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The unicorn club is filling up, and it's causing unease among investors.
The number of privately held tech start-ups valued at $1 billion or more now tops 140. But there's a widespread concern on Wall Street that because this new breed of start-ups isn't profitable and can't live up to the super-high valuations, companies are staying private a lot longer.
This year has seen the lowest number of tech companies come public since 2009. According to Renaissance Capital, there have been just 22 tech IPOs in 2015 thus far, compared to 55 in 2014.
When Fidelity and BlackRock marked down their investments in companies like Dropbox and Snapchat in November, alarm bells were rung. Has the bubble burst?
According to PrivCo, a company that provides financial data on major privately held companies, these tech names are reluctant to go public because of the shaky IPO market. The companies that have gone public end up facing little flourish, and have found their worth on Wall Street is often lower than in the private market.


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Gasoline prices in the southeast remained relatively stable over the past week, with Georgia seeing a slight drop in its average.
According to AAA, the average price for regular unleaded in Georgia was down two cents a gallon over the previous week.
Monday’s average was $3.44.
The southeastern region as a whole remained lower than the national average for the week which was at $3.57 on Monday.
According to Motortrend.com, the low retail price in Elbert Count is $3.19; in Wilkes County the price is $3.33 for the third straight week; and in Lincoln County, $3.29 remains the low retail price.

domain: news


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Now official! T-Mobile to launch HTC One on April 24th
0. phoneArena 16 Apr 2013, 19:38 posted on
After a pair of leaks on Monday that claimed that the HTC One was going to launch via T-Mobile on April 24th, a tweet from the carrier confirms the date and makes it official; the new HTC Android flagship will be released this Friday by AT&T and Sprint with Verizon sitting this one out; the device will feature 32GB of native storage with AT&T getting an exclusive on the 64GB model...
This is a discussion for a news. To read the whole news, click here
1. HDShatter (Posts: 1021; Member since: 17 Jan 2013)
Nice to see tmobile keeping up with new phones.
2. mydi.maus (unregistered)
my next phone is coming!
3. Note2waitingonNote3 (banned) (Posts: 87; Member since: 19 Mar 2013)
Definitely love the tmobile lineup. Htc One, Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S3, Lg Nexus 4, Iphone 5, BlackBerry 10 and UNLIMITED DATA. The BEST place to be is Tmobile period.
4. HASHTAG (unregistered)
I would probably say the same, except that I don't get coverage.
5. Galen20K (Posts: 541; Member since: 26 Dec 2008)
I get phenomenal coverage and speeds in my area. also 20-29Mbps regularly on HSPA+42 and no dropped calls everywhere I go.
8. HDShatter (Posts: 1021; Member since: 17 Jan 2013)
Ya I don't know why people hate tmobile, I had their $30 5gb 4g plan and I liked their service enough I bumped it up to Unlimited everything. Never see speeds below 20Mbps
10. Synack (Posts: 677; Member since: 05 Jul 2011)
How did this plan work out for you? I'm about to switch to it with my HTC One and use WiFi calling to help out the 100 minutes situation.
11. Daftama (Posts: 619; Member since: 03 Nov 2012)
Like CEO of tmobile said ATT sucks lol shh I wonder why ATT has better service and why more ppl chose them over tmobile even with no unlimited data plans hmm I just wonder
9. bigdawg23 (Posts: 448; Member since: 25 May 2011)
I travel the Midwest and T-Mobile's coverage is not very good. I have a VZW MiFi Spot from work which is prettty good on coverage. My phone is on ATT and other than Northeast Iowa and South Western Wisconsin 2G coverage, ATT is very good. ATT continues to improve its coverage in South Eastern Minnesota and into Iowa.
I had good luck with T-Mobile until 3 years ago. Then overnight my coverage went from 4 bars to One to no coverage. They had a tower go down and decided not to replace it. Happy to see you get coverage but many folks are not so fortunate that travel all over the US.
As for the 64GB ATT version, the website says it will ship April 23rd or sooner when I looked yesterday.
6. InspectorGadget80 (unregistered)
Waiting for T-MOBILE XPERIA Z announce. may be i can switch from AT&T too T-MOBILE if they carry it
7. XPERIA-KNIGHT (unregistered)
I think I may give t mobile a look :)
12. at_newsolavei (Posts: 10; Member since: 17 Oct 2012)
that phone will be perfect to buy outright and take to solavei my49monthly(dot)com


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Comment: Ted Baker's lack of PC credentials didn't cause its accounting collapse, but they didn't helpComments Off on Comment: Ted Baker's lack of PC credentials didn't cause its accounting collapse, but they didn't help
Ted Baker’s founder and hug-happy Ray Kelvin was clearly no big fan of political correctness in the workplace.
But it wasn’t only in his dodgy personal conduct that Ted has come last in the retail “woke” stakes.
Its handling of the processes around auditing its accounts has repeatedly fallen short of saintliness.
Today’s embarrassing admission of accounting failures – brought to light by a new finance director – will lead to inevitable questions of whether the lack of appropriate governance was the cause.
First, the chargesheet.
Best practice states that, to counter groupthink, non-executive directors shouldn’t spend more than nine years in post. Yet Ted’s audit committee chairman Ron Stewart, has been there nearly 11 and its FD (until his recent retirement) 17.
For similar reasons, the PC brigade say companies shouldn’t have the same auditor for too long. Yet KPMG has been Ted’s since 2001.
They also say auditors shouldn’t jeopardise their independence by flogging clients other lucrative services. Yet in 2013 and 2014, Ted gave KPMG a juicy contract to advise on a commercial dispute. The accountancy watchdog fined KPMG £3 million over that one.
But it’s far from clear if today’s accounting howler would have happened without the seemingly cosy relations between firm, director and auditor.
Fashion is fickle. Putting a value on ageing stock is a mixture of art, science and guesswork; one paparazzo’s shot of a celeb in LA sporting last season’s shorts can trigger a flood of orders and triple the value. The sight of Jeremy Clarkson in a pair might do the opposite.
Ted’s report and accounts for last year specifically discuss this problem, so the board can’t be accused of failing to address it. You can bet some at Ted will swear the old numbers were right and didn’t need adjusting.
Perhaps the problem is this; multiple breaches of best practice may not inherently cause a crisis. But when you get one big problem – hug-gate, in Ted’s case – don’t be surprised to see your other breaches come back to haunt you in the court of City opinion.
Wetherspoon’s Tim Martin might not agree, and it may make life duller, but in plc life, it’s better to be good.


