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After being leaked in a video clip a while ago, there hasn’t been any news about the development of the Skype iPad app until recently. Today, the app was finally released onto the Apple App Store – and then pulled off just as quickly. Apparently it was released prematurely, according to its Twitter feed. While there were a lucky few people who managed to grab the app before it was removed, most of us didn’t manage to get our hands on it.
No word on when the Skype app for iPad will be released for real this time, and what other improvements will be made to the version that was released today. Did any of you manage to grab the app before it was taken offline? Let us know in the comments below. In the meantime, I guess we’ll just have to stick to using FaceTime over WiFi on the iPad.
Next Story: Speedo AquaCoach watch counts laps for you
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- 2011-08-03: Rage HD optimized for the iPad 2
- 2011-08-02: Skype for iPad officially released
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- 2011-06-01: GarageBand for iOS updated


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– Norway should focus more on the issue of parabens in cosmetics in light of what is now happening in the EU and Denmark, I would ask the Authority look at this again and in particular consider whether we should impose the same ban on parabens in products for children aged 0-6 months in Norway, says secretary of Health and Care Services, Ragnhild Mathisen.
Although all cosmetics must be labeled with an ingredient list, consumers may find it difficult to have a complete overview of the various cosmetic substances. Therefore it is important that consumers can trust that the products sold in Norway is safe, said Mathisen.
– It is important to emphasize that it is difficult to have an overview of everything surrounding us, but we want to avoid exposing our children to clearly dangerous goods. Norway will therefore be a driving force in the EU to be as restrictive as possible, says Mathisen.

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Despite the recession, there are reasons to take heart, an insurance industry economist told Life Settlement Summit attendees.
Steven Weisbart, chief economist at the Insurance Information Institute, New York, talked here at the summit about “5 points for a brighter future” – indicators that seem to him to be signaling better times ahead.
1. There are some signs of thawing in the interest rates banks charge to lend money to other banks, suggesting the current tight consumer credit markets may start to ease up before long, Weisbart suggested.
2. The Obama administration’s expected drive to reduce the nation’s oil consumption, could reduce energy prices, Weisbart predicted.
3. The rate of credit growth has slowed. That’s a symptom of the sluggish economy, but also a sign that consumers are trying to live within their means, Weisbart said.
4. The threat of higher inflation is minimal for the time being, meaning that savers face less erosion of savings and income.
5. Home prices are dropping. That may trouble sellers, but it should lure more buyers into the market, Weisbart said.
Weisbart declined to put a timetable on when the current economic slump will reverse, noting that, if it lasts beyond April, the slump will be the longest recession since the stock market crashed in 1929.
The event Weisbart spoke at was sponsored by Summit Business Media L.L.C., New York, the parent company of National Underwriter Life & Health.


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The coronavirus pandemic is gravely affecting the automobile industry. General Motors (GM), an industry leader, is forced to postpone the launch of its upcoming year’s redesigned and refreshed models. Moreover, as per The Detroit News, the company has instructed suppliers to halt the manufacturing of 2021 models. Instead, the automaker is now focusing and planning on 2022 models.
A few of the prominent models affected by this decision include the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 & GMC Sierra 1500 pickup trucks. Aside from these, the refreshed models like Chevy Traverse, Cadillac XT4, and GMC Terrain crossovers will also be affected by this decision. Additionally, one can expect similar delays for the 2021 Chevy Bolt EV, and Camarao trims.
GM Authority made the first official publication of interior updates for the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 trucks. The announcement was also the first to inform us that the updates would be arriving in the upcoming 2022 model.
The travesty increases because the manufacturer will delay the launch of the 2021 full-size SUV line-up. These include the 2021 Chevy Tahoe & Suburban, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL and Cadillac Escalade. The models were initially scheduled for production in April this year on the company’s Arlington Assembly plant.
The company has requested urged employees of the plant to return to work this week to complete the production of the outgoing 2021 model. This is a necessary step to being the production of next year’s models. The company also sent a statement to The Detroit News, stating its intentions of conserving resources by managing program timings and deferring spending. Moreover, the manufacturer is not expecting to shut down the futuristic Chevy Bolt EV, Cadillac Lyriq, or Cruise Origin to be affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Additionally, the company is sticking with its launch plans for the Ultium lithium-ion battery pack. As such, there is no clarity as to whether GM’s production line will come online or not. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised businesses to remain closed until April 30th, 2020. Unfortunately, both Ford and FCA might resume production by April 14th. Jim Cain, a spokesperson, added that he does not know the actual date to resume production.
He also informed The Detroit News that different plants might go into production at different points of time. He stated that the company would keep the suppliers and manufacturers informed about the resuming dates. According to an official article published by GM, many analysts believe that automakers might wait to resume production. Unfortunately, the demand for vehicles in the industry is decreasing, whereas the supply has tremendously increased.
To curb this considerable drawback, many GM dealers have started offering steep discounts and indulging incentives on particular vehicles to enhance their sales during the pandemic. The company is willing to offer zero percent interest on the loan to qualified customers for seven years. Along with this, it is providing an 84 month loan period on specific models.
Additionally, customers in the top credit tier of the current incentive program may deter payments for 120 days. Therefore, their first payment will begin after 120 days. A few stores are escalating to even higher discounts. For example, the Antelope Valley Chevrolet in Lancaster, California, is offering $11,000 off on Chevy Trax FWD LS trim. There are similar or better discounts offered by other dealers on various trims.
According to an article published by GM Authority, year-on-year vehicle sales might fall by 40 percent this month. Retail vehicle sales were down by 55 percent in comparison to last year. Stay tuned for more information on GM, the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the automobile industry, and other news coverage.


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After three seasons, “Mad Men,” the television series about advertising in the 1960s, has attained a level of popular-culture cachet. There have been magazine cover articles, calendars and an episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” all devoted to it, spoofs on “The Simpsons” and “Saturday Night Live,” and even a “Mad Men” category on “Jeopardy.”
Soon, the show will enter a realm of the pop-culture pantheon that its creator, Matthew Weiner, says has surprised even him: Mattel plans to bring out versions of Barbie and Ken styled after four “Mad Men” characters.
The dolls are part of a premium-price collectors’ series for adults that Mattel calls the Barbie Fashion Model Collection. Although there have been Barbies and Kens based on other TV series, among them “I Love Lucy” and “The X-Files,” the dolls will be the first licensed line for that collection, Mattel says, with a suggested retail price of $74.95 each.
Mattel is licensing rights to the characters from Lionsgate, the studio that produces “Mad Men” for the AMC cable channel. There will be 7,000 to 10,000 copies of each doll, to be sold in specialty stores and on two Web sites, amctv.com and barbiecollector.com.
The characters to become dolls are Don Draper, the show’s leading man; his wife, Betty; his colleague at the Sterling Cooper agency, Roger Sterling; and Joan Holloway, the agency’s office manager who was Roger’s mistress.
That two dolls represent a relationship outside wedlock, and Don Draper’s propensity for adultery, may be firsts for the Barbie world since the brand’s introduction five decades ago. But for the sake of the Barbie image, her immersion in the “Mad Men” era will go only so far: The dolls come with period accessories like hats, overcoats, pearls and padded undergarments, but no cigarettes, ashtrays, martini glasses or cocktail shakers.


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Frontier Developments, the studio behind Elite Dangerous, Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo, and other management games, will be adding a new franchise to the list later this year. Today, the developer announced F1 Manager 2022, a new motorsports management simulation launching for consoles and PC this summer.
F1 Manager 2022 Announcement Trailer
In F1 Manager 2022, players will take on the role of Team Principal, with the goal of leading their drivers and engineers to victory in two global competitions, the FIA Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship and the FIA Constructors’ World Championship. Players will have a full 360-degree view of their squad, including car upgrades and driver contracts, according to a Formula 1 news release.
“There’s never been a better time to be a Formula 1 fan, and we’re excited to deliver a new way for F1 fans to immerse themselves in the biggest racing spectacle in the world,” said Game Director Andy Fletcher. “F1 Manager 2022 will deliver an experience for both new and long-term fans that is as authentic as it is exciting.”
F1 Manager 2022 will be the first entry in an officially licensed, multi-title series, based on the long-term agreement Frontier struck with F1. This will be Frontier’s first time developing an annual series of sports games. The series is expected to “evolve over time,” according to Fletcher.
F1 Manager 2022 releases in Summer 2022 for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. Stay tuned to Guide Stash for more updates.


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|By PR Newswire||
|January 2, 2013 06:19 PM EST||
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Today, Nexway, a premium e-commerce platform and digital marketing expert, announced that Avast, a leading publisher of free antivirus software, including the world's most widely-used consumer security software, with over 170 million installed protected devices, has chosen to use Nexway In-Product Store (IPS) technology for worldwide online sales of its digital products.
As part of the international agreement, Nexway supports Avast in achieving its strategic goal to market its solutions and consumer products. Avast leverages Nexway's innovative e-commerce technology which is integrated directly into its software products. With Nexway's In-Product Store (IPS) solution, Avast can now market e-commerce offers to customers inside the software, without requiring a traditional web-based e-commerce redirection.
The new IPS technology creates a unique, friction-free e-commerce experience, enabling the user to take advantage of multiple commercial offers, such as purchasing software updates offered directly within the software for a streamlined shopping experience. The consumer completes each step of the purchase process with a higher level of confidence, without leaving the software. Nexway's IPS technology is a perfect match for Avast's business model, which allows consumers to test the product before making any purchase. In-product store offers can be targeted and personalized for each user segment, installed product or individual regions.
For the publisher, the benefit is immediate: conversion rates are increased, acquisition of new customers is optimized and retention of existing customers is improved, as well. Nexway's IPS technology offers new opportunities and a new way to drive online sales strategically and tactically, by reaching customers more directly. The customer relationship and brand awareness are strengthened, as the consumer feels closer to the publisher. With Nexway's IPS technology, consumers are a click away from becoming customers, as each installed product becomes a potential sales agent.
"Nexway has been selected to develop an In-Product Store e-commerce platform for Avast" said Glenn Taylor, Avast vice president of sales. "Nexway challenged our existing business model and proved to increase conversion. We performed extensive AB testing to validate the Nexway solution, closely comparing In-Product-Store results with our traditional web-based solution. We're very excited about the relationship and continued opportunities to improve our business with Nexway", said Glenn Taylor.
"This new partnership proves the success of our international strategy and expansion into major global markets," said Gilles Fabre, Nexway Managing Director. "Working with an industry leader like Avast is a huge reward for our team's effort. We're proud to have gained Avast's confidence and to find our place in this global competition."
Learn more about Nexway In-Product Store at CES, Las Vegas 8th to 11th January 2013.
Email Nexway USA TEAM at [email protected]
NEXWAY is a global company based in Paris (France), with two main activities: digital content aggregation and e-commerce solution provider for the digital industry. Its primary client base includes software and video game editors as well as their distributors and resellers.
As a digital content provider and distributor, NEXWAY offers a catalogue of 12,000 references (software and video games) through its dedicated e-commerce platform (DistiPaas). Clients include major e-commerce and internet players such as Amazon, Orange, Intel, Fnac.com, T-Online, Telefonica, Dell… As a market leader, NEXWAY is also Microsoft's digital distribution preferred partner for the European market.
As a supplier of e-commerce solutions and services, NEXWAY serves the end consumers of software and video game editors. NEXWAY is also a pioneer in the most innovative sales models such as subscription, item-selling, In-Product Store etc… The technological modules and the value-added services provided by NEXWAY are designed to optimize the consumer life-cycle value (acquisition, retention and value optimization).
NEXWAY operates in the main digital markets throughout the globe with 150 people and local offices in Europe, Japan, North America and Brazil.
Media Contact: Christian Desert Nexway, Inc., +1 (415) 971 8189, [email protected]
News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com
Why do your mobile transformations need to happen today? Mobile is the strategy that enterprise transformation centers on to drive customer engagement. In his general session at @ThingsExpo, Roger Woods, Director, Mobile Product & Strategy – Adobe Marketing Cloud, covered key IoT and mobile trends that are forcing mobile transformation, key components of a solid mobile strategy and explored how brands are effectively driving mobile change throughout the enterprise.
Mar. 30, 2017 06:00 AM EDT Reads: 3,125
My team embarked on building a data lake for our sales and marketing data to better understand customer journeys. This required building a hybrid data pipeline to connect our cloud CRM with the new Hadoop Data Lake. One challenge is that IT was not in a position to provide support until we proved value and marketing did not have the experience, so we embarked on the journey ourselves within the product marketing team for our line of business within Progress. In his session at @BigDataExpo, Sum...
Mar. 30, 2017 04:45 AM EDT Reads: 3,352
Keeping pace with advancements in software delivery processes and tooling is taxing even for the most proficient organizations. Point tools, platforms, open source and the increasing adoption of private and public cloud services requires strong engineering rigor - all in the face of developer demands to use the tools of choice. As Agile has settled in as a mainstream practice, now DevOps has emerged as the next wave to improve software delivery speed and output. To make DevOps work, organization...
Mar. 30, 2017 04:15 AM EDT Reads: 2,271
SYS-CON Events announced today that MobiDev, a client-oriented software development company, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, and the 21st International Cloud Expo®, which will take place October 31-November 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. MobiDev is a software company that develops and delivers turn-key mobile apps, websites, web services, and complex softw...
Mar. 30, 2017 02:15 AM EDT Reads: 4,138
DevOps is often described as a combination of technology and culture. Without both, DevOps isn't complete. However, applying the culture to outdated technology is a recipe for disaster; as response times grow and connections between teams are delayed by technology, the culture will die. A Nutanix Enterprise Cloud has many benefits that provide the needed base for a true DevOps paradigm.
Mar. 30, 2017 01:30 AM EDT Reads: 2,652
What sort of WebRTC based applications can we expect to see over the next year and beyond? One way to predict development trends is to see what sorts of applications startups are building. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Arin Sime, founder of WebRTC.ventures, will discuss the current and likely future trends in WebRTC application development based on real requests for custom applications from real customers, as well as other public sources of information,
Mar. 30, 2017 01:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,251
China Unicom exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which took place at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, in November 2016. China United Network Communications Group Co. Ltd ("China Unicom") was officially established in 2009 on the basis of the merger of former China Netcom and former China Unicom. China Unicom mainly operates a full range of telecommunications services including mobile broadband (GSM, WCDMA, LTE FDD, TD-LTE), fixed-line broadband, ICT, data communica...
Mar. 30, 2017 12:15 AM EDT Reads: 3,633
SYS-CON Events announced today that Ocean9will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Ocean9 provides cloud services for Backup, Disaster Recovery (DRaaS) and instant Innovation, and redefines enterprise infrastructure with its cloud native subscription offerings for mission critical SAP workloads.
Mar. 29, 2017 09:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,488
Things are changing so quickly in IoT that it would take a wizard to predict which ecosystem will gain the most traction. In order for IoT to reach its potential, smart devices must be able to work together. Today, there are a slew of interoperability standards being promoted by big names to make this happen: HomeKit, Brillo and Alljoyn. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Adam Justice, vice president and general manager of Grid Connect, will review what happens when smart devices don’t work togethe...
Mar. 29, 2017 06:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,789
SYS-CON Events announced today that SoftLayer, an IBM Company, has been named “Gold Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 18th Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York, New York. SoftLayer, an IBM Company, provides cloud infrastructure as a service from a growing number of data centers and network points of presence around the world. SoftLayer’s customers range from Web startups to global enterprises.
Mar. 29, 2017 03:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,312
SYS-CON Events announced today that Auditwerx will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Auditwerx specializes in SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3 attestation services throughout the U.S. and Canada. As a division of Carr, Riggs & Ingram (CRI), one of the top 20 largest CPA firms nationally, you can expect the resources, skills, and experience of a much larger firm combined with the accessibility and attent...
Mar. 29, 2017 02:30 PM EDT Reads: 866
SYS-CON Events announced today that CA Technologies has been named “Platinum Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, and the 21st International Cloud Expo®, which will take place October 31-November 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. CA Technologies helps customers succeed in a future where every business – from apparel to energy – is being rewritten by software. From ...
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SYS-CON Events announced today that Technologic Systems Inc., an embedded systems solutions company, will exhibit at SYS-CON's @ThingsExpo, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Technologic Systems is an embedded systems company with headquarters in Fountain Hills, Arizona. They have been in business for 32 years, helping more than 8,000 OEM customers and building over a hundred COTS products that have never been discontinued. Technologic Systems’ pr...
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SYS-CON Events announced today that HTBase will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. HTBase (Gartner 2016 Cool Vendor) delivers a Composable IT infrastructure solution architected for agility and increased efficiency. It turns compute, storage, and fabric into fluid pools of resources that are easily composed and re-composed to meet each application’s needs. With HTBase, companies can quickly prov...
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SYS-CON Events announced today that Loom Systems will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Founded in 2015, Loom Systems delivers an advanced AI solution to predict and prevent problems in the digital business. Loom stands alone in the industry as an AI analysis platform requiring no prior math knowledge from operators, leveraging the existing staff to succeed in the digital era. With offices in S...
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Buzzword alert: Microservices and IoT at a DevOps conference? What could possibly go wrong? In this Power Panel at DevOps Summit, moderated by Jason Bloomberg, the leading expert on architecting agility for the enterprise and president of Intellyx, panelists peeled away the buzz and discuss the important architectural principles behind implementing IoT solutions for the enterprise. As remote IoT devices and sensors become increasingly intelligent, they become part of our distributed cloud enviro...
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SYS-CON Events announced today that T-Mobile will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. As America's Un-carrier, T-Mobile US, Inc., is redefining the way consumers and businesses buy wireless services through leading product and service innovation. The Company's advanced nationwide 4G LTE network delivers outstanding wireless experiences to 67.4 million customers who are unwilling to compromise on ...
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SYS-CON Events announced today that Infranics will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Since 2000, Infranics has developed SysMaster Suite, which is required for the stable and efficient management of ICT infrastructure. The ICT management solution developed and provided by Infranics continues to add intelligence to the ICT infrastructure through the IMC (Infra Management Cycle) based on mathemat...
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SYS-CON Events announced today that Cloudistics, an on-premises cloud computing company, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Cloudistics delivers a complete public cloud experience with composable on-premises infrastructures to medium and large enterprises. Its software-defined technology natively converges network, storage, compute, virtualization, and management into a ...
Mar. 29, 2017 10:00 AM EDT Reads: 2,413


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BioClad is revolutionising hygienic spaces in hospitals and healthcare centres, the leisure sector and the restaurant industry worldwide using antimicrobial technology.
BioClad products comprise wall cladding, wall and door protection, floors and an innovative new wash station unit. Antimicrobial silver-ion technology is impregnated into products during manufacturing, which kills 99.9% of microbes and protects against E.Coli, MRSA and Influenza. BioClad’s recent commission is the biggest contract in the sector, for Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station.
BioClad, which was launched in 2008 and employs 20 people, has marked a 2000 per cent growth in exporting since broadening its horizons into international trade in 2011.
Global sales account for 25 per cent of BioClad’s £10 million current turnover – an increase of £1.5 million on last year. BioClad is blazing an export trail in Australia, Canada, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Mexico. BioClad has recently opened an Australian subsidiary in Perth and is poised to enter European markets. With the global flooring market predicted to be worth $300 billion by 2020 the world is BioClad’s oyster.


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It's pretty obvious that we're big fans of Qeelin, the Hong Kong-based purveyors of Sino-French fusion jewelry and "the first international jewelry brand to bring Chinese aesthetics and culture to the world," according to company CEO Guillaume Brochard. As Jing Daily wrote recently, we're bullish about Qeelin's chances for success not only in the Greater China region but also in tough overseas markets, as its incorporation of China-infused design and indigenous materials like jade sets it apart from older, more established brands like Tiffany or Cartier.
Interestingly enough, the company has already made strides in overseas expansion, opening two boutiques in Paris and one in London and selling in retail outlets in Tokyo, Singapore and Los Angeles, and counting celebrities like Marc Jacobs and Maggie Cheung as fans. Cheung is also the face of Qeelin, having appeared in advertisements for the brand since 2004.
In mainland China, Qeelin's approach has been more "cautiously optimistic" than anything else, with the brand opening one boutique in Beijing in 2008 and offering products at Beijing's Seasons Place Lane Crawford department store. Considering many wealthier urban Chinese are still somewhat infatuated with imported luxury jewelry and hesitant to deck themselves out in a "created in China" brand, this isn't much of a surprise. But as luxury brands from around the world have crowded the market, and the nouveau riche from interior provinces have appeared on the scene in Beijing and Shanghai, some adventurous shoppers are looking to new brands like Qeelin to set them apart.
Qeelin seems to recognize this opportunity, and yesterday opened its second mainland China boutique, this time in Shanghai's Hong Kong Plaza. Likely hoping to get some business from the hordes of Chinese tourists that continue to converge on the city for the Shanghai World Expo while getting the attention of locals, this is Qeelin's ninth boutique and first Shanghai outpost. We'll be sure to keep an eye on where the brand expects to set up shop next in the mainland, but considering Bottega Veneta recently opened a location in Nanjing and Hermes a store in Harbin, we'd hazard to guess that we could see a Qeelin boutique in a city like Xi'an or Chengdu before too long.
Hong Kong Plaza
Unit SL1-08, South Podium
283 Huai Hai Road Central
Tel: +86 021 6390 9096


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14:35 | 18/06/2019 Economy
(VEN) - The Vietnamese e-commerce market has increased to US$8 billion, but only three to five percent of total transactions are non-cash payments. The biggest problem is attributed to consumer habits and trust.
Vietnam’s e-commerce is among the fastest growing regionally, at 25-30 percent per year. According to the Vietnam E-commerce Association, more than 60,000 orders per day are traded on the four largest e-commerce floors in Vietnam. However, cash remains the main payment method for online shopping in Vietnam.
Nguyen Thi Minh Huyen, deputy director of the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said only three to five percent of total transactions are non-cash payments, with online payments accounting for a very low proportion. As many as 80 percent of customers still use cash-on-delivery (COD) payment for products they order online.
According to statistics compiled by the World Bank, the number of non-cash transactions per capita is 26.1 percent in China, 59.7 percent in Thailand and 89 percent in Malaysia. Pham Tien Dung, director of the Payment Department under the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), said that while consumers in the world seek convenient and modern payment methods, Vietnamese people still have a very strong preference for cash.
Pham Tien Dung attributed this to the lack of trust between customers and sellers. Most Vietnamese people are worried about the quality of products purchased online, making them hesitate about paying online. The many fake websites providing false information about goods and services do not help foster such necessary confidence.
Dao Minh Tuan, deputy general director of the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), said many businesses are reluctant to accept new payment methods, while there is a shortage of mechanisms and policies to encourage non-cash payments.
According to Nguyen Thi Minh Huyen, the government should provide legal corridors and institutions to build consumer trust in e-commerce in order to promote non-cash payments.
In addition to changing consumer habits and promoting online payment channels, the state needs to invest in infrastructure, become the largest buyer (government procurement through online bidding), and provide fee-based online public services.
The Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency will consider revising a decree to create a legal corridor for e-
commerce development, strengthen collaboration in the fight against counterfeit goods and intellectual property rights
violations, and develop an overall e-commerce program by 2025 and submit to the government for approval.


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This story was originally published and last updated .
Earlier this month, Google whitelisted a few extensions for kids' Chromebooks managed via Family Link, like Zoom, Hangouts, and some educational tools — only installable with parental permission, of course. This makes life easier for those who need to rely on video conferences for learning during these stay-at-home times, but it's still a tiny selection. To improve the situation, Google is now testing support for all extensions on managed Chromebooks in Chrome OS 83+ (we tested using Dev 83 and 84).
Google's Play Store has a few different negative associations, even among Android users, depending on who you talk to. Some developers findtheydon'tgetenoughsupportfromthecompanywhentheyrunintoissues, and less savvy customers have to wade through piles of low-effort and low-quality app clones loaded with ads at best, and malware at worst. But pretty much everyone can agree that the Play Store app itself could be better. While the experience varies, switching between sections, updating apps, and even just scrolling can be a janky, stuttery experience, even on the fastest smartphones.
Sony's mobile division has made some curious decisions in recent years despite still making some decent hardware. Cinematic 21:9 displays are the Japanese OEM's current design differentiator, but it's last few models have failed to capture consumer imagination or claim much market share. The last thing you'd advise the company to do in this moment is launch a phone worthy of ridicule — but alas, that's what it has done.
Several of us at AP, myself included, have noticed a concerning stability issue on Google Pixel devices in recent weeks that causes the whole system UI to become unresponsive. According to the many replies to Artem's tweet on the subject (below), users of phones from other OEMs also complain about the issue, so it might be a more widespread Android bug rather than one limited to Google-made devices.
As a Bay Area-based website, this story might be a bit inside baseball to a lot of you, but screw it, Silicon Valley is The Best Valley. And if you work around here, you probably know what parking at a BART station lot is like — if you're not on the EZ Rider program, it's rather time-consuming. Fortunately, the official BART app has just been updated to support in-app payments for Daily Fee parking at five stations right now.
SwiftKey has been working on a new design in its beta that completely rethinks its toolbar and makes it less customizable, but we have always hoped the developers wouldn't push the update to stable in that form. Unfortunately, the new Play Store release of the keyboard includes the dreaded changes to the toolbar that remove scrolling and thus limit the total amount of custom functions to five while adding a useless permanent support button.
Anyone who lives near what's called the Ring of Fire is aware of "the big one" coming. Earthquakes are some of the most devastating natural disasters to occur in a short span of time. And while scientists have been able to develop an early warning system, it can only give people a moment's notice to take shelter — but every second counts. One such app that has recently come out is QuakeAlertUSA from Early Warning Labs.
If your Android phone is lost or stolen, the platform's built-in Find My Device functionality can help track down, lock, or remotely wipe it, though a change in Android 10 has led to some confusion among our readers. Find My Device has a setting in "Device admin apps," which grants it extra privileges it claims are required to remotely wipe and lock devices, and it appears to be disabled by default on many Android 10 devices, including the Pixel 4. Don't worry, though, you don't need to turn it back on. It turns out, Find My Device doesn't need it to work on Android 10.


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While Washington remains self-absorbed in budget deficit arguments over who can cut more of the things We, the People do to make our lives better. Meanwhile January’s trade deficit numbers are out, showing where the real damage is being done.
- The U.S. international goods and services deficit rose to $44.4 billion, up from $38.1 billion in December (revised).
- The U.S. goods deficit with China rose to $27.8 billion in January, up from $24.5 billion in December.
- The U.S. goods deficit with Japan also increased, to $6.1 billion in January, up from $5.7 billion in December.
Again, China is the biggest problem.
- U.S. exports dropped 1.2% to $184.5 billion, due to lower sales to Europe, China, Japan and Brazil.
- Imports rose 1.8% to $228.9 billion with oil imports up 12.3 per cent.
- U.S. exports to the European Union dropped by 6.4% as austerity (contractionary policy) slows the EU economy (contraction).


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Snapchat is releasing a significant overhaul to its "chat" tab today, introducing audio calls, better video calling, stickers, batch image uploads, and more.
The update comes at a moment of intense messaging competition in the U.S., as chat apps are moving beyond simple text and photo formats to offer much broader functionality. Over the past year, while Snapchat sat largely stagnant, Facebook, its biggest competitor, introduced ride-hailing, GIFs, a basketball game, and more to its Messenger app. Now Snapchat is throwing its counterpunch.
Here's a quick rundown of some of this new stuff:
Video chat isn't new to Snapchat, but the updates to it may be the most impressive element of this new round of changes. The new video chat is intuitive — unlike the previous version, which felt like a hidden feature — and fun. Unlike almost all video-calling features, this one starts with both faces displayed in small circles within the app. Answer the call and you go fullscreen; swipe down on the screen and you go back to the circle.
After you start a call, the person on the other end is presented with three options: Ignore, Join, or Watch. Tapping "Watch" turns the call into a one-to-one live stream of sorts, and the person on the other end can comment by sending messages through the compose field.
Snapchat is also introducing a way to send short, goofy selfie videos over chat. If you hold the camcorder button down, you can send a video note of up to 10 seconds using the selfie camera. The note loops like a GIF, but contains sounds. It shows up in the chat window in a small circle and seems like it would be useful when you want to send a quick reaction to a friend.
People still make audio calls? Snapchat thinks so. The company is introducing audio calls that can be placed by tapping the phone icon. The audio call also doesn't take up the full screen, and it starts on speakerphone, so you can talk while you continue to play around within the app. Snapchat's audio calling seems more useful not as a default phone but for those occasional text conversations that end up requiring a call to get across more complex or nuanced ideas.
Snapchat's audio note is essentially the same thing as its video note, except with audio instead of video.
Snapchat is a bit late to the game on this, but it's introducing a slew of stickers as well. If you haven't used stickers, they're the ultimate way to tell someone you're done with a conversation without using words.
The Bottom Line
The time we spend on our phones is increasingly concentrated in a handful of apps. Eighty-four percent of the time a given smartphone user spends in non-native apps goes to just five apps, according to Forrester Research. This means there’s a death match taking place between companies to reach and stay within that top five for as many people as possible. Messaging is one route in: The leading messaging app will always command our time, because it's where we’ll return again and again to communicate with our friends and family. And once you get those repeat visits, you can expand to do things like ride-hailing (see: Facebook) or media distribution (see: Snapchat).
Whoever wins the messaging battle will be a conduit for all sorts of businesses that are being shut out of the “top five” and still need to reach their audiences and customers. It’s a critical battle, and Snapchat's product release today, over a year in the making, looks to be a big part of the company’s bid to remain a dominant mobile app for years to come.


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March 10th, 2013, 21:24 Posted By: wraggster
Sony’s developer-first approach makes PS4 preferable to the next Xbox, which is “not strictly about games”, says Jonathan Blow. He also suggested that difficulties working with Microsoft in the past were a factor in the decision to work with Sony.The Witness was unveiled as a timed PS4 exclusive at PlayStation Meeting last month. Speaking as part of an interview to be published in full on Monday, Blow outlined Sony’s attitude to working with indies on PS4. “I do think they realise that downloadable games are going to be bigger than they ever have been, and I think they realise that part of success in that area is having developers who are making the most interesting games want to be on their platform.”Blow later explained that past experiences with Microsoft and the direction it is expected to take with its next Xbox make Sony the preferable partner.“Yeah, there were a lot of reasons why it was a good choice,” he said. “Some were technical – we haven’t officially been disclosed on Microsoft’s next console, but we do see the same leaks as everyone else has, and they seem plausible. To me they talk about a console that is not strictly about games. It’s trying to be the centre of the living room device, which is fine and maybe it’s the right thing for Microsoft to do, business-wise. I don’t know; I actually don’t think it is, but they’ve certainly thought about it more than me! As a place to put the best, highest performing version of our game on, it doesn’t seem as good a choice.”“I’ve had a bad time working with Microsoft in the past,” he continued. “Maybe not super bad, but a moderately bad time in terms of business relationships. Other developers who are friends of mine have had a horrible time, so the idea of signing up again with Microsoft isn’t something I’d have ruled out, but there’s a certain amount of dread I have about doing that again. I don’t have that with Sony. Who knows, maybe it’ll turn out to be just as bad at the end! But I don’t think so. The people we’re talking to on a daily basis there are just really good people, and we’re happy to work with them. We’ll see how it goes.”
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A race to the bottom in fees – puts a dent in major discount brokerage shares.
The latest manufacturing report shows that the U.S. economy is cooling – the worst read since 2009.
Fake is all around these days – thanks social media!
PLUS we are now on Spotify !
DHUnplugged is now streaming live - with listener chat. Click on link on the right sidebar.
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A new twist - from trade war to financial war?
Impeachment concerns grow
Markets Pricing in a Warren Candidate?
Stocks finish up for the month
A follow up on the Spearman Indicator
Seems like The Market Love is Fake
Fake Meat (Heard N/A)
Fake Promises on Trade - So Much Fake!
- Highly (rich) stocks fall
- Value beats Growth this month
- Sell Rosh Hashana and Buy Yom Kippur?
- Chinese listed stocks slammed on news of potential delisting
- Manufacturing declines mightily
- October starts off with a downbeat tone - DJIA off 350 today
Manufacturing Report - Plunges
- ISM Manufacturing drops to 47.8 vs 50 expectations
- Lowest level since June 2009
- Markets don't like this one bit
- Trump is infuriated and blames the "Pathetic" Fed
China Trade Talks
- Set to resume October 10th ....
- AND THEN....
Chinese Stocks - Friday's Reaction to Potential Delisting
Alibaba Group -5.23%
Weibo Corp -4.05%
HUYA Inc -10.77%
Momo Inc ADS -7.30%
IQIYI Inc ADS -6.47%
Bilibili Inc ADS -5.86%
JD.com Inc -5.87%
Pinduoduo Inc -4.62%
Vipshop Hldg Lt -4.09%
Tencent Hldgs Ltd -3.19%
Ctrip.com Intl Ltd -3.39%
---Does this move the trade "conflict" to a new level? (Financial War?)
--- Can the White House actually enact this?
China and the Federal Retirement Thrift Investments
- Article trying to make the case that using the MSCI World (ex US) index as a benchmark forces money into China benefiting the Chinese Communist Party
- "The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board—the body that manages the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), the 401(k) for federal employees—wants to funnel the retirement savings of these Americans directly to a regime that poses one of the greatest threats to our nation's long-term security and prosperity: the Chinese Communist Party."
- "The Board's short-sighted, foolish decision to use the MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Investable Market Index as a benchmark means TSP retirement accounts will effectively fund companies that engage in human rights abuses and support China's efforts to undermine America. It exposes nearly $50 billion in assets to severe and undisclosed material risks associated with many Chinese companies listed on the index."
- "The Board's decision to force our nation's public servants to invest TSP retirement funds in unscrupulous Chinese companies raises serious fiduciary concerns because it ignores a fundamental tenet of our securities laws: investor protection. It's our responsibility to ensure that U.S. service members and federal employees do not unwittingly undermine the American interests they work hard everyday to protect."
- Commentary by U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
Race to the Bottom
- Following on the heels of an announcement last week from Interactive Brokers (IBKR -9.6%) that it will offer zero commissions on U.S. exchange-listed stocks and ETFs with no account minimums, Charles Schwab (SCHW -8.6%) announced today that it is eliminating commissions for stocks, ETFs, and options on U.S. and Canadian exchanges, across all mobile and web trading channels.
- TD Ameritrade (AMTD -23%)
- E Trade (ETRD -16.95%)
Follow Up - Technical - Spearman One Week Later
- Last Thursday, Tesla rolled out a software update bringing a slate of new features to customers' cars in the U.S., including in-car karaoke, entertainment services like Netflix and Hulu, and a feature that lets customers summon their cars like they're calling a pet -- no driver required.
Wait - Weren't they exempt?
- Chris Collins, a Republican U.S. congressman from New York, is expected to plead guilty on Tuesday in a case charging him with taking part in an insider trading scheme involving an Australian biotechnology company.
- The Pentagon on Thursday announced that the U.S. will send a Patriot missile battery, radars and roughly 200 support personnel to Saudi Arabia in the wake of the attacks on its oil facilities earlier this month.
- Those additional forces include two Patriot missile artillery batteries and one Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD missile defense system.
- "It is important to note these steps are a demonstration of our commitment to regional partners, and the security and stability in the Middle East." - Pentagon Spokesman
- Are they paying us??????
- BTW - Crude Oil now trading under the price it was before the spike due to the drone attacks.
How do we feel about this?
- Starting Tuesday, a controversial law will allow some teachers in Florida to carry guns inside the classroom.
Fake News - Now Fake Love
- The FTC Sues Owner of Online Dating Service Match.com for Using Fake Love Interest Ads To Trick Consumers into Paying for a Match.com Subscription
- The Federal Trade Commission sued online dating service Match Group, Inc. (Match), the owner of Match.com, Tinder, OKCupid, PlentyOfFish, and other dating sites, alleging that the company used fake love interest advertisements to trick hundreds of thousands of consumers into purchasing paid subscriptions on Match.com.
- The agency also alleges that Match has unfairly exposed consumers to the risk of fraud and engaged in other allegedly deceptive and unfair practices. For instance, the FTC alleges Match offered false promises of “guarantees,” failed to provide services to consumers who unsuccessfully disputed charges, and made it difficult for users to cancel their subscriptions.
420 Stocks ...
Stocks to watch: CGC, STZ, TLRY, CRON, MJ, NBEV
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UPDATE - NEW ETF - Global X Millennials Thematic ETF Challenge!
The top holdings of Global X Millennials Thematic ETF (MILN) include stocks many investors would expect, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Amazon, which take advantage of the tech tendencies of millennials. But some names might be more surprising like real estate investment trusts AvalonBay Communities and Equity Residential, and Home Depot, which could benefit from millennials moving out of the home of their parents.
We are creating the DH Old Codger Index Portfolio to compete against this new ETF to see how "old school" stocks do in comparison. Companies in our index will include: (updated names as of 8/29/16)
We have the performance summary running (daily and since inception of 5/6/16) - DHOCI vs. Millennials ETF Battle
Follow Up - WeWork Fallout
- Now Softbank wants to remove founder
- Concern mounting that the company only has enough money ($700 million cash burn per quarter) until mid-2020
- Big upheaval for commercial real estate in areas like Manhtatan and San Francisco and London
- WeWork’s landlords in New York and London, the two biggest markets for the troubled co-working firm, are preparing for any drop in demand from the company that previously snapped up space when vacancies were on the rise.
- The company is the largest private-sector tenant in both cities. In Manhattan, the company has 7.2 million square feet of space, according to brokerage firm CBRE Group Inc. In London, the company has leased about 3.7 million square feet since 2014, according to data compiled by broker Savills Plc, making it a major source of demand that’s helped the U.K. capital weather the uncertainty following the 2016 Brexit vote.
- WeWork’s parent The We Company on Monday filed to withdraw its initial public offering, a week after the SoftBank-backed office-sharing startup ousted founder Adam Neumann as its chief executive officer.
- WeWork bonds trading at 84.5 cents on the dollar
- Looks like a gigantic securitization of real estate funded by private equity and cheap money... Sound familiar?
Seems to be a trend...
- US retailer CVS has become the latest to suspend the sale of a heartburn drug being investigated for links to cancer.
- It follows concern in several countries over the presence of impurities in Zantac and other ranitidine products.
- Canada and France have already announced Zantac recalls. The US and the European Union are investigating.
- UPDATE - Now Walgreens s suspending Zantac from sales....
- Sanofi is the company that makes the drug.
This is what they had in mind
- Amazon is in talks to bring the cashierless technology that runs its Go stores to other retailers like airport shops and movie theaters, according to people familiar with the matter.
- The effort would help Amazon grow its retail presence so the company can lower its reliance on online shopping, but at a faster pace and at lower cost than building its own stores.
- Simultaneously it might help Amazon form bonds with companies that would ordinarily consider Amazon the competition. That type of collaboration could lead to further growth of Amazon's cloud business.
IPO - Flopping
- Peloton (down to $22.50) - IPO'd at $29
- A Manhattan federal judge has approved the National Music Publishers' Association's (NMPA) request to double damages to $300 million in a lawsuit against Peloton, for the exercise startup's alleged use of more than 2,000 songs in its workout videos without the proper licenses.
What would John C. Dvorak have written for PC Magazine?
See this week’s stock picks HERE


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Govt begins negotiation with several countries for import of pulses
In order to control domestic prices of pulses due to possible shortfall in production owing to weather and the ‘wilt’ disease, the government will import around 10 lakh tonnes of tur dal in the current marketing year (December-November) and also enhance its buffer stock limit, the source said on Thursday.
It has also been decided to import pulses through open licensing till March 31, 2024, the top sources said.
To import pulses, the government has begun negotiations with several countries, the sources said, adding that inspection norms for pulses have also been relaxed.
The decision was taken during a review meeting over prices of essential commodities, called by the Cabinet Secretary.
Tur production is estimated to be lower at 3.89 million tonnes in the 2022-23 crop year (July-June) from 4.34 million tonnes in the previous year, according to Agriculture Ministry projections.
Sources informed that there could be a shortfall in the production of tur dal owing to weather conditions and a disease called wilt in the Gulbarga area of Karnataka, therefore the government plans to import the commodity.
Tur dal is mainly imported from east African countries and Myanmar.
[With Inputs from IANS]
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- AMU orders probe into religious slogans raised on Republic Day - January 27, 2023
- Joe Biden nominates Indian-American astronaut for promotion to US Air Force brigadier general - January 27, 2023
- Pakistan’s economy at risk of collapse; Pak rupee reaches all-time low after devaluation - January 27, 2023


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Harry Potter Wizards Unite event coming to the city of Indianapolis
Tuesday, July 2, 2019 by Brittany Harris
Niantic, Inc. and WB Games, in collaboration with the City of Indianapolis, announced the first ever real-world event for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, the hit augmented reality (AR) mobile game played by millions of wizards and witches around the world, will be coming to Indianapolis from August 31 - September 1. The Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Fan Festival will take pl...
5G meets IoT with Telit's New ME310G1 and ME910G1 modules
Monday, July 1, 2019 by Richard Harris
Telit announced the ME310G1 and ME910G1 modules, designed for mass-scale LTE-M and NB-IoT deployments that feature hundreds of thousands or millions of devices. Based on the new Qualcomm 9205 LTE modem and featuring optional 2G fallback, the modules also provide a future-proof foundation for IoT deployments that span legacy networks, 4G and 5G.
The ME310G1 and M...
Get hired through Job.com and receive a reward bonus from NeoCurrency
Thursday, June 27, 2019 by Brittany Harris
AI-powered recruitment platform, Job.com, announced a new partnership with digital rewards provider NeoCurrency and Visa.
In this initiative, new hires, who apply for and receive a new position through Job.com, will be sent a Job.com Visa Prepaid Reward Card*. These cards, generated and delivered by NeoCurrency, will empower each new hire with a 5% reward after 90 da...
Anomaly detection by Instaclustr processes 19 billion events per day
Wednesday, June 19, 2019 by Brittany Harris
Instaclustr announced it has successfully created an anomaly detection application capable of processing and vetting real-time events at a uniquely massive scale – 19 billion events per day – by leveraging open source Apache Cassandra and Apache Kafka and Kubernetes container orchestration. Get the source code on github.
Anomaly detection is the identific...
Buildbox game creation software bought by AppOnboard
Thursday, June 13, 2019 by Richard Harris
AppOnboard, a company which focuses on app creation software has purchased Buildbox, the low code game creation platform that just released version 3.0. Jon Zweig, the CEO of ApponBoard and Trey Smith, CEO of Buildbox, both share the same belief that No-Code is the future of development.
Jonathan Zweig is the founding CEO of AppOnboard and was previously CE...
Watson Ads Builder announced from IBM
Wednesday, June 12, 2019 by Richard Harris
IBM announced the launch of Watson Ads Builder, a self-service advertising solution that harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) designed to empower creative agencies and developers to help them build engaging, one-on-one conversations between brands and consumers across any digital property.
Watson Ads Builder is designed to enable agencies and developers to ingest a...
Decentralized data delivery network arrives that uses edge computing
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 by Brittany Harris
Bluzelle has launched a Data Delivery Network (DDN), taking on global market leaders to meet the increasing demand for data delivery by delivering data more than twenty times faster.
As a leading proponent of edge computing, Bluzelle is using its global network of distributed nodes to push data to the edge, where the customer is. The DDN operates in a similar w...
3D and AR in e-commerce from Overstock.com launches
Tuesday, May 28, 2019 by Richard Harris
Overstock.com, Inc. recently launched an omnichannel 3D and augmented reality (AR) experience in e-commerce, expanding its 3D models from its award-winning mobile apps to mobile web, reaching 100 percent of the retailer’s mobile users. This AR functionality will also be available on Overstock’s desktop site as early as this week.
Building on Overstock&rsq...
App development demand and low code spotlighted in new report
Tuesday, May 21, 2019 by Richard Harris
OutSystems has published its sixth annual research report on the state of application development and the challenges faced by development and delivery teams. The State of Application Development, 2019: Is IT Ready for Disruption? unveils detailed survey results from over 3,300 IT professionals in all industries across the world.
The new research report provides in-de...
Self serve AI platform has launched
Monday, May 20, 2019 by Richard Harris
Xnor.ai has launched AI2GO, a self-serve platform that enables developers, device creators and companies to build smart, edge-based solutions without training or background in AI. AI2GO is available now and contains more than a hundred fully-trained models optimized to run on resource-constrained devices such as mobile devices, wearables, smart cameras, remote sens...
A world with no passwords and how FIDO2 can help make it happen
Monday, May 13, 2019 by Richard Harris
93.2 percent of the overall web browser market has embraced FIDO2: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.
The FIDO Alliance is driven by hundreds of global tech leaders across enterprise, payments, telecom, government, and healthcare that have come together in support of the organization’s mission to reduce the world’s re...
Making IoT devices more reliable gets easier thanks to Silicon Labs
Monday, April 29, 2019 by Richard Harris
Silicon Labs has introduced the next generation of it's Wireless Gecko platform, Series 2, designed to make Internet of Things (IoT) products more powerful, efficient and reliable. Building on the leading RF and multiprotocol capabilities of the Wireless Gecko portfolio, Series 2 delivers the industry’s most versatile and scalable IoT connectivity platform. Th...
Loopring's decentralized exchange protocol technical design released
Thursday, April 18, 2019 by Richard Harris
Loopring has announced the technical design of its protocol 3.0, following a period of comprehensive research and development. The release represents a significant milestone for the Loopring protocol, combining innovative blockchain technologies and zero-knowledge cryptography in order to dramatically increase throughput and bring fully-functional decentralized exc...
How and why to use feature flags
Friday, April 12, 2019 by Richard Harris
Some of the world’s most successful and best-known tech companies, including Netflix, Instagram and Facebook, use product experimentation and feature flagging to capture accurate data about customers and product ideas and gain intelligence on market trends.
Split CEO and co-founder Adil Aijaz says organizations that embrace feature flagging and experimentation ...
Microsoft announces Visual Studio 2019
Wednesday, April 10, 2019 by Christian Hargrave
Microsoft announced general availability for Visual Studio 2019 – offering innovative and intelligent solutions that increase developer productivity. With Visual Studio 2019, we’ve focused on what’s important to developers by adding numerous productivity improvements, enhanced collaboration, and faster tooling that bring the best experience to develope...
Developers place real-time DevOps visibility as high importance
Wednesday, April 10, 2019 by Richard Harris
A new study from SmartDraw Software highlights the importance DevOps teams place on the ability to provide real-time DevOps visibility across their DevOps ecosystem. For nearly all respondents (84 percent) real-time DevOps visibility is somewhat to an extremely important goal. In fact, 100 percent are currently working to find a way to provide real-time DevOps vis...
Using data driven design for mobile games
Tuesday, April 2, 2019 by Richard Harris
Games Guild, a subset of MassDigi, provides marketing support to games that are being created by students and independent developers in the Worcester, MA area and beyond. Specifically, it provides support for MassDigi’s Live Studio. In this Live Studio, students obtain industry experience, acquire their names on a published title, as well as gain credits from Beck...
Wage inequality in the tech industry report emerges
Friday, March 29, 2019 by Richard Harris
Hired released an in-depth data report looking at wage inequality in the tech industry. In advance of Equal Pay Day (4/2), the report looks at how race, age, industry, roles, LGBTQ+ status, and geographies all impact wage inequality. Hired also released a new micro-documentary that offers a powerful and all-too-relatable look at the gender wage gap. This is all a part o...
Enterprise grade low code platform arrives from Kony
Thursday, March 14, 2019 by Richard Harris
Kony Inc has a lot to talk about these days. Along with recently being named a leader in The Forrester Wave: Low-Code Development Platforms for AD&D Professionals, Q1 2019, they also sent notice to us that they launched Kony Quantum, a new brand with enhanced capabilities for its next-generation low-code app development platform that aims to deliver rich digita...
A cloud suite for decentralized and Blockchain apps has emerged
Wednesday, March 13, 2019 by Christian Hargrave
RTrade Technologies is proud to announce the launch of Temporal, a versatile tool for companies with large amounts of data to secure, store and track. The platform can be used as is, or customarily built to manage and deploy blockchain-based applications and non-blockchain data-storage solutions for any enterprise.
Temporal is an open-source API for distributed data ...
Best practices to avoid being removed from the Apple App Store
Tuesday, March 12, 2019 by Richard Harris
For any app developer, developing a top-ranking app on Apple’s App Store would be a career highlight. Yet thanks to Apple doubling down on user privacy, even popular apps like Facebook have been taken offline. For developers, it’s increasingly important to stay abreast of rapidly-changing privacy, compliance and policy changes to avoid a similar fate -the dr...
Learn machine learning easier thanks to Spell
Monday, February 25, 2019 by Richard Harris
Machine learning startup Spell has launched a new collaborative web platform and brand identity designed by Studio Rodrigo, the New York independent design studio, helping to open up the huge potential of artificial intelligence and machine learning to a vast new audience.
The launch of the new web interface and online learning portal designed by Studio Rodrigo coinc...
Cloud computing development jobs are suddenly everywhere
Wednesday, February 20, 2019 by Richard Harris
According to a recent LinkedIn study, cloud computing is the most in-demand hard skill of 2019. In just the past year in fact, job postings that included the terms “cloud computing” or “cloud engineer” have spiked to 27%. It’s powering the rapid adoption of server virtualization, then storage virtualization, followed by network virtualizati...
Red Hat launches a unified integration platform for cloud-native apps
Monday, February 18, 2019 by Richard Harris
Red Hat, Inc. has announced an expansion of its integrated product portfolio with new components and capabilities for connecting applications, data, and devices across hybrid architectures. The additions are featured in the latest release of Red Hat Integration, and include Red Hat AMQ Online, Red Hat AMQ Streams, new connectors for Red Hat Fuse Online, and end-to-...
Kubernetes and AI are like peas and carrots
Monday, February 11, 2019 by Carmine Rimi
Kubernetes (commonly known as k8s) started out as a small cluster management project within Google in the early 00s. Today, it’s by far the leading container management tool, with 83 percent adoption, according to the latest Cloud native Computing Foundation survey. Forrester has declared, “Kubernetes has won the war for container orchestration dominance and...
API standards are a real problem says Smartbear
Thursday, February 7, 2019 by Richard Harris
A new global survey from Smartbear reveals API standardization is the number one technology challenge teams face when developing APIs. The report titled "The State of API 2019 Report" uncovers API standardization as the top challenge facing API teams as they support the continued growth of microservices. The survey prompted more than 3,000 responses from ...
Dapps compared to apps
Monday, February 4, 2019 by Richard Harris
Dapps, or "decentralized app" development is still in the gestational stage, but one company has seen growth spurts in the number of active dapps throughout 2018. Dapp.com recently compiled their latest quarterly report providing a snapshot of what's happening in the market
Some key takeaways from their report included:
Over 900 dapps had la...
Wireless Gecko portfolio cuts Wi-Fi power consumption in half
Monday, January 28, 2019 by Richard Harris
Silicon Labs expands its groundbreaking Wi-Fi portfolio of modules and transceivers, enabling developers to create end node products with best-in-class power efficiency, superior RF blocking performance and advanced security. Designed for the specific needs of IoT applications, the Wireless Gecko portfolio cuts Wi-Fi power consumption in half compared to competitive off...
Lightning Platform Mobile from Salesforce aims to future-proof apps
Thursday, January 24, 2019 by Christian Hargrave
Adding another lego to the wall between native programmers and low-code app builders, Salesforce has just announced the new Lightning Platform Mobile, a set of tools and services that aim to empower business users to build quick, connected and future-proofed mobile apps.
Consumers today expect their mobile experiences to be immersive and easy-to-use. But with a...
Game developer tips and insight for 2019
Thursday, January 24, 2019 by Richard Harris
2019 offers promising new opportunities for game developers to reach new markets. But how can developers best capture diverse users’ attention and loyalty? Webpals Mobile, a performance-driven mobile-app user acquisition company, recently conducted a study comparing advertising driving gaming app downloads in the United States and Asia. Drawing on insights from th...
Using eye tracking for UX design and testing
Friday, January 18, 2019 by Richard Harris
For UX designers working in fast-paced, agile environments, it is often difficult to make quick, informed design decisions. Many user testing tools and methods help to reveal the "what" behind user actions but fail to reveal the "why", subjecting decisions to opinion and bias. This makes it difficult to keep stakeholders and members of the desig...
App developer and software jobs might be declining says new report
Thursday, January 17, 2019 by Richard Harris
If your title is app developer, or work if you work in the software development field and are starting to feel like the Jedi are dying off - you might be on to something.
According to a new report put out by Freelancer.com, the software developer job title, and a few others including app developer, and app designer, have seen a dramatic decrease in popularity since l...
Next generation low code platforms snub citizen developers
Tuesday, January 15, 2019 by Sumit Sarkar
Analysts have touted the growth of high productivity application development platforms which are attractive to many enterprises unable to find the necessary digital talent. These evolving platforms, also described as no or low code, focus on increasing productivity over traditional software development by expanding the pool of talent that can deliver apps. Many professi...
Fiber to the home deployments get a boost from iBwave
Monday, January 14, 2019 by Christian Hargrave
iBwave introduces it's newest solution helping network operators around the world to deploy FTTH networks - FiberPass.
With a strong focus on automating the design and deployment lifecycle of an FTTH project, iBwave's new FiberPass solution has already helped major operators expedite their fiber deployment initiatives.
Developing video games that work for everyone
Monday, January 14, 2019 by Matias Nicolas Rodriguez
Video games are interactive experiences – as the player, you can live many different lives racing fast cars, fighting great creatures and going on exciting, magical adventures. For as long as video games companies have existed, the focus has been largely on games that are fun to play.
Of course, though, we’ve all had to sit out a round and wait for a free...


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Nissan yesterday announced a new business plan called ‘Nissan Power 88′ that will be effective immediately for fiscal years 2011 to 2016. The focuses on two goals for the Japanese automaker including “achieve a global market share of 8% and increase its corporate operating profit to a sustainable 8%” during the specified period.
“Nissan Power 88 is a demanding business plan, but our company has a proven track record of achieving challenging objectives,” said CEO Carlos Ghosn.
Some interesting points from Nissan’s press release about ‘Power 88’:
- Nissan’s extended new product plan will deliver, on average, an all-new vehicle every six weeks for six years. The company’s global portfolio will have 66 vehicles and will cover 92% of all markets and segments.
- Nissan will introduce more than 90 new, advanced technologies, averaging 15 per year.
- The Infiniti premium brand will grow from its 2010 sales level of 150,000 vehicles to 10% of global market share among luxury brand segments, a level today that would represent 500,000 vehicles.* Infiniti will be present in more than 70 markets with a product range of at least 10 vehicles.
Keep in mind that these goals are going to be targeted on a global level.
– By: Omar Rana


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The U.S. travel rate jumped to 35.3 percent in March, marking the biggest two-month increase since travel hit rock bottom in April 2020. With over half of American adults already vaccinated, the summer vacation peak is looking very promising for the travel industry.
As of Sunday, April 18, half of American adults had received at least one vaccine dose, a remarkable milestone. Along with the effort of taming the pandemic, there is positive news on all fronts — stronger economic growth, job gains, consumer spending and confidence.
Skift Research’s March Travel Tracker survey findings reflect all these recovery stories. Travel rate in March jumped to 35.3 percent, marking the biggest two-month increase since travel hit rock bottom in April 2020. Americans who expected to increase their travel spending also reached the highest number since February 2020, at 45 percent.
However, we need to remain sober that a full travel recovery hinges on ending the pandemic, not just in the U.S. but across the globe, of which mass vaccination is only the first step in the right direction. While it’s encouraging to see that getting the Covid-19 vaccines is definitely a driver for more travel, the fact that 31 percent of surveyed respondents said getting a vaccine wouldn’t change their travel plan until the pandemic is under control highlights that getting back to normal might still be a long way away.
Skift Research introduced a monthly U.S. travel tracking survey in January 2020 to examine the travel penetration rates and detailed travel behavior of the U.S. population. In addition to the factual travel occurrences, we also asked respondents their perceptions on the macro-level economic condition as well their personal financial and travel outlook. As we move through different phases of Covid-19, our monthly survey captures the fluctuations of consumer travel behavior and intent in real time.
In our newly released U.S. Travel Tracker: March 2021 report, we highlight new and ongoing trends in travel incidences, consumer sentiments and future travel intents in the pandemic world, distilled from our March Travel Tracker survey.
What You’ll Learn From This Report
- How COVID-19 vaccination might impact travel
- Travel incidences, January 2020– March 2021
- March travel highlights
- Covid-19 impacted travel, September 2020–March 2021
- Changing consumer sentiments on the economic outlook, October 2020–April 2021
- Consumer intent for 2021 travel
- Remote work trend and its impact on travel and mobility
After you subscribe, you will gain access to our entire vault of reports conducted on topics ranging from technology to marketing strategy to deep dives on key travel brands. You will also be able to access our proprietary Skift Recovery Index and Skift Health Score data and reports.
Have a confidential tip for Skift? Get in touch


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BY JAMES WILKINSON
Virgin Blue has unveiled its highly anticipated domestic business class product as part of the airline’s strategy to chase a higher percentage of the lucrative corporate and government market.
Virgin Blue’s new domestic business class
Domestic business class will be featured for the first time on the airline’s new Airbus A330 aircraft that are set debut on flights between Sydney and Perth from May 2011.
Virgin Blue CEO and Managing Director John Borghetti said business class would be joined by a new economy class product for trans-continental flights.
“Our new designer business and economy class product marks another step forward in our ‘Game Change’ program, which aims to position Virgin Blue as the airline of choice for both the corporate and the leisure markets,” he said.
“Creative Director Hans Hulsbosch has led the superb new design of our wide-body Airbus 330s which is a sign of things to come for the Virgin Blue Group.
“Along with the highest levels of comfort, we will of course be offering very competitive air fares on these new services, which is great news for travellers that fly regularly between our East and West states,” he said.
Highlights of the A330 offering, which will be used thrice-daily on Sydney-Perth flights by June, include a 62-inch seat pitch in business class, seatback multi-channel in-flight entertainment and a range of high-quality food offerings.
Business class is then expected to be rolled-out across the Boeing 737 fleet before the end of 2011.
Borghetti has also announced Virgin Blue would introduce up to 18 new, fuel-efficient ATR72 turboprop aircraft on regional routes as part of a new strategic alliance with Skywest Airlines.
The first four 68-seater aircraft are set to be introduced from the middle of 2011, with a further four set to enter service in 2012.
Meanwhile, the airline has also introduced a new uniform for cabin and flight crew designed by Australian designer Juli Grbac.
The three announcements come alongside today’s inaugural V Australia flights from Sydney to Abu Dhabi in a big start to the year for the Virgin Blue Group.
Up next is the announcement of a new brand for Virgin Blue, which is expected to be unveiled by June 30, 2011.


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On Thursday, FIFA World Cup Qatar announced that ticket holders can invite up to three family members or friends to Qatar who don’t own tickets, based on the Hayya card, a mandatory document to enter stadiums.
Hayya Card holders can invite up to 3 non-ticketed fans to enter Qatar
On the basis of Hayya Card, FIFA ticket holders can bring in three non-ticketed fans to enter Qatar during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
There will be a minimal entry charge for non-ticketed fans aged 12 and over. There will be no entry fee for non-ticketed fans aged under 12.
This feature will be launched in alignment with the Last-Minute Ticket Sales period.
The Director General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, Yasir Al Jamal, told a press conference: “We are only weeks away from the biggest sporting event ever to be held in our country and region. We are delighted with ticket sales so far and look forward to welcoming fans from across the globe for a celebration of the beautiful game. Fans will experience Qatar’s warm hospitality while they enjoy exciting action on the pitch and numerous entertainment options off it. This will truly be a World Cup to remember – and a game-changer for Qatar, the Middle East and Arab world.”
More than 2.45 million tickets have already been sold for the tournament. Over 500,000 tickets were snapped up during the most recent sales phase in July and August. The next sales period will begin around the end of September, while over-the-counter sales will start in Qatar soon.
It will be the first edition of the tournament to be held in the Middle East and Arab world – and excitement across the region is palpable. Qatar is set to host the most compact edition of the tournament in modern history. Fans, players and officials will always be in the thick of the action – with the longest distance between stadiums just 75km.
A Hayya Card is required for all international travellers planning to enter Qatar between Tuesday, November 1, 2022, and Monday, January 23, 2023.
The Hayya card is a smart electronic identification card designed as a Fan ID for the coming 2022 World Cup. It is personalised document that is issued and required by every single person attending any of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 matches (all local and international fans).
Ticket holders can apply for the mandatory Hayya Card now, which will act as an entry permit to Qatar for international fans.
Fans are reminded to book their accommodation as soon as possible. The widest range of options, including cruise ship cabins, apartments, villas, hotels and fan villages, are available to book via the Qatar Accommodation Agency (QAA). Prices start from US$ 80 per night, based on two-person occupancy.
From next week, the QAA will contain a third-party booking feature, which will allow fans to successfully apply for Hayya after booking accommodation from a source other than the QAA or staying with family/friends.
Fans who have plans of staying in Dubai and make use of shuttle flights to Qatar to watch the game can also start booking their hotels in Dubai since Dubai hoteliers are already experiencing a surge in room bookings ahead of the Qatar World Cup 2022, with many expecting to be fully booked.
Hayya Card holders will benefit from free public transport.
The Doha Metro will operate from 6 AM to 3 AM (Saturday to Thursday) and from 9 AM to 3 AM on Fridays.
The GCC air shuttle service will operate 94 rotations per day during the tournament.
Fans should note that vehicles will only be allowed to enter Qatar under exceptional circumstances. A pre-booking system for parking at the border will be available from 15 October.


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£5 just to send an email? That’s what you’ll have to pay to contact the Visa and Immigration service after the government decided to outsource its customer service department.
The new company in charge, Sitel UK, will be charging £5.48 for people to send an email from outside the UK -- with phone charges and Visa costs as high as they’ve ever been.
To add insult to injury, the number of languages on offer will be drastically cut, too -- giving people a worse service for rip-off prices.
For people looking to visit the UK, or for those having Visa troubles while abroad, they’ll now have to pay just to find out more information - all thanks to the government’s outsourcing plans.
Call on the government to stop the rip-off fees being demanded by Sitel UK.
In addition to being charged just to send emails, applicants will be receiving a much worse service from Sitel UK.
Previously, twenty languages were on offer at the customer service department - but that’s now been slashed to just eight, with speakers of major languages such as Japanese and Portuguese now unable to get the services they need.
This is a backwards-looking move. The government says that the move will cut costs, but imagine how much this will cost the UK in tourism alone. The pricing is simply shifted onto ordinary people, while Sitel UK reap the profits. We need to stop this before it sets a precedent for other government services, too.
We’ve seen ordinary people get ripped off before thanks to UK government outsourcing. Together, we were able to stand up to G4S by working with lawyers on a legal challenge, where the judge commended our work on undoubtedly raising serious matters of public interest and concern.
Since then, your voice has also helped to force the Home Office to backtrack on its foreign workers lists, too.
Together, we can stand up to them again - and stop more people getting ripped off by the government outsourcing services. Add your name to the petition and tell the government how you feel about the new charges - before they become the norm.
Tell the government to end these outrageous email fees now.


text: The Tokyo Game Show kicks off later this week, but Sony decided to hold a pre-TGS PlayStation event where it focused on a number of new titles heading to its platforms. However, alongside lots of game announcement, Sony revealed that a PS4 price drop is happening in Japan next month.The PS4 currently sells for 39,980 yen (US$332) in its home territory, but from October 1, that will fall to just 34,980 yen (US$290). That’s a 10% price drop.For reference, the PS4 console in the US sells for an RRP of $399. A similar price drop would see that fall to just $359, which would likely mean $349 once retailers confirmed the new RRP. We don’t know if that’s going to happen, but a price drop in one territory is usually followed in others even if there is a delay of a few months between announcements.As to why Sony has decided on the price change, I see two reasons. The first is the fact Xbox One is now typically offered cheaper, with prices hovering around $349-$379. Even though it’s the less popular machine, that still counts as an advantage Sony would rather it didn’t have. The second reason is the new PS4 model, which has a simplified design and therefore probably costs less to manufacture. That allows a price drop to happen without having a big impact on profit margins.It would be nice to see the same price drop happen for the US and Europe before the holidays. Stock of the updated CUH-1200 model is making its way on to the market outside of Japan, so a price drop in November when the majority of older PS4 models have been sold would make sense, and certainly boost sales over the Christmas period. Fingers crossed Sony is thinking the same.


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SatrindTech will attend IFAT in Munich, Germany, the world's largest exhibition for the management of water systems, wastewater, waste and raw material technologies.
Addressed exclusively for professionals until a few years ago, IFAT is now a great opportunity to enhance infrastructure and its relationship with the environment. This year’s central themes will be the circular economy, secondary raw materials treatment, plastics management and environmental technologies for sustainability.
What better venue to present SatrindTech’s innovations? From 14-18 May 2018, SatrindTech will unveil the prototype of the new 4S industrial shredder at the Munich exhibition, 4-shaft electric shredder that joins the already wide range of products available to our partners.


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Home Tags Futuristic
HBO’s latest Westworld trailer features Singapore’s ‘futuristic’ Marina One Residences – and it was another redditor who...
Blink and you might miss another familiar Singapore landmark in the newest Westworld trailer.
A sharp-eyed redditor spotted Singapore’s iconic skyline in the trailer for HBO’s Westworld, based on a futuristic pseudo-utopia
The clue that gave it away? The hard-to-miss Maybank Tower.
Mount Sinai teamed up with the designers who created projects for Nike and Beyonce to build a futuristic, new clinic — and it’s reimaginin...
Business Insider took a tour of Mount Sinai's Lab100, dubbed by its creators as the 'clinic of the future.' Here's what you can expect if you schedule a visit.


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Reducing power and space is a pressing issue in corporate computer rooms, with some hardware makers adopting chips used in mobile devices to build what the industry is calling “micro servers.” SeaMicro, which helped invent the category, just broadened it.
The Silicon Valley startup on Tuesday announced plans to begin offering new machines that use a variety of Intel’s Xeon chips for servers, where its other systems use the Atom chips found in portable PCs called netbooks. That shift, the company says, allows customers to use its machines for an array of new tasks that could not be addressed before, such as running Web databases rather than simply serving up Web pages.
SeaMicro’s new $138,000 machines boasts 64 four-processor Xeon chips along with the startup’s proprietary chips for connecting them together and reducing energy consumption. They use half the energy of comparable arrays of servers, fit in about a third the space, and have 12 times the communications bandwidth between the systems, said Andrew Feldman, the company’s chief executive.


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It's been a quiet year for Mitsubishi in the United States.
Read This Article
Summer has officially arrived, which of course means warm weather.
Mitsubishi has announced updates to its i MiEV electric car for the Japanese market.
Mitsubishi expects sales will grow 23 percent in the current fiscal year, as a weaker yen and rising profits help the ailing automaker.


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Who's the boss?
Bruce Springsteen, Obama supporter and Wal-Mart critic
By The Economist | WASHINGTON
We were in the middle of doing a lot of things, it kind of came down and, really, we didn’t vet it the way we usually do. We just dropped the ball on it... Given [Wal-Mart's] labor history, it was something that if we’d thought about it a little longer, we’d have done something different.
But what did Mr Springsteen have to apologise for? John Berlau has a cheeky opinion piece that contrasts Mr Springsteen's guilty feelings with the Wal-Mart praise of Jason Furman, a mainstream liberal economist now on President Obama's National Economic Council. “Plausible estimates of the magnitude of the savings from Wal-Mart are enormous," Mr Furman has argued: $263 billion in 2004 alone. The big box chain is going to see new customers as the economic downtown limits their budgets and their options. This was an odd thing to drive Mr Springsteen to apologies.
(Photo credit: Reuters)
Thinning out the field of Democrats could focus minds on the way to Iowa’s caucuses
Matt Bevin, the unpopular incumbent, hopes to survive a formidable challenge by aligning himself with the president
The gerrymandering fix could help Democrats keep the House in 2020


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Couchbase Rides Big Data Demand to $60 Million in FundingJing Cao
Couchbase Inc., which helps companies manage data, raised $60 million in a funding round that almost doubled the amount it had received from investors.
The round was led by Accel Partners and WestSummit Capital and brought total financing to $115 million, according to Chief Executive Officer Bob Wiederhold. Couchbase is valued at under $1 billion, he said, declining to be more specific.
While the Mountain View, California-based startup has begun planning for an initial public offering, “we’re in no rush to do that,” Wiederhold said in an interview. “These days you can raise large amounts of money from private investors.”
The so-called big data market is expected to more than double by 2017 from $12.6 billion last year, according to research firm IDC, as digital information continues to accumulate and demand rises for systems to store and access it. Couchbase is one of the relative newcomers to the industry, competing with Oracle Corp., International Business Machines Corp. and others.
Those older rivals have “dominated the last 40 years or so,” Wiederhold said. “We think as a result of a move to cloud computing and big data that the database industry is being disrupted in a significant way.”
The market for the alternative systems that startups like Couchbase and New York-based MongoDB Inc. offer grew 8.2 percent to $4.2 billion in 2013 from the previous year and could increase to about $5.1 billion in 2018, according to IDC.
Information management and analysis has drawn recent investor interest, with Cloudera Inc., which distributes and supports open-source data processing software, raising $900 million in March from Intel Corp. and others. Intel also invested in MongoDB, which raised $150 million last October from a group that also included Salesforce.com Inc.
Founded in 2009, Couchbase operates an open-source database system. The community editions of its software and mobile application are free; customers pay annual fees for what’s called the enterprise version, which comes with software updates and product support. The standard subscription costs $2,700 and entitles customers to help during business hours, while the premium subscription, at $5,000, comes with around-the-clock support, according to Couchbase’s website.
More than 400 companies, including Verizon Communications Inc. and Concur Technologies Inc., use Couchbase’s system. They chose it because it can be easily expanded to accommodate more users and more data in a short period of time, said Paul Santinelli, a Couchbase director and a partner at North Bridge Venture Partners LP, one of the startup’s first institutional investors. “We chose scale first and ease of use over time and that’s what enabled us to be as successful as we are.”
All previous investors participated in the round, the company said, with Accel and WestSummit putting money in for the first time. Couchbase will spend the $60 million on product development and distribution centers, according to Wiederhold.
As for the possible initial public offering, he said, “we think that the market is absolutely big enough.”


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Yesterday, Twitter started displaying pictures and video directly in users’ streams, a new feature designed to make Twitter less texty and more visually engaging. This means users can get to visual content without an extra click on a link, simply seeing it display automatically in their Twitter feeds.
In a blog post announcing the update, Twitter VP of product Michael Sippey wrote,
“ We want to make it easier for everyone to experience those moments on Twitter. That’s why starting today, timelines on Twitter will be more visual and more engaging: previews of Twitter photos and videos from Vine will be front and center in Tweets. To see more of the photo or play the video, just tap.”
At first glance, it definitely makes the Twitter viewing experience more engaging. Now you can use images and Vines to make your tweets stand out in a stream of text, breaking up the monotony of words. However, some users expressed concerns about not having a choice in seeing certain images that might be offensive or NSFW, which is valid, (although there is an option to turn images off in Twitter’s mobile apps.)
The biggest winners from this new update will definitely be brands. While Twitter has been offering Promoted Tweets for a while, now this means a Promoted Tweet will basically be a full on display ad, when brands attach an image to it. Users won’t have a choice but to see the ad show up in their timeline.
However, brands will still have to maintain a native advertising approach if they want to have their content be engaging to users. Image displays on their own won’t work, but creative images that take advantage of real-time conversations can be highly effective.
Similarly, sponsored Vines from brands will also show up in streams but they still have to be clicked on to start playing. However, if the the video has an interesting enough thumbnail, it should definitely attract clicks from curious users. It’s interesting to note that the only videos that will display are from Vine. That means Instagram and Youtube will still be hidden behind text, requiring an extra click.
It’s a great opportunity for brands to take advantage of, almost forcing them to use new, mediums such as Vine. We should expect some very creative content to show up in our streams.
Here’s a Vine (duh!) from Twitter to show you how the new feeds will look:


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- When it comes to audit fees, the ASX market has a moderate level of concentration and it is becoming less concentrated over time
- The market share, as determined by the number of clients, has decreased for both the Big 4 and smaller non-Big 4 auditors
- Large audit firms audit large ASX companies, and small – medium firms audit small and medium companies
The initial findings from a study on Audit Market Structure and Competition in Australia from 2019-2022, by Dr Sarowar Hossain and Professor Gary Monroe at the University of New South Wales were presented at the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ) conference in July 2023. This study is part of a research program developed by the AFAANZ Audit Special Interest Group, CA ANZ and CPA Australia.
The study extends and updates Carson’s 2019 study, Audit Market Structure and Competition in Australia:2012–2018, using more recent data from 2019-2022 of Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) listed companies. It should however be noted that this study uses different metrics and data to the Carson 2019 study and therefore the preliminary findings are not directly comparable to Carson 2019 study.
NOTE: CA ANZ has not verified the correctness of the information contained in these preliminary findings from the research team at UNSW.


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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the international expansion of NFT support to more than 100 countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and the American continent.
Earlier in May, the social media giant had tested Polygon and Ethereum-based NFTs among a selected group of Facebook creators. This came as a surprise, given the downhill of the NFT market, corresponding with the Cryptocurrency market
The How of the NFT Functionality
Users will now be able to share their NFTs on Instagram and cross-post it on Facebook. They can share and post their Digital Collectibles free of cost on Instagram. However, the company added it won’t allow users to generate revenue through ads for now.
To use the NFT functionality, one must connect a Digital Wallet with Instagram and Facebook accounts. The third-party wallets include Rainbow, MetaMask, and TrustWallet, while the network confirmed the deployment of Coinbase Wallet and Dapper Wallet soon.
Hence, users can connect using Ethereum, well-known in the NFT market, with other available options such as Polygon and Flow Blockchain. Meta is working on adding new wallets with Phantom Wallet to be next in the future line of integration.
You can share and post NFTs in the main Instagram Feed, Stories, or messages, popularly known as DMs. Meta explained that once you post the Digital Collectible, a shimmer effect will be presented on your profile which will provide details of the item, such as the description of NFT. Instagram NFT might integrate with Solana-based NFTs in the future.
Meta’s Vision For Future
Earlier this year, Zuckerberg had hinted at his company’s interest to tread toward augmented reality NFTs and 3D NFTs. Spark AR, which is the company’s software AR platform will allow users to display and share their Digital Collectibles as AR stickers in Instagram Stories.
With this integration, the company aims to expand access to web3technology through NFTs and support content creators to “leverage new tools to earn income” and connect with their followers by improving accessibility, breaking the barriers, and making the platform inclusive for more and more communities.
The move hints at the social network’s haste to enter the metaverse, with Twitter enabling NFT profile pictures for premium users, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki expressing interest in embracing the NFT market for content creators as well as popular Stock Market influencer Reddit allowing its users to purchase blockchain-based profile pictures for a fixed rate.
Meta might have rolled out in the fear of missing out to enter the NFT world.
What Public Thinks About Meta’s NFT Plan?
Twitter users had mixed responses regarding the announcement in the morning. But were mostly positive and excited regarding the exposure that this integration brings to the table.
The social media giant also informed that to reduce the emissions created by Digital Collectible Integration, the company will buy renewable energy, to balm the concerns of the users.
During the Q2 of 2022, the company saw a decrease in revenue by 1% year over year to $28.8 billion, while its operating income decreased by 32% to $8.36 billion. However, the CEO had expressed indifference and instead was optimistic about the opportunities the Metaverse sector will throw once it matures over some time.
The NFT market rose in notability during 2021. And has had strong footprints since the beginning of this year. Already in 2022, the market has yielded $20 billion in sales.
The news has brought some fluctuation in the already volatile market.
Flow Blockchain is around 44% over the past day, with nearly all of that rising since Meta’s announcement. After integrating with Dapper Wallet and Coinbase Wallet, Meta’s share price is currently down by 1.07% at $167.
Meanwhile, Coinbase’s share price jumped over 31%, partly due to the announcement of a partnership with Asset Manager BlackRock (BLK), said the sources.
Currently, Ethereum trades at $1620 with a loss of 2% on the last day. Now only time will tell how correct Zuckerberg’s instincts were.