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ELITE DANGEROUS: HORIZONS’ “The Engineers” Expansion Now Available Loot, Crafting and a Revolutionized Mission System Launches Alongside Elite Dangerous’ Biggest-Ever Free Update Cambridge, UK — May 27, 2016 — Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV) has launched the second major expansion for Elite Dangerous: Horizons – The Engineers – together with the biggest ever free update for all Elite […]
Frontier Launches ELITE DANGEROUS: ARENA for Xbox One Test your skills and join the Elite in PVP space combat for Xbox One, starting today Cambridge, UK. 26 April 2016. Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV) today launched Elite Dangerous: Arena for Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft.
ELITE DANGEROUS SELLS 1.4 MILLION UNITS TO DATE
Frontier Developments’ award-winning space epic passes 1.4 million units sold
Cambridge, UK. 14 January 2016. Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV) today announced it has sold 1.4 million units of Elite Dangerous across PC, Mac and Xbox One.
Elite Dangerous launched for PC in December 2014 following a successful crowdfunding campaign. Mac and Xbox One releases followed in May and October of 2015, and regular gameplay updates were released throughout the year.
Second season of expansions kicks off with Planetary Landings throughout Elite Dangerous’ Milky Way galaxy
Cambridge, UK. 16 December 2015. Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV) has launched Elite Dangerous: Horizons for PC.
Elite Dangerous: Horizons is the new season of major gameplay expansions for the award-winning space epic Elite Dangerous, beginning today with Planetary Landingson 1:1 scale worlds throughout the Milky Way. Elite Dangerous: Horizons will introduce further major gameplay features as the season continues into 2016, enriching the Elite Dangerous experience with new activities and new ways to play. Read more
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Last month at Computex, Asus took the wraps off the Eee PC, a cheap ultra-portable notebook aimed to be a sort of commercial alternative to the One Laptop Per Child project's XO laptop. The folks at NotebookReview have now had a chance to get up close and personal with one of the systems, and they've relayed their findings in this article.
According to NotebookReview, the machine is quite speedy despite its 900MHz Intel processor and relatively trimmed-down hardware. It boots in 10 seconds, shuts down in five, and the NotebookReview guys say they didn't see a single hourglass pop up while opening an application. Credit for that speediness is shared between the system's solid-state, flash hard drive and its customized Linux-based operating system. The Eee PC isn't too dumbed-down on the software front, though: it comes with Firefox, Skype, Word/Excel-compatible software, and Kopete, a popular multi-protocol instant messaging client for Linux. There are also games, a photo manager app, presentation-making software, and so on.
According to NotebookReview, Asus intends to make the Eee PC available world-wide in late August. The cheapest variant will include an 8GB solid-state drive and will cost around $250, while another version with a 16GB SSD should cost "somewhat more."
|Cooler Master polishes the Cosmos II for a 25th Anniversary edition||0|
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|Microsoft sketches out its latest Surface Pro||40|

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SACRAMENTO CALIF. â€”Fearing the devil in the details, operators of restaurants throughout California are gearing up for a long battle over the universal-health-care reform plan that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed as a model for other states. Introduced early this month, Schwarzeneggerâ€™s plan carries a price tag of $12 billion and would require that all Californiansâ€”including illegal residentsâ€”obtain medical insurance, with the ...
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Spanish retailer DIA has announced the launch of its Clarel range of own-brand products in Germany, Italy, France and the UK, through an online store on Amazon’s Marketplace.
The range includes the brands Bonté, a personal-care and hygiene brand, as well as Baby Smile and Junior Smile, two infant-care brands.
Clarel is a DIA Group brand that specialises in beauty, health, personal-hygiene and household products. It boasts more than 1,000 physical stores throughout Spain.
The online store will offer more than 100 different SKUs and be complemented in the Spanish market with the Clarel.es online store, which ships its products from a warehouse located in Almunia de Doña Godina, in Zaragoza, to all parts of the country.
The creation of the store is the latest collaboration between DIA and Amazon, following previous agreements that have seen DIA utilise Amazon Prime Now services in Madrid and Barcelona. The service enables customers to choose from around 5,300 SKUs and avail of a delivery time of two hours or less.
DIA’s gross sales under banner stood at €10.5 billion at the end of 2016, and the company operates 7,799 stores in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina and China.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.


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Over Labor Day weekend, Toyota announced the launch of the all-new 2012 Camry SE Sport Limited Edition. This version of the standard Camry SE will offer perks on the interior and exterior, with more comfort and style than ever for Camry drivers. Clinton Toyota dealership, Muller Toyota, is now offering the 2012 Camry SE Sport Limited Edition.
The exterior of the 2012 Camry SE Sport Limited Edition boasts 18-inch wheels and a variety of fresh color choices including Barcelona Red, Attitude Black; and, for the first time, Blizzard Pearl. A power tilt-and-slide moonroof tops off the interior of the Camry SE Sport, which is available in black or black/ash color schemes. A performance drivers dream, the Camry SE Sport includes
an eight-way adjustable power drivers seat, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and paddle shifters.
A 6.1-inch display inside the 2012 Camry SE Sport Limited Edition brings the power of Toyotas Entune system to the cabin. With phone connectivity, the Entune system allows drivers to take advantage of integrated phone applications like Pandora music and navigation.
Customers can visit the Muller Toyota dealership in Cincinnati, Ohio to take the 2012 Camry SE Sport Limited Edition for a test drive and to get expert advice from Toyota sales professionals. Additional information and photos of the new 2012 Camry SE Sport Limited Edition can also be viewed at Muller Toyota website at http://mullertoyota.com.


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Metricom's Ricochet Network Goes Dark -- Hard on the heels of last month's bankruptcy filing, long-range wireless networking company Metricom announced last week that it would be shutting down its 15-city wireless network on 08-Aug-01 and laying off 282 employees. The service, which required a special modem (initially an external box, most recently a PC Card) to communicate with numerous low-power poletop radios, operated at 128 Kbps in all its markets except Seattle and Washington, which were never upgraded past the original 28.8 Kbps. The service was well-liked by its 50,000 users, though the price was high at $75 per month and the company did a lousy job of promoting its technology. Interestingly, the network is up for auction on 16-Aug-01; it's conceivable that another company might snap it up. Metricom's Form 8-K offers an illuminating look at just how much these services cost to implement. Going against any comeback of the Ricochet network are the increasingly common public 802.11 wireless Ethernet networks, which offer potentially much higher throughputs and lower equipment costs. [ACE]
Thoughtful, detailed coverage of the Mac, iPhone, and iPad, plus the TidBITS Content Network for Apple consultants.


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Developer CCP recently confirmed it will be canceling the entry fee for Dust 514, and instead be making its Eve Online MMOFPS expansion free-to-play from the very start. New details on the PS Vita “companion app” were also thrown in at no extra charge...
There are too many new trailers to watch them all in a single week, so why not see them all in one big chunk? Meet SUPERTRAILER!
An Invisibility Cloak? Ghost Recon is now officially operating in the future of warfare as we know it. Or at Hogwart's. But the former's more likely...
One of the most impressive PS Vita games finally has a concrete international launch date...
Monopoly is getting a special Street Fighter edition. But before you start moaning that your favourite character will probably get left out, hear this - there's a poll to help choose who gets turned into a metal figurine! Imagine a little metal Blanka or Chun Li...
No, Drake doesn't play football - it's symbolic of the two games' success. Vita's scooped top spot and runner-up in the UK all-formats sales chart, but that's not the only big story in this week's Top 20...
Taco Bell is blaming hackers for its inability to make good on a number of winning entries in its Unlock the Box PS Vita promotion. Shockingly, would-be winners are finding the excuse hard to swallow...
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William Rast's line for Target hits stores on Sunday, December 19, but there was a launch party for the line this past Saturday in L.A. Somewhat oddly, it seems that Justin Timberlake didn't attend the event, which invited guests like Rachel Bilson and Anna Faris to shop the new collection. The line consists of both men's and women's clothing and ranges in price from $16.99 to $199.99. [Fashionista] Update: Publicists have confirmed that Justin Timberlake did, in fact, attend the launch,
but no pictures of him have been released yet. as you can see in our slideshow.