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Why are Jeff Bezos' lawyers asking sexual-orientation questions about the ladies who run a bookstore in Minneapolis?
If any company understands the power of a juicy David vs. Goliath story it’s Amazon.com. So when a feminist bookstore in Minneapolis brought a trademark suit last April against the dot-com giant, you might have anticipated that Amazon.com would rush to settle the case, quickly and quietly.
Instead we’ve been treated to the bizarre spectacle of Amazon.com seeking to turn the dispute from Amazon vs. Amazon into Amazon vs. the lesbians. (Salon.com has a bookselling partnership with Amazon.com rival Barnesandnoble.com.)
The crux of the suit: For 30 years there’s been a feminist bookstore in Minneapolis named Amazon Bookstore. Jeff Bezos was probably just starting to read under the covers with a flashlight when the Minneapolis women began selling books as a nonprofit under the name Amazon in 1970. The bookstore, now a for-profit collective, sued Amazon.com earlier this year for trademark infringement. The bookstore claimed to have lost money and staff time dealing with a growing stream of customers and suppliers who had mistaken it for the Web retailer. And, by the way, the store wanted its name back.
The case is a big company spin-meister’s worst nightmare: a classic underdog, the embattled, independent, female-owned bookseller whose long-standing local business is trampled by the heartless dot-com with the multibillion-dollar market capitalization. Amazon Bookstore even put a link on its own Web site asking for contributions to help finance its legal case against the mammoth e-tailer.
But Amazon.com, apparently still unused to its new role as Goliath, played it to the hilt, in a way so embarrassingly sensationalistic that no screenwriter, not even Nora Ephron herself, could have credibly concocted it. In pre-trial depositions, quoted last week in Holt Uncensored, a book-industry column, Amazon.com lawyers interrogated one of the co-owners of the store under oath about her own sexual orientation and that of the staff.
Choice excerpts: “Have you had any interest in promoting lesbian ideals in the community?” and “I’ll ask you this, are you gay?” The lawyer himself even seemed embarrassed by his own line of questioning, apologizing while asking: “Are any of the employees of the bookstore gay, and forgive me for asking this question.” (Amazon Bookstore’s lawyer objected and filed a motion for a protective order against such questions. The judge is scheduled to rule on the motion next week.)
Was Amazon.com’s strategy a cynical lesbian smear campaign designed to intimidate the witnesses or play to a future jury’s presumed homophobia? Or, was it a clueless inability to understand the distinction between “lesbian” and “feminist”? If the latter is the case, there are a few dozen books for sale on Amazon.com’s own Web site that I suggest it take the time to read.
Amazon.com, naturally, denies both interpretations. Bill Curry, an Amazon.com spokesman, says that all its lawyers were trying to do was establish that they’re not in the same business as Amazon Bookstore in Minneapolis. The two Amazons are like Acme Hardware and Acme Dry Cleaners, Curry says, companies that can amicably share the same name because “they’re in different businesses.”
According to Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos and company are in the business of catering to a “general interest” audience, while Amazon Bookstore Collective is “lesbian-owned and operated, catering to the lesbian community.” Curry says the fact that Amazon Bookstore describes itself as a “full-service feminist bookstore for all girls, women and their friends” and not as an exclusively lesbian bookstore is just a recent tactic: “They’re trying to be more like us for the sake of their legal case,” he says.
Never mind the fact that both Amazons sell books, or even that almost any book that you can buy at the Minneapolis bookstore is also for sale on the Amazon.com Web site. Amazon.com insists that the business you’re in is determined by who you are and who you serve, not what you sell. But by this contorted logic, if a 12-year-old opened a bookstore catering to other kids on the Net, under the name Amazonkids.com, Amazon.com would have no grounds for a lawsuit.
(Note: no questions about the sexual orientation of anyone at Amazon.com were raised in the reporting of this story.)
The lawsuit has turned out to be a public relations debacle — Amazon.com’s own customers are sending outraged e-mails to the company demanding answers. The idea that Amazon.com would focus on sexual orientation in a trademark lawsuit apparently does not sit well with Amazon.com’s own “general interest” audience.
The Amazon.com response to customer complaints has been an e-mail attempting to justify the company’s legal strategy and to tout its progressive values. “We are, as a company and as individuals, sensitive to matters of personal privacy, and our commitment to diversity extends to our employment practices which forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation” the e-mail mewls.
Maybe in the future it will pursue a legal strategy as sensitive as it claims to be as a corporation. Because no matter which role you play, David or Goliath, sexual McCarthyism isn’t very flattering.
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Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
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Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
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A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
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Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
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Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
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Kuo sees strong sales of Apple devices except for one
Earlier this month, on November 13th to be precise, Apple released the iPhone 12 Mini and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. So now all four iPhone 12 models have been launched including the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. Those two models were pushed out in October. All four models support 5G and TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, in a new report, told clients this morning that Apple is seeing stronger than expected demand during the current calendar fourth quarter for the iPhone 12 Pro line. Also seeing strong demand is the fourth-generation iPad Air, the Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch SE and the M1 powered MacBook models. And with the holiday shopping season upon us, this is a good sign for Apple.
Momentum from 5G to sustain iPhone sales throughout 2021
According to AppleInsider, Kuo sees strong momentum continuing up to the first half of next year. And this is about more than just the iPhone. The iPad had a strong fiscal 2020 partially thanks to the pandemic as the iPad helped those working from home get down to business. Students learning from home counted on their iPad for distant learning. Both businessmen and students used their iPad during down time to stream content, play games, and keep in touch with friends and family. The recently released iPad Air (2020) has a new location for Touch ID (under the power button) allowing for the use of thinner bezels without needing Face ID. And next year we will see some new iPads with mini-LED backlighting and even some models with 5G support. Next year's Apple Watch Series 7 is expected to feature more health functions and possibly a revised design.
The first 5G iPhone models will continue to have strong demand throughout 2021
Kuo expects more Apple Silicon powered Macs in the second half of next year with a 14-inch MacBook Pro and a 16-incher both powered by the ARM-supported 5nm M1 chipset that sports a mind-numbing 16 billion transistors. That compares to the 11.8 billion transistors inside the A14 Bionic. If there is one Apple product that could see a drop in growth next year, the analyst says that it will be the wireless Bluetooth AirPods. Kuo sees shipments for the first half of 2021somewhere between flat and a 5% to 10% decline year-over-year. Kuo said that the market got ahead of itself expecting stronger AirPods sales after Apple 86'd the free EarPods from inside the iPhone 12 series boxes. Kuo expects the next generation of AirPods to appear in the late second quarter of the year.
Returning to the iPhone 12 line, brokerage firm Cowen says that Apple is about to have a bang-up holiday quarter with 79 million iPhone units produced, up 13% from the 76 million units made during the same quarter last year. Analyst Krish Sankar, whose report was seen by AppleInsider, expects first quarter 2021 iPhone builds to hit 47 million units, up 27% year-over-year. The analyst says that the momentum from 5G will continue to last throughout the entire year.
The same report says that the four new iPhone 12 models represent 82% of the iPhone sales mix for the current quarter. That is up from the 72% of the iPhone sales mix that the latest iPhone models had during the fourth quarter in the previous two iPhone handset cycles. Meanwhile, data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology revealed that in October shipments improved on a sequential basis. This seems to be a no brainer because of the way that Apple released two if its iPhone 12 series models in October with the remaining two launched the following month.


