social influence” Facebook referrals are bringing in more shopping than Pinterest referrals, with Facebook driving $106.86 per order and Pinterest driving $102.79 per order. Facebook referrals are converting sales at a whopping 84% higher rate than Pinterest referrals (twice the rate from the original post).


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Mid-month the US Census Bureau reported its monthly retail sales number… And it blew away expectations coming in up 1.3%.
This big boost in sales should be great news because the Census Bureau is more than happy to remind you that consumer spending represents roughly two-thirds of our GDP.
Then again, when it comes to government reporting, things aren’t always what they appear. It helps to read the small print in report warning labels (my emphasis)…
Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for October 2022, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $694.5 billion, up 1.3 percent (±0.5 percent) from the previous month…
That’s right. They don’t adjust for inflation. And you can see in the charts below, inflation has been a pretty big factor over the past couple years…
Retail Sales (Annual)
Consider March, April, and May 2021 when retail sales exploded. Inflation was just beginning to take off and a lot of free stimulus money was hitting the economy. You can see how, as inflation kept rising, retail sales kept falling off. Even at 8.27% (which is abnormally high) it had been fueled by a 7.7% boost in prices.
The Grocery Industry is Actually Struggling
In your last letter I wrote about how businesses and consumers were going to be the forces that fix inflation, not the Fed. I used Walmart as an example. A lot of retailers, especially those in the food business, have been struggling to follow suit.
Inflation has pulled back less than 1.5% from its high (even less than the Fed’s 2% target). But their troubles aren’t over. Even Walmart…
Walmart earns about half their revenue from grocery sales (which pretty much makes them the biggest grocer in the country.) For months they’ve been tracking the shift in consumers’ behaviors. From this past May:
Walmart Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs told CNBC that the big-box retailer has seen some budget-strapped customers trade down to the store brand for deli meats and buy a half gallon of milk rather than a full one.
How’s the competition doing?
Publix is an employee-owned (you can’t buy their stock on an exchange), higher-end grocery chain with 1,312 stores throughout Florida and the southeast. They recently reported their earnings…
Publix stock price decreased Tuesday to $13.19 after snowballing economic conditions resulted in a 54% decrease in net earnings despite higher sales for the third quarter.
Two of the biggest grocery players in the country, Krogers and Albertsons, announced this past October they would be merging with Kroger offering to buy Albertsons for $24.6 billion. The deal has yet to be approved by regulators (and is facing some stiff opposition from unions and smaller chains alike) but by and large, this kind of merger suggests an all out effort by these companies to keep pace with Walmart in terms of purchasing/negotiating power (i.e. control their margins).
In 2017, Amazon bought high-end grocery darling Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion. They’re now starting to close stores. (We really shouldn’t read too much into this piece of data, but it’s certainly worth noting given the bigger picture…)
Professor Joseph Fitter of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business pretty much sums up the retail sales problem that businesses are dealing with:
“…last month I sold $500,000 at my store, this month I sold $600,000. But if inflation says the prices were higher and therefore, I should have sold $700,000, it means the consumers are probably trading down,” he said.
As long as inflation remains a significant factor… retail sales will be masking the real pain the economy is feeling.
Make the trend your friend,
Editor, Streetlight Daily


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All consumers are anxiously awaiting the speedier and more efficient upgrade from the current 4G. 5G is expected to come to the United States by late 2018/early 2019, according to Chinese smartphone producer ZTE. Other companies have also said that 5G testing is underway for 2018 so it is a race to see which one will make it to the finish line first.
Overseas, Nokia announced a partnership with NTT (News - Alert) DoCoMO, a Japanese telecom firm to bring 5G to the firms Wi-Fi radio stations. The goal is to achieve 5G by the 2020 Olympics, to be held in Tokyo from July 24-August 9, 2020.
“Collectively we’ve labored arduous in latest months to begin preparations for NTT DOCOMO’s eventual launch of its operational 5G service by 2020, which we’ve now set in movement by this very thrilling announcement right now,” stated Nokia’s (News - Alert) Marc Rouanne.
Both Nokia and DoCoMo have had a long-term working relationship, with Nokia being the latter’s primary 3G and 4G supplier. The two started gathering 5G ideas in 2014 looking at the consumer benefits, one on the table is the possibility of self-driving vehicles.
5G will also generate an enormous amount of revenue while creating jobs to make this functionality a reality. By 2020, the 5G infrastructure market will be roughly worth $2.86 billion. The market is anticipated to reach $33.72 billion by 2026 with a CAGR of 50.9 percent within the 2020-2026 timeframe.
The terms and financials of the Nokia/DoCoMo agreement have yet to be disclosed but we can see 5G just in the horizon.
Edited by Maurice Nagle


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There's a classic Bloom County cartoon in which Opus is trapped in Binkley's Anxiety Closet with a pair of economists. In the span of four panels, each economist argues that a) the economy is getting better; b) the economy is getting worse; and c) the other economist is a horse's patooty.
And even though that strip is at least 20 years old by now, it's still amazing how little things have changed.
It came to mind this week after reading the latest Gartner report on the state of the IT industry. The headlines certainly sounded encouraging, with the group predicting a 5.3 percent gain in global spending for 2010. Earlier this month, Forrester signaled even greater optimism, with analyst Andrew Bartels pegging the 2010 gain at 7.7 percent.
Either number would be an impressive feat in any cycle, but coming off of the past two dismal years, they are downright miraculous. So the IT economy is getting better.
But hold on. A closer look at those reports reveals that a good chunk of the gain is attributable not to increased deployments but to the declining value of the dollar. In Gartner's case, the impact of currency fluctuations accounts for nearly 80 percent of the gains, leaving the actual increase for 2010 at a mere 1.6 percent. So the IT economy may not be getting worse, but it's not expanding as much as the headlines claim.
Regardless of the actual cause of the turnaround, the numbers are undoubtedly leading to high-fives in the boardrooms of corporations like Intel. The company reported a whopping $2.4 billion first quarter net income this week, nearly three times the performance of the same period a year ago. While exchange rates probably helped, it's hard to overlook the role that the new Core and Xeon chips will continue to play as the enterprise industry shakes off the doldrums. Then again, as bnet.com's Erik Sherman points out, a closer look at those numbers reveals that the PC Client group was flat and Data Center revenue dropped 8 percent.
But that's economics in a nutshell. Conditions could be getting better, but maybe not. The economy will rebound, unless it doesn't. There's always something to be afraid of, but for the moment we should ride the wave.
And if you don't agree, you're a horse's patooty.


