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In an exclusive interview with Cryptonews, Luke Barwikowski, the founder and CEO of Ronin-based social Web3 game Pixels, discussed his early start in the coding space and his move into Web3 gaming.
He talked about Pixels’ development and successes, what it takes to launch a Web3 game, and why projects should wait before launching a token.
The founder also touched upon Pixels move from Polygon to Ronin, as well as their work with Binance.
In this interview, Barwikowski discussed:
current state of Web3 gaming and its future;
how Pixels differs from other Web3 games;
Ronin migration – move from Polygon to Ronin;
achieving 500,000 daily active users and 4.5 million in token revenue in the last 30 days;
Pixels building the biggest Web3 casual games company — aiming for a similar impact to Zynga’s influence on Web2 gaming.
You can read what Luke and Matt talked about below, or you can watch the full podcast episode above.
Game Maker, K’NEX Winner, and Bitcoin Miner
Barwikowski started young. At just 11 or 12, he began using a program called GameMaker and its scripting language. He made mini-games for his friends.
He taught himself scripting languages, thinking about how it allows him to build “without any limits.”
Interestingly, more than a decade ago, he won a nationwide contest for building with the construction toy system K’NEX, and:
“I thought coding was really cool because I basically got unlimited K’NEX. I can just build whatever I want.”
From then, Barwikowski moved into Web development and other areas.
At one point, he even mined Bitcoin (BTC). At the time, one could still use a home computer. Barwikowski could “just leave my parents’ computer on and make money.”
However, he was wiping his hard drives all the time, as he was in his hacking phase, “so I lost all that Bitcoin, but it’s fine.”
After he moved from coding to entrepreneurship, he sold his first app at just 18.
Pixels, founded by Barwikowski, is a social casual Web3 game powered by the Ronin Network.
Unlike many games, even similar ones, Pixels has seen significant traction. It has surpassed a whopping 700,000 daily active addresses and 500,000 daily active users.
Pixels now at 720 K DAU and 1.5 M MAU.$RON $PIXEL pic.twitter.com/mSLb6X3PoT
— Jihoz.ron (@Jihoz_Axie) April 1, 2024
Before working on Pixels, Barwikowski was working on a different product. It was an “8-bit pixel art product” where people could host mixers, holiday parties, and other events.
At that time, there were just three people on the team, briefly competing with a product called Gather Town: “a combination of Zoom and an online game where you walk around and if you get close to people, it opens up video chats. It was spatial video,” he said.
This is the technology he started selling quickly to large companies, including Apple, Uber, Rippling, and Twitter.
However, while still working on that first app, its creator realized that it “wasn’t the best business.” The best use-case scenario for these virtual spaces is people gathering about once a week for an hour. And larger companies used it once a quarter with no other need for it.
In 2021, however, Barwikowski noticed the massive popularity of Axie Infinity.
Furthermore, as he studied economics, “the idea of building an economy ground up inside of the context of cryptocurrency made total sense to me.”
And having a piece of tech in their hands they did not know what to do with, they started forming ideas of an avenue to move into.
“We kind of turned that tech into Pixels,” Barwikowski said.
Bottoms-up Growth Approach
Barwikowski noted that Pixels may look simpler than it is. But there’s “a lot of depth” to it, he said.
It’s 40% games and 60% everything else, said the founder, “and I think a lot of people in the space underestimate how much of the rest you need to build in addition to a game to make a successful Web3 game.”
All these people are trying to make crazy complex web3 games with insane production when Monopoly Go is over there in web2 with $2b in revenue.
Controversial take, but gameplay is only small portion of what you actually need to build to make a web3 game work.
— Luke Barwikowski (@whatslukedoing) April 2, 2024
Therefore, the team is very focused on what Barwikowski calls the Growth Engine, in line with their long-term plans and Pixels’ roadmap.
Much of what they do is centered around the incentive design and “basically a new form of user acquisition.”
Per the founder, Web3, if used properly, is an extremely powerful tool. It unlocks new types of ways for games to grow that don’t exist inside of Web2.
“And what we’ve been experimenting with is basically what we call a bottoms-up growth approach,” he said.
In Web2, games grow from performance marketing. They target a specific audience, spend money per user, and “then it just becomes a game of math for them.”
They’ll decide if this game is successful or not right there. If it is, they’ll pour millions into advertising. And they need to raise millions to do that.
In Web3, the team takes the complete opposite approach to the growth strategy, Barwikowski said. They aim to create the best incentive structures to “help our users help us grow.”
That way, very little money is spent on user acquisition, for example, a few thousand dollars for giveaways.
“But we haven’t done any paid advertising, no performance marketing, anything like that,” Luke Barwikowski said.
Congratulations to @pixels_online for Hitting the milestone of 2,000,854 wallets on @Ronin_Network !
In just 5 months on Ronin, Pixels has achieved:• Leading game in terms of DAA• Launch on Binance Launchpool• 2M wallets on Ronin
Next is 1M DAA and 5M wallets pic.twitter.com/mWERXCEylG
— Nathann.eth (@0xxNathan) March 30, 2024
And this is how they can grow games in a new way that makes their growth strategies hyper-competitive against Web2 games.
Furthermore, they can take this growth engine built for Pixels and eventually apply it to other games in the ecosystem.
Major Moves: Ronin and Binance
Pixels was established in April 2020 on Polygon. However, the team announced its migration to Ronin in September 2023.
The Pixels team has a lot of respect for the Polygon team and the tech they built, Barwikowski said.
But the hardest part of Web3 is user acquisition and distribution, he added. It’s difficult and costly.
Ronin “had a level of distribution that doesn’t exist anywhere else inside of Web3 right now.” They’ve already done the hard work of onboarding millions of users onto their chain through Axie Infinity. “That is extremely valuable.”
Per Luke Barwikowski,
“I kind of viewed Ronin as almost like a new type of publisher in a way where they have access to a great dedicated user base.”
People loved Axie, and even though Axie’s DAU was slightly down, there were still many users in that ecosystem “that could be resurrected.”
This was “very true,” Barwikowski said, and many Pixels users now are from the Ronin ecosystem – the majority are (former) Axie Infinity players.
Therefore, the growth began with the core Axie Infinity user base that Ronin had built out.
Now, the game is getting very strong traction inside Southeast Asia and other markets.
One more benefit of moving to Ronin, he said, is knowledge.
There were many who tried giving the Pixel team advice about Web3 Gaming – but they themselves never launched a Web3 Game. They didn’t understand what actually comes with it.
The Ronin Sky Mavis team knows what they are talking about, said Barwikowski, so their knowledge, mentorship, and guidance have been invaluable.
Meanwhile, the team revealed that Binance rolled out the PIXELS token.
Our token, $PIXEL, is officially live on @Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange
We’ve been working towards this moment for over 2 years, and we couldn’t be more excited to share this massive milestone with you all.
This is just the beginning and the best is yet to… pic.twitter.com/G3MCCf0yMU
— Pixels (@pixels_online) February 19, 2024
Binance “probably understands Web3 and tokenomics better than anybody” whom Barwikowski talked with over the last two to three years.
Their due diligence process is extensive, long, and intense, he added, but ultimately worthwhile for both parties.
Binance wanted to “make sure that we had something that was sustainable, of real value […] They have a lot of concern for the things they launch.”
Putting Tokens Before the Game is Easier, But….
There has been a trend in Web3: many teams launch tokens first, while the games come out years later.
The token may start strong but goes to cents because there’s no ecosystem.
Pixels took the opposite approach.
Barwikowski argued that teams launch tokens sooner than they should simply because it’s the easier thing to do.
“Actually having something that’s ready to use a token is quite difficult,” he stated. Launching a token is “a very large commitment” and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
It took Pixels much thought, preparation, and experimentation to get to this point.
Moreover, they had a soft currency as a Web3 currency, BERRY. This helped the team understand better how to manage a live Web3 currency before actually launching the Pixel token.
And yeah, we’re really glad that we got the lessons that we learned through this first go because otherwise, this second go maybe wouldn’t have been successful, right?
The founder advised that a project – be it a token, a game, or something else – should always keep asking itself why it exists, what it aims to accomplish, and what value it adds.
These may seem like simple questions, “but the answers and the things that you learn are not so clear at first,” Barwikowski said.
One needs to be in this space to understand and build an idea around how all these Web3 components should actually interact inside of a game.
So there’s some truth to this.
We built the core gameplay mechanics in Pixels in ~4 months.
On an engine that took us 1.5 years to build.
Over 2 years ago.
& almost all of our initial thoughts / hypotheses around web3 were wrong, it takes a long time to hone in web3 gameplay https://t.co/gNbw14qXX3
— Luke Barwikowski (@whatslukedoing) March 30, 2024
Meanwhile, this is still a very experimental company, the founder said, and the community knows that. They’re all testing the game together.
Unlike many other projects, he said,
“We build in public, and we build with community.”
What doesn’t work in the first iteration is fixed for future use.
Per Luke Barwikowski, the team still has “probably one to two years of really fine-tuning what this looks like inside of this first game that we’re building out, Pixels, the game everybody’s playing and enjoying right now. The ambition is much more in the future.”
Additionally, the next chapter of gaming is going to be play-to-earn, and Barwikowski is “all in.” It’s possible to make it sustainable, he argued, and the company “that cracks that has a huge opportunity in front of them.”
About Luke Barwikowski
Luke Barwikowski is the founder and CEO of Pixels, the largest web3 game by DAU.
With over 2.5 million total players, Pixels is a social, casual Web3 game powered by the Ronin Network, focusing on farming, exploration, and creation in an open world. As CEO, Barwikowski says, his mission is to build the biggest Web3 casual games company.
His background in software engineering started at 12, and he built and sold his first app at 18.
Luke Barwikowski holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Economics from the University of Michigan.
The post Luke Barwikowski, CEO of web3 Game Pixels, on The Current State of Web3 Gaming, Growing to 500K Daily Active Users, and Building on Ronin Blockchain | Ep. 322 appeared first on Cryptonews.