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Historical Stock Chart
2 Months : From Jul 2019 to Sep 2019
By Jessica Menton
Privacy woes can't keep Facebook down.
The social-networking giant, which has come under scrutiny for its privacy practices, said Wednesday that it agreed to pay a $5 billion fine over a long-running probe into the company's security issues.
Nevertheless, investors are still bullish on Facebook. Shares of the company have rallied 53% so far in 2019, a sharp reversal after mounting privacy fears battered the stock last summer. The stocks slipped just 0.4% after Facebook's settlement announcement.
One reason why: Investors are still optimistic on Facebook's advertising business. Last month, the company said it is ramping up its global advertising spending as it aims to rebuild trust with consumers. The move, according to Facebook marketing chief Antonio Lucio, could more than double the company's advertising spending.
"As long as there's a great return on investment for these advertisers, they're going to continue to spend money on Facebook's platform," said Carter Henderson, portfolio specialist and director of institutional development at Fort Pitt Capital Group. "A lot of the public probably doesn't trust Facebook yet, but investors are ready to move on from the security breaches, looking for future growth."
Analysts at Goldman Sachs reiterated their "buy" rating on Facebook on Wednesday with a 12-month price target of $228, citing a favorable outlook for the company's digital-advertising trends. The stock recently traded around $201.
Facebook, which is set to deliver second-quarter earnings results after the closing bell Wednesday, is forecast to report a profit of $1.88 on revenue of $16.5 billion.
Write to Jessica Menton at Jessica.Menton@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 24, 2019 15:47 ET (19:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.


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Tech stocks continue to set new highs
After yesterday’s buoyant beginning to the week, markets today started slightly sluggish with several key U.S indices falling.
However as the day progressed, yesterday’s rallies which contributed to Tesla reaching new highs, seemed to have reappeared.
Today it was Microsoft and Apple’s turn to lead the turnaround in sentiment for U.S. stock indices, with both reaching new record highs.
Microsoft jumped 1.6% to hit its all-time high. Whilst Apple, Facebook and Netflix also gained to trade at new highs
UK consumer activity down 50%
According to data released today, the number of shoppers visiting retailers in the UK was down close to 50% in the first half of the year compared to 2019.
Although the UK has reopened its economy, it seems as though much more is needed to see shoppers spending at the levels they were pre-pandemic.
The hope is that money spent in pubs and restaurants can spill over to help the recovery of British high streets.
This report comes a day before the UK government is set to announce their summer economic plan.
FTSE 100 drops ahead of Summer Economic Update
Ahead of tomorrow’s Summer Economic Update in the UK, the FTSE 100 dropped back towards its support point, after recently threatening to break the 6,320 resistance.
Many expect Chancellor Rishi Sunak to outline a fresh set of initiatives to try to spark an economic recovery.
However today analysts warned that with many businesses reopening, ending the country’s furlough scheme could result in unemployment rising from 3.9% to 10%, in the second half of the year.
Quote of the day: “Hope is a bogus emotion that only costs you money.”Jim Cramer
Gold: Gold nears $1,800 after a huge rally today, which saw the metal gain $20 in under 6 hours.
EURGBP: After failing to break the resistance of 0.90811, EURGBP continued to slide, reaching a low of 0.89667 in today’s session.


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ACI Launches “Healthy Returns”: New Toolkit Contains Important Cleaning, Hygiene Reminders for Reopened Businesses and Offices
As communities across the nation begin the reopening process stemming from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) announced the roll-out of Healthy Returns, a free online toolkit for small businesses and offices...
7-Jul-2020 5:15 PM EDT Add to Favorites
Newly published research indicates that an important ingredient used in detergents and cleaning products pose a low ecological risk to waterways. The study, “Environmental risk assessment of polycarboxylate polymers used in cleaning products in...
17-Jun-2020 8:45 AM EDT Add to Favorites
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Choice program approved eight cleaning product ingredients submitted by the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) for inclusion in its Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL).
The decision marks the first...
14-May-2020 10:05 AM EDT Add to Favorites
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) launched its new Safe and Clean at Home initiative, featuring daily cleaning challenges, tips and ideas to help all of us to clean smart while we’re spending so much more time around the house due to the...
10-Apr-2020 11:55 AM EDT Add to Favorites
A new poll conducted for the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) finds that four in ten Americans are not properly allowing disinfectant sprays and wipes to kill the viruses and germs that can make us sick.
2-Apr-2020 1:55 PM EDT Add to Favorites
Cleaning for Coronavirus: American Cleaning Institute Website Connects Consumers, Companies with Emerging Information
Knowing that hygiene, cleaning and disinfecting products are important tools in preventing the spread of infections, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) website now features a “Cleaning for Coronavirus” page with updated information for...
5-Mar-2020 3:55 PM EST Add to Favorites
Enzymes bring significant benefits to laundry and cleaning products, including improved cleaning efficiencies. An updated publication from the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) provides a framework for consumer product manufacturers to develop...
20-Nov-2019 9:30 AM EST Add to Favorites
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) has enhanced and expanded its “Exploration Clean” online experience to further help teach middle-school students the science and chemistry behind cleaning.
30-Jul-2019 1:05 PM EDT Add to Favorites
See All News
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) will help infection control experts better understand the process and possible results from pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decisions on the safety and effectiveness of certain active ingredients...
14-Jun-2017 10:05 AM EDT
The first of an American Cleaning Institute-sponsored webinar series on “Advancing the Science on Chemical-Induced Asthma” kicks off February 25 to help provide researchers with greater insights on an often mischaracterized topic.
16-Feb-2016 12:05 PM EST