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GP: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc., speaks at an on-site event for the company's manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China, Monday, January 7, 2019.
Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
With Tesla's stock dropping to around $ 200 this week, an analyst at Roth Capital Partners told Tuesday that Craig Irwin, the electric car company could have sold to Apple six years ago for a significantly higher price per share. 1
Apple and Tesla did not respond to comment requests.
Tesla is over 38% in 2019, at a stock price of $ 197.77 at the start of trading on Tuesday. The shares have risen 46% from the high in August, when CEO Elon Musk said he had "secured funds" to take the company publicly to $ 420 per share.
Knowing that it was a "very credible" bid on the table in 2013, Irwin keeps from being more bearish in stock today.
"If Apple was interested then they would probably have interest now at the right price," he said.
Irwin said that Apple's car project is continuing to develop secretly, and that the company is building large "dry rooms" in California to do something related to car batteries. According to Irwin, these rooms are designed to handle environmental inclusion required for the production of lithium ion batteries.
"My checks are that Apple is building several dry rooms, including a couple that are much larger than what you need to look at or develop batteries for consumer products," wrote Irwin in a follow-up email.
Irwin is not the first to suggest that Apple and Tesla have held discussions. The San Francisco Chronicle reported in 2014 that Musk met with Apple's merger and acquisition manager, and most likely CEO Tim Cook.
If the two companies were to combine, it would be far ahead of Apple's largest acquisition ever and one of the biggest in the technology industry. Tesla's current market value is about $ 36 billion. The most Apple has ever paid is $ 3 billion for Beats Electronics in 2014.
For a deal to take place, Apple would face the question of what to do with the incredible Musk and his tendency to get attention for many of the wrong reasons, whether it is tweeting out material non-public information or smoking waste on the podcast.
"About the acquisition: My understanding is that Apple wanted Elon Musk to go away and that was a deal killer," Irwin said in the email.
WATCH: Elon Musk seen smoking on a podcast


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~Expands operations to Virar, Vasai, Naigaon and Nalasopara~
Mumbai, 15th June 2016: Ola, India’s most popular mobile app for transportation, today announced that it has extended its services to four adjoining locations of Mumbai. Ola will now operate cabs in Virar, Vasai, Naigaon and Nalasopara and commuters in these locations can now book across categories – from the most affordable Micro to premium experience-driven Prime. Traditional transport option like Kaali-Peeli taxis will also be available on the Ola app.
Features like driver details being displayed upfront, SOS buttons, live tracking and seamless payment using Ola Money will be available across categories. Additionally, Ola’s AutoConnect Wifi, a proprietary experience from the company’s ‘Innovation Labs’, that allows users to automatically connect to Wi-Fi in an Ola cab without having to enter credentials every single time, will also be available on Ola Prime.
Company spokesperson at Ola said, “We realized that there was a need for on-demand transportation services in these locations and we have been working on ramping up supply. We are now excited to offer Ola’s services in Virar, Vasai, Naigaon and Nalasopara. Users in these locations will now be able to hail a cab with a single tap on the Ola app. Our success in redefining personal transportation in the outskirts of Mumbai is testament to the value created for citizens and partners alike and furthers Ola’s mission of building mobility for a billion people.”
Ola has over 350,000 cabs and 100,000 auto-rickshaws and taxis registered on its platform across 102 cities. The company intends to launch in more locations in the future.
Founded in January 2011 by IIT Bombay alumni Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola (formerly Olacabs), is India’s most popular mobile app for personal transportation. Ola integrates city transportation for customers and driver partners onto a mobile technology platform ensuring convenient, transparent and quick service fulfilment. Ola is committed to its mission of building mobility for a billion people. Using the Ola mobile app, users across 102 cities can book from over 350,000 cabs and 100,000 auto-rickshaws and taxis. Ola has also introduced a range of shared mobility services on its platform like Ola Shuttle and Ola Share for commute and ride-sharing respectively. The app is available on Windows, Android and iOS platforms. In early 2015, Ola acquired TaxiForSure, India’s second largest cab aggregator, which continues to operate as an independent brand. Please visit www.olacabs.com for more information.


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The Fed's Impact on Fraud FundingInterchange Move May Push Banks to EMV, New Solutions
The Fed's ruling imposes a fee cap of 21 cents per transaction and five basis points, which is multiplied by the value of the transaction. [See the Fed's ruling.]
The fee adjustment aims to offset interchange losses called for in the highly contested amendment proposed by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - losses card issuers have said would adversely affect their abilities to absorb fraud related to debit transactions. A card issuer that invests in "new and improved" fraud prevention solutions tied to debit now could receive 24 cents per transaction, up from the 12-cent cap originally proposed in the legislation.
The Fed also extended the effective date of the fee cap from July 21 to Oct. 1.
Jim Schlegel, senior product manager for ACI Worldwide, says most banks will count on getting the 1 cent incentive. "A lot of institutions today have broad fraud services that they access and use, so I think the idea is to evaluate those systems against the interpretation that's come out by the Fed," he says. "Is our investment level acceptable, based on what the Fed has put out?"
Fraud Investments?Most banks budget for fraud losses. But with less income from debit interchange, they'll have to realign not only their budgets but also their thinking. "From my perspective, the cost of [debit] fraud is going to become extremely difficult to absorb if the income financial institutions count on from their interchange channel gets reduced," says Smart Card Alliance Executive Director Randy Vanderhoof. The Smart Card Alliance is a non-profit global association that supports smart or chip-based payment technology providers. "When the percentage of fraud against the revenue those transactions generate significantly changes, I think banks and card issuers will be looking for solutions that can offer greater fraud reduction."
That could mean more interest in investments in advanced card technology, such as EMV - the Europay, MasterCard, Visa standard. The Fed won't mandate that move, as some had speculated earlier in the debate. But banking institutions may have more incentive now to initiate investments without regulatory pressure.
"If they're just expecting to lose that money, I would imagine that someone within the bank needs to look at the fraud losses those vice presidents and directors are expecting every year and figure out a way to start pumping that money back into the system," Schlegel says. "Now they need that additional funding, because of the cut in interchange income, which had helped to cover those losses in the past. I think we'll see some additional investments in fraud prevention tools as a result, and it could be EMV tokens or neural networks."
Shortly after the Fed's June 29 announcement, Frank Keating, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association, issued a statement, saying the Fed's steps were significant toward reducing harm to the financial system. "We commend the [Federal Reserve] Board for recognizing that there are a whole range of costs for which banks should receive reimbursement, including fraud losses, network fees, certain fixed costs and fraud prevention costs," Keating states.
Regardless, he notes the interchange fee reduction severely cuts into banks' revenue streams, and the end result likely will force banks to limit debit offerings. "The final rule still represents a 45 percent loss in revenue that banks use to provide low-cost accounts to our customers, fight fraud and maintain our efficient U.S. payments system," he writes. "This remains a real concern to banks everywhere and the consumers and communities they serve. ... Consumers will see higher fees for basic banking services, and banks - particularly community banks - will still feel the revenue pressures that this rule will cause."
Long-term ImpactThough the interchange reduction only affects card issuers with more than $10 billion in assets, most agree it's only a matter of time before the fee cap trickles down to the mid and small tier levels. "When you start looking at the whole two-tiered system, it creates competition," Schlegel says. "We're creating two kinds of ecosystems here, and I think most people are not happy about that. It splits the industry: The big banks are effectively put into their own separate class, so you now have to replicate a system that allows one group of companies to function under the old way and then the other group under a new set of rules."
The interchange adjustment creates disparity, when the intention was to create equality.
The interchange fee structure, which is overseen by Visa and MasterCard, is complex, and is based on transaction volume at the merchant level and card issuance at the bank level. The tiered system currently sets different fee rates for different organizations. The Durbin amendment aimed to level the playing field for smaller merchants and banking institutions. Between $14 billion and $19 billion in annual debit revenue card issuers collect from merchants will be affected by the change. Under the present system, merchants typically pay card issuers and their sponsoring financial institutions, as well as the networks, between 44 cents and 47 cents per debit transaction.
Dillon Shea of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions says credit unions have been preparing for an expected cut in interchange. "Many of our member credit unions fall under the exemption, but we feel this eventually will impact all institutions," Shea says. "We've been advising our members to prepare as soon as the law was passed. It's not going to happen overnight, but eventually those rates are going to get squeezed down. ...It's only a matter of time before that cap rate becomes industry standard."
Compliance by October will be a stretch, too, as a number of relatively large-scale changes related to new fee structures and fraud-prevention practices have to be reviewed. And then banks will have to ensure they comply with requirements for network exclusivity, which mandate debit card purchases be enabled by at least two unaffiliated networks. That mandate must be complied with by April 1, 2012. "That's a huge undertaking," Schlegel says. "But at least we have clarity. This thing has been ambiguous from the start."
The Fed did say card issuers could comply by having one network for signature-debit and one network for PIN-based transactions. Again, more market division, Schlegel says.
"That's going to force some reissuance of cards and renegotiation of contracts. If you have to do all of that, if you're going to have to invest in reissuing cards and signing new deals, why not just invest in something better than what you're doing today? That could be incentive to move to EMV."
Editor's Note: Jeffrey Roman contributed to this article.