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Shared electric scooters are close to overtaking bike-sharing, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials. In 2018, of the 84 million micromobility trips taken, 38.5 million of those were on scooters. The other 45.5 million trips were on bikes — either ones from station-based bike-shares or dockless shared bikes. Rides on station-based bikes […]
The collaboration will allow HWGG Capital to serve customers such as foreign workers who may not have a bank account, using its regulated stable coin HWG Cash HWGG Capital, a Malaysia-based blockchain payment solutions and investment holding company, has announced a strategic partnership with blockchain firm Virtual Currency Philippines (VCPI) to facilitate international money transfer […]
The post HWGG Capital, VCPI to allow overseas Filipinos to transfer money using blockchain wallet appeared first on e27.

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Five local biotech IPOs raised $400M: A recap
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For the first time in what feels like a long time (but has really only been three weeks), there are no biotech firms expected to go public next week. But five local companies have already hauled in about $400 million in recent weeks in the biggest flurry of biotech IPOs since 2000.
That’s even more surprising if you consider that those newly-public biotech firms were competing for dollars from the public market with several more-established local ones, which together ended up raising $645 million in secondary stock offerings. Here is a rundown of the local IPOs, ranked by size of their initial fundraise, and including what’s happened with the stock price in the days or weeks since the IPO as of noon on Friday, Feb. 14.
Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: DRNA) of Watertown, Mass.
IPO date: Jan. 30
IPO size: $117 million (includes $14 million in overallotments)
Stock movement since IPO: Up 157 percent
Concert Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CNCE) of Lexington, Mass.
IPO date: Feb. 13
IPO size: $84 million (plus another $13 million possible in overallotments)
Stock movement since IPO: Up 4 percent
Flexion Therapeutics (Nasdaq: FLXN) of Burlington, Mass.
IPO date: Feb. 12
IPO size: $65 million (plus another $10 million possible in overallotments)
Stock movement since IPO: Up 15 percent
Eleven Biotherapeutics (Nasdaq: EBIO) of Cambridge, Mass.
IPO date: Feb. 6
IPO size: $65 million (includes $8 million in overallotments)
Stock movement since IPO: Up 14 percent
Genocea Biosciences (Nasdaq: GNCA) of Cambridge, Mass.
IPO date: Feb. 5
IPO size: $66 million (no overallotments sold)
Stock movement since IPO: Down 4 percent
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WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday blasted Amazon.com Inc with a list of complaints, a day after news website Axios reported that Trump wants to curb the mega retailer’s growing power using federal antitrust laws and led its shares to fall almost 5 per cent.
“I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election. Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!” Trump said in a post on Twitter early on Thursday.
Amazon founder and chairman, Jeff Bezos, also privately owns the Washington Post, which won a Pulitzer Prize last year for its investigation of Trump’s donations to charities. The probe found that many of Trump’s philanthropic claims were exaggerated and often were not charitable donations.
Still, White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah shot down the notion that Trump’s criticism was part of a personal grudge.
“A lot of people have made this, with respect to Amazon, about personalities and the CEO at Amazon – we’re talking about Jeff Bezos here,” he said on Thursday on the Fox News Channel. “It’s really about policy.”
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Shah reiterated that Trump was not making specific policy changes.
“There are a number of proposals that have worked their ways through the House and the Senate or have been considered by the House and the Senate. He’d be supportive of such efforts,” he said.
Trump’s claims about Amazon’s state and local tax payments have been met with skepticism. While the company was once criticized for attempting to skirt state sales taxes, it currently has a reputation as a leader in collecting the levies, which can vary from state to state.
Legally pursuing Amazon could affect more than its share price, which was largely steady after Trump’s tweet. Amazon is currently in the process of establishing a $5 billion second headquarters which could bring 50,000 new jobs to the location it selects. In January, it winnowed the list of possible locations down to 20 metropolitan areas.
Apart from nationwide goods deliveries, Amazon’s services include video streaming, a digital home assistant known as Alexa, and an online payments program.


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New Aldi store in Northampton set to open by the end of the year
A huge steel frame has been erected on the former Chronicle & Echo site to make way for the opening of a new budget supermarket.
What we know so far about the opening of the new Aldi store in the Upper Mounts:
The former offices of the Northampton Chronicle & Echo un Upper Mounts were demolished in 2014.The land was sold to Aldi for the development of a new retail store. Discussions initially included mixed retail and housing, but eventually planning permission was given for a store, related car park and 19 houses.The superstore will measure 1,810 square metres and the car park will include 110 spaces.Access will be via Earl Street for the store and Great Russell Street for the homes.
Work started earlier this year on the new Aldi store in the Upper Mounts, which it is thought will create up to 40 new jobs. It will be the fourth Aldi store in Northampton alongside those in Kingsthorpe, St James and Weston Favell.In June this year, the retailer started a recruitment drive. Construction of the steel frame of the building is well progressed and the foundations for the car park is in place.It is expected that the store will open to shoppers by the end of the year.


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Xbox One X Won't Include Free Kinect Adaptor
As you may remember, back in August 2016, Microsoft launched the Xbox One S, the slimmer and improved version of the Xbox One. This will get you a 500GB console and controller plus three months of Xbox Live Gold and three months of Xbox Game Pass.
"We're working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible", a Facebook spokesperson told Reuters.
Facebook is down for thousands of users Wednesday.
Facebook and Instagram have yet to issue a statement. A company that links to Facebook's back-end in order to let companies post to social media, SocialFLow, said there was a problem in a tweet before noon.
As a reaction to (probably) missing Facebook, people took to Twitter to complain about the absence of access to two other social media networks.


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Revlon Taps Dwyer For Senior VP Slot
ted Kathy Dwyer a senior vice president of the company. She retains her position as president of Revlon Cosmetics, USA.
Dwyer joined Revlon in 1993 and has served as executive vice president and general manager of mass cosmetics, and as executive vice president of cosmetics and fragrance for Revlon North America.
President Is Named By Durex Consumer
NORCROSS, Ga. -- Durex Consumer Products here has named Thomas W. Grant Jr. president. It is a new position. He is responsible for expanding the market presence of Durex brands in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Prior to joining Durex, Grant operated Grant Strategic Marketing, a consulting firm. He was also a senior vice president of marketing for the Arby's restaurant chain.


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In the first half of this year, the company has done about $750 million in deals, and there are some near-term opportunities, Naspers CFO said.
The deal will enable Tokio to gain a foothold in markets such as South Africa and Botswana from its base in Chiyoda-Ku, Japan.
The company takes “very seriously” the difference in value between its stake in Chinese internet giant Tencent and the firm as a whole, CEO Bob Van Dijk said.
Naspers bought into Flipkart in 2012 and has invested a cumulative $616 million. The sale value of its stake was $2.2 billion.
Naspers Ltd., frustrated that investors give it no credit for its investments other than a stake in Chinese Internet behemoth Tencent Holdings Ltd., is considering listing some businesses on the stock market to highlight their value.
Naspers is selling $10.6 billion of shares in Tencent, equal to 2% of the stock in the Chinese operator of the WeChat messaging service.
Naspers invested an initial $80 million in Swiggy, the largest food delivery business in India, in May last year.
The deal, which has been concluded, is worth as much as 3.5 billion rand ($256 million).
Its 33% shareholding in Tencent is worth about $166 billion, while Naspers itself is valued at $123 billion.
As pay isn’t aligned to the performance of the business outside a stake in Tencent.


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Federal’s 1-3/4” Shorty Shotshells Get SAAMI Certification
Gun manufacturers will now likely begin producing pump action and semi-autos that can cycle the small shells.
FEDERAL RECENTLY PRESENTED its 12-gauge 1.75-inch Smooth Bore Barrel cartridge and chamber designs, otherwise known as their Shorty shotshells, to the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) to be voted on for standardization. The specifications were approved, and the new cartridge has been officially recognized by the organization.
Technical data and drawings of the 12-gauge, 1.75-inch SAAMI Standards are now published and available (you can see the full cartridge and chamber specs at the bottom of this post).
Now, why should you care? Shotshells in 1.75” length have been around for a long time, right?
Well yes, they have, but they haven’t been standardized until now, which means gun companies have been reluctant to design a shotgun, or modify existing designs, to cycle the short shells if the dimensions of the cartridge weren’t consistent or subject to change.
And while break actions can use the Shortys just fine, most pump guns made for at least 2.75-inch shells have trouble cycling them, and nearly all semi-autos won’t even try.
Now that the smaller shells have been standardized, who knows what kind of shotgun models we might see rolling out of gun factories.
“This is big news for our new Shorty shotshell ammunition,” says Rick Stoeckel, Federal’s shotshell product director. “The 12-gauge 1¾-inch cartridge has been around for more than a decade, but it was never brought to SAAMI to be considered by its Technical Committee. Once we decided to start manufacturing this load, we immediately submitted it to SAAMI for industry standardization. We’re excited about this approval, and we deeply appreciate SAAMI’s support.”
And shooters aren’t sacrificing power for size. Federal’s 1.75” shells, introduced at SHOT Show 2019, have been designed to deliver performance similar to that of standard-size shells, the company says.
“Although only 1.75-inches long, the new Shorty shotshells offer patterns, energy, and accuracy similar to that of full-size counterparts,” he says. “They are now available in No. 8 shot, No. 4 buck, and rifled slug loads.”
All well and good, but it begs the question: Why did Federal decide to run with this load in the first place? Simple: the longer shotshell hull design is simply outdated for many applications, according to Stoekel.
“Larger 12-gauge loads were invented a long time ago when the 2-3/4-inch length was required to fit the amount of powder needed to propel the payload of shot,” Stoekel says. “With newer, modern powders, we don’t need that much space, so air gaps in wads are used.
“Today, short shotshells are all you really need when using modern powders. It is way more efficient on the amount of materials needed to make modern shotshells. It just makes sense.”
And less materials will, hopefully, mean lowers ammo prices for you.
Though Federal had plans a decade ago to introduce shorter shells, it held off because it saw that the market was not there to support the big sales necessary to justify the cost of production and distribution.
“So, we sat on that work until the time was right,” Stoekel says.
And now the time is right.
“Recently our customers have been asking for us to produce Shorty shells that can outperform loads available from our competitors,” he says. “We listened to those requests and are now delivering the loads they want.”
And just who are those customers?
“Customers who shoot speed competitions, like 3-Gun and others, often are concerned about magazine capacity,” Stoekel says. “They are looking for ways to speed up reloads and shoot more rounds before reloading. With Shorty shotshells, you can fit more rounds in the (tubular) magazine.”
Stoekel also notes that Shorty shells should appeal to sporting clay shooters as well.
“You can put more rounds in a vest pocket or belt pouch, and those who use an over-under will feel less recoil,” he says. “I think these shooters will also find that the rounds are a lot of fun to shoot. So, retailers will find this shell will appeal to a broad group of their customer base.”
And, of course, a higher shell capacity is always a benefit in a defensive shotgun.
As this shell design moves toward the mainstream, Stoekel says the next step is up to shotgun manufacturers. “As the industry and marketplace already knows, feeding of short shotshell ammunition in semi-auto and pump action shotguns is not guaranteed.”
That’s because shotguns today are designed to feed and eject a 2.75”and/or larger 3” or 3.5” magnum shells. The small 1.75″ shells can tumble around in those large chambers and actions and get jammed up. There are products on the market, like the Mini Clip from OpSol for the Mossberg 500 and 590 pump guns, that help mitigate these problems, but operation is still not as reliable as it should be, and there’s no such adapter for other popular shotgun models, like the Remington 870.
“Shooters have been working around this with aftermarket modifications to the gun to help with function,” he says. “Ultimately, the market will have to rely on the gun manufacturers to adapt or design gun systems around the shorter designs.
“SAAMI’s approval of the cartridge was a crucial step in legitimizing it within the industry, paving the way for broader acceptance with the shooting public. Our hope is that SAMMI’s work will inspire shotgun manufacturers to purposely build pump-action and semi-auto shotguns that can specifically run 1.75-inch loads.”
MSRP: No. 4 Buck, box of 10: $11.95 • Rifled Slug, box of 10: $11.95 • No. 8 Shot, box of 10: $5.95


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Park ready to quit hampers
MINCE pies and Christmas pudding could soon be off the menu at Park Group, which is considering pulling out of making festive hampers after nearly 30 years. The company, chaired by Merseyside entrepreneur Peter Johnson, is moving towards door-to-door credit and lending operations aimed at year-round purchases like holidays and electrical goods.
Pre-tax profits in the year to 31 March were £470,000 on turnover of £198.5m, against last year's £5.5m loss on £208.8m of sales.
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Virgin Atlantic has revealed a range of redesigned cabins for the airline’s new fleet of Airbus A350 aircraft, including the introduction of The Loft for Upper Class passengers.
The airline, which is due to get its first three A350s this summer, said the new cabins would include larger panoramic windows, plus extra storage for passengers, USB charging points, high-speed Wi-Fi and an enhanced entertainment system.
As well as The Loft social space, Virgin is introducing a new Upper Class suite on the aircraft, which will initially fly on routes from Heathrow to New York JFK, Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Virgin has ordered 12 A350-1000 aircraft, which will feature 44 seats in Upper Class, 56 in Premium economy and 235 in economy.
All aircraft are due to be delivered by the end of 2021, with Virgin planning to eventually operate the A350s from both Heathrow and Gatwick.
The airline, which is 49% owned by US carrier Delta, last week announced the A350s would sport five new “flying icons” to champion the diversity of Virgin’s customers, instead of the traditional Flying Lady figurehead.
Virgin and Delta have also announced plans to offer up to 18 daily flights from Gatwick to New York JFK and Boston from summer 2020.
The new flights will see Delta return to Gatwick for the first time in eight years after it relocated its entire London operation from the Sussex airport to Heathrow in 2012.
This new social space for Upper Class passengers will be the largest of its kind on any of Virgin’s aircraft with space for eight customers.
Travellers will be able to have a drink or dine with friends in The Loft, which will also feature a 32in touchscreen monitor and eight Bluetooth audio jacks to allow passengers to view content together.
The introduction of seatbelts in The Loft will mean that passengers will no longer have to head back to their seats if turbulence strikes.
The Loft has been designed by Virgin and London-based Factory Design and manufactured by Aim Altitude in Bournemouth.
All of the new 44 Upper Class suites on the A350s will face towards the window with the suites featuring more privacy, space and storage, alongside adjustable mood lighting and an 18.5in screen.
The cabin will feature a 1-2-1 configuration with the suites offering a 44in seat pitch as well as being able to recline into a fully-flat bed. Each suite features a cocktail table, shelving and a tray to store personal items.
The suites will also have higher walls compared to existing Upper Class cabins and privacy screens. Customers will also be able to recharge their devices thanks to two USB ports and an adaptable plug socket.
The 56 Premium seats will feature increased storage, USB charging ports and a 13in screen (the largest size ever for Virgin’s Premium cabin).
The leather seat also includes a cocktail tray and meal table, an adjustable headrest, a seven-inch recline and an “intuitive” entertainment system that is controllable through a passenger’s personal electronic devices.
Virgin’s new economy cabin features 235 upgraded seats which will have 11.5in seatback screens equipped with the airline’s new entertainment system, which can also be operated by personal devices.
The seats will have a 31in pitch for Classic and Light economy passengers and a slighter higher 34in pitch for those purchasing Economy Delight fares.
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We currently work with over 1,000 Tour Operators and Travel Agents in the United Kingdom, and our Price Match Guarantee means we offer them the very best Virgin Atlantic fares available in the market.


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Google's Android mobile operating system proved a formidable rival to the wildly popular iPhone in a recent real-world test.
Look out Google, you may have a new, unlikely challenger.
Apple's iOS mobile operating system is now the third-most popular platform on the Internet, with a share nearly six times larger than Android's, a Web measurement company said Wednesday.
The iPad, which could dominate the tablet market until 2012, has been appearing in boardrooms and cubicles around the country. Previously it could be blamed on a manager showing off a new gadget or ordering one for the office in hopes of figuring out...
One year after leaving his position as head of Google's China operations, Kai-Fu Lee is funding a dozen startups with his new company, Innovation Works, to seize on opportunities with China's booming Internet market.
Huawei has launched the IDEOS, or U8150, smartphone, which will cost between US$100 and $200, depending on the market, the company said on Thursday at the Internationale Funkaustellung (IFA) trade show in Berlin.
It's official. iOS 4.1 is "coming soon" for iPhone and iPod Touch users.
Microsoft announced that the code base for Windows Phone 7 1.0 has been finalised. The software has been "released to manufacturing," meaning that this version is the one handset makers will deploy on the first devices to feature the radically redesi...
A hosted application for securing shared corporate documents is being extended to handheld devices. With WatchDox, mobile users can view and even selected documents, but be prevented from saving, printing, or forwarding them, if desired.
Apple yesterday laid out its plans for the next two upgrades of iOS, the mobile operating system that powers its iPhone and iPad, slating the first for release in a few days.
Chinese manufacturer Huawei yesterday said it was talking to carriers in Australia and New Zealand about local distribution of its new IDEOS mobile phone, which runs the latest version of Google’s Android operating system.
Telecommunications management company Stratatel has released a discussion paper revealing that companies and organisations are being overcharged for phone services, often unintentionally.
In a continuing trend, more businesses are shifting loyalties from Blackberry to iPhones and Android devices as the relative newcomers make inroads into the corporate world. Three-quarters of the 200 businesses surveyed in the United States and the U...
Apple today unveiled its newest iPod Touch, in effect a Wi-Fi version of the iPhone. Like the iPhone 4, the newest iPod touch features iOS 4.1 and A4 processor, the same high-resolution touch display, FaceTime video chat, and high definition video re...
VCC, a nationwide retail construction company, was forced to diversify when the recession struck. The company found that giving project managers smartphone access to customer data was a big boost in attracting new business.
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Facebook said today that it has expanded the availability of its App Center store to several more countries.
The App Center will appear as a bookmark on users' Facebook home page and mobile apps in the U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K.
The App Center is Facebook's attempt to drive its ecosystem of applications of games and other services on the social network, keeping users glued to its site even longer. The company is also increasingly reliant on these apps for revenue, taking a cut of any money these apps generate. Zynga, for instance, is a large enough contributor to the social network's revenue that it is mentioned in its IPO filing.
The international expansion is important because 80 percent of its users are outside of U.S. and Canada, Facebook said. The company added the global roll out would continue in the coming weeks.
The App Center has helped drive app adoption on the site. The company pointed specifically to game developer Kixeye as a company that benefited from increased visibility and downloads.
Walt Disney's Marvel: Avengers Alliance game has also seen an increasing number of players come from the App Center, Facebook said.


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Automakers are likely to post double-digit sales increases in December as the recovery in the vehicle market and the broader economy continues gaining steam, according to J.D. Power & Associates.
The marketing and information services company on Wednesday estimated December sales will come to slightly more than 1 million units. That's a 15 percent improvement over December last year and a 38 percent improvement over last month.
"The market is continuing to improve, with the relative strength of December sales supporting a year-end rally," said Gary Dilts, J.D. Power's senior vice president of global automotive operations, in a statement.
On an annualized basis, December sales will come to 11.2 million, J.D. Power said. The figure, called SAAR, represents what sales would be if they remained at their current pace all year, adjusted for seasonality.
Auto sales have been recovering for several months as the economy improves and sales rebound from historic lows at the beginning of the year.
Other automotive forecasters are calling for a better December, as well. Last week, the vehicle research Web site Edmunds.com called for December sales of more than 1 million units. But much of the credit for the gains go to foreign automakers such as Hyundai, Honda and Toyota, which have been steadily gaining market share this year over their struggling U.S. competitors.
The exception is Ford Motor Co., which Edmunds predicts will post a December sales increase of 16 percent. Ford has enjoyed steadily improving sales in recent months, helped by a slew of new products like the Ford Fusion midsize sedan.
For all of 2009, the Edmunds predicted sales of 10 million vehicles, down 21 percent from 2008.
© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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September 18, 2013
iOS 7, Apple’s brand-new take on their mobile operating system, has been released to the public and is now available as an over-the-air update or through iTunes.
Below you’ll find a full walkthrough of many of the new features and changes throughout the overhauled OS, including a look at the built-in apps that received the biggest changes.
Before you can dive into everything that iOS 7 has to offer, you’ll need to update your device. You can find full directions for updating in our how-to from yesterday. Once you’re updated, check out all of the shiny new additions to the OS:
Google today announced the launch of a new company called Calico. The company focuses on health and well-being matters, and Google CEO Larry Page describes it as a “moonshot” initiative that could help millions of people:
Announcing this new investment, Larry Page, Google CEO said: “Illness and aging affect all our families. With some longer term, moonshot thinking around healthcare and biotechnology, I believe we can improve millions of lives. It’s impossible to imagine anyone better than Art—one of the leading scientists, entrepreneurs and CEOs of our generation—to take this new venture forward.” Art said: “I’ve devoted much of my life to science and technology, with the goal of improving human health. Larry’s focus on outsized improvements has inspired me, and I’m tremendously excited about what’s next.”
Notably, Arthur Levinson will be a founder and the CEO of Calico. Levinson used to be a Board Member at Google, and he is currently the Chairman of Apple’s Board of Directors and Genetech. Apple CEO Tim Cook has even commented in Google’s press release about the company:
Tim Cook, Chief Executive Officer of Apple, said: “For too many of our friends and family, life has been cut short or the quality of their life is too often lacking. Art is one of the crazy ones who thinks it doesn’t have to be this way. There is no one better suited to lead this mission and I am excited to see the results.”
TIME has published an extensive profile of the initiative…
In the hours before iOS 7 arrives for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, Apple has released iTunes 11.1 with several major new features. The download is available from Apple’s website.
This version of iTunes comes with several major new features, including:
iTunes Radio. iTunes Radio is a great new way to discover music. Choose from over 250 stations or start a new one from your favorite artist or song. Enjoy iTunes Radio ad-free once you subscribe to iTunes Match.
Genius Shuffle. Introducing a magical new way to experience your music library. Choose Genius Shuffle and iTunes instantly plays songs that go great together. Click it again to hear something new—enjoying your music has never been this easy.
Podcast Stations. You can now create custom stations of your favorite podcasts that update automatically with new episodes. Your stations, subscriptions, and current play position sync over iCloud to the Podcasts app.
Sync with iOS 7. You can now use iTunes to sync your favorite music, movies, and more to devices with iOS 7. In addition, iTunes now makes it even easier to quickly organize and sync apps to your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
The new iTunes for Macs and PCs is headlined with iTunes Radio, Apple’s new free music streaming service. Also coming along for the ride in this new update is a new way to shuffle music found in Genius Playlists. Also new is Podcasts stations (which will sync over iCloud to the iOS app). Unsurprisingly, the new release includes full support for synchronizing with your iOS 7 devices and managing app installations.


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Wynn Resorts did not jump into sports betting to compete with the biggest operators in the US.
That was obvious from then-Interactive CEO Craig Billings‘s statement when the company won its New York sports betting license:
“New Yorkers represent a significant portion of the Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Boston Harbor databases, and we look forward to giving those customers more ways to earn and use Wynn Rewards. We also look forward to meeting and engaging with new customers in the state via WynnBET.”
Wynn’s Las Vegas experience led the company to treat sports betting as an amenity for its customers more than anything else. It is also turning out to be a pretty good customer acquisition tool in Boston, the company reported on its first-quarter earnings call.
Sports betting brings new Boston customers
WynnBet accounted for just 3.3% of Massachusetts online handle in March, according to the monthly state report. That equaled $18.2 million in handle compared to the market-leading DraftKings, which handled $257.6 million the same month.
Its in-person sportsbook, though, is far and away the most popular because of its proximity to Boston. Wynn led the state with 67.3% of the $20 million bet in-person during March.
That sportsbook accounted for 20% of all of Wynn’s customer loyalty program signups year-to-date, now company-wide CEO Billings said.
“I expect the book will continue to be a significant driver for new customer acquisition over time,” he added.
Circa guarantees FLL $5 million annually
Full House Resorts added about $5 million in annual EBITDA with its Circa Sports partnership in Illinois, FLL CEO Dan Lee said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call.
That will cover a “good chunk of our interest expense,” Lee said.
Circa expects to launch online in August, in time for a customer acquisition push before NFL betting starts in September.
Kindred sports betting platform live in NJ
Kindred launched its proprietary sports betting platform in New Jersey for the Unibet brand last week.
The new platform will allow Kindred to better target customers with promotions and improve the overall customer experience.
Kindred recently announced it is undergoing a strategic review that could include a sale of part or all of the company.


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Rachel Roy admitted her affection last week for London's "young and fresh" style, so it's fitting that she's collaborating with Estelle on a new jewellery line. Their collection will launch in Spring 2010, according to Roy's Twitter.
The designer hasn't gotten specific about the types of pieces that will be on offer, but Estelle will host the opening party for Roy's pop-up shop during New York Fashion Week, according to Grazia. Estelle, moving off a shoe collection with Jonathan Kelsey, should be pretty pleased with her fashion ventures as of late.
I respect Katie Grand, and I hope I can retain some respect for the brand. But I have other plans for the magazine now. And, come on, it’s not like this is the first time there’s been a new editor at a magazine.
The magazine's new editor-in-chief dishes to Interview
It seems she might have. Jacquetta Wheeler, Vogue UK's newest blogger, reported suspicious symptoms after a trip to Asia.
She wrote: "In May I think I was one of the first people to get swine flu. I was in Singapore for a two-day job when I came down with severe exhaustion, a terrible cough and bad headaches. Job done, I flew back to London, arrived in the morning and went straight to see my doctor. She didn't test me for the disease — she's one of those proper old school "buck up" kind of doctors..."
After that, Wheeler was off to Iceland for a shoot with a 5 a.m. wakeup call that allowed her two hours of sleep. No rest in the fashion industry, no rest.
Now that 'Project Runway' officially has jumped ship to Lifetime, Bravo is trying to fill the void with an onslaught of fashion-based reality shows. The first season of 'The Fashion Show' has just finished, meaning it's time for another program: 'Launch My Line'.
Premiering Sept. 16, smack in the middle of fashion week, 'Launch My Line' will see "ten accomplished professionals" with "a passion for fashion" (OK) working with designers to create their most fashionable garb. Each team of two will show one look per week to a studio audience, and the winning designer will get $50,000. As for the other guy or girl, at least it's good publicity.
The contestants include architect David Applebaum, "dandy" Patrick McDonald and DJ Eric Cubeechee. Designers include staff from BCBG Max Azria, alumni of Gen Art and several who've launched private labels. We know you're also curious about judges, so expect to see Dsquared2's Dean and Dan Caten (also the hosts), Lisa Kline and Scoop's Stefani Greenfield.
Remember that Kim Carnes song, 'Bette Davis Eyes'? Well, this is kind of like that, except it's about Madonna and it more appropriately would be called 'Rose-Cut Diamond Eyes'.
For her 2009 Sticky & Sweet tour, the Material Girl's makeup artist, Shu Uemura Artistic Director Gina Brooke, has created an extra sparkly look by dusting the singer's eyes with white shadow and crushed diamonds. As if that wasn't enough, Brooke adds to her work with an additional two carats of diamond pieces on the brow bone. The total look was inspired by Madonna's hit 'Ray of Light', according to People.
"The resulting brightness and glow from Madonna's eyes captivate the audience and reinforces the fact that there are always new possibilities with makeup — and no rules," Brooke explains. We say: After watching 'Blood Diamond', we hope that diamond dust is cruelty-free!
It's official. Stuart Stockdale is spoiling us. Since joining Jaeger as design director in 2008, Stockdale has had the fashion industry lusting over the brand's classic investment pieces. After showing at London Fashion Week for the past three seasons, Stockdale has certified the brand as the leader in affordable luxury.
But it's not all about women. Men, if like the rest of the world the current economy is pulling on your purse strings, look no further than Jaeger's new menswear bag collection for fall. Expect hardwearing satchels in black and brown with gold detail and classic laptop bags with a modern twist that will truly take you from season to season.
The versatile nature of the bags makes them as perfect for work as they are for a weekend break away and the unisex style makes them perfect for women too.
"It's important that our new men's bag collection is in keeping with the sleek handwriting associated with Jaeger," said Stockdale. "We have produced high quality pieces, which are designed to be timeless, practical and effortlessly modern".
The collection is available in stores this week and prices range from £299 for a messenger bag to £499 for a cabin bag.
"My philosophy of design is about creating beautiful, hand-finished clothes that exude a casual luxury and refinement," says Texas native Lela Rose. The designer now known for her feminine dresses was more interested in sculpture and painting at the University of Colorado. She had a side business making vests from vintage scarves, though, and after a course at Parsons and training with Richard Tyler, Rose knew where she belonged. With clients like Rachel Bilson, Anne Hathaway and Amy Adams, it seems she hasn't done too badly.
This week, the designer talks deadlines, sample-fabric fun and Jake Gyllenhaal's girlfriend with The Fash Pack.


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Blog: The just-drinks Weekly Round-Up
Olly Wehring | 22 April 2014
On just-drinks last week:
- Diageo was quick to line up its excuses after its trading update on Thursday flagged slowing sales and sliding volumes for the year to date. While the analyst community was united in its disappointment, the firm argued that things were not as bad as they seem, with a range of one-offs hampering performance. One thing became abundantly clear, however: Those who felt that international spirits have been suffering a Chinese blip in the last year or so are now few and far between. We need only look at Remy Cointreau’s profit warning last week for further evidence.
- In soft drinks, both The Coca-Cola Co and PepsiCo reported their Q1 numbers last week. Coca-Cola saw sales and profits both slip in the first three months of 2014, as PepsiCo’s bottom line received a boost in the same period. That said, PepsiCo would appear to have its snacks division to thank for driving the performance: its beverage volumes globally came in flat. Be assured, then, that the beverage side of the company will be hoping PepsiCo’s board delivers on its promise to keep the company together, whatever the weather.
- The Australian wine industry collectively is suffering in the US, it would appear, as full-year volume numbers from Wine Australia highlighted a tough 12 months in the country. While the UK remains one of the most important markets for Australia’s wines, China - long held to be the next big battleground - failed to capitalise on the UK’s volume and value falls. Meanwhile, South Africa’s winemakers have been warned to start looking for new markets beyond Europe. Maybe not China, though, yeah?
- In brewing, regular commentator Larry Nelson took to his crystal ball last week, to look at what the future holds for the craft beer segment. Larry’s thoughts form part of our latest ‘on-trend’ report, which offers an in-depth look into the sub-category. Full details of the report can be found here.
Philadelphia’s soda tax came into force on Sunday, and is reportedly causing a stir in the city's check-out aisles....
Earlier this month, I was most-kindly invited by Accolade Wines to visit the Royal Albert Hall in London. The reason? They wanted to see a tennis great in action, and then give them a guided tour thro...
Philip Gregan, the CEO of trade organisation New Zealand Winegrowers was in London this week for the country's annual UK trade tasting. He sat down with just-drinks to talk Brexit, Trump and the futur...
Do you like whisk(e)y? And, I mean, really like whisk(e)y? Are you at a loose end in the first half of 2017? If so, then I've found just the job for you....
Most of the time, changes at the top of a company present themselves in press releases, stock exchange filings or responses from a spokesperson....
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- Darker Than Before: Global Prospects for Brown Spirits


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Microsoft Game Studios' corporate vice president Phil Spencer sees the potential in stereoscopic 3D technology on home consoles, but suggests it is not yet ready for the mass market.
Speaking to Gamasutra in a new in-depth interview
, while the executive noted the interesting benefits 3D technologies can offer, he argued that the hardware requirements, namely stereoscopic displays and glasses, have yet to to reach a large audience.
"I can’t enable your house for 3D," says Spencer, "It’s cool, and I played Batman: Arkham Asylum
all the way through with my 3D glasses on, but it’s hard for me to see this as really being accessible."
"My main point was that for most people on the planet right now, even if the game supports it, their home environment does not," he added.
While the vice president expressed skepticism on the current reach of 3D technology -- recently referring to the tech
as "more like a science experiment", something he now believes "wasn’t exactly what I meant" -- he remains open to its potential in the future, and even noted that Microsoft has run internal tests with 3D games on Xbox 360.
"We’ve had first-party games running in 3D in the studios," said Spencer. He added that Microsoft plans to see how the market evolves before using 3D stereoscopic technologies more widely in any of its retail products, unlike PlayStation 3 creator Sony, which has a number of flagship first-party titles running in 3D.
Spencer said that Microsoft plans to "let third parties see what might be possible," before embracing 3D technologies. "But the technology makes a ton of sense," he commented. "We’re not at all closing our eyes to the technology."
Finally, one possibility in the longer-term is that Microsoft's just-launching Kinect could be paired with 3D technology, creating stereoscopic images that viewers could interact with. In concluding, Spencer acknowledged: "I think it’s an interesting place to think about 3D input with 3D output. It creates some cool scenarios. And this is stuff people in the deep bowels of the studios are working on, just kind of pushing...."


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As the US and China vie for global influence, AI will be central to the balance of power
Something stood out of the ordinary during a speech by China’s president, Xi Jinping, in January 2018. Behind Xi, on a bookshelf, were two books on artificial intelligence (AI). Why were those books there? Similar to 2015, when Russia “accidentally” aired designs for a new weapon, the placement of the books may not have been an accident. Was China sending a message?
If it was, perhaps, it was this: For decades, China has been operating in an Americanized-world. To escape, China is turning to AI.
IMPLICATIONS OF CHINA’S AI
By 2030, China wants to be the world’s leading AI power, with an AI industry valued at $150 billion. How does China plan to achieve this?
Take health care. Ping An, a large Chinese conglomerate, has unveiled AI doctors. It has launched clinics known as “One-Minute Clinic,” where AI doctors diagnose symptoms and propose medications. Within three years, Ping An plans to build hundreds of thousands of these clinics across China.
Could China export 10,000 AI doctors to Russia? Such a move would transform geopolitics.
The biggest impact is that it would shift the China-Russia relationship, from energy and currency, areas that the U.S. can influence, to Chinese AI, over which the U.S. has no control. The AI doctors may make Russian society more China-centric, and future generations in Russia may be more familiar with Ping An than with IBM or Intel.
There are other geopolitical implications too.
First, labor movements, which have long been a variable of geopolitics (e.g., H1B tensions between the U.S. and India, or treatment of Filipino maids in Middle East), would now revolve around the movements (and restrictions) of Chinese AI.
Second, China may, for the first time, create an ecosystem that the rest of the world depends on. The AI doctors may need to be programmed with local Russian regulations or health care rules, and Russian start-ups could emerge to fill this gap, or even to expand the role these AI doctors play. These Russian companies will be depending on a Chinese ecosystem, the same way U.S. companies like Uber and Lyft depend on American ecosystems like app stores.
Lastly, the huge amounts of data that the AI doctors will be collecting could be used by China to help its businesses. Chinese pharmaceutical companies, for example, could know about a virus that is emerging in St. Petersburg, and they could quickly manufacture drugs to treat this virus. China would have insight into Russia in a way no other country has ever had, including the U.S.
HOW THE U.S. CAN STRIKE BACK
The U.S. should not try to stop China from taking its AI around the world. It’s too late for that. Instead, the U.S. should focus on controlling how Chinese AI behaves.
To do this, the U.S. should create the world’s first “AI Trade Organization” or AITO. Just like in the 20th century, when the U.S. created the World Trade Organization (WTO) to govern traditional trade, AITO would govern AI trade.
AITO would establish the international rules, ethics and standards for AI.
Of course, China, and others, may refuse to join AITO, for obvious reasons. But, those nations are not the target. The target is countries that China could take its AI to in the future.
For example, China may decide to take its AI to India. Already, India is largely dependent on Chinese smartphones. China could leverage this and bring Chinese AI assistants to these smartphones. Now, hundreds of millions of people in India will be dependent on Chinese AI. And China may want these assistants to benefit Chinese businesses. If someone in India asks the AI to find a rug online or find a new bank to store cryptocurrency, the AI may promote Chinese companies over Indian or American.
Except, India may be a member of AITO. And, AITO may have created a rule that requires members to install code in all AI services operating in the country, to make the AI behave fairly and to remove any bias.
In that case, China’s AI may not be able to give Chinese businesses an edge in India.
As more nations join AITO, more and more governments may ask Chinese companies to hand over the source code of their AI before they can sell. Slowly, rules created in Washington may restrict and control how Chinese AI behaves around the world.
For both China and the U.S., there are big obstacles.
For China, the biggest obstacle is trust. For example, in June, 2018, the Solomon Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, rejected a bid by Huawei to build an underwater communications cable. It did this after Australia protested, and offered to fund and build the cable itself. Like many countries, Australia is wary of Chinese technology and access to data.
Will China face similar setbacks as governments worry that the Chinese AI is spying on citizens or sending sensitive data back to China? If a Chinese firm approaches Luxembourg or Belgium and offers AI teachers, it might scare the United Kingdom, Germany or France, and push them to come up with their own alternative.
For the U.S., the biggest obstacle is data laws that benefit Chinese AI firms. For example, in January 2018, Alibaba signed a deal to supply Kuala Lumpur with “City Brain,” an AI system that makes cities smart.
Because of data concerns that Malaysia may have, Chinese businesses may already be at work, lobbying policy makers to craft laws in a way that benefit China more than anyone else.
Could Malaysia introduce a rule that requires all AI services in Malaysian cities to route their data through City Brain? This would mean that if Amazon is supplying Kuala Lumpur with its facial recognition technology, all of the data would be “handed” to China. Will Amazon, and the U.S., be comfortable with this? Will Amazon have a choice, considering not complying could mean losing market access?
As nations compete around AI, they are part of the biggest battle for global power since World War II. Except, this battle is not about land or resources. It is about data, defense and economy. And, ultimately, how these variables give a nation more control over the world.
This is not a cold war. It is an algorithmic war.
Except this battle is not just between the U.S. and China. There are also countries like India, Russia, Israel and Japan, each of whom have their own ambition and vision.
The U.S. and China. though, stand to lose and gain the most. For the U.S., AI could lead to a de-Americanized world. For China, AI could truly ring in the Chinese century. Perhaps Russian President Vladmir Putin’s words are more important than ever before, when he warned that the country that controls AI will control the world.
The question is however, was this just a casual statement, or as with the AI books present during the Chinese president's speech, was Russia’s president sending a message?


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Siemens graduate engineers have collaborated with CORE Lighting Limited, UK’s leading wireless lighting solutions company, to develop an innovative geolocation lighting system.
These were used as part of the Green Space Dark Skies project and were seen illuminating many skylines across the UK and were featured in 20 events between April and September 2022
The Geolights have been hailed as something that could change the approach to event lighting in future – with added benefits such as being sustainable and lightweight.
The original model weighed 2.5kg. To make carrying the lights accessible to people of all ages (young and old) CORE Lighting found a way of reducing the lights down to 1.5kg.
Previously 90 per cent of the product was manufactured abroad, now 75 per cent of the new model is UK-manufactured, reducing production complexity and speeding up manufacture.
Meanwhile, assembly time was quickened from 75min to 35min, reducing production time by more than 50 per cent.
The innovative solution, conceived by Siemens, incorporates GPS-enabled technology to provide accurate location information for each Geolight from CORE and WiFi to communicate with the control centre. Data is transmitted using the Internet of Things (IoT) MQTT messaging protocol over the WiFi network to report the Geolight position and receive colour commands from lightshow content provider Bluman Associates thus enabling dynamic visual effects to be created.
By remotely changing the colour of the lights, each participant, or ‘Lumenator’, effectively becomes a pixel within a coordinated image of live art across the landscape. The result – impressive lighting displays that can be live streamed and recorded from the sky.
Phil Ion, Founder and Managing Director, CORE Lighting said: “This is amazing technology. Combining the skills of our engineers and technological expertise of the young Siemens engineers we have created a revolutionary innovation. It not only creates quite a nice picture because of the speed of processing, but you could turn it into a video image. So, we facilitated catered lights to do that, and Siemens has facilitated the middle bit of the technology and the front end where the picture is created in the first place.
“Normally we produce up to 200 of these lights per month. Siemens and Walk the Plank were asking us to make 2,000 in six months, just when the world had just gone into supply chain chaos. I nearly fell off my chair. The scale of the manufacturing challenge was enormous. And that was before we considered the need for significant redesign and setup of mould tooling with new local suppliers.”
The platform for the design was an existing model of light CORE manufactured that was used by the event industry to light up buildings.
The engineers from CORE Lighting worked with Siemens to integrate the processing technology into its existing lights being manufactured in Gloucester, using mainly UK-supplied parts.
A dome feature was added to the new lights and diffuser to make the beam angle wider and increase visibility.
The team also redesigned the handle to enable more flexibility in how it could be used. A handle with additional fixtures was added to enable it to be carried and attached to equipment like kayaks, bikes, and climbing gear.
In addition, much of its content has been changed from previous versions to recyclable aluminium and steel away from plastics. These factors have massively reduced the CO2 footprint from earlier products.
Geolights can be used to showcase outdoor spaces while being a visual art piece that can be enjoyed from the ground and from the sky. Each individual lamp being carried comes together to create something special and the Siemens technology makes this all possible.
Annabel Ohene and Nathaniel Fernandes were the two Siemens graduate engineers that developed the innovative GPS technology for the Geolights. They were also supported by students Sam Rhodes and Sam Newton from Sheffield University.
Annabel Ohene, graduate engineer at Siemens said: “Incorporating the geo-positioning technology means that the people can be anywhere, but the pattern will still be coherent – each person will become a pixel in a larger image of live art.
“It has been very challenging, but I think Siemens is really very good at empowering graduates to try and own things. Experience is an important factor but, with the right support, engineering apprentices and graduates are quite capable of taking on such responsibilities.”
Nathaniel Fernandes, graduate engineer at Siemens said: “Working on this project really tested what is possible when it comes to self-locating lighting systems in an outdoor environment. It has been great to work on something that has a fantastic social purpose, but also has potential applications in industries like manufacturing and logistics too where outdoor geolocating can support automation. It is a perfect example of technology that can benefit organisations as well as people.”
Mark Higham, Head of Process Automation, Siemens Digital Industries UK & Ireland said, “We are proud of how our young engineers have contributed in developing these innovative Geolights. These are brilliant minds whom we are nurturing as future engineering business leaders that will help us find sustainable solutions to our current and future challenges.
“Finding practical solutions to real world challenges is at the heart of what we do at Siemens and the Geolights is proof of how we use technology to make life easier.”
The technology itself is a milestone for lighting in events – it means event directors can coordinate and automate displays in outdoor environments in new and interesting ways.
Founded in Gloucester in 2008, CORE Lighting design and manufacture innovative battery powered, low-energy LED wireless lighting solutions. These include lighting for events, powerful but efficient area floodlighting and solar recharging solutions for many of these products.
“Seeing the lights used the first time brought a lump in my throat. It was a very special moment seeing people carrying them and having a great time. Given everything we had been through during the pandemic it was a moment of real celebration. The success of the project means we can look at new markets to expand our product including home users,” added Phil.
CORE supports many types of arts organisations, including event companies, theatres, museums, galleries, artists and is now looking to sell the new compact innovative lights to home users that want to give the outside of their house a new lit-up look.
Manufacturing its products in the UK and exporting internationally, CORE Lighting pioneered the battery powered wireless uplighters as one of the first innovators globally, which have been further developed for Green Space Dark Skies with Siemens’ technology.
Read more of our People & Skills articles here


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Barcelona, 01/06/2017 – On this day, SEAT has launched a huge project, #SEATseekingname, for members of the public to submit proposals and vote for the name of its new SUV with up to seven seats which goes on sale in 2018. The main criteria is that the name for the new model which sits one segment above Ateca, must be taken from Spanish geography.
Since the announcement last March of the launch of this new SUV, SEAT has already received proposals from all over Spain to name the new model. In light of the social stir it has caused, the brand has decided to seize the opportunity to launch this initiative for the first time in its history.
At the presentation of the project, SEAT President Luca de Meo explained that,“SEAT has decided to call upon every fan of the brand to propose and later vote on the name of the new SUV which is set to make history. In our efforts to launch #SEATseekingName, we have redefined the typical process in order to engage the public and followers of the brand all over the world in the project from start to finish”.
The initiative, which kicks off today, consists of four stages:
Proposals for names. Beginning today and running until 22 June, anyone can propose their favourite name for SEAT’s new model. In addition to the Spanish geography criteria, SEAT has included, among others, that the name matches the company’s brand values and product characteristics and that it is easy to pronounce in different languages. Each of the proposals received will be taken into consideration during this stage, regardless of the number of participants that submit each proposal.
Shortlisting of entries. In view of the established set of criteria, experts at SEAT and in naming will be involved in the pre-selection stage, as well as customers from different countries in the focus groups organised by the brand, and tests will be carried out in the markets to shortlist at least three names that will be voted on. The finalist names will be announced on 12 September at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Vote for the finalists. Public voting will be open from 12 to 25 September to select the favourite candidate among the chosen finalists. The winner will be the one with the most votes.
Announcement of the winning name. SEAT will reveal the name of the company’s new SUV by October 15th.
The initiative will take place internationally via the website seat.com/seekingname.
Since SEAT launched the Ronda in 1982, Spain’s geography has provided the name of a total of 13 brand models: Ronda, Ibiza, Malaga, Marbella, Toledo, Inca, Alhambra, Cordoba, Arosa, Leon, Altea and the two latest, Ateca and Arona. The new SUV will be number 14 on the list.


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Revving Up Green: Toyota’s Prius GRMN Rumored to Join the High-Performance League
A Spicy Production Model Following the 24h Le Mans Centennial GR Edition Concept
In a bold move, Toyota surprised the automotive world a few months ago by unveiling a performance-oriented variant of the beloved Prius. Although the 24h Le Mans Centennial GR Edition was initially just a concept, a recent report from Japan suggests that a production model with a dash of spice is in the works. Best Car speculates that this model could be based on the Prime version, indicating a potential shift toward a plug-in hybrid setup. Notably, the standard Prius model already boasts a robust 220 horsepower, a significant increase of 99 horsepower over its predecessor.


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RPG fans looking forward to the launch of “the most beautiful 2D action RPG in history” and taking the form of Dragon’s Crown Pro developed by Vanillaware and published by Atlus. Are sure to enjoy the 20 minute gameplay footage which is being published to the official PlayStation YouTube channel thanks to the team over at the PlayStation Underground.
The new pro version of the RPG includes refined, painted artwork and 4K compatibility, allowing players to explore dungeons and battling dragons with glorious graphics. The soundtrack of swords and sorcery has also been revamped and re-recorded by a live orchestra.
The original game first launched enchanted over a million adventurers on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, and will soon be available to play and enjoy on the PlayStation 4 platform. Jump over to the official PlayStation online store more details screenshots and media or the games official website via the link below. “Journey to the kingdom of Hydeland, and seek the Dragon’s Crown!”The game is now available to preorder and will be officially launching tomorrow on May 15th, 2018 for those who enjoy on the PlayStation 4 platform.
With refined artwork and 4K compatibility, exploring dungeons and battling dragons has never looked so spellbinding. The soundtrack of swords and sorcery has also been revamped and re-recorded by a live orchestra. These improvements and more are conjuring a new era of high fantasy adventure!”
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TAMPA, FL (July 15, 2021) – BlueGrace Logistics and Uber Freight have entered into an exclusive agreement to provide a growing number of Uber Freight’s U.S. shippers access to less-than-truckload (LTL) services, leveraging the infrastructure from BlueGrace’s proprietary BlueShip technology. BlueGrace was selected because of its reputation as a tech-forward provider, with competitive blanket rates, leading industry expertise and customer-centric technology.
“BlueGrace’s significant scale and deep experience in the LTL space makes them an ideal partner for us as we expand beyond full truckload capabilities,” said Bill Driegert, Head of Operations at Uber Freight. “By integrating BlueGrace’s technology into our shipper platform, we’re providing shippers with a single portal to support their full truckload and LTL needs—furthering our goal of becoming a one-stop-shop solution for shippers.”
BlueShip’s technology allows the creation of new shipments and executes price comparisons across multiple providers, as well as tracks deliveries and enables easy access to documentation. The core rating technology proactively identifies opportunities to alleviate cost and optimize LTL shipments. Users get real-time capacity and maintain control of carrier selection with transparent pricing and visibility to freight movements and shipment details. Analytics and reporting are also available through one platform.
Uber Freight will be leveraging BlueShip’s technology infrastructure within the Uber Freight shipper platform to provide customers access to a robust combination of top national and regional LTL carrier integrations through BlueShip. This uninterrupted connection simplifies freight movement and provides historical transaction data to deliver actionable insights and build measurable KPIs for continuous improvement.
“BlueGrace Logistics is a market leader in Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) and the BlueShip platform eliminates the need for multiple systems and integrations to execute LTL freight,” said Bobby Harris, president and CEO of BlueGrace.
“The Uber Freight relationship exemplifies how other third parties can integrate with BlueShip technology to strengthen their portfolio of services and offer further benefits to their customer base.”
About BlueGrace Logistics
BlueGrace Logistics offers customizable transportation management solutions as a full-service Third-Party Logistics (3PL) provider that helps businesses manage their freight spend through industry leading technology with a large network of established carriers to customers across the country. Based in Tampa, Florida, where CEO Bobby Harris was named one of Florida’s most influential executives in transportation for 2020, BlueGrace has nine office locations strategically in major transportation hubs across the U.S. BlueGrace serves over 10,000 customers annually through its proprietary technology platform, BlueShip®, that has connectivity with more than 250,000 carrier suppliers. BlueGrace is part of the technology portfolio of Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm. For more information on BlueGrace, visit www.mybluegrace.com.
About Uber Freight
Uber Freight is a logistics platform built on the power of Uber with the goal to reshape global logistics and deliver reliability, flexibility and transparency for shippers and carriers. Since launching in 2017, Uber Freight has built one of the world’s largest digitally enabled carrier networks and transformed entrenched practices around pricing and booking freight to reduce inefficiencies and increase opportunities for business growth and industry collaboration. Today, the business counts over 70,000 carriers in its network and thousands of shippers as customers, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, including AB InBev, Land O’Lakes, LG, Nestlé and many more.


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Nov. 29, GNA – Mr Abraham Tetteh, Tourism Fund Administrator, Ghana Tourism
Authority (GTA), has said that the tourism sector has been identified to have
the potential of solving the economic situation in the country.
He said if the sector is developed the industry could be used to generate income into the country.
Mr Tetteh made this observation in Accra on Friday during a tourism levy sensitization workshop for stakeholders organized by the GTA to enlighten members on the implementation of the tourism levy.
He said the workshop was also to inform stakeholders about some few transformations in the GTA to enable the agency execute its new mandate as an authority, as well as to enlighten stakeholders on the current state of the fund.
He said the fund is to stimulate accelerated development of the sector in order to reap the identified benefit of the tourism industry.
Mr Tetteh said the fund comprises of seed capital from government, one per cent tourism levy payable by patrons, donations, grants and money earned by the promotion of any project but currently the one per cent tourism levy was the main target.
He said the tourism levy became operationalized in October 2012 and its collection applies to every enterprise in the industry and the collection period is within one month.
Mr Tetteh said the fund is to be applied in marketing and promotion of tourism, capacity building and development of infrastructure, tourism education and training, and tourism trade-oriented activities for the development of the sector.
According to him, a framework for the disbursement of the fund to the priority areas of the sector has been carried out and would be effective soon.
He noted that enterprises certified to collect the tourism levy includes banqueting facilities, conferences, night clubs, theaters and all other tourist attractions, adding that enterprises can only commence business after registration.
He said “the certification is yet to be extended to the travel agencies, tour operators, car rentals, site guide operator’s hostels, high rest stops, home lodge, home stays among others”.
Mr Tetteh noted the Unibank, Universal Merchant Bank and the Ghana Commercial Bank are the approved banks for payments of the levy.
He said some challenges associated with the fund include irregular payment by the number of certified enterprises, delay payments of collected levies, no reconciliation of levy collection by tourism enterprises as against payments, units not charging the one per cent tourism levy across revenue streams.
He said in order to address these challenges, measures to recall outstanding levy payment from defaulters, demand notices have also been served to defaulting hotels in the region, as well as a software has also been developed to establish a reliable data base of all enterprises operating in the country.
“To tackle the current situation, a request has been made to the Registrar Generals Department to provide information on all registered tourism enterprises in the country, the scope of the levy payers would also be broadened to include all tourism enterprises stipulated in the schedule, and also a media plan has been prepared to promote wider publicity, communication and education to operators and patrons of tourism products”.
He said the fund has enormous potentials of generating money to advance the developmental agenda of the tourism industry and this requires a concerted effort to ensure that all establishments identified by the tourism act are registered and certified for the levy collection purpose.
Mr Sampson Donkor, Deputy Executive Director, Finance and Administration, GTA said the tourism levy collection since its introduction, has been able to cover over 95 percent of the accommodation and catering service in the industry, adding that the travel-trade was the next sector the levy would be introduced to.
He said the survival of the sector depends on the levy and as such it was important for the GTA to organize the workshop to render the state of the accounts to stakeholders as well as introduce to them the current challenges of the collection.
Mr Donkor said some stakeholders do not understand the tourism levy and as such are not collecting them effectively, while others are also collecting but not paying into the accounts, hence the need for a sensitization workshop.
He said the GTA is mandated to register and license all tourism enterprises and sites, including accommodation, catering facilities, night clubs, theaters, travel-trade enterprises, banqueting facilities, conference facilities, resorts and spa as well as all other tourist attractions.


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While Serena Williams chases tennis history at the US Open, she’s also planning a fashion show and spending as much time as she can with baby daughter Olympia. The 37-year-old American advanced to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows on Friday by defeating Czech Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-2 in only 74 minutes. Serena Williams, seeking her 24th Grand Slam title to match the all-time record set by Margaret Court, will play Croatian 22nd seed Petra Martic on Sunday for a quarter-finals berth. But she’s spending precious rest time preparing for her clothing line’s presentation at Fashion Week, next week’s apparel spectacular in New York.
While Serena Williams chases tennis history at the US Open, she’s also planning a fashion show.© AFP


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Company: BFree Foods
Introduced: June 2021
Suggested Retail Price: $5.99
Product Snapshot: BFree Foods recently rolled out Avocado Wraps, now available in the deli section at Publix grocery stores across the Southeastern U.S. The first of its kind in the U.S. market, the Avocado Wraps are light, super-soft and flavorful and perfect for all kinds of healthy fillings and toppings. Since its brand launch in 2011, BFree has been on a mission to offer a wide variety of free-from baked goods, and the Avocado Wraps are the latest addition to its popular lineup of versatile celiac and vegan-friendly products.
Made from avocados, BFree's Avocado Wraps are high in fiber, provide a natural source of protein, calcium and amino acids, and are completely gluten- and dairy-free. At only 100 calories per wrap and without any refined sugar, they are a nutritious option that doesn't sacrifice taste or quality.
"Today's consumers want healthy food that also tastes great," says Chloe Twomey, advertising and promotions manager at BFree Foods. "We're so proud to be the first brand bringing avocado-based wraps to the table, especially with a partner like Publix. They're unlike anything else on the market, and we know our customers will have fun creating meals and snacks with them."
Each package contains five Avocado Wraps and has an SRP of $5.99.


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MACROECONOMICS - JAKARTA. Indonesia's trade surplus shrank more than expected in July to $1.31 billion, as imports contracted less than predicted, data from the statistics bureau showed on Tuesday.
A Reuters poll of economists had expected a July surplus of $2.53 billion. Trade surplus in the previous month was $3.46 billion.
Southeast Asia's largest economy booked its biggest ever trade surplus last year as exports jumped, driven by a global commodity boom.
The surplus has narrowed this year as exports declined amid falling commodity prices.
Shipments from Southeast Asia's largest economy plunged 18.03% on a yearly basis in July to $20.88 billion, roughly in line with the poll's prediction of an 18.30% drop, as prices of its top commodities like coal and palm oil fell.
Imports dropped 8.32% on a yearly basis to $19.57 billion, compared with the 15.50% fall predicted by economists in the poll.


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Social media is very much a work in progress, which is why we wanted to see how b-to-b marketers are working the new medium into their online advertising. Much like a company's Web address became a standard element in b-to-b print ads more than a decade ago, we are beginning to see the icons for some of the social media platforms—such as Twitter and LinkedIn—routinely appear in the online executions, typically on landing pages.
Back in the day, we encouraged b-to-be advertisers to not only mention their Web sites in print but to design the print ad to drive the audience to the site, where a company's offerings or brand story could be explained in much greater depth. The print piece served to warm the doorknob for the conversation that was about to begin.
Social media have the capability of enriching the conversation and acting as a prelude to lucrative, long-term relationships with customers. If used right, the new medium can serve as a valuable point of engagement. At the very least, a social media touch point in a b-to-b ad—be it print, online or broadcast—demonstrates that your company is remaining relevant and credible in the fast-changing media environment.
We were impressed with how Allstate Insurance Co. enhanced its brand through social media in an online ad designed to recruit entrepreneurs to become agent-owners. A row of social media icons is stripped across the bottom of the landing page.
We counted seven icons, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as icons for some of Allstate's homegrown social media tools. We randomly clicked the YouTube icon and were taken to a page that featured a half-dozen Allstate videos, all of recent vintage. On the day of our visit, the lead video focused on an exhibit titled “Science Storms,” which Allstate was helping to sponsor at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.
The caption beneath the two-minute video about the exhibit makes the point that Allstate helps people recover from the ravages of weather-related disasters. Other videos on the site describe the company's commitment to volunteerism and how it has helped protect customers in difficult economic times, such as the Great Depression. By demonstrating leadership through use of a social media tool, the company is more apt to make a positive impression on a person considering a career with the company.
Our only nit is that the social media icons were relegated to the footnote territory of the landing page, running the risk that visitors might overlook them. As Allstate took the time to craft an attractive, well-branded site for its videos, it may want to find a more prominent touch point for it on its landing page. Relegating your best stuff to the footnotes is tantamount to hiding your light under a bushel.
American Express Co. puts Twitter to good use on the landing page for its small-business audience. Visitors are drawn to the page with a banner that invites them to learn about the eight Google marketplace apps that every small business should know about. Toward the bottom of the landing page, American Express trots out a row of social media icons, including Twitter. But it also includes a Twitter logo in the left navigation column in a shaded box that says “OPEN Forum Pulse harnesses the power of Twitter for small business.”
American Express makes sure that visitors to its page check out Twitter because it's there so that its customers and prospects can swap stories of their entrepreneurial challenges. Community-building, not just brand-building, is one of social media's most valuable benefits, and American Express demonstrates that it understands how to make the most of this tool.
Finally, AT&T Small Business connects with its audience of entrepreneurs by inviting them—at the bottom of one of its landing pages—to join the telecom giant on Facebook. The site's wall features an engaging mix of tips on how to run a small business, customer comments and quick polls. There is a strong sense of dialogue on AT&T's Facebook page, which gets to the heart of what social media is all about. M


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With this new offering, the company will enter into Rs 9-12 lakh price range segment. Sources add that this model would be first of new family of cars designed by Suzuki.
The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki is gearing up to protect its market share and how? Top sources have told CNBC-TV18 that the company is looking to fast-track its entire range of product pipeline in an effort to protect its share of the passenger vehicle market which stands at 40 percent plus currently. Sources say the company will be launching an all new premium sedan later this year with a target of bringing it out during the festive season. The proposed model is being developed on the Ciaz platform that Maruti showcased during the Auto Expo earlier this month.
The new car would see Maruti enter the price bracket of Rs 9.5 lakh and Rs 12.5 lakh – a segment where Maruti is not present in currently. Till date its most expensive made-in-India car is the SX4 that retails for a price of just above Rs 9 lakh. “The new car will be competing with the Honda City and Hyundai’s Verna. We will follow a bottom-up approach to manufacturing which would happen right here in India,” an insider privy to the company plans told CNBC TV18. As per plan the company is targetting 12 new models, including refreshed versions, by 2017.
The product would be the second big launch from the company this calendar year close on the heels of it small car Celerio which is currently clocking a booking of 1,000 units per day. In fact a source revealed that just last year in an investor presentation in the Tokyo Motor Show Suzuki Motor Corporation had said that it would look to launch one new model in India every year. “This year we will have two brand new model launches instead of one which shows the efforts from Suzuki and Maruti to fast-track products in India,” the source said. Just last month chairman of Osamu Suzuki had told reporters that India is the “most critical market” for Suzuki Motor Corp globally and had asked Maruti not to use the Rs 7,500 cash balance on capacity build but on new newer products.
Industry executives also see Maruti’s move to enter a new segment as a major tactical shift under its new India head Kenichi Ayukawa who became the managing director of Maruti Suzuki with effect from April 1, 2013. Many say its former MD Shinzo Nakanishi’s main focus was to consolidate its core product base of small cars and entry level sedans. In anticipation of the launch Maruti will be investing in back-end infrastructure to upgare dealerships as well. “The new car from Maruti should not be confused with the Kizashi. We never manufactured the Kizashi in India and it was only an experiment on our part,” the source said.


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Alia Bhatt is in the entertainment news for all the right reasons. Be it acting or being a mom, Alia is nailing in every single department, and it seems that she’ll soon be closing a monstrous deal with businessman Mukesh Ambani and his daughter Isha Ambani for her clothing brand. Keep reading to know more about it!
For the unversed, Alia, who welcomed her daughter Raha Kapoor last year, entered the business line by becoming an entrepreneur in 2020. She started her clothing brand, Ed-a-Mamma, which targets clothing for kids in a range of mostly 4 to 12 years. Ever since the business started, things have been going smoothly, and her brand tries to cater for affordable clothing.
Now, as per the report in Economic Times, Alia Bhatt’s clothing brand has gained immense popularity and has caught the eye of business giant Mukesh Ambani. It is said that he and his daughter Isha Ambani want to acquire Alia’s Ed-a-Mamma. The amount that has been offered for the acquisition is said to be a whopping 300-350 crores. It is to be noted that the valuation of Alia’s brand is around 150 crores.
The deal between both parties is expected to be done in the next 7 to 10 days.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Alia Bhatt will be next seen in the Karan Johar directorial Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani alongside Ranveer Singh. It is scheduled to release on 28th July. She also has Netflix’s Heart Of Stone in her kitty, which is slated to premiere on 11th August, and stars Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan and others in key roles.
Stay tuned to Koimoi for more entertainment updates!


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Brighton & Hove Albion’s 2019/20 home shirt is now available to purchase in-store at the Club Superstore.
After the kits were revealed for the 2019/20 season on Tuesday afternoon, supporters now have the chance to get their hands on the home shirt.
Supporters who have already pre-ordered online can collect the home shirt from the Club Superstore.
Orders with shirt personalisation, including sleeve badges, placed before 5pm on Tuesday 4th June, will be dispatched on Friday 7th June or be ready to collect from 9am on Saturday 8th June.
This is due to a change in the Premier League licensee providing shirt printing from the start of the 2019/20 season.
The 2019/20 away shirt will be available in-store towards the end of June, while details on the new Goalkeeper kit will be announced in due course.