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Fashion Industry Continues to Enable Unsustainable Trade of Wild Python Skins
A new study finds that close to half a million python skins are reported as exported annually from Southeast Asia. The main importer is the European fashion and leather industry. The study raises concerns over the illegality in parts of the trade, animal welfare issues and the trade’s impact on the conservation of python populations.
The report, Trade in South-East Asian Python Skins, was launched today by the International Trade Centre (ITC), in co-operation with TRAFFIC and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and reveals that the trade in python skins is worth an estimated U.S. $1 billion annually.
Alexander Kasterine, head of ITC’s Trade and Environment Program, said: “The report shows that problems of illegality persist in the trade in python skins and that this can threaten species’ survival. The fashion and leather industry has a stronger role to play in supporting Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) and developing countries to ensure supply is legal and sustainable.”
Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam are the main sources of exports of python skins, with European Union countries–in particular Italy, Germany and France–the biggest importers. Around 70 percent of all python skins are re-exported via Singapore. The report notes that a lack of transparency concerning undisclosed stockpiles in Singapore could be facilitating the laundering of illegally sourced skins.
Tomas Waller, the chair of the Boa and Python Specialist Group (BPSG) of IUCN added that “it would appear a substantial proportion of the skins in trade are sourced illegally from wild animals, beyond agreed quotas and using false permits to launder the skins.”
“With potentially large mark-ups along the supply chain, there is a strong financial incentive for illegal trade in python skins and considerable scope for traders to issue false permits,” said Olivier Caillabet, program officer with TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia and a co-author of the report.
Although more than 20 percent of exports of reticulated python skins from Southeast Asia (mainly Vietnam and Lao PDR) are declared as captive-bred, the report argues that the “commercial case is not convincing and needs to be specifically assessed,” noting that the cost of breeding, feeding and maintaining the snakes to reach slaughter size appears much higher than the market price.
The report recommends that the fashion industry implements a traceability system to demonstrate to consumers that its sourcing is legal and sustainable. The system would complement the existing CITES permitting system, to allow identification of skins along the length of the supply chain.
An additional concern regards the possible lack of sustainability of sourcing. Large numbers of wild pythons are slaughtered before they reach the reproductive stage, meaning harvest quotas may have been set at unsustainable levels. The report recommends a precautionary approach is applied to harvesting, with legally binding minimum skin size limits to ensure protection of immature snakes.
The report highlights previously unknown slaughter methods, yet argues that trade bans are not an effective or fair way to address illegality and animal welfare issues.
Visit EcoWatch’s BIODIVERSITY pages for more related news on this topic.
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
It's become a familiar story with the Trump administration: Scientists write a report that shows the administration's policies will cause environmental damage, then the administration buries the report and fires the scientists.
By Jake Johnson
Calling the global climate crisis both the greatest threat facing the U.S. and the greatest opportunity for transformative change, Sen. Bernie Sanders unveiled today a comprehensive Green New Deal proposal that would transition the U.S. economy to 100 percent renewable energy and create 20 million well-paying union jobs over a decade.
The Parties to CITES agreed to list giraffes on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) today at the World Wildlife Conference or CoP18 in Geneva. Such protections will ensure that all giraffe parts trade were legally acquired and not sourced from the poached giraffes trade and will require countries to make non-detriment findings before allowing giraffe exports. The listing will also enable the collection of international trade data for giraffes that might justify greater protections at both CITES and other venues in the future.
The WHO stressed that more research is needed on the potential health risks of microplastic ingestion. luchschen / iStock / Getty Images Plus
The UN's health agency on Thursday said that microplastics contained in drinking water posed a "low" risk at their current levels.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) — in its first report on the potential health risks of microplastic ingestion — also stressed more research was needed to reassure consumers.


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ARIDO REGISTERED MEMBER ALLEN CHAN AWARDED AN INTERNATIONAL HOTEL DESIGN AWARD AT THE 2019 RESTAURANT & BAR DESIGN AWARDS
- Published on: Oct 08, 2019
Allen Chan, ARIDO, of DesignAgency was awarded an International Hotel Design Award at the 2019 Restaurant & Bar Design Awards for the design of LOUIX LOUIS, the bar at Toronto's St. Regis Hotel. Now in its 11th year, the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards is a prestigious, globally recognized competition, dedicated to the design of food and beverage spaces. The award was presented at the annual gala event at London’s King’s Cross on October 3, 2019. LOUIX LOUIS was selected from hundreds of projects submitted from 70 countries by a celebrated jury, comprised of industry leading professionals working in design, architecture, hospitality, and lifestyle media.
In response to the win, DesignAgency Principal Allen Chan stated, “We are delighted to receive this international recognition for LOUIX LOUIS and are proud to be a part of the team that worked so diligently to equate The St. Regis Toronto with sophisticated and luxurious hospitality.”
According to Tim Terceira, General Manager of The St. Regis Toronto, “We are thrilled that DesignAgency has received this prestigious recognition for their work, in partnership with the Marriott Luxury Design team, for LOUIX LOUIS. The striking design and modern elegance have set a new standard for luxury hotel restaurants within Canada and we are proud to receive this honour alongside DesignAgency."
Photo by Brandon Barre.


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The Indian government has also improved the lockdown interval by the following 2 weeks. But a few relaxations are forced to facilitate movements in parts which are not or less influenced from the coronavirus epidemic. The govt has opted to permit e commerce internet sites such as Amazon and also Flipkart to get started delivering non essential goods in green and orange zones.
All of 733 districts of India happen to be categorized to three distinct Categories particularly, reddish place, orange green and red zone. The shade of those zones signifies that the seriousness of this coronavirus epidemic because certain district. The set to get all these zones will probably soon be revised over the weekly basis. If some one of those crimson zones changeover in to the green or orange zone, then they’ll soon be allowed to-order non essential items out of e commerce sites.
For almost any reddish zone district to transition into an orange area, no. Brand new coronavirus instances ought to be enrolled for an overall total of 21 times. One different zone which isn’t categorized as reddish or green, are also mechanically tagged as orange.
At an announcement to Mint that an Amazon spokesperson claimed, “We advised that the federal government’s decision allowing e-commerce in Orange and Green Zones… Countless tiny and medium organizations and dealers will currently have the ability to jump start their organizations and livelihoods throughout their work”.
Amazon, throughout Its very first quarter consequences said that their India firm has coped together with Maximum effect as a result of covid-19 catastrophe. Final 30 Days, E Commerce companies Were ready to get a rude shock following the Ministry of Home Affairs gathered straight back the Order allowing companies to market non essential items on line.


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Samsung remained market leader in the quarter with a 23.7 percent share of unit sales, while Apple continued to grow its share, reaching 13.1 percent versus 12.5 percent of sales in the same period of 2014. Huawei was in third place with a 7.7 percent share, up from 5.2 a year ago thanks to its continued expansion at home and abroad. Lenovo, including Motorola, fell to 4.9 percent from 7.0 a year earlier, and Xiaomi also had 4.9 percent of the global market.
Among smartphone operating systems, Apple’s iOS continued to see a strong performance and grew 21 percent, above the market average. Apple had 13.1 percent share of Q3 sales, up from 12.5 percent a year ago. Android gained 1.4 percentage points in share year over year to reach 84.7 percent, thanks to strong smartphone sales from Samsung and Huawei globally. Windows’ smartphone market share dropped from 3 percent to 1.7 percent year over year.
The overall mobile phone market, including both smartphones and feature phones, grew by 3.7 percent year-on-year in the third quarter to nearly 478 million units, Gartner said. Again emerging markets were largely responsible for the growth, particularly India, which helped Micromax join the top ten handset makers in the world with a 2.5 percent share. Samsung still had over a fifth of the total market, and Apple almost 10 percent, while Microsoft was in third place with a 6.3 percent share.


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Looking back over the years at GDC, it occurs to me just how much things have changed, although to many people, I’m sure they may not notice the change at all.
Gone are the days of grand, elaborate booths with the big presence of Autodesk, Adobe and a hundred different large-scale motion-capture solutions. While the graphics discussions are still an enormous part of GDC, this year in particular, the discussions seem focused on how developers can iterate faster, on multiple platforms, with smaller teams and for smaller devices.
GDC 2014 hit record attendance, reaching 24,000, and that doesn’t include all the people who do all their meetings in hotel lobbies and suites. There was a time when SIGGRAPH, the trade show for computer graphics, thought they could pull GDC and the game developer community under their umbrella. But the thing about game developers is they are the most nimble, fast-to-pivot group of artists, programmers and designers I know. Perhaps it is because entertainment is a consumable, and as soon as it is consumed, something new needs to take its place or engage the user deeper, and of course it all has to happen in real time.
GDC 2014 was the show of scaling down. Scaling down to reach the indies and more consumers with their technology, scaling down to hit more platforms, scaling down to have incredible graphics on smaller devices.
The War Rages on as Game Engines move to SAAS Model
Nothing gets the games industry revved up like a good tech fight, and that is exactly what happened at GDC this year, and SaaS seems to be king.
Epic announces Subscription Model
Epic Unreal Engine 4
During the show, however, Epic firmly planted its flag in the ground in the indie camp with an announcement to show that just because it has Tencent as a major shareholder now, the company isn’t backing away from anything. They announced their new subscription model that would include source code. As Tim Sweeney, Epic’s founder explained, “This is the start of something new for Epic. With Unreal Engine 4, we’re looking to wipe the slate completely clean. Everyone who subscribed to the engine gets access to the complete C++ code.”. Subscription pricing for Unreal Engine 4, which was available as of last week, is $19 per month and a flat 5% royalty on game sales.
The week prior to GDC, Epic and Mozilla announced their collaboration to show off Epic’s Soul and Swing Ninja demos running in Firefox at near native speed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=c2uNDlP4RiE
Crytek Announces A Lower Subscription than Epic
Crytek also announced their subscription model at GDC, undercutting Epic with a $9.99/month subscription for CryEngine. Additionally, Crytek is not requiring a 5% royalty from developers. Explained Crytek’s Carl Jones, “When we announced the new CryEngine, this was our first step towards creating an engine as a service.”
Unity Acquires Applifier
The week before the show, Unity announced that they had acquired Applifier, the Finnish-based company whose main product is Everyplay, a tool that allows players to record their gameplay and share it with their friends and social media streams. As the CEO of Applifier explains, “Developers have two life or death questions to figure out – How do we create a game that’s really good and cross platform and the other is how do you connect gamer and help them with discovery.”
Cool Tool News
Mixamo – Fuse 1.0
Mixamo announced Fuse 1.0, its new universal character creator which quickly automates the rigging of characters and adds animation, making it easier than ever for indie developers to create realistic 3D characters for their games. Fuse 1.0 on Steam is a great resource for the over one million modders who are modding in Steam’s community. http://youtu.be/jH5XHkIgPZc
Geomerics, the UK based real-time global illumination company behind Enlighten and acquired by ARM, announced at GDC that it had entered into a partnership with Unity to integrate their technology into Unity 5. Optimized for PC, console, and mobile platforms, having Enlighten’s technology directly integrated into Unity 5 will improve the developer workflow and design.
Geomerics - Enlighten
Microsoft Announces DirectX 12
Currently in alpha, Microsoft announced DirectX12 and reaffirmed its support for Direct 3D across its platforms for Windows, Xbox, Windows Phone and Windows RT. Not scheduled for release until winter 2015, DirectX 12 will be supported by Direct X 11 hardware which Microsoft says accounts for 80% of all gaming PCs shipping.
GameStudio and MonoEngine Join Sony for PS4 Indie Support
YoYo Games and SCE collaborated to bring GameStudio to the PS4. GameStudio is now available for free to any Sony-licensed developer looking to develop 2D sprite games. MonoGame is making its popular indie C#, open-sourced game engine available to PS4 developers. One of the first success stories for MonoGames was Towerfall: Ascension which was developed by one person, Matt Makes and first developed for OUYA.
Virtual Reality Moves Closer to the Consumer
After all the years and pontifications of virtual reality being right around the corner, it actually looks like virtual reality might be right around the corner!
Sony’s Project Morpheus
With the launch of Oculus Rift back in many developers, including indies have voiced their excitement for developing games for the living room VR platform. At GDC Sony announced its entrance into the space with its Project Morpheus (named after the god of dreams). The Project Morpheus prototype includes a head-mounted display with 1080p resolution and a 90-degree field of view. It also features 3D audio and works with the dualshock 4 wireless controller and the PS Move. No release date or pricing has been set yet.
Sony’s Project Morpheus
While Sony was showing off Project Morpheus, developers were continuing to show their support with Occulus Rift at GDC. The booth was constantly busy and developers seemed unfazed by the Sony announcement, making it appear to be a rather status quo show for the company. That changed this week when they announced they had been acquired by Facebook for $2 billion. The impact of this announcement has proved weighty for many people. On the one hand it is a positive, aggressive move by Facebook that only solidifies the overall future role of VR as a consumer product and valuation of the technology. However, many developers, especially those loyal to Value and Steam are finding themselves torn to what this will mean to them. The content that they were excited to create just last week on the platform seems to be very much up in the air. We will have to wait and see how developers react to this possible shift of alliance for them.