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What is Gitex?
What we have heard on the grapevine ahead of huge trade event Discuss this article
What is Gitex?
One of the biggest trade events in the global IT calendar, Gitex (Gulf Information Technology Exhibition) Technology Week is when all the latest news and products are revealed. It’s big business, but for consumers like you and us, all eyes are on Gitex Shopper, the region’s largest consumer IT and electronics show. Gitex Shopper 2011, which runs alongside the 31st edition of Gitex Technology Week on October 8-15, will feature more than 25,000 products, with technology giants such as Bose, Nakamichi, Nokia and Virgin Megastore all making their Gitex Shopper debut this year. In 2010, sales from the show were around Dhs175 million – that’s the equivalent of shoppers spending Dhs37,000 each minute – and this year it’s expected to be more.
Dhs30 entry. Open Sat 8-Wed 12 11am-10pm; Thu 13 and Sat 15 11am-11pm; Fri 14 3pm-11pm. Dubai Airport Expo, www.gitexshopperdubai.com.
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Meta’s rival to Twitter called Threads, an Instagram app is set to launch tomorrow in the US and UK, but it may not come to the rest of Europe anytime soon. A Meta spokesperson told Ireland’s Data Protection Commission that the service will not be rolled in the EU “at this point,” Independent.ie has reported.
Threads may not be launching in much of Europe due to more stringent data privacy requirements. The DPC is apparently not blocking the service — instead, it’s Meta that has “not yet prepared the service for a European launch outside the UK, which is not fully governed by GDPR or EU privacy rules,” according to the report.
The EU just hit Meta with a ruling that it must obtain consent from users before delivering personalized ads in the region. Prior to that, the company was hit with a €390 million EU fine (about $425 million) for not receiving consent before serving up such ads.
On top of that, in 2021, the DPC fined WhatsApp €225 million ($266.8 million at the time) or not providing enough detail on how it shares EU users’ data with Facebook. That could pose a problem for Threads in its current state, as it automatically imports data from Instagram, including advertising and behavior information, according to the policy listed on its iOS App Store page.
Threads is arriving amidst issues with Twitter like “rate limits” on tweets and degraded service for the power-user app Tweetdeck. Many of Twitter’s active users have been seeking an alternative with apps like Bluesky and Mastodon, but some see Threads as the most viable option due to Meta’s scale. That’s despite any reservations they may have about CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s track record on privacy and other issues.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/metas-twitter-rival-threads-wont-initially-launch-in-the-eu-090314803.html?src=rss


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Medical device makers to see 2.3 percent tax hike
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The Internal Revenue Service issued its final ruling Wednesday for the medical device tax that is set to go into effect Jan. 1.
That means manufacturers and importers will be required to pay a tax on sales for medical device equipment “intended for humans,” excluding over-the-counter items such as eyeglasses, contacts and hearing aids. Manufacturers and importers of these devices will owe their first bill to the federal government by April 30, 2013, for the months of January, February and March.
The 2.3 percent tax hike is part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), and many within the medical device industry were hoping to repeal the tax, claiming that it would cause job losses.
“This final rule does nothing to prevent the loss of jobs and innovation that has already occurred as a result of the medical device tax, and will unfortunately continue if we do not repeal this bad policy,” Mark Leahey, President and CEO of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association, said in a statement.
In September, Steve Hanley, chief executive of MediBeacon, a company that develops devices to monitor kidney function, said the tax would cause his company to reevaluate how it prices products. Ron Borgschulte, owner of St. Louis-based Partners in Medicine, imports medical devices from overseas and says this tax will cause him to shift the cost onto customers.
Hospital administrators also expressed concerns that the tax could affect their budgets if medical device companies decided to raise prices at a time when reimbursement to hospitals has decreased from both private payers and the government.
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Other News and Features
Chiara Ferragni, founder of the popular fashion blog, "The Blonde Salad," has recently signed on as an ambassador for amfAR's generationCURE.
Today, African Americans and Latinas represent nearly 80% of HIV cases among women in the U.S., and the South has some of the highest HIV rates among women in the nation.
Women and HIV/AIDS: Fast-Tracking the U.S. and Global Response. Learn more and RSVP now.
International fine jeweler and watchmaker Harry Winston, Inc., has joined forces with amfAR in a venture that represents the single largest corporate partnership in the Foundation’s 30-year history.
An amfAR HIV scholar is among the first to research PEP use among MSM in developing countries.
Benefit amfAR by purchasing "An AIDS Quilt Songbook: Sing for Hope," an album featuring acclaimed performers such as Isabel Leonard and Joyce Didonato, accompanied by Yo-Yo Ma and Anthony McGill.


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Aitch’s Highly Anticipated “AitcH20” EP Has Arrived
6 Sep 2019
Aitch’s highly anticipated EP AitcH20 has finally dropped.
After releasing various singles prior to it’s release – Taste (Make It Shake), Buss Down feauturing ZieZie and Already featuring Tyreezy. It’s safe to say supporters have been waiting eagerly for its arrival. Consisting of 8 tracks, the EP also features MoStack and Steel Banglez on a brand new track entitled Weekday.
Aitch has had a whirlwind of a year and considering he’s still only at the start of his career, we are sure that this EP will go far.
Listen to AitcH20 below and on Apple Music here.


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Crude oil futures dipped marginally to US$71.09 per barrel for September delivery in the week of August 27, 2007 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, on account of a sudden unexpected rise in inventories.
Naphtha dipped in line with falling crude prices. Weaker buying sentiment has caused a sharp drop in ethylene and propylene prices. Rising upstream benzene prices supported a rise in Styrene monomer (SM) prices. EDC prices stagnated at last weeks level, while stringent supplies in the Asian region have supported a hike in VCM prices.
HDPE and LDPE rose on the back of tight supply, while LLDPE and PP markets remained lackluster. PVC prices rose in line with higher VCM prices. GPPS prices dipped and ABS prices stagnated.
Oil prices witnessed a marginal dip, slipping down to US$71.09 on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the week of August 27, 2007 on reports by the US Energy Department of an unexpected rise in inventories. Crude oil for October delivery climbed down from last weeks' US$71.98 a barrel after an opening price for the week of US$69.26 a barrel.
Naphtha prices in Asia dipped in tandem with weak crude oil prices by almost fifteen dollar to US$655 a barrel in the week of August 27, 2007.
Stringent supplies in the Asian region have supported a hike in VCM prices in Asia in the week of August 27, 2007 to US$840/MT. Despite inactivity in the market on account of absence of September offers from major suppliers, robust market outlook thrived on continuation of suspension of VCM exports next month by Tosoh due to insufficient inventories. It is anticipated that offers for VCM in September could increase by at least 20-30 dollars more.
Stringent supply amid emerging growing demand from non-vinyl producers, has maintained stability in the EDC market in Asia in the week of August 27, 2007. EDC prices stagnated at last week's level of US$480/MT. A gap of almost 20-30 dollars existed between supplier offers for September shipment and buying interest from vinyl producers in China, rendering the EDC market to remain lackluster.
Weaker buying sentiments in Asia led ethylene prices to drop by almost twenty five dollars from last week's price to US$1285/MT in the week of August 27, 2007. This dip in ethylene price was despite short supplies due to an expected maintenance shutdown at Formosa's No.1 naphtha cracker. Ethylene prices weakened by the lack of buying interest coupled with the strain of intensified supply from the Middle East region. Large quantity of ethylene from the Middle East region has become abundantly available due to glitches at downstream plants.
Propylene prices in Asia waned to US$1110/MT due to deficient buying interest despite an unforeseen outage of Formosa's No.1 naphtha cracker. Propylene market weakened on account of mellowed buying interest in Asia from wary buyers as preferred to wait in the sidelines. The reluctance to buy on part of the buyers was because of a continual decline in momentum in the downstream PP market for the past fortnight.
STYRENE MONOMER (SM)
A demand recovery from buyers in Asia has boosted benzene prices to US$990/MT in the week of August 27, 2007. This rise in upstream benzene prices supported a rise in SM prices to US$1390/MT in Asia in the week of August 27, 2007.
Firm supplies coupled with higher cost of feedstock ethylene has supported a rise in HDPE prices to US$1425/MT in Asia in the week of August 27, 2007. HDPE prices are estimated to rise in the opening weeks of September.
Firm supplies maintained strong market sentiments for LDPE in Asia. LDPE prices rose to US$1550/MT in Asia in the week of August 27, 2007. LDPE prices are estimated to rise in the opening weeks of September.
Market for LLDPE in Asia was lackluster and stagnated at US$1410/MT in the week of August 27, 2007. Suppliers attempted to hike offers by almost 10 dollars, but dull buying interest maintained LLDPE prices at last weeks' level.
The PP markets remained laggard and stagnated at last weeks' levels of US$1400/MT in Asia in the week of August 27, 2007. Suppliers did try to hike offers by 15-20 dollars, but dull buying interest maintained PP prices at last weeks' level. Thin transactions were seen in the market, except small cargoes for immediate shipment on account of this low buying interest.
PVC prices in Asia rose to US$1030/MT in the week of August 27, 2007, corresponding with higher feedstock costs of VCM and calcium carbide. Tight supplies accompanied by strong global demand have caused market prices to continue to rise. PVC prices are estimated to rise in the next few weeks of September 2007 in tandem with rising VCM and calcium-carbide prices.
GPPS markets dipped by ten dollars to US$1470/MT in the week of August 27, 2007 in Asia. This dip was in line with a correction in upstream SM values. Few deals were transacted as the mainstream Chinese buyers adopted a "wait and watch attitude". Offers from suppliers were down-adjusted in tandem with reduced buying interest.
An interesting development of "who will relent first" was witnessed in this weeks' ABS market. Prices for ABS stagnated at US$1700/MT as a bulk of buyers and sellers continued to remain in the sideline. Sellers did not want to budge from the selling price of US$1700/MT, consequential to historically high ACN values and higher butadiene prices. Interestingly, general buying interest was pegged lower as buyers adopted a cautious stance in a bid to keep an eye on the influence of bearish crude oil market on downstream sectors.


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Lamb on the menu for latest issue of Rare Medium
07 August 2018
Meat & Livestock Australia’s (MLA) dedicated foodservice program, Rare Medium, has launched the latest issue of its seasonal e-magazine – with a focus on exploring Australian lamb from paddock to plate.
The Spring Lamb issue is co-edited by chef Paul Carmichael, one half of the leadership team of the acclaimed restaurant Momofuku Seiōbo - recently voted number six in Australia’s Top 100 Restaurants.
Rare Medium seeks to ensure that beef and lamb remain relevant and retain their place on domestic foodservice menus. Through education and inspiration, the objective for Rare Medium is to be the go-to source of red meat information for chefs.
The Australian foodservice sector generated $45 billion in 2016, accounting for 50 million meals per week, positioning it as a crucial component to the ongoing success of Australia’s red meat and livestock industry.
As well as providing a digital resource for foodservice professionals, the seasonal e-magazine draws on industry innovation and culinary creativity to deliver timely, engaging and informative red meat content.
MLA Foodservice Program Manager Mary-Jane Morse said each issue is co-edited by a different chef to provide an alternative perspective and leverage their influence with the audience.
We know that chefs learn from chefs and it’s critical that Rare Medium continues to engage chef talent to help tell the red meat story, rather than just providing the theory,” Ms Morse said.
The new Spring Lamb issue sees chef and co-editor Paul Carmichael visit his first Australian sheep farm to learn firsthand about lamb production from sheep producer Michael Craig at his property in western Victoria.
The issue also introduces the new ’roadies’ section – a literal road trip with chef Mike Eggert getting out of the city to explore Australian lamb on menus at local pubs, cafes and restaurants from Geelong to Goulburn.
“With videos, stories, animations, images and more – the issue is designed to inspire chefs about the endless opportunities for lamb on the menu during spring and beyond,” Ms Morse said.
Ms Morse said the food service sector is one of the fastest changing food markets in the world, with trends coming and going overnight.
“In this fiercely competitive industry, a dedicated foodservice program is essential to ensure beef and lamb continue to feature heavily on domestic food service menus," Ms Morse said.
For more information on Rare Medium and to read the latest issue of the e-magazine, visit raremedium.com.au
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IBM Roars into Business Consulting
In IBM's biggest foray in business consulting since it acquired PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting in 2002, the company announced on Apr. 14 that it is setting up a 4,000-person organization focused on helping corporations analyze data better and make smarter decisions. The consultants will mine IBM's research and software divisions for innovations. They'll also incorporate products from other companies.
The new business unit, IBM Business Analytics & Optimization Services, is the first major move by Frank Kern, who had run IBM's sales force until January, since he was shifted to lead the $19.6 billion Global Business Services division. "We're at the beginning of a new wave," Kern says. "We're beginning to instrument the world, but we have to take the data and analyze it to make a better bank, a better electric utility, a better planet."
Business consulting has become a mainstay at IBM (IBM) since the PricewaterhouseCoopers deal. In 2003, GBS delivered $184 million in profit. Its contribution swelled to $2.3 billion by last year.
Picking the Data Apart Faster
Analytics is a potentially lucrative target since it's emerging as one of the most strategically important fields in corporate computing. Executives analyze their sales patterns so they can do a better job of targeting customers with product offers and advertising. They pick apart and modify operations to make them ever more efficient. And, increasingly, they want to slice and dice data as quickly as it comes into their computing systems, and to make more accurate forecasts of future sales and shifting market conditions.
Business analytics is a bright spot in an otherwise subdued technology market. While overall demand for corporate technology is expected to shrink this year, market researcher IDC forecasts a relatively healthy 3.45% growth for the $23 billion market for business analytics software in 2008. It forecasts 2% growth in the $45 billion analytics consulting business—which until now has been focused on installing software rather than helping companies transform the way they use data. "Now more than ever, leaders need to know what's really going on in their businesses," says IDC analyst Dan Vesset.
The business analytics software market is divided into three pieces. Business intelligence software provides dashboards showing key metrics of business performance on a computer screen, and allows managers to pose questions about the business and receive reports detailing the answers. Data-mining software allows companies to analyze transactions and customer information to glean insights into customer behavior. Business-process optimization software helps companies find ways to improve operations.
IBM faces stiff competition in the software end of this business from Oracle (ORCL) and SAP (SAP) and from SAS, a data-mining specialist. But experts in the area say no other company can match the capabilities of IBM's new consulting service. "They have the scale and the combination of technology and business consulting," says James Taylor, an expert in the field of enterprise decision management and chief executive of the consulting firm Decision Management Solutions.
Some software competitors are actually cheering IBM on. Russ Cobb, vice-president for alliances at SAS, says IBM consulting installs a lot of SAS software, and this move could drive additional sales. "We see this as a great partnership opportunity," he says.
The consulting business may drive sales for a lot of IBM's own technologies, as well. The company has built up a strong position in business analytics software in recent years, partly through acquisitions. In 2007 it paid $5 billion for Canada's Cognos, a leader in business intelligence. Last year, IBM broke into business-process optimization with a $340 million acquisition of ILOG, a French company.
One of the key technologies in the new consulting unit's portfolio comes from IBM Research. In the largest project ever conducted at the research labs, a team of more than 70 scientists and engineers has been working for more than five years on a new approach to data analysis called "stream" computing. Using the technology, companies can create systems that spot patterns in data as it's received—without having to place it first into a database.
Gunning for Arbitrage
IBM built a test system for financial-services company TD Securities that lets it analyze options trading data in real time and make adjustments in microseconds. The system, run by IBM on one of its Blue Gene supercomputers, improved the performance of the trading system by a factor of 20. "In financial services, firms are competing for the best arbitrage," says Nagui Halim, chief scientist on the Stream Computing Project. "It's a technology race, and it's better to be faster."
The analytics consulting unit will be run by Fred Balboni, formerly the head of IBM's retail industry consulting practice. He's placing strategists inside each of the 17 industry-specific groups at Global Business Services. Some of the consultants will be new hires, but many will transfer in from other parts of the company. Kern says analytics expertise will spread through all of the GBS consulting services, including supply chain, customer relations management, and human resources. "It will permeate our consulting business," he says. "In the future, we don't think you can bring value to clients without this deep capability."


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Philippines Inflation Slows In February to 2.6 percent
Philippine inflation eased in February after rising in the previous month, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed on Thursday.
The headline inflation rate slowed to 2.6 percent in February from 2.9 percent in January. In December, inflation was 2.5 percent.
The slowdown was driven by prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels.
Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation slowed to 3.2 percent in February from 3.3 percent in the preceding month.
The year-to-date headline inflation was 2.8 percent and the core rate came in at 3.2 percent.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.2 percent in February, after a 0.5 percent rise in the prior month.


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Apple Pay, PayPal, Google Wallet/Android Pay, Samsung Pay, CurrentC
The mobile payment industry is rapidly changing as both new players and established providers step up their game to win market share. The time is right. With retailers readying their POS lanes for EMV compliancy by refreshing their payment terminals to read chip cards many will likely add NFC capability so they can accept payments from multiple mobile wallet providers from any geographic location, the option for contactless payments in Australia has now became a reality too! Whereas, before hand this scheme was held off due to security implications!
Within the past 2 months alone:
- Apple Pay’s signs a deal with USA Technologies; launches Apple Watch
- PayPal acquires Paydiant
- Google buys Softcard
- Samsung buys LoopPay
It’s not easy keeping track of these changes so we thought this is a good time to highlight the major providers and the impact of their recent deals on their mobile payment solutions.
WATCH: Chase video showing the differences at the POS when paying via mag stripe, chip, contactless (tap-and-pay) and mobile wallet.
- Announced: September 9, 2014; launched October 20, 2014
- Device type: Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Apple Watch
- Technology: Near field communication (NFC)
Boston Retail Partners (BRP) estimates that 38% of large retailers will be supporting Apple Pay by the end of 2015, and 56% by the end of 2017 making it the most widely used mobile payments platform among the big merchants.
News: Apple launches Apple Watch
Apple Pay mobile payments on the Apple Watch is a big selling point – in particular for users of the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s whose devices do not natively support Apple Pay due to the lack of NFC chips.
Simply hold the Watch near an NFC-enabled payment terminal and double-clicking the side button to initiate the payment. A “gentle pulse and tone” lets you know your payment has been processed. What’s more, you don’t even need to have your iPhone with you for Apple Pay to work on the Watch.
Multiple cards can be loaded with each being assigned a unique device account number that is encrypted and stored on a dedicated chip. The dedicated device number acts like a token and is transmitted during a transaction in place of credit or debit card data. Your banking details never leave the Apple Watch nor does Apple store the data on their servers. An added security feature is Apple Pay will only work when the Watch is in contact with the wearer’s wrist. And, like the iPhone, if the Apple Watch is lost or stolen, cards can be removed from Apple Pay.
News: Apple Pay signs deal with USA Technologies
Apple Pay will now be accepted at 200,000 vending machines and self-service terminals.
In a recent interview with pymnts.com, USA Technologies CEO Stephen P. Herbert commented “We’ve been taking Apple Pay transactions for some time, and one of the things we’ve learned that our merchant customers are very interested in is the fact that a mobile payment transaction, on average, has a ticket value that’s 15 percent greater than a typical credit or debit transaction. That’s a hard piece of data that we’re putting in front of customers now. In addition to the other benefits that come with things like Apple Pay, that 15 percent incremental bump for a mobile-based purchase is an encouraging piece of data.”
News: Fraudulent card use in Apple Pay
Apple Pay itself has not been breached. Rather fraudsters are using card data gathered from recent breaches (including Home Depot and Target) to create Apple Pay accounts by taking advantage of some individual banks’ processes for card verification which ask for information that can be fairly easy to attain (last four digits of user’s social security number).
Next for ApplePay
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently announced that in September 2015 admission to national parks can be paid with Apple Pay. There’s also talk that Apple Pay will support government employees’ debit cards, federal payment cards for veterans and social security benefit cards.
PayPal (eBay Inc.)
- Announced: 2013
- Device type: Existing systems including smartphones and payment terminals
- Technology: QR codes
eBay’s PayPal is currently the leader in mobile wallets with 13% of retailers supporting its platform. To keep up with the huge success of Apple Pay it will need to continue to improve its acceptance at retail POS. (There are reports that eBay may be spinning off PayPal later this year).
News: PayPal acquires Paydiant
Earlier this month, PayPal announced its acquisition of mobile wallet developer, Paydiant, whose clients include MCX. The acquisition is an example of bimodal IT – a concept defined by Gartner where the IT organization includes within its framework the equivalent of a start-up to remain innovative and competitive. It’s a model that is gaining acceptance with large companies that need to achieve differentiation and adapt to an increasingly digital customer base by acquiring startups outside a company’s industry vertical.
Paydiant is a ‘white label’ payment platform consisting of a development toolkit that handles all the complexities of creating a wallet and integrates it with the retailer’s point-of-sale ecosystem. Their technology is the reason why CurrentC, and now PayPal, can run on existing smartphones, POS and payment terminals. The application payment interface (API) is easy to implement enabling the POS to present a QR Code for the smartphone to scan and initiate the payment transfer.
News: PayPal debuts new chip-and-pin (EMV) and NFC-enabled solution
The new capability means that PayPal merchants can accept mobile payments from Google Wallet and Apple Pay. Plans are to rollout the device in the UK and Australia this summer, then later in 2015 to the US. It’s estimated the reader will be priced in the $100 to $200 range. This will allow for smaller merchants to go out and get themselves a website by SMAR7 Apps and get online as well as in stores! This new scheme will bring them in new business!
Google Wallet/Android Pay
- Announced: May 2011
- Device type: Android
- Technology: NFC
News: Google buys Softcard mobile payment technology
Google Wallet announced its purchase of Softcard’s mobile payment technology that enables tap-and-pay payments for Android smartphones sold by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. Previously these carriers blocked Google Pay in favor of their own tap-and-pay application, Softcard. Google Wallet users can also make online payments and track participation in loyalty programs (a feature not currently offered in Apple Pay).
Android Pay will use tokenization, NFC and potentially fingerprint scanner. It’s expected to have advantage over Apple Pay as Android currently has a 52% share of the US market as well as dominant share in other markets including the UK (51%), China (73%) and Mexico (85%).
- Announced: March 1, 2015 with availability summer 2015
- Device type: Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge
- Technology: NFC and magnetic secure transmission (MST)
A recent article by Pymnts.com estimates that Samsung Pay will work on 90% of the 15 million payment terminals installed in the US. In contrast, because it uses NFC technology only, Apple Pay is currently compatible with an estimated 220,000 payment terminals.
News: Samsung buys LoopPay
Samsung’s recent acquisition of LoopPay, an established mobile payment system, accelerates its mobile commerce efforts beyond mobile payments creating a comprehensive mobile wallet that doesn’t require merchants or consumers to change their behavior at a faster pace than they are will to accept.
LoopPay’s secure MST technology allows it to be accepted at most retail checkouts without any changes to the existing payment terminals. MST turns existing card magnetic strip readers into contactless payment receivers, making it easy for retailers to accept mobile payments without changing their existing payment terminals.
LoopPay currently works using a standalone fob or a CardCase, which incorporates the payment technology into a protective case designed for use with smartphones. The case communicates wirelessly with existing NFC payment terminals. Samsung will build the LoopPay technology into its next model smartphone.
- Announced: September 2014, availability late 2015
- Technology: QR codes
No news of late regarding the availability of CurrentC. Although, Walmart – one of the founding members in the MCX consortium – recently acknowledged it may be open to accepting Apple Pay as a mobile payment option.
Neiman Marcus launches its own Mobile Wallet
Neiman’s iPhone app will include its own mobile wallet developed by Capital One for its Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman credit cards. The Neiman app opens a QR code that the consumer holds in front of the scanner at the point-of-sale – the same method as that used by Starbucks and Subway in their apps as well as MCX’s CurrentC.
What’s in store
As retailers prepare for EMV they will continue to replace their payment terminals with newer technologies that can include NFC. Once most merchants are ready to accept a variety of mobile payment solutions, consumer preferences and the dominant mobile wallet providers will emerge.
Thoughts or comments? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at firstname.lastname@example.org
Our fall 2014 blog series on Payments
Is CurrentC retail’s alternative to Apple Pay?
Retail POS prepares for Apple Pay
Retail POS prepares for EMV, NFC & Apple Pay
How Unattended Retail Doubled Apple Pay’s Merchant Footprint
Apple Pay Gets More Bank Support, But It Still Needs A Lot More Stores To Succeed
Samsung Wants To Build LoopPay Into Devices, And To Build A Holistic Mobile Wallet
Neiman Marcus Launches Its Own Mobile Wallet
Apple Pay strikes gold in huge deal with U.S. government
Apple Pay will be embraced by 38% of major retailers by end of 2015, study claims
Apple Pay by the numbers
Apple, Google, eBay step up mobile payments arms race


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How Garden Centers Are Getting Toxic, Bee-Killing Pesticides Out of Their Plants and Off of Their Shelves
Over the last decade, we've heard the term "colony collapse disorder" a lot, describing the die-off of honeybees, pollinators essential to maintaining our food crops. Scientists have been looking for the cause and have identified one likely source as the neonicotinoids used in pesticides.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
Fortunately, there has been a lot of pushback on their use. While the Obama administration released its National Pollinator Health Strategy in May, focusing on planting millions of acres of federal land with pollinator-friendly plants and conducting more research but not limiting use of neonicotinoids, millions of people signed petitions calling for stronger rules.
But some businesses aren't sitting around waiting for the federal government to act and are listening to public concerns. Friends of the Earth (FOE) and Pesticide Research Institute are applying some positive reinforcement and giving kudos to those who are addressing the problem in a new report, Growing Bee Friendly: Profiles in Innovation. It spotlights how some businesses are developing strategies and resources to protect bees in response to public demand.
"A growing number number of wholesale nurseries, retailers and institutions have successfully made the shift away from bee-harming pesticides," said Lisa Archer, FOE food and technology director. "We hope this report will be a resource for other responsible businesses as they get toxic, bee-harming pesticides out of their plants, off their shelves and out of the environment as soon as possible."
The report focuses on businesses that have taken steps to remove neonicotinoids, including the world's two largest home improvement retailers, Lowe's and Home Depot, which responded to an intense public pressure campaign after a report called Gardeners Beware 2014 was released last year by FOE and the Pesticide Research Institute, showing that 51 percent of the plant samples purchased at major gardening retailers in 18 U.S. and Canadian cities contained the harmful pesticides. Whole Foods and BJ's Wholesale Club have also begun to remove products containing the pesticide from their outlets.
Just this past week, the Ace Hardware chain announced that it is willing to look into removing products containing neonicotinoids from its stores.
“Ace Hardware will be diligent in working with our vendors to take appropriate action to protect pollinators,” said the company's vice president of merchandising Frank Carroll.
"Along with our allies, we will continue to work with Ace and other retailers to move neonicotinoid pesticides off their shelves and out of garden plants as soon as possible to ensure bees can find save havens in our backyards and communities," said Archer. "Bees are the canary in the coal mine for our food system and everyone, including the business community, must act fast to protect them.”
While national chains get a lot of attention, Growing Bee Friendly also takes a closer look at what some local garden centers are doing.
Among the businesses it cites is Maryland's Behnke Nurseries, which it says was one of the country's first garden centers to establish a policy of reducing the number of neonicotinoid-treated plants it sells. Behnke plant purchaser Larry Hurley said that they have identified growers who can provide the plants they want and that other suppliers tell him they are working on it. The nursery plans to promote pollinator-friendly plants on their display tables to make consumers more aware and make it easier for them to commit to purchasing bee-friendly plants.
"The report profiles some of the first garden centers, nurseries and greenhouse growers who have successfully removed neonicotinoids from their plants," said the Pesticide Research Institute's Rose Radford, one of Growing Bee Friendly's co-authors. "Their stories provide valuable insights and strategies to growers who are planning for neonicotinoid-free plant production, and can help provide guidance for retailers who are working on developing store policies on neonicotinoid-treated plants."
The report also singles out the city of Boulder, which is developing a process for sourcing and purchasing neonicotinoid-free plants for use on city properties. And in May, the city adopted a resolution to ban neonicotinoid application on city properties. It's one of many cities to do so. The governments of Minnesota, Oregon and Ontario have also taken steps to reduce neonicotinoid use.
Growing Bee Friendly suggests that retailers develop a three-pronged policy:
- purchase only neonicotinoid-free plants
- separate plants that are neonicotinoid-free from those that aren't
- label the neonicotinoid-free plants
In addition, it urges them to push growers for verification and testing; to publicize their policies; to train staff to answer consumer questions; and to offer safe pesticide options.
“With a new spring planting season upon us, it’s important for gardeners to be aware that many plants in stores today still contain neonicotinoids," said Archer. "We look forward to the day when we can all buy home garden plants without worrying about harming pollinators. In the meantime, gardeners should choose organic and neonic-free starts, seeds and soil."
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
By Bijal Trivedi
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report on Nov. 13 that describes a list of microorganisms that have become resistant to antibiotics and pose a serious threat to public health. Each year these so-called superbugs cause more than 2.8 million infections in the U.S. and kill more than 35,000 people.
By Joe Vukovich
Under the guise of responding to consumer complaints that today's energy- and water-efficient dishwashers take too long, the Department of Energy has proposed creating a new class of dishwashers that wouldn't be subject to any water or energy efficiency standards at all. The move would not only undermine three decades of progress for consumers and the environment, it is based on serious distortions of fact regarding today's dishwashers.
By Emily Moran
If you have oak trees in your neighborhood, perhaps you've noticed that some years the ground is carpeted with their acorns, and some years there are hardly any. Biologists call this pattern, in which all the oak trees for miles around make either lots of acorns or almost none, "masting."
By Catherine Davidson
Tashi Yudon peeks out from behind a net curtain at the rooftops below and lets out a sigh, her breath frosting on the windowpane in front of her.
Some 700 kilometers away in the capital city Delhi, temperatures have yet to dip below 25 degrees Celsius, but in Spiti there is already an atmosphere of impatient expectation as winter settles over the valley.


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When the tablet computer first debuted, just about everyone was eager to get their hands on one. In the few short years since, the tablet market has exploded. Tablet computers can be found just about everywhere and in some cases, are flying off shelves faster than some cell phones, laptops, and even personal computers. The market has literally been saturated by devices that all claim to be better than the competitors. Today, consumers have their pick of the litter when it comes to size, computing power, operating system, etc. Having said that, some would even argue that the tablet is quickly losing the “cool factor” that once dominated the technology industry just a few short years earlier.
One company is looking to bring back that “cool factor” to tablets with a revolutionary device called the Wikipad. This Android-based handheld is morphing into the world’s first true gaming tablet. While most devices address the concept of tablet gaming, the Wikipad is the first device to come with a detachable gamepad-like accessory.
The controller comes with a thumb stick on each side, d-pad, and even a 4 button layout that you would normally find on any given Playstation or Xbox controller. So is the detachable game controller the only difference between the Wikipad and the countless other tablets on the market? Absolutely not!
Under the hood the Wikipad comes with Android 4.1 Jellybean O/S, 8 gigs of internal space with an SD card slot that is capable of upgrading the storage by an additional 64 gigs, front and rear facing cameras, HDMI and USB ports. Originally when the prototype was unveiled at CES 2012, it only had an 8.1 inch touchscreen. Since then the device has been upgraded with a 10.1 inch touchscreen and a quad-core Nvidia processor have been added to the official device specifications. It has been confirmed that the tablet will come in both wifi only devices and also 3G capable devices for mobile gaming. An optional 3G antenna for better mobile reception can also be purchased.
If that is not enough to convince consumers that this is the most exciting tablet to date, the fact that it was recently announced that the tablet has passed the PlayStation Certified license program and will feature PlayStation Mobile games should hopefully catch their attention.
“Wikipad is the first true video game tablet built with an attachable gamepad controller that enables a mobile console experience. As we head into our upcoming launch we are partnering with the industry’s leading players. PlayStation’s commitment to delivering innovative entertainment experiences that captivate gamers is unparalleled and we are thrilled to partner with them,” said James Bower, chief executive officer, Wikipad.
In my personal opinion this tablet is a game changer. While some may or may not see it as such, the Wikipad is certainly going to continue to turn heads. A release date is still not official but it is rumored that we will see it hit store shelves before the year is up.


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How to Overcome the Rising Challenge of Chargebacksby Vesta E-Commerce Blog December 7, 2021
The cost of chargeback claims can quickly add up for an online retailer. In this article, learn about the single most effective way to overcome the challenge of chargebacks.
At this point, there’s no denying that the cost of card-not-present (CNP) fraud is increasing quicker than anyone anticipated. By 2023, it’s projected that global yearly losses associated with CNP fraud will reach as higher as $36 billion.
In the U.S. alone, fraud losses are projected to reach $12 billion by that same time.
Fraudulent chargeback claims make up a large percentage of that total cost, and they’re unfortunately something that nearly every online retailer has had to learn to deal with. While it’s certainly possible to eliminate chargebacks by rejecting every potentially fraudulent transaction, this strategy will usually backfire on merchants resulting in a sharp increase in false declines.
Even the most accurate fraud prevention technology can make a mistake and decline a legitimate purchase. Over time, the losses from false declines will compound and seriously impact a business’ ability to grow.
The best way to overcome the challenge of chargeback fraud is by investing in a fraud solution that offers complete chargeback reimbursement protection. Keep reading to learn more about how a chargeback guarantee works, and why it’s an essential component to a successful fraud prevention program.
What is Chargeback Fraud?
To start, let’s define what a fraudulent chargeback is.
A chargeback is a payment that is refunded to a consumer after they have successfully filed a dispute for an item on their account statement. The customer wins the dispute by claiming that they didn’t authorize the transaction, or didn’t receive the product or service that was purchased.
The merchant receives notice that the customer filed a dispute and they’re told to refund the money while the financial institution conducts an investigation. This process can sometimes take up to 75 days to complete.
It’s estimated that less than 32% of online retailers actually win a chargeback dispute. Larger companies have a better chance of winning disputes when they have representment. Representment describes providing evidence to show that the sale was correctly completed. Showing that the claim isn’t true helps the business get money back from false chargebacks.
When a customer files a chargeback claim for a purchase that they authorized, this is chargeback fraud. There are two types of chargeback fraud: friendly, and criminal.
Friendly fraud describes a situation where the cardholder knows about, allows, or benefits. They request a chargeback knowing that the product or service was, in fact, provided.
Criminal fraud includes the following examples.
- The person uses a stolen or lost card for the purchase
- Criminals create and use counterfeit credit cards and account numbers
- Criminals change the shipping information after the completion of a legitimate purchase
- A person falsifies a signature
First appeared on Vesta’s Blog on eCommerce Fraud.


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Monster, Viacom Team on DNA Audio BrandSeptember 5, 2012
The brand will launch later this week at MTV's Video Music Awards. The first DNA headphones arrive this month.
“We’re excited about what we have accomplished with next generation sound with Monster DNA," Head Monster Noel Lee said in a statement. "It’s the evolution of what a headphone can look and sound like. Sonically, they completely kick ass yet still have refined sound qualities that all music lovers can appreciate.”


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Watch out, Amazon and Walmart: Kroger is also building an advertising business
Amazon’s advertising business is worth at least $1 billion, and Walmart has a growing advertising platform, too. Kroger, one of the biggest grocery brands in the U.S., is also venturing into retail media. Kroger is selling its suppliers ad units and solutions, and it is developing a programmatic platform that will go live next year.
Kroger, which owns the likes of Harris Teeter, Baker’s and Fred Meyer Jewelers, generated $27.7 billion in sales from July to September of this year, up 4.5 percent from the same period a year prior, according its quarterly earnings report released in November. Approximately half of all U.S. households have a Kroger loyalty card, which drives nearly 90 percent of Kroger’s sales, according to the company. Like Walmart, Kroger boasts that its loyalty program data and purchase data gathered from its mobile apps, brand websites and around 2,800 stores across 35 states in the U.S. can help its suppliers (mostly consumer packaged goods companies like Procter & Gamble) serve targeted ads on Kroger’s properties and the open web.
Kroger’s sales pitch may sound familiar, as mass retailers like Amazon and Walmart all use their consumer purchase data as the cornerstone to carve out a media business. But different from Amazon, which has an in-house media division called Amazon Marketing Group, and Walmart, whose media platform was largely built by WPP-owned Triad Retail Media (which also creates ad units to sell for other retailers), Kroger bought the data analytics piece of agency Dunnhumby (formerly a joint venture between Kroger and Tesco) around three years ago to form its own consumer insights subsidiary called 84.51°.
“CPG brands today are splitting their marketing spend between trade and advertising. Trade promotion is one of the industry’s largest investments — this is promotional dollars to influence brick-and-mortar sale pricing like temporary price reductions,” said Cara Pratt, vp of customer communications product strategy and innovation for 84.51°. “CPGs shift their marketing budgets across vehicles — many of which deliver against different business objectives, but all are intended to [generate] sales. Our science and Kroger’s customer insights help CPG brands drive actions.”
Kroger is the only retailer that the 84.51° team of 775 serves. The division also helps more than 300 CPG clients understand how to better use Kroger’s data and third-party data for advertising. The majority of 84.51° employees are based in its Cincinnati office, which is only a 10-minute walk from the Kroger headquarters. A small team in Portland, Oregon, is also responsible for media planning and buying for the Kroger brand, according to Bob Welch, svp of customer communications and Kroger media services for 84.51°.
Welch said Kroger’s advertising business has two pillars: One component is Kroger’s customer communications program, where the retailer runs direct and email campaigns for its suppliers with tailored content and promotions; the other is what the company calls “precision marketing solution,” powered by Kroger’s purchase data from 60 million households.
One offering under Kroger’s precision marketing solution is on-site advertising on Kroger.com. 84.51° is responsible for developing ad formats on the site and managing ad sales for Kroger, much like what Triad Retail Media does for Walmart. “You can say that we borrowed the Triad model, but the differentiation is our ability to personalize the experience,” said Pratt. “We can connect 96 percent of Kroger transactions to a customer, which allows us to serve very targeted product placement and drive better conversion.”
CPG clients can also buy co-branded media on the open web — largely display ads that include the Kroger logo and direct consumers to Kroger properties when they click on the ad — as well as run word-of-mouth campaigns through Kroger’s MyMagazine Sharing Network, where brands give out free products, and members give their feedback and share the product on social media in return, according to Pratt.
Pratt declined to share the total number of ad formats Kroger sells and the corresponding pricing model. “Some formats are CPM-based and some are [cost-per-click]-based,” she said. “CPC-based ads are more connected to search marketing.”
Most Kroger precision marketing buys are placed programmatically through a combination of programmatic direct and open exchange inventory, according to Pratt. 84.51° is also developing a programmatic platform that will be available in the next year to let advertisers buy ads on Kroger.com. Kroger’s ad solutions don’t apply to Harris Teeter or Roundy’s brands at the moment.
“Extending our capabilities to those newer brands to the Kroger family will occur in the future,” said Pratt.
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Wall Street stocks clung to narrow gains early Thursday following mixed US economic data in a choppy followup to the Dow's worst session of the year.
Traders work after the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on August 1, 2019, in New York City.(Photo: VCG)
US indices briefly veered into negative territory shortly after the opening bell, but were all positive after 20 minutes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 25,529.18, up 0.2 percent. The blue-chip index lost 800 points, or more than three percent, on Wednesday.
The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.3 percent at 2,847.58, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.1 percent to 7,784.48.
Major US indices plunged Wednesday after a key US bond benchmark raised recession worries amid mushrooming fears of a global slowdown due in part to the US-China trade war.
US retail sales jumped 0.7 percent in July, topping expectations and reassuring investors that US consumers remain on strong footing.
But on the downside, US manufacturing production dropped 0.4 percent during the same month, as the trade war weighed on the sector.
Among individual stocks, Walmart surged 5.2 percent as it raised its full-year forecast on better-than-expected results, while fellow Dow member Cisco Systems slumped 5.9 percent following a disappointing forecast.


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The “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” star is often paid hefty sums of money to wear brands’ clothes and model them on her highly popular social media accounts. Speaking at the New York Times DealBook Conference earlier this week, Kardashian revealed that she rejected a brand that was offering $1 million at the behest of her third husband.
“I will say a cute story since my husband’s here. So there was a fast-fashion brand, a few of them, and they would knock off Yeezy all the time, his color palette, designs,” she explained. “So this fast-fashion brand offered me a million dollars for an Instagram post and I thought, ‘OK, well that’s easy’ — just to wear clothes that I could pick, anything that I wanted, it’s a quick post — and when I told [Kanye] about it, he asked me not to do it and said out of respect, I don’t think that we should be giving them everything, they copy everything.”
Kanye West and wife Kim Kardashian West attend The Fashion Group International’s annual “Night of Stars” gala at Cipriani Wall Street on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in New York.
She continued: “I completely understood why he said no. I gladly said no. And then for Mother’s Day, he handed me an envelope and it was a check for a million dollars saying ‘thank you for not posting for the other brand.’ And then — I don’t know if I’m supposed to say this or if I have — and a contract to be an owner in Yeezy as a thank you.”
The star concluded that the story demonstrates the “power in saying ‘no’ sometimes.”
Although this exchange is remembered fondly by the 39-year-old reality TV mogul, West, 42, has gotten into arguments with his wife over her fashion in the past.
“Like the corset, underwear, all that vibe, I just feel like I just went through this transition of being [a] rapper, and lookin’ at all these girls,” West said back in May, People reported.
“And then looking at my wife like, ‘Oh, my girl needs to be just like these other girls, showing her body off, showing this, showing that…’ I didn’t realize that that was affecting my soul and my spirit as someone that’s married and loved, the father of what’s about to be four kids,” he said at the time. “A corset is a form of underwear. It’s hot. It’s like, it’s hot for who, though?”


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Newsstand sales of leading magazines have declined sharply in the last decade, reflecting profound changes in the industry and in the way readers buy their magazines.
A report to be released this week by Vos, Gruppo & Capell, investment bankers and direct-marketing consultants, found that total single-copy sales of 123 best-selling magazines had declined by more than one-third in 10 years. In 1982, the magazines had total average newsstand sales of 70.5 million. By 1992, sales had dropped to 46.5 million. The decline was constant, with sales down every year from the year before.
The drop in newsstand sales reflects three industry trends: the growing emphasis on subscription sales by some large-circulation magazines, the increase in low-budget, special-interest publications, and the competition for space on the racks.
The publications in the survey account for only two-thirds of the magazines audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which in turn represents 77 percent of all magazines sold on newsstands. The figures do not include any small start-up magazines.
John M. Harrington, president of the Council for Periodical Distributors Associations, which represents more than 350 distributors in North America, said that during the 1980's, sales of nonaudited magazines grew by more than 10 percent in numbers of copies. In dollars, the figure more than doubled.
In 1982, he said, there were 1,800 magazines. Today there are 3,300, with titles ranging from Charles & Diana to Carolina Bass.
"Our numbers show that we are selling more magazines than we ever were," Mr. Harrington said. Single-Purpose Magazines
Many of those sales come from special one-shot issues. "People who are going to remodel the bathroom or who are about to buy a computer will buy a magazine about that," Mr. Harrington said. "That is obviously where we found growth."
Most single-copy sales take place in supermarkets, often near checkout counters where there is tight competition for rack space. Magazines are also sold in airports, convenience stores, drugstores and kiosks. Except in New York and a few other large cities, however, the old-fashioned sidewalk newsstand has virtually disappeared, putting an end to that quintessential urban habit, the late-evening stroll to pick up the first edition of tomorrow's paper.
Publishers find themselves in a "Catch 22" situation over newsstand sales: as single-copy sales have dropped, publishers have made up losses with gains on the subscription side. But luring readers with ever more attractive -- and less expensive -- subscription offers has accelerated the decline at the newsstand; readers are increasingly reluctant to pay full cover price for their magazines.
"Softer offers in the subscription side of the business -- like complimentary copies, sweepstakes and premiums, which are used by 25 percent of the industry -- make it so attractive to subscribe to a magazine that it makes people feel like idiots if they spend all that money to buy off the newsstand," Dan Capell, managing director of Vos, Gruppo & Capell and author of the report, said.
In the face of newsstand declines, some magazines have deliberately switched their primary revenue streams from single-copy sales to subscriptions. In 1982, for instance, Family Circle, which is part of the Women's Magazine Group of The New York Times Company, sold an average of 7 million copies of each issue at checkout counters and a mere 30,000 through subscriptions. Last year, it sold 2.6 million copies at checkout counters and 2.5 million in subscriptions.
"A newsstand-only magazine has a certain place in the world and it's not necessarily a great place to be exclusively," Jacqueline Leo, editor in chief of Family Circle, said.


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Looking back on the past few years of Forklift Korea, the part that was considered the biggest strength was maintenance. It runs 1st grade repair stores alongside a nationwide maintenance network powered by experts. This year, the company said that it will begin training professional maintenance personnel for electric forklifts through the forklift manager recruitment program. An official said “This recruitment, which will be divided into two parts to train forklift managers and maintenance managers, aims to train professionals who can cover all aspects related to forklifts, from basic management to rental. We will preemptively provide more professional and safe maintenance services with expertise in electric vehicle diagnosis and repair technology.”
Lithium iron phosphate battery company
Domestic forklift brand ‘KLIFT’
Using this recruitment as a stepping stone, the company is confident with the goal of cultivating 100% professional forklift engineers within the first half of the year. KLIFT CEO Hong Jin-ki said “As the supply of electric forklifts gradually expands, the importance of systematic maintenance services is expected to increase. We plan to do our best to increase customer satisfaction by continuously nurturing maintenance personnel with knowledge.” Global companies in each country are having a significant impact on the domestic battery market as they are declaring replacements for lithium iron phosphate batteries with relatively low cost and superior functionality. Forklift Korea, a lithium iron phosphate battery brand, has launch of KLIFT to push forward its business. The company has built close collaboration with top global brands and continues to sell and lease lithium iron phosphate electric forklifts. The company introduced KLIFT, an electric forklift equipped with CATL’s lithium iron phosphate battery, in the first half of the year, providing both efficiency and safety at the logistics site. The battery of the 2.5 ton lithium iron phosphate electric forklift sold by KLIFT is 202Ah (OPT 271/404Ah) and the charger is 100A (OPT 200A/380V 3-phase), both loaded with CATL lithium iron phosphate battery. It is rated as superior in product quality and price competitiveness with various battery configurations suitable for user conditions.
An official said “The lineup of KLIFT electric forklifts, which are being introduced online and offline, is organized by tonnage, ranging from 1.5 tons to 10 tons. While most foreign forklifts only support English and Japanese, KLIFT lithium electric forklifts support the Korean instrument panel for easier operation. KLIFT plans to introduce more diverse product lines in the future. The updated product information can be checked through the company’s website as well as the forklift information platform Woori Neighborhood Forklift.”
BYD forklifts landed in Korea for 5 years now
1.6 ton model event
The BYD electric forklift, that used to decorate before KLIFT, is also in good health. Forklift Korea is the sole distributor of BYD electric forklifts in Korea and has held an event marking the 5th year of the business.
Forklift Korea, which has been providing electric forklift supply and maintenance services nationwide, has provided the full advantage of electric forklifts that not only improve work efficiency but also prioritize safety in the work environment alongside the events that have been placed for 5 years. The latest event was limited to 1.6 ton forklifts and was conducted with basic 3M/2-speed, 3WAY, 271 AH battery, and 3WAY products. To commemorate KLIFT’s successful entry into the domestic market, KLIFT’s 1.5 ton model will be introduced KLIFT’s. An official said “With the strengthening of the Severe Accident Punishment Act, safety in the field is becoming more important. In line with this change, the company is holding an event to install three-sided red beams and rear cameras for free.”
지윤석 기자 email@example.com


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Massmart Holdings fell the most in more than two months in Johannesburg after the Walmart-owned South African retailer said its first-half loss widened.
Walmart expects to report a headline loss per share, which strips out certain one-time items, of as much as 450.3 South African cents (27 cents) for the six months ended June 26, compared with a loss of 298.8 cents a year earlier, when it announces full results later this month, the company said in a trading update Tuesday.
Chief Executive Officer Mitchell Slape, the Walmart veteran tasked in 2019 to turn around the Johannesburg-based household goods specialist, has faced a string of difficulties ranging from pandemic-induced supply chain problems to a week of deadly South African riots a year ago.
Consumer spending is under pressure from rising interest rates, with the central bank hiking aggressively to counter inflation that hit a 13-year high in June, while frequent nationwide power cuts have slowed economic growth.
Slape has already slimmed down the retailer and introduced broad cost cuts. Still, Massmart’s Game chain is struggling as cash-strapped shoppers buy fewer high-margin products such as fridges and washing machines.
“The consumer has not had anything like a decent wage increase, bond costs have gone up, food has gone up and the petrol price is 50% higher than what it was a year ago,” Syd Vianello, an independent analyst, said by phone from Johannesburg.
“With Massmart’s product mix, the higher margin discretionary spend items are affected more. This is the problem the CEO faces on top of trying to fix Game. It couldn’t have come at a worse time.”
The stock slumped as much as 9.9%, the biggest intraday drop since May 19, and was 3.5% lower by 12:57 p.m. local time.
That brings the decline this year to 42%, compared to the 10-member FTSE/JSE Retailers Index’s 7.6% retreat. Massmart also flagged increased finance costs and a one-time lease exit settlement charge during the first six months.


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Try Wands for free this weekend!
Not even a day has passed since the launch of Patch 1.3.6 and we can already reveal our next Wands treat! Join the Free Weekend on Gear VR and Oculus Rift today and test out the new dynamic environments, spells and more.
Try Wands on
The post Free Weekend on Gear VR and Oculus Rift appeared first on Cortopia Studios.


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Ovenu Dorset South owner celebrates top rated five-star reviews
The owner of oven valeting company Ovenu Dorset South is celebrating after achieving a clean sweep of maximum rated online reviews.
Jeremy Beard, who established the business in 2010, is one of 85 Ovenu franchisees across the country who together have achieved almost 24,000 of the highest five-star ratings.
Entering his ninth year in the business, Jeremy’s franchise covers the South Dorset area including Weymouth, Dorchester, Blandford Forum and Bridport and has achieved 289 of the outstanding reviews.
Such overwhelmingly positive reviews are crucial when it comes to giving customers the confidence to select a home-based service, according to a mini poll conducted by the company.
It found that 67% of respondents are influenced by positive online reviews when choosing to deal with a business.
Jeremy said: “It is gratifying to know my customers have taken the time and trouble to give Ovenu Dorset South the highest possible rating.
“No review fell below the maximum five stars so it’s great to know the business is held in such high regard and that I’m delivering a high-quality service which is appreciated and trusted by my customers.”
Franchisees of Ovenu, the leading domestic oven cleaning and valeting specialist, which are based throughout the UK, attracted a total of 23,874 five-star ratings on review platform TRUSTist.
Rik Helewell, Managing Director of Ovenu, said: “The maximum rating is a tribute to Jeremy’s hard work and dedication. After all, they do say the customer is always right!
“Many people are increasingly turning to online reviews when it comes to choosing services, so its tremendous to achieve the highest quality feedback possible.”
However, the poll also found that 59% of people still value and trust a personal recommendation more highly than online praise.
Jeremy added: “It’s important to receive positive feedback through reviews but many of my customers also get in touch through a personal recommendation – so its nice to be recognised both online and via traditional word of mouth.”
The research, based on a sample of almost 1,350 people, was derived from mini polls conducted on behalf of Ovenu by independent market research company DRG.
It found that 46% of respondents said overwhelmingly positive reviews meant they would be more willing to pay extra for a product or service.
Meanwhile, 57% said they would require more than 85% positive reviews to have full confidence in a business, whilst just 8% of respondents said they would still part with their cash even if half the reviews were negative.
This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by News Gathering .


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DuPont Nutrition & Health will showcase at the International Baking Industry Exposition the DuPont Danisco non-GMO, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil-certified, sustainable emulsifiers from a Mass Balance or segregated source.
They include sunflower, rapeseed and canola varieties.
This line of emulsifiers was recognized as an IBIE 2016 Best in Baking qualifier as a sustainable ingredient that fosters energy and water conservation.
DuPont consumer research exploring clean label attitudes found nearly half of consumers agreeing that “contains no chemicals or artificial ingredients” was a “very important” consideration when deciding what brands to purchase.
In the same survey, “ingredient lists contain only recognizable ingredients” was “very important” to 46% of the sample.
Comparatively, taste was a “very important consideration” for a significantly higher portion of the sample.
“Retrofitting an ingredient statement on a product to tackle clean label concerns can be challenging, and altering a well-established product may not be the route to take when looking to market a clean label product,” said Janelle Crawford, strategic marketing lead, bakery.
“Having a strategic, prioritized approach to address clean label concerns, while maintaining quality and taste throughout product shelf life is critical.”
The show will be held from October 8 to 11, in Las Vegas, US.