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As more officials ask people to stay home and maintain good social distancing practices amid the coronavirus pandemic, one grocery store in Pennsylvania had to throw away $35,000 worth of food after a woman went through the store and coughed on everything.
According to Gerrity's Supermarket co-owner Joe Fasula, a woman "came into the store and proceeded to purposely cough on our fresh produce, and a small section of our bakery, meat case and grocery."
"While there is little doubt this woman was doing it as a￼ very twisted prank, we will not take any chances with the health and well-being of our customers," Fasula wrote on the store's Facebook page. "We ￼had no choice but to throw out all product she came in contact with. Working closely with the Hanover Township health inspector, we identified every area that she was in, we disposed of the product and thoroughly cleaned and disinfected everything."
"Although we have not yet quantified the total loss,￼ we estimate the value to be well over $35,000," he added.
Fasula said he was "sick to my stomach about the loss of food."
"While it is always a shame when food is wasted, in these times when so many people are worried about the security of our food supply, it is even more disturbing," he added.
Police are investigating the incident and the district attorney's office has gotten involved, Fasula said.
According to the Hanover Township Police Department, the woman was identified and was currently being evaluated at a local hospital for a "mental health evaluation."
Criminal charges are expected to be filed against the suspect, police said.


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PARIS — The economic recovery may be hiccuping, but the prospects for the luxury sector keep brightening.
On Tuesday, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton reported a 52.8 percent leap in first-half profits and said July kept the same pace as the first six months of the year, when revenues rose 16.5 percent.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” said a sanguine Bernard Arnault, president and chief executive officer of the French luxury giant, addressing analysts at LVMH’s art-stuffed headquarters here. “We are fairly confident for the second half.”
The buoyant LVMH results follow strong showings by other European luxury players. Sales at Hermès International jumped 27 percent in the second quarter, while Burberry posted an overall 30.6 percent sales increase in its first quarter. Further good news from the luxury sector could come Friday, when French retail-to-luxury conglomerate PPR is due to report first-half profits and sales.
Despite the strong first-half performance, Arnault, like other industry executives, cautioned the global economic picture remains “uncertain.” But he noted, “We have reason to believe business will be buoyant.”
Indeed, he noted that “demand is greater than supply for certain products. It’s an enviable challenge, I would say.”
On cue, giant screens flashed images of new workshops and tanneries in France and Belgium for Louis Vuitton, which kept up its double-digit pace of sales growth and powered the fashion and leather goods division to a 17.7 percent gain.
Arnault also boasted that the latest vintage of Cheval Blanc, priced at 600 euros a bottle, or about $775, “sold out in 10 minutes. There is big demand for high-quality wines.”
Arnault stopped short of giving precise earnings or sales guidance for the year, however, saying, “Thanks to the crisis, we don’t do forecasts anymore.”
For the six months ended June 30, net profits rose to 1.05 billion euros, or $1.39 billion, from 687 million euros, or $917.2 million, a year earlier.
Like other luxury players, LVMH benefited from currency tailwinds, which added 116 million euros, or $154.3 million, to the bottom line in the half.
Currency conversions were made at average exchange rates for the periods to which they refer.
Arnault trumpeted double-digit organic revenue gains across all business divisionsand strong business in Asia, the United States and even Europe, considered the laggard in rebounding from the 2009 financial crisis. In local currencies, sales in the half jumped 21 percent in Asia, 18 percent in the United States and 11 percent in Europe, LVMH said. Only Japan registered in negative territory, sliding 6 percent.
LVMH cited a 22 percent gain in revenues in the second quarter, accelerating from an 11 percent bump in the first three months of the year. Based on calculations by WWD, second-quarter sales increased 22.1 percent to 4.63 billion euros, or $5.9 billion, from 3.79 billion euros, or $5.15 billion, in the same period last year. In the half, sales totaled 9.1 billion euros, or $12.1 billion, from 7.8 billion euros, or $10.4 billion, a year earlier.
In organic terms, meaning with like-for-like structure and at constant exchange rates, the revenue increase stood at 14 percent.
By division, sales in the half rose 28 percent in watches and jewelry, 20.7 percent in wines and spirits, 13.7 percent in selective retailing and 12.1 percent in perfumes and cosmetics.
LVMH cited an end to the destocking phenomenon last year that led to steep revenue declines for liquors and timepieces. For example, sales of perfumes and cosmetics rose 16 percent in local currencies in the U.S. in the half, led by the star brand Christian Dior, which will have a new “muse” for Miss Dior Chérie perfume in the second half. It will be Natalie Portman, who was recently in Paris shooting a commercial directed by Sofia Coppola, according to a Paris source.
The robust results fueled a strong cash flow, helping LVMH reduce its gearing as of June 30 to 16 percent, with net debt of 2.56 billion euros, or $3.13 billion, and raising speculation of a share buyback, payout or acquisitions.
On the latter subject, Arnault, responding to a question from the audience, said LVMH had no interest in acquiring French beauty giant L’Oréal, but he danced around other possible targets. “Either we have plans I can’t reveal or we have no plans, so what can I say,” he replied with a shrug and a big smile.
In a research note, Evolutions Securities analyst Dennis Weber said the sales and profit figures bested expectations by a big margin, but cautioned LVMH is not likely to repeat its strong performance in the second half as comps get tougher.
Separately on Tuesday, Christian Dior SA, parent of LVMH and Christian Dior Couture, unveiled results broadly in line with LVMH.
First-half sales at the Dior fashion house rose 10 percent to 373 million euros, or $496.3 million, with sales in its own boutiques advancing 17 percent.
Dior chief executive officer Sidney Toledano cited strength across all geographic regions, except Japan, with particularly robust business in Asia. Last May, the French fashion house showed its cruise collection in Shanghai and unveiled an expanded store at Plaza 66, and Toledano said the event had a “big impact” on the entire region.
Leather goods headlined the sales gains, along with women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, Toledano noted. Operating profits in the period stood at 8 million euros, or $10.6 million, versus a nil figure in the year-ago half. The improvement reflects an increased gross margin despite high investments in communication and product development, Toledano noted.
Breaking News: @louisvuitton's men's artistic director @mrkimjones is leaving the French fashion house after nearly 7 years. Jones joined Louis Vuitton in 2011, following a three year tenure as creative director of British luxury goods brand Alfred Dunhill. Jones is to exit Louis Vuitton after showing his fall 2018 collection for the brand in Paris on Thursday. Read the full exclusive story on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdnews #wwdfashion
For men’s fall 2018, @giuseppezanotti drew on elements from streetwear, sport, biker, combat and rock ‘n’ roll. Pictured here are a pair of shoes from the collection, featuring zippers, rhinestones, and silver hardware. Head to WWD.com to see a roundup of the accessories from Milan’s men’s fall 2018 shows. #wwdfashion (📷: Andrea Delb)
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of @ralphlauren’s snowboarding collection, the brand is mining its archives. The iconic brand is reintroducing vintage styles and dropping new designs for a color capsule that will be available in Ralph Lauren stores and @openingceremony on January 25. The capsule will consist of 10 pieces, including the Snow Beach Pullover, pictured here, which is a collector’s item that rapper Raekwon wore in Wu-Tang Clan’s “Can It Be All So Simple” video. #wwdfashion (📷: Tom Gould)
For @rochasofficial’s pre-fall 2018 collection, creative director Alessandro Dell’Acqua channeled the sophisticated and intriguing Catherine Denevue in the film “Belle de Jour.” Polished collarless coats, midi skirts, suits and ’60s graphic motifs were all featured in the collection, adding a sense of discreet luxury. See the rest of the photos on WWD.com #wwdfashion
“We tried to produce clothing of that couture quality, but the most daunting part was that we only had a matter of days [to do it],” said costume designer Lou Eyrich, who recreated Gianni Versace’s iconic looks for @americancrimestoryfx. Eyrich searched online retailers and vintage shops for original pieces from the design house and for @penelopecruzoficial, who plays Donatella Versace. Head to WWD.com to read how she created the Versace world. #wwdfashion
Only three months after her stellar debut catwalk season, @kaiagerber has inked her first big design collaboration –– with @karllagerfeld. The collection blends Lagerfeld’s Parisian chic aesthetic and the model’s signature West Coast casual style via RTW, accessories, footwear and more. The #KarlLagerfeldxKaia collection will launch in September with a series of events. Get all the details on WWD.com. #wwdnews #wwdfashion
Harrods plans to remove the famous statue of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed from the bottom of the Egyptian escalators and hand it back to Mohamed Al-Fayed. “We are very proud to have played our role in celebrating the lives of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed at Harrods and to have welcomed people from around the world to visit the memorial for the past 20 years,” said Michael Ward, Harrods managing director. “With the announcement of the new official memorial statue to Diana, Princess of Wales at Kensington Palace, we feel that the time is right to return this memorial to Mr. Al Fayed and for the public to be invited to pay their respects at the palace.” More on the news, with reporting by @loreleimarfil, at WWD.com. #wwdnews


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First Data Corp.
The privately held Sandy Springs, Ga.-based electronic payments went $185 million deeper into the red in 2012, after an increase in interest expense and a decline in other income and expense driven by mark-to-market losses on interest rate swaps.
- Revenue: $10.7 billion, flat
- Net Loss: ($527.3 million), N/M
First Data CEO Jonathan J. Judge:
“We continue to make investments in new product innovation around our merchant base including next-generation tablet-based point-of-sale systems. As the payments industry continues to evolve through the convergence of offline, online and mobile payments First Data intends to help lead the way in Universal Commerce.”
Late Monday, First Data named company President Ed Labry interim CEO while it searches for someone to permanently fill the position. On Jan. 11, it announced Judge planned to retire as CEO for health reasons.


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"Wake Up And Smell The Coffee Crisis" - Trade Aid
"Wake Up And Smell The Coffee Crisis", Says Trade Aid
Trade Aid Campaigns Manager, Simon Gerathy today called on Cerebos Greggs to take a more meaningful step to address the issues facing poverty stricken coffee farmers who are in a desperate situation due to the collapse in world coffee prices.
The comment was sparked by Cerebos Greggs' sponsorship of Habitat for Humanity and their claim in an advertisement that they are 'proud to be a part of every New Zealand family'.
"Cerebos Greggs claiming to be a proud part of New Zealand is a bit rich, given that they're owned by Japanese hard liquor and pharmaceutical multinational, Suntory", said Mr Gerathy.
"Is it pure coincidence that this sponsorship comes at a time when coffee farmers are being forced to leave their land due to the coffee corporates not paying them a living wage? Isn't this a cynical 'cause-related marketing' exercise, designed to deflect attention from the profits being made on the back of coffee farmers living in poverty?"
Mr Gerathy said a more appropriate way for Cerebos Greggs to spend their money would be by purchasing fair trade coffee, which guarantees coffee farmers a living wage, and is the difference between a farmer carrying sacks of coffee on his back and buying a mule.
"Certified fair trade coffee makes a real and tangible difference to coffee farmers by guaranteeing a sustainable price. Coffee corporates paying rock bottom market rates only perpetuate the poverty cycle," said Mr Gerathy.
"Wake up Cerebos Greggs. Start paying a fair price for the coffee on which you make your profits. Wake up New Zealand, choose fair trade coffee as a positive alternative, instead of filling the pockets of a Japanese corporate multinational."
phone 64 3 385 3535
fax 64 3 385 3536
mobile 025 937 875


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Classic cars, old and new
Iola Car Show slated for July 11-13
By Holly Neumann
“Calling all Car Clubs” is the theme of the 47th annual Iola Car Show.
It will take place Thursday, July 11 through Saturday, July 13, at 130 Jenson Drive, Iola.
This year’s theme allows for classics, as well as new Corvettes, Mustangs, Challengers and more.
“It created an opportunity to include something a little different than normal,” said team member Carter Snyder. “Many clubs are filled with members who love to honor the classics, but also enjoy driving their modern counterparts.”
He said they like adding pieces to the show that allow more people to enjoy it.
Among the additions to the show is a new phone app that will give people shopping the swap meet interactive mapping.
It will allow them to find what they are looking for and keep track of their shopping.
“This is not something you can expect at most shows,” said Snyder. “People come to the show for many different reasons, and the phone app will help them make the most of their time. It also includes scheduling of celebrity appearances, events, etc., and will also allow us to send push notifications as exciting things happen organically during the show.”
It is way to improve the overall experience for buyers, sellers and attendees.
“The Iola Car Show team is very happy with the results and functionality that the app provides,” he said.
There will also be several must-see areas at the car show this year.
“All of the activity in the new convention center space will get a lot of attention,” said Snyder. “The swap meet is always a huge attraction, and the sponsors bring something new to experience each year.”
Otto’s Bar has been relocated to the convention center.
“This popular spot has received an extraordinary uplift with the move and now features a beer garden,” said Snyder. “Look for the iconic ‘Otto’s Bar’ sign to join the fun.”
Other additions in the convention center space include a health and wellness area and a model trains area.
A new flea market area, located at the northeast end of the show grounds near the concert venue, will feature vendors that do not fit the normal auto/memorabilia related requirements.
Live music is included with admission to the car show.
Boomboxx will entertain from 5-7:30 p.m. Friday, July 12, followed by Johnny Wad from 8-10:30 p.m.
On Saturday, July 13, The Third Wheels will play from 2–4:30 p.m., The Del Rays from 5–7:30 p.m. and Tony Rocker from 8-10 p.m.
Visitors are encouraged to participate in Super Saturday giveaways, with prizes ranging from Iola Car Show gear to a red Jeep from Rawhide.
“You can text ‘IOLA’ to 65047 and you will be entered into this year’s giveaway,” said Snyder. “Selected sponsors team up to give away a ton of awesome prizes, and a simple text can get you entered for all of them.”
The Iola Car Show has something for everyone.
“The people are what makes the Iola Car Show special compared to others,” said Snyder. “It takes a community to host an event our size, and the people of Iola and surrounding cities have always made the car show feel special. From the gates to food stands, our community members do a great job each and every year to bring a vibrancy to our event.”
When the weekend is done, Snyder hopes visitors walk away from the grounds feeling they are part of a yearlong family that is Iola.
“While the event may only last three days, the memories and friends last a lifetime,” he said.
The cost to attend the Iola Car Show is $15 for one day and $28 for all three days.
Those who buy their ticket online get free preferred parking.
The gates open at 6 a.m. each day.


text: Mumbai-based organic juice startup Raw Pressery has raised $4.8 Mn (INR.33.5 Cr) across equity and venture debt from venture debt firm Alteria Capital.\r\n\r\nFounded by Anuj Rakyan in 2013, Raw Pressery offers premium cold-pressed juices and smoothies and is currently available in cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, and others. It is also present in Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai in the Middle East.\r\n\r\nRaw Pressery plans to use the funding to scale its new categories \u2014\u00a0nut milk, soups, and probiotic dairy drinks. It is also looking to expand its distribution in India as well as in international markets such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhen you have a great product, a strong founder and an inefficient yet deep market, you have all the ingredients for a very strong proposition. We are seeing increasing interest in the Indian consumer segment and this investment is aligned with our belief that strong, Indian consumer brands backed by venture capital are going to create massive outcomes in the medium to long-term,\u201d said Vinod Murali, co-founder and managing partner, Alteria Capital.\r\n\r\nMurali further said, \u201cThis is a relationship that has been built over a long period of time; I have known Anuj for the last few years, I have funded him as well in my previous organisation (InnoVen Capital). So, I have a high level of familiarity and a strong relationship with the founder, and I saw a great product. It\u2019s a growing market from a consumer perspective where there is a higher health orientation, and people are willing to pay for the products.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe also explained that if you look Alteria's deals so far, the focus is on consumers; he added that\u00a0consumer businesses are going to see a lot more velocity in next 12-24 months.\r\n\r\n\u201cSo, a good product, a great team, a young but growing market, and growing distribution strength make it a very interesting proposition for us,\u201d added Murali.\r\n\r\nOn the support for Raw Pressery with this funding, Murali said: \u201cA multilayer conversation is going on already, this ranges from support in distribution to access different forms of financing, helping them with their balance sheet management, with transaction banking, capex, etc, so there is a wide range of areas that we have already had discussions on.\u201d\r\nAlteria Capital: A Venture Debt Firm With Interest In Equity\r\nAlteria Capital provides venture debt to high growth, innovative Indian startups with a cheque size range of $286.38K\u00a0\u2013 $14.31 Mn (INR 2 Cr \u2013 INR 100 Cr).\r\n\r\nLaunched in October 2017 by former Innoven Capital executives Ajay Hattangdi and Vinod Murali, the\u00a0Alteria Capital India Fund I has a total corpus of $123 Mn (INR 800 Cr). It has a green-shoe option of a further $30 Mn (INR 200 Cr).\r\n\r\nTill date, the firm has received commitments worth more than $78.75 Mn (INR 550 Cr) from institutional investors and family offices, including IndusInd Bank. This includes the\u00a0$15 Mn (INR 100 Cr)\u00a0it raised for its $150 Mn (INR 1,000 Cr) maiden debt fund from the\u00a0Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). \r\n\r\nThe\u00a0Alteria Capital India Fund I expects to make its final close in H2 2018.\r\n\r\nTalking to Inc42 about the first equity funding, Vinod Murali, co-founder and managing partner, Alteria Capital,\u00a0said that 10% of the investments from the fund will be made in equity of selected companies.\r\n\r\n\u201cAlteria will predominantly be a venture debt vehicle only, so our primary focus will continue to remain venture debt. But given that we are an AIF firm, we have the ability to invest in equity as well. The second thing is we have a very good relationship and a good understanding of business here and in this case, it is a very strong equity syndicate as well \u2014 you have Sequoia, Saama etc \u2014 so there is a lot of comfort in this transaction,\u201d said Murali.\r\n\r\nEarlier, in March 2018, ready-to-cook foodtech startup Fingerlix raised $1.31 Mn (INR 8.5 Cr) of venture debt from Alteria Capital. A week later, the firm pumped $4.64 Mn (INR 30 Cr) into Bengaluru-based fashion startup Universal Sportsbiz Pvt Ltd (USPL).\r\n\r\nIn May 2018, Alteria also invested $2.3 Mn in\u00a0Toppr, a Mumbai-based personalised elearning solutions provider and online test preparation platform.\r\n\r\nMurali reaffirmed that the firm would continue to lead venture debt investments but would do equity as well. \r\n\r\nTalking about financing via equity and venture debt, he said, \u201cYou want to use equity for product building, engineering, core technology, core platform building, and so on. If you have to invest in expansion or marketing or working capital, then you can use debt for that. So, the ideal mix is both.\u201d\r\nRaw Pressery: Juicing The Indian Health Demand\r\nRaw Pressery\u2019s juices and smoothies form about 90% of its revenues and the startup has introduced new categories such as nut milk and soups.\u00a0Unlike packed juices that have a shelf life of up to six months, Raw Pressery products have a limited shelf life and need coolers in their supply chain.\r\n\r\nThe total capital raised by the firm stood at about $27.13 Mn after a recent funding of $9.55 Mn (INR 65 Cr)\u00a0from its existing investors \u2014 Sequoia Capital, Saama Capital, and DSG Consumer Partners.\r\n\r\nPrior to this, the startup raised $6 Mn from the trio\u00a0in October 2017 and over $543K from Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez in April 2017.\r\n\r\nRaw Pressery claims to have grown its business to over 120% in FY18 and it aims to grow its revenues by about 112% in FY19.\r\n\r\nThe company is also working to expand its retail touch points in India from 2K to 6K by the FY19 end. It has targeted a turnover of $14.69 Mn (INR 100 Cr) for the next two years, with an aim to grow over six times since FY17.\r\n\r\nRaw Pressery has\u00a0in-house logistics and manufacturing units that help control costs and quality.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\u201cWe have built a lot of defensive moats including our sourcing back-end, own supply chain, intellectual property (IP) and branding. That has helped us scale significantly and meet about 96% of our revenue projection for FY18,\u201d Rakyan had said earlier.\r\n\r\nThe filings reveal that Raw Pressery clocked upto $2.21 Mn (INR 15.1 Cr) in operational revenues for FY17, a growth of about 140% from $924.62K (INR 6.3 Cr) in FY16.\r\nHealthy Juices Industry \r\nIn India, Raw Pressery competes directly with brands such as Paper Boat, Juicifix, JusDivine, and indirectly with fruit juice and drinks brands such as\u00a0Frooti, Appy, Maaza, Minute Maid, Slice, Fresh Gold, Del Monte, etc.\r\n\r\nMany\u00a0early stage startups are placing their bets on healthy juices. Bengaluru-based SapFresh provides\u00a0pure, fresh, cold-pressed, and 100% organic juice shots of wheatgrass, amla (Indian gooseberry), beetroot, and carrot,\u00a0etc, leveraging the hyperlocal delivery for delivering its products to customers' doorsteps every morning.\r\n\r\nOne of the leading fitness, health, and wellness startups in the country \u2014 Cure.Fit \u2014 serves healthy drinks such as Antioxidant Kick, which includes electrolyte-rich coconut water; Hydration Lift, which includes anti-inflammatory goji berries; Core Cleanse, which has anti-inflammatory fruits and veggies, through its Eat.Fit vertical.\r\n\r\nAccording to \u2018Beverages: Indian Scenario\u2019 report, the health beverages market currently stands at $300 Mn and is the fastest growing market among beverages. According to a Technopak report, the Indian packaged juice market is valued at $200 Mn (INR 1,100 Cr) and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15% over the next three years.\r\n\r\nWith the demand for healthy products spiralling in an increasingly fitness-focussed India, players such as Raw Pressery have a lot of scope to introduce new products to add to continue their growth trajectory.


text: Many Americans save money by getting their prescription drugs from Canada, whose government regulates prices. Initially, many people who bought their prescriptions from Canada took organized bus trips to the country for the purpose. Nowadays, more people order their medicine from safe and licensed Canadian pharmacies. There’s no question that Americans save a lot of money by ordering their medicines from Canadian pharmacies. In some cases, drugs from Canada cost as little as one-fifth the price found inside America. However, some wonder if this might be too good to be legal. So is it really legal to buy prescription drugs from Canada? The answer isn’t so simple, but the activity is tolerated. Below is more information on the subject….


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IA drives 39x ROI for Flo Matress’ Digital Performance Campaigns!
Flo Mattress is India’s most intelligently designed Mattress-in-a-box. It is India’s answer to Casper Mattress in the US. Infinite Analytics’ path-defining AI platform has been at the forefront of driving their digital performance marketing campaigns for the last couple of months.
IA’s platform consumes data from hundreds of data sources, breaks down consumer behavioral characteristics into thousands of attributes and is able to predict consumer behavior such as Spending Potential, Brand Affinities, Media Habits among many other traits. This enables IA to identify the most effective target audiences for brands and companies for the digital campaign at hand.
For Flo, IA was able to identify sleep patterns of consumers, along with what would drive them to purchase their mattresses online when traditionally, consumers would only want to buy them at retail locations. This, coupled with other consumer behavioral characteristics became the first set of insights that IA used to find target audiences for Flo.
Over the last weekend in September 2019, Flo Mattress had a massive surge in sales, led by their digital acquisition campaign run by IA. The ROI on the digital spends for the campaign has been over 39x for Flo.
Kshitij Rihal, co-founder of Flo Mattresses, says:
“There is a lot of hype around Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. We have been pitched by many companies promising the moon, but beyond the use of buzz words, they do not seem to have any capabilities that deliver their promises. When asked to promise a number, the agencies are never willing to take the risk and the entire risk is on us, the clients.
Infinite Analytics came highly recommended to us, from one of their clients. One meeting with the team, along with seeing some of their work with their clients like Coca Cola and Alt Balaji, we were tempted to try their platform for our digital campaigns. They were also focused on driving results and performance of the campaigns. Us being a bootstrapping startup with limited resources, we have to always ensure that every penny spent on digital marketing brings us sustainable ROI in revenues. In the first week itself, IA platform dramatically brought down our CAC. We still decided to test them more and see if they delivered when spends scaled up 10x.
Last weekend, IA’s platform delivered 39x ROI for our digital media spends. That ROI is insane! Especially when campaigns are scaled up! We are only glad to be partners with IA in our journey to acquire customers efficiently using their AI platform to segment and reach out to our ideal customers online.”
Akash Bhatia, Co-founder & CEO of Infinite Analytics says:
“At Infinite Analytics, we believe that unless latest technologies and buzz words are not able to impact the clients’ top line, they are just that – buzz words. We are thrilled that we have been able to deliver such ROI for Flo and will continue to drive up their top line through their campaigns. IA loves the energy and the receptiveness of the Flo team to new, disruptive technology and frameworks in the field of digital marketing. We look forward to a strong and long association with Flo Mattress.”
To know more, email us at: email@example.com


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It began with a $72 million payout to a Missouri family in February of 2016. At the same time, there were more than 3,000 additional lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson across the country.
About a year later, another $110 million was awarded – same state, different plaintiff. Another lap around the calendar and a group of 22 women win their $4.7 billion suit concerning the same defective product – Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based powders.
Earlier this year, a California jury ordered them to shell out $29 million, and last month, a case had the consumer goods giant handing over at least $25 million in compensatory damages after the victim contracted “a rare asbestos-related cancer” by using Shower to Shower [...]


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Piece by piece information has leaked out from Apple insiders and industry watchers about what could well be the turning point in automotive history: the release of the Apple Car. Through collecting these fragments, we’ve assembled a collage of the Apple Car and Apple’s Project Titan.
The picture that’s formed is one of revolutionary potential for the world’s strongest brand to dominate the world’s largest and, by many measures, most competitive industry.
But the collage has many layers within it, and a second image forms of the mounting aggressions between two technology leaders staking their futures’ on becoming the dominant force in the electric vehicle market: Tesla (TSLA) and Apple (AAPL).
It’s clear now that neither will win without a fight, and the battle – who’s opening salvos have already rung out – will be one that the global markets keep a close eye on.
Here is Musk, responding to German newspaper Handelsblatt, about concerns that Apple was hiring away “important engineers”:
“Important engineers? They have hired people we’ve fired. We always jokingly call Apple the ‘Tesla Graveyard.’ If you don’t make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. I’m not kidding.”
The Battlefield Is Set: Here Are The Combatants
On the left: The richest, most powerful, most beloved company in the world, Apple, shifting its collosal might in this new direction, hiring top talent from across the automotive and battery industries, and staking a huge part of its future on this bold new direction and the Apple Car.
On the right: The small rebel force led by visionary Elon Musk, thwarting skeptics and defying unthinkable odds across the spectrum of his endeavors. Tesla has reignitied a global push toward the eletric automobile as its CEO, Musk, has simultaneously catalyzed a new era in the American space industry. We see how high the hopes for this company have soared as revenues have risen. Here CML Pro shows us the market cap as blue bars and revenue as the orange line:
Revenues for the trailing twelve months hit $4 billion and even with the overall market sell-off, Tesla’s market cap is over $20 billion.
The Stakes For Winning
The purse for victory is huge. The automotive industry is one of the world’s largest markets, with luxury cars alone accounting for $360 billion per year in sales and growing fast:
The electric vehicle market is projected to hit greater than $270 billion by 2019.
Given the countless array of car makers across the globe, we must size how much of the world market and individual car company can capture. Let’s do just that.
The world’s largest vehicle producer is Volkswagen, with global sales of over 200 billion euros per year, followed closely by Toyota:
Put in perspective, Volkswagon has roughly the same total revenue as Apple’s $240 billion USD.
For Apple, a successful launch of an Apple Car could realistically double revenue, and with time, operating margins and substantial new profits would be sure to follow. For Tesla, with Revenue of $4 billion yearly, the potential is staggering.
The Stakes For Losing
Apple has a cloud of wary investors with concern focused largely on the worry that Apple is too dependent on the 60% of revenues coming from the iPhone. Many on Wall Street are betting that Apple won’t be able to transition to another equally large success. A failed launch would irrevocably tarnish the Apple brand and confirm the bears view that Apple’s scope is limited. So the Apple car broadens and diversifies their revenue and products.
For Tesla, the stakes are higher still. Tesla is burning cash to stay afloat, propped up by hopes of their potential to release a mass-market automobile in the Model 3. Looking at the levered free cash flow from CML Pro, we see how pressing their situation is:
In the last three years the young electric car company has sky-rocketed from a $3 billion market cap to over $20 billion, and the coming battle will determine whether they double and triple yet again, or if, instead, they fade to become just a modest acquisition for an established car company.
The Decisive Battle
Hitting the technical inflection point is a critical part of having a huge success, and failing to do so is to fall into the “chasm” where many new technologies die. Aptera, Fisker, Coda, and Better Place all failed in their attempts to bring electric cars across this gap.
Through our extensive research, we believe we have found the break-through technology that will make the company that first develops it the decided winner in the electric vehicle war.
Top universities around the world have been researching this technology and we discovered a world renowned institution that has made a major advance. If this technology continues on track, the owner will dominate the electric car industry.
Looking at Apple’s R&D spending, we see clearly the massive investment Apple is making in its future:
Apple is now spending $2.4 billion per quarter on R&D. Could a sizable chunk of these funds be directed toward an Apple car?
Tesla has a massive headstart in the electric vehicle market, but no company is better positioned to make a huge technological investment, backed by a brilliant marketing campaign, and championed by a beloved brand, than Apple.
If Apple succeeds in releasing its Apple car, they are likely to not only reap enormous financial rewards,but also to massively swell the size of the electric vehicle market and, in so doing, create a permanent shift to a new era of automotive history.
Further, let us not forget that Alphabet / Google (GOOGL) is still considered by many to be the real innovator in driverless technology and General Motors (GM) is releasing its electric Chevy Bolt this year.
Why This Matters
If any of the information in this article feels like a surprise, in many ways it is. The Apple car and battle with Tesla will be defining and revolutionary for the industry.
Thematic investing is the key, in fact, here are just two of the trends that will radically affect the future that we are ahead of:
Thanks for reading.
Further reading from Ophir: “Is Netflix Stock Attractive After Deep Selloff?“
Read more from Ophir on CMLviz.com.
Author has a position in AAPL. Any opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of any other person or entity.


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Stopping counterfeit products requires vigilance in all steps of the supply chain, but some products are easier to monitor than others, according to Dr. Edward Minchin of the University of Florida, in How to Protect Against Counterfeiting.
For example, overseas imports are prime for forgery because attitudes surrounding counterfeiting can vary from country to country, and even region to region. One persistent idea surrounding counterfeits produced in China is that if something is helping the local economy, any negative global effects can be rationalized, Minchin says.
“There is an old saying, ‘The emperor is far away and the mountains are high,’” he says. “So basically that means that people do what they want to here and they don’t think anybody’s going to do a lot to stop it if it’s helping the local economy.”
That sentiment appears to be true in some instances. Minchin, who has done extensive international research on building material counterfeits, notes that Chinese officials are often not proactive in the pursuit of possible counterfeiters, which means fake products can easily find their ways across international borders into your supply chain.
“They’ve passed a lot of (anti-counterfeiting) laws, and what’s been frustrating to us is that they don’t prosecute based on these laws … ,” Minchin says. “Even though the laws are on the books, they either don’t enforce them, or when they do enforce them, they prosecute under something else. So they’re not getting the message out to their people that there is not a tolerance for counterfeiting. In fact they’re sending the opposite message.”
Read more about why counterfeiting is prevalent in such industries as bearings and steps you can take with your channel partners to mitigate the risk of fake products in How to Protect Against Counterfeiting.


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NEW YORK (Reuters) - A slew of profit warnings from transportation companies like FedEx Corp (FDX.N) and Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC.N) is raising questions about whether the overall market will end this year on a high note.
An enduring part of market lore is the notion that gains in the well-known Dow Jones industrial average .DJI do not hold unless similar moves in the Dow Jones transportation average .DJT "confirm" them. Strategists tend to look askance when they see steady rises in the 30-stock industrial index when the transportation average is not doing well.
The idea behind this part of “Dow theory” is that manufacturers as well as the railroads, shippers and trucking companies that move their goods are barometers of the U.S. economy’s performance.
That makes the recent moves in these averages somewhat ominous. Over the last six months, the Dow industrials have gained 2.9 percent, while the transports have fallen by 5.6 percent.
This is not the first time that industrials have rocketed upward while the transports were suggesting caution. Transportation stocks hit a peak in mid-1999 but later started to slip, while the Dow continued to rally through early 2000 before stumbling.
In recent months, most railroads and truckers have reported lower shipping volumes as consumers and businesses have worried about the weakening global economy and possible changes in U.S. tax regulations. The resulting profit warnings have pressured transport shares.
Until now, stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank are helping to keep transport stocks from steeper losses, said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.
If the Dow transports, which closed Monday at 4,960.8, fall below a critical level of 4,860 to 4,900, those shares might plunge and pull other stock indices down in sympathy, Mendelsohn said.
“It might not take much to break those technical levels,” which have held for about six months, he warned. “Then hedge fund and money managers are going to pay more attention, and you’ll probably see the impact across the broader markets.”
Another red flag is that analysts have been cutting their third-quarter earnings forecasts at the same time the market is going up.
As of Monday, analysts on average expect the companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index .SPX to report a collective 2.1 percent drop in profit, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. That is in stark contrast with their estimates of a 3.1 percent rise when the quarter began on July 1.
To be sure, not all analysts subscribe to the Dow theory that transportation stocks are a leading indicator of the broader markets, now that manufacturing is a smaller part of the overall economy.
“The Dow theory did a lot better in the 1960s and 1970s, when manufacturing ruled the economy,” said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis. The Dow transportation average “is not as great a signal in the last couple of decades, when you now have a much more broadly based, diversified economy.”
U.S. transportation companies are suffering from a host of problems, including China’s slowdown, a slump in demand for coal shipped by railroad, Europe’s fiscal crisis and high fuel costs.
Another factor weighing on transports: Shipping customers are cutting back on spending because of uncertainty about U.S. tax policies.
At issue is the “fiscal cliff” - the year-end deadline for about $500 billion in expiring U.S. tax cuts and automatic spending reductions set for next year unless Congress can reach a compromise over lowering the budget deficit.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said a “significant recession” could result from these massive government spending cuts and tax increases.
At the same time, Republican nominee Mitt Romney is trying to defeat President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in the November 6 election.
“For industrials and transports in general, the election and the fiscal cliff are two looming issues that the market is waiting on,” said analyst Logan Purk of Edward Jones in St. Louis.
Transportation and logistics companies are also worried. At least seven of them - FedEx, Norfolk Southern, UTi Worldwide UTIW.O, Swift Transportation Co SWFT.N, Arkansas Best Corp ABFS.O, XPO Logistics Inc (XPO.N) and Werner Enterprises Inc (WERN.O) have scaled back their profit forecasts in recent weeks. United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) led the pack when it cut its outlook in July.
Kansas City Southern (KSU.N) bucked the trend. Its volume grew almost 8 percent in the quarter as the company relies less on coal than its larger railroad peers and is heavily invested in faster-growing Mexico.
FedEx and UPS could benefit from a rush to buy holiday gifts, particularly if businesses with low inventory quickly need more goods than they anticipated.
Both companies could see a fourth-quarter bounce if consumer demand heats up for new technology products that are typically shipped by premium air freight.
But FedEx said that would not be enough to offset demand slowed by a weakening global economy. Although Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) iPhone 5 is a huge hit, some other technology companies have not yet released their new products.
Trucking company Werner Enterprises (WERN.O) said in its profit warning that more than half of its 11 top retail customers had lower inventory than a year ago.
“It’s not necessarily just because they see lower demand,” said Art Hatfield managing director in equity research at Raymond James in Memphis. “It’s because they see concern about fiscal policy and dysfunction out of Washington and what they may mean for demand three or four months down the road.”
Additional reporting by David Gaffen; Editing by Patricia Kranz and Lisa Von Ahn


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Palash has been a technology and entertainment journalist since 2013. Starting with Android news and features, he has also worked as the news head for Wiki of Thrones, and a freelance writer for Windows Central, Observer, MakeUseOf, MySmartPrice, ThinkComputers, and others. He also worked as a writer and journalist for Android Authority, covering computing, before returning to freelancing all over town. He's an engineering dropout with a degree in English Literature. He talks about everything from Apple to Microsoft, Android to Chrome OS, to movies and TV. In addition to keeping a track of the Silicon scene, he also keeps up with the evolution of storytelling on the screen. You can always find him watching, playing, writing, or ranting.
Apple is working on a foldable MacBook, with a potential launch in 2026 with displays sourced from Samsung Display and LG Display.
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Apple is developing an external display for Mac that will double up as an independent smart home display.
Apple is working on third-generation AirPods Pro with USB-C, hearing test, and temperature check features, but a launch isn't imminent.
Four sealed models of the original iPhone are currently up for grabs in an auction and are likely to fetch around $200,000 together.
Following the Apple Vision Pro launch, Meta is making its VR tech more accessible with a $7.99 monthly subscription.
Apple is going to launch the second-gen Apple Watch Ultra this year alongside the iPhone 15, and a bigger iMac with a screen over the size of 30 inches is under development, says report.
Apple is still on track to release a cheaper version of the Vision Pro mixed reality headset by the end of 2025, says a new report.
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Our news, reviews, opinions, and easy to follow guides can turn any iPhone owner into an Apple aficionado
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ASIRT organized their monthly Tech day which was exclusively sponsored by Dell EMC Platinum Partner, Miracle Tech, to showcase the brand’s seamless tech solutions for SME’s & Enterprise. In line with ASIRT’s philosophy of collaborative growth and focus on innovative solutions, the Tech Day highlighted the best of futuristic solutions in both hardware and software. The presentation concluded with unique brand benefits and business opportunities for prospective channel partners interested in exploring a particular or multiple tech solutions.
The evening began with an introduction of Dell EMC’s latest offerings and innovations that are at the forefront of digital transformation in corporate and enterprise businesses. Providing agility to new age businesses, the ensuing IT/ Digital revolution can be rightfully called to be the 4th and the most widespread industrial revolution the world has seen so far. And with its smart Laptops, heavy duty workstations, futuristic range of Virtual Reality (VR) enabled products and smart remote access, cloud enabled technologies, Dell EMC surely seems to be leading this revolution.
Speaking on these offerings, Vijay Goel, Director, Miracle Tech Distribution, said, “It is indeed an honor to be associated with Dell EMC as a Platinum Channel Partner. Having completed 25 years in the industry, we can safely vouch for not just the product offerings and superior solutions by Dell EMC, but also for their commitment to collaborative growth with its channel partners.”
Apart from the product and service solutions, Sudhir Nair from Dell EMC shared insightful information on the transforming workforce experience, highlighting key takeaways from Foster’s Research 2016. The research highlighted the evolving patterns of working or ‘Personas’ of new age professionals and the ideal device for them, matching their roles or ‘working styles’.
This understanding, Nair highlighted, is what has helped Dell EMC to create a synergy between their consumers and the brand. Nair also highlighted the seamless integration of Tech support through offerings that start from Laptops and workstations to an IOT enabled security solution for each PC, all seamless integrated through cloud computing, VR and AI techniques.
Rajesh Goel, Director, Miracle Tech Distribution, further added, “While Dell EMC as a brand is widely accepted among consumers for its superior products, it is their innovative and integrated tech solutions for corporate, SME’s and enterprises, that has helped Dell EMC maintain a leadership position when it comes to IT solutions for business. We are honored to be associated with Dell EMC long enough to see the value of their inventions and hope to spread the benefits with our fellow entrepreneurs through the ASIRT platform today.”
Among special discount on other product and services, the Dell EMC team also presented ASIRT members unique franchise opportunities spread across their multiple portfolios of Hardware, Product and System integration, Remote desktop security and the futuristic VR and IOT enabled workstations.


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Scams are on the rise, and the number of suspicious calls and texts sent to Americans has swelled, a new report from Allstate Identity Protection (AIP) has found.
The report, “Identity Fraud in Focus,” noted that 74% of Americans said they have received a scam text so far this year. Meanwhile, 83% said that they received a scam phone call. Of those who received a scam call or text, nearly half indicated that they received 11 or more spam attempts every week.
AIP has noted that despite a new FCC regulatory framework, spam calls increased by a considerable 32% to 72.2 billion in 2021. And not only have phone and text scams become more frequent, but more people have fallen victim to them – Americans in 2021 reported losing $131 million to fraud schemes initiated by text, which is an increase of over 50% from 2020, AIP said citing data from the FTC.
Apart from phone and text scams, charity scams are another source of frustration for Americans, AIP said. Half of the study’s respondents (50%) said that they are concerned about charity scams. AIP has noted that criminals have been exploiting events – such as natural disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic, and even geopolitical unrest like the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine – to launch new charity scams.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) scams are also on the rise, AIP has found. Payment services such as Zelle, Venmo, and Cash App have become popular targets for scammers, since they do not carry the same consumer protections as credit card fraud. Some 26% of Americans said they are not at all concerned about P2P scams, AIP found.
“We hear stories regularly from people who were scammed out of their nest eggs," said AIP director of customer care Brian Stuart. “Financial institutions don’t often cover these losses, so we want to empower everyone with the tools to recognize scams before they start.”


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Mobile focused game developer Gaming Realms has secured licence approval in the US state of Michigan, as the firm continues to make strides in its expansion strategy across the country which it outlined last month.
After stating that licence applications had been submitted in the Wolverine State, as well as Pennsylvania, Gaming Realms had been granted a provisional igaming supplier licence by the Michigan Gaming Control Board.
This license, says Gaming Realms, will allow the group to provide its Slingo Originals game content to Michigan’s licensed online casino operators, once igaming is approved to go live by the Gaming Control Board, which is expected to happen imminently.
Furthermore, Gaming Realms also states that it intends to also make further license applications in the country as more states move to regulate online casinos, as the company aims to reduce its dependency on the UK market.
Michael Buckley, executive chairman of Gaming Realms, commented: “We are delighted to have obtained our provisional igaming license in Michigan, which presents a larger player market than New Jersey, where the group operates at present.
“We already have a number of deals signed with operators licensed in Michigan and we are confident that it will be a strong market for us, given the awareness of Slingo as a successful gaming brand. We look forward to being amongst those helping to launch its new igaming market.”


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Oman: City Centre Muscat completes $91m expansion
City Centre Muscat's redevelopment project has added 10,000sqm to the mall and created up to 1,350 new jobs for the community
Majid Al Futtaim's City Centre Muscat unveiled the final phase of its $90.8m (OMR35m) expansion under the patronage of HE Ahmed in Nasser bin Hamed al Mahrizi, Minister of Tourism.
The redevelopment project has created up to 1,350 new jobs for the community and added 10,000sqm to the mall.
Husam Al Mandhari, senior mall manager for City Centre Muscat, said: "Serving as the launch platform for new brands in Oman, elevating our customer experience to the highest level, and innovating in design were among City Centre Muscat's key aims in expanding and enhancing the mall - a tangible example of creating great moments for everyone, everyday."
City Centre Muscat invested significantly in infrastructure and design elements to create a seamless look and feel between the existing and new parts of its facility.
The architecture pays tribute to the traditions of Oman and includes enhanced facilities such as prayer rooms and restrooms throughout.
Earlier this year, the mall saw the launch of a 10-screen VOX Cinema alongside the renovation of Magic Planet and the mall's food court dining area.
"City Centre Muscat's new look, feel and size underscores its status as the leading lifestyle destination in the Sultanate, and a key asset for Majid Al Futtaim to support the needs of the communities we serve in the GCC," said Fuad Mansoor Sharaf, senior director, Property Management at Majid Al Futtaim Properties.
City Centre Muscat now features 60 new shopping stores and various F&B brands making their debut in Oman.