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How Wheat, Corn And Soy In Dog Foods Can Do To Dogs
We love our bodies so much that we always make sure that we eat the right things that our body needs, it must be of the same way as we take care of our dogs by letting them eat the right and proper amount of food that they should have in their body. A lot of people are not aware as to how corn, wheat and soy in dog food and treats greatly affect the life of their dogs and how rigid the consequences would be in this type of issue.
Dog owners must be aware of the certain types of dog food that they choose and not just dwell on how much protein it actually has, because proteins do nothing in making certain that the kind of dog food that they are buying is what the best and the healthiest food for their dogs.
What dog owners don’t know upon choosing dog foods and how these greatly affect the lives of their dogs. It is about time to be educated as to taking wise decisions in choosing the kind of dog food that should be eaten by your dogs and making sure that they are not consuming the harmful ones.
It is the responsibility of the dog owners to make sure that what their dogs are eating are of with the proper lists of nutrients, they must also be conscious enough in taking care of their dogs, and being prompt and wise in making decisions on the type of dog food that is only the best for their dogs. No one could ever forget the biggest issue on a dog food that contains a wheat gluten which was found in China on the year 2007 that most people kept on remembering even up to this year. This gluten is being studied carefully and examined by the experts from the United States of America and Australia, they have been taking proper coarse of action as how the wheat gluten were being contaminated with such, and they found out that the numerous deadly melamine was the reason of the death of the number of pets and livestock. Melamine is used to fire however, it can be deadly if it being consumed. The Federal Government found out on February 2008, that the people behind this crime were the two Chinese nationals a businessman from the United States of America. There was a statement that the FDA left on this certain issue and it said, the suspects-a businessman from the United States of America and two Chinese nationals told them that they knew that what they are doing was illegal yet they continued doing it because of the profit that they would be earning.


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What is the Role of Our Trade Agreements in Growing Income Inequality in America?›By Bill Krist // Monday, September 1, 2014
Income inequality in America has rarely been greater than it is today. While income inequality has been growing around the world, it has been increasing particularly rapidly in the U.S. And it is a major reason for the sluggish recovery since the great recession of 2008.
How much of the increasing economic inequality is due to our trade agreements? Will our current negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership aggravate inequality? What should the U.S. do to address inequality?MORE
Guest Blog – TPP and Canada: Wishful Thinking on Supply Management?›By David N. Biette, Director, Canada Institute, Wilson Center // Tuesday, August 26, 2014
One of the many goals of multilateral trade agreements is to level the field so that companies, industries, and countries compete on the basis of market forces. This requires all participants to be willing to open their markets in protected sectors in exchange for better access to the markets of their trade partners. In order to get the benefits sought, each party to the negotiation has to give up something.
As Canada wraps up its Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the EU, it remains deeply involved in another very ambitious multilateral negotiation: the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Canada became an observer to the TPP negotiations in 2010, but did not become a full member until 2012 because New Zealand, one of the founders of the TPP negotiations, and the United States held up Canada’s request due to concerns about Canada’s supply management of dairy, poultry, and eggs, as well as the longstanding U.S. complaint about Canada’s lack of protection for intellectual property rights.
So when Canada and Mexico announced they would like to join the TPP negotiations, trade observers asked out loud if Canada would be willing to disband its supply management. Accession to the negotiations meant accepting the rules at the time of accession, and New Zealand, having liberalized its dairy industry over the last decade or so, was not about to give Canada a pass on supply management.MORE
Guest Blog: Opening Foreign Procurement Markets Amid Domestic Preferences›By Jean Heilman Grier // Monday, August 18, 2014
In 1981, the United States implemented its first international procurement agreement. Since then, opening foreign procurement markets for American goods, services and suppliers has been a consistent objective of U.S. trade policy. Through pursuit of this objective, the U.S. has gained access to government procurement in 57 countries or economies — 42 WTO members covered by the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) and another 15 countries under free trade agreements (FTAs). The U.S. aims to further open procurement markets in negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and accessions to the GPA.MORE
Guest Blog: GSP and labor rights in Bangladesh›By Sanchita B. Saxena // Monday, August 11, 2014
April 2014 marked the one-year anniversary of the deadliest garment factory accident in history. 1,129 people died when an eight-story building, Rana Plaza, collapsed in Savar, a sub district of Dhaka. Since the disaster, leading brands in the United States and Europe have signed two historic agreements that were supported by labor groups and various NGOs. These agreements are designed to institutionalize changes in the garment industry by making the brands a part of the solution and holding them accountable for critical improvements. The disaster also exposed the international community to the complex and nebulous web of subcontracting prevalent in the industry in Bangladesh.
Since the disaster, the US has suspended the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits with Bangladesh. The US administration has stated that the GSP decision is intended to improve factory safety and workers’ rights. Whether Bangladesh has made progress in these areas will be reviewed at the end of 2014. Though largely symbolic, since garments and textiles are not even covered by the GSP scheme, this suspension is designed to send a loud and clear message to the international community that the United States condemns labor right violations in Bangladesh. But this symbolic gesture does little to address the underlying causes of the problem and remains just that–symbolic–without any practical solutions to stand behind it.MORE
Guest Blog: U.S. Automakers Continue to Lead American Manufacturing›By Governor Matt Blunt // Monday, August 4, 2014
In an ever-shrinking world, a popular refrain among some skeptics is that American manufacturing is not competitive in the global economy. A new report by the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC) reveals that is simply not the case. Led by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, American manufacturing is on the rise, creating jobs and expanding opportunity at a rate that hasn’t been seen in years.
AAPC’s recently released “The State of the U.S. Automotive Industry 2014″, a report that comprehensively lays out the contributions of the American automakers to the U.S. economy. The annual study concluded that after a period of hard decisions, transformation and renewal, the American auto industry is roaring back. This means there are more American-made cars and trucks on the road, greater innovative technologies in American vehicles, and thousands of new American jobs for automakers and their suppliers.MORE
ISDS: A Sticky Issue in Both the TPP and TTIP›By Bill Krist // Thursday, July 31, 2014
U.S. proposals to include Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in both the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreements have run into strong opposition. These provisions are important for encouraging foreign investment by ensuring a company that wishes to invest in a trade partner country that the investment will be protected against expropriation. Unfortunately, a few companies have used these provisions to stymie legitimate government actions to protect public health and the environment. Australia has led opposition to U.S. proposals in the TPP and Germany appears to be leading opposition in the TTIP.
So what is the way forward?MORE
Solar Power Trade War – What are the Implications?›By Samuel Benka // Monday, July 28, 2014
The Commerce Department issued a preliminary determination Friday that China is “dumping” solar panels in the U.S. market (i.e. selling these in the U.S. below their cost of production). This will likely mean that the U.S. will impose antidumping duties on these imports in the near future. This is the latest development in a long-running dispute between the U.S., which has been hoping to stimulate production in the U.S., and China, which has been heavily subsidizing its domestic industry, thereby suppressing development of solar industries in its trade partners.
What would increased U.S. tariffs on solar panels from China mean for the U.S. and worldwide?MORE
Student Blog: The Failure of Negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas›
The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)—an FTA that was being negotiated by 34 countries in the Western Hemisphere—was supposed to be the most far-reaching trade agreement in history, but fell into a deadlock with no signs of negotiations resuming. Negotiations came to a stalemate because of domestic interest group constraints, internal politics, and a change of trade preferences between administrations within the two most important economic players, U.S. and Brazil; agricultural subsidies and the lack of progress in the WTO’s Doha Round negotiations; and different participating country stances regarding overall scope and approach of FTAA implications.MORE
Guest Blog: The Australian View of the TPP and the RCEP›By Andrew Stoler // Monday, July 21, 2014
You can find a lot of Aussies these days that think the country has to choose between its largest trading partner (China) and long-time security alliance with the United States. Those (a majority) who don’t share this view see the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations as not only an important exercise that will set the framework for economic relations in the region for the 21st Century but also as a key part of the American “pivot” to Asia that at the same time enhances China’s integration in the Asia-Pacific. On this last point, the Australian view tends to support Chinese participation in the TPP as soon as possible. Judged against expectations for the TPP, the ASEAN + 6 Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) project is at most a third– or fourth- best fallback option.MORE
Can Regional Connectivity Promote Development Along the New Silk Road?›By Bill Krist // Monday, July 14, 2014
1000 and 2000 years ago countries along the Silk Road prospered enormously from the trade that passed through on its way between China, Europe and North Africa. Today, however, trade along this historic route has largely dried up as important countries including India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have many barriers to block inter-country trade.
While there were several routes, much of the trade traveled through the area that today is Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Today, however, intra-regional trade between these countries accounts for just 6.2 percent of the total global trade of these nations.
The U.S., of course, has a special interest in helping Afghanistan develop economically so that it can be a future partner and never again provide a safe haven for Al Qaida. To promote economic development in this critical region, the U.S. is promoting a “New Silk Road” initiative focused on regional connectivity between Central Asia and South Asia, which will heavily involve Afghanistan.MORE
About The Book
What We’re Tweeting
- What is the Role of Our Trade Agreements in Growing Income Inequality in America?
- Guest Blog – TPP and Canada: Wishful Thinking on Supply Management?
- Guest Blog: Opening Foreign Procurement Markets Amid Domestic Preferences
- Guest Blog: GSP and labor rights in Bangladesh
- Guest Blog: U.S. Automakers Continue to Lead American Manufacturing


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Mind the Tech NY 2024The Israeli-American dual ecosystem empowering Israeli tech
Mind the Tech NY 2024
The Israeli-American dual ecosystem empowering Israeli tech
“Israelis are known for their ability to adapt and initiate, and they bring new perspectives and face different problems under extreme conditions just as we see these days,” added Maya Eisen-Zafrir at Calcalist and Bank Leumi’s Mind the Tech conference in New York
"The bridge between our two special countries holds enormous opportunities that allow growth and development to take place," said Maya Eisen-Zafrir, CEO of LeumiTech, at Calcalist and Bank Leumi’s Mind the Tech New York conference.
Eisen-Zafrir opened her remarks with a personal angle: "Being here today in New York at the conference dedicated to Israeli high-tech is more important than ever, and for me, it is also more emotional than ever. The connection between Israel and the US has personal meaning for me; it has always been a part of my identity. I grew up in Jerusalem to an American mother from Cleveland, Ohio, and my childhood was imbued with American culture, discipline, and values... for better or for worse, this led to the understanding from a young age that being bi-national was an opportunity."
This led her to call the connection between the two countries a "shared ecosystem": "The largest market in the world, built on the principles of a free market, entrepreneurship, and economic growth that led to the creation of unprecedented capital and the tech giants, meets the densest nation in terms of the number of initiatives and entrepreneurs that carve its path in the world market and is naturally inclined towards the American one. This connection is one plus one which equals three.
"The Israeli tech ecosystem saw the United States as the main target market from day one. Israeli tech is concentrated almost exclusively in the U.S., and this often leads to Israeli entrepreneurs relocating to the U.S., where they become an integral part of the American economy. The American market, on the other hand, benefits from the diversity that Israeli entrepreneurs bring to the American economy. Israelis are known for their ability to adapt and initiate, and they bring new perspectives and face different problems under extreme conditions just as we see these days. This shared ecosystem has proven to be extremely successful and profitable for both nations, and Nvidia, Mellanox, Palo Alto, and Cisco are just a few of the examples."
Eisen-Zafrir addressed the investors in the audience: "Look at the Israeli entrepreneurs. Five months into the most extreme times we've experienced, and yet Israeli tech continues to provide the goods. The reservists are back to work, and they're hungrier than ever."
Regarding LeumiTech's work, she said: "We decided to expand our collaboration with Valley Bank, thus creating a stronger connection between the Israeli and American ecosystems and serving as a platform for entrepreneurs to promote international economic growth.
"Our big goal this year is to return to normality and face one of the biggest challenges in the world. We approach this goal with respect, but also with a large dose of optimism. The conviction and faith that are in this room and in the shared ecosystem have the power not despite but because of everything that is happening around us."
You can watch the full remarks in the video above.


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By now, PROTON would have received well over 20,000 bookings for the X50. No doubt the publicity and hype surrounding its latest compact crossover is having a positive impact among Malaysian consumers.
And with such strong pre-launch booking numbers which will certainly create a long waiting list, there will be irresponsible parties who will take advantage of this situation. As such, PROTON is advising all who want to place a booking for the X50 to not be tempted by such parties misrepresenting themselves to profit off of you.
PROTON would like to explicitly emphasise that only bookings made at authorised Proton dealers and outlets are legitimate. PROTON has not appointed any party outside of its authorised sales network to act as sales agents for the company’s products. And it should not be held accountable for such parties which it did not authorise.
The company is strongly urging all potential customers to be wary of such individuals or organisations claiming otherwise. If you doubt their authenticity, please contact PROTON immediately to seek clarification. PROTON is making it its priority to ensure that its customers are well looked after.
For more information regarding the location and contact details of PROTON’s authorised dealers and outlets, please check out: https://www.proton.com/en/dealer-locator. Alternatively, you can call the Customer Care Hotline (1-800-88-8398).


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EA has confirmed it plans to "revitalise" its more successful "core IP" including the Medal of Honor series, EA Games boss Frank Gibeau said this morning.
And - as we already know - the way the publisher plans to give the Medal of Honor series a boost is by following in Call of Duty's lead with its own Modern Combat game.
Last month an ex-employee's CV pointed to "a Medal of Honor modern combat title" as past work experience.
Earlier than that, a leaked questionnaire talked up "Medal of Honor: Operation Anaconda", supposedly set during the 2002 operation of the same name.
Basically, it's real. Read all the supposed details in last year's Medal of Honor: Operation Anaconda leak.


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A variety of new optional items will be available on the FINAL FANTASY XIV Online Store starting Wednesday, October 21 around 1:00 a.m. (PDT).
We're also pleased to announce the All Saints' Wake Sale, which will be held simultaneously. During the campaign period, sale items will be marked down 30%.
Don't miss this chance to save on spooktacular items to celebrate the season!
New Optional Items
All Saints’ Wake Sale
Tuesday, October 21 at 1:00 a.m. (PDT) to Monday, November 16 at 11:00 p.m. (PST)
Previous items related to All Saints’ Wake (certain restrictions apply)
Visit the FINAL FANTASY XIV Online Store.
* Sales begin after the maintenance on Wednesday, October 21 concludes. Please refer to the News section for updates.


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Smart Battery Case for iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro Leaks in iOS 13.2
Last month, iOS 13 code revealed Apple was working on Smart Battery Cases for its newest iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Now, 9to5Mac has again discovered more references to these unreleased cases within today’s release of iOS 13.2. Guilherme Rambo writes, “Today’s release of iOS 13.2 confirms that and provides us a first look at the new cases.”
Check out the image of the Smart Battery Case for the new iPhone 11 line up below:
The Smart Battery Case looks just like Apple’s previous versions, but this time with a larger square cutout for the rear camera bump.
For power users, these Smart Battery Cases will further increase iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro battery life. Apple sells its Smart Battery Case for $179 CAD for the iPhone XS line up. Hopefully, prices remain the same and don’t go up.
Apple today announced new AirPods Pro and also released iOS 13.2, iPadOS 13.2 and tvOS 13.2, plus a 13.2 HomePod software update.


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Spotify users waiting for the service's iOS app to support AirPlay 2 shouldn't hold their breath. The company said on its community forums that adding support for the streaming technology "seems like a bigger project that we won't be able to complete in the foreseeable future."
AirPlay is used to stream content—music, videos, a device's screen, etc.—from Apple hardware to compatible products. AirPlay 2 features several improvements over its predecessor including more playback control options, improved buffering, and the ability to stream to multiple devices.
MacRumors, which first reported on Spotify's decision to halt work on supporting the protocol, noted that implementing AirPlay 2 is a relatively straightforward four-step process that Apple clearly explains on its developer website. Yet it's still missing from Spotify's app three years later.
Spotify explained in the community post that it decided not to continue working on AirPlay 2 support "due to audio driver compatibility issues." MacRumors noted that it also doesn't have native support for the HomePod either, however, over a year after Apple enabled that support.
This doesn't appear to be for lack of trying on Apple's part. "When we reached out to Spotify about Siri and AirPlay 2 support on several occasions," the company said in March 2019, "they’ve told us they’re working on it, and we stand ready to help them where we can."
Apple's statement was made in response to Spotify filing a complaint with the European Commission regarding the "Apple tax" imposed by App Store policies. The Commission said in April that it agreed Apple's policies had "distorted competition in the music streaming market."
That unfair competition was said to have harmed consumers. Now it seems Apple customers will be losing twice: Once because of the App Store policies cited in that case and once because a leading streaming platform has decided not to support the latest technologies in its apps.


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WVPhotosLatest Boxing Day Sales news and photo galleries.
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Big news for Woolies shoppers as it’s announced that AI tech company Tiliters Artificially Intelligent (AI) Scales are finally launching across all Woolies stores in Australia. Launched in Sydney in 2017 the company promises to make everyday shoppers' life easier and cheaper with the use of their Artificially Intelligent (AI) Scales in the Woolworths product aisle. Having previously been trialled in around 20 Woolies stores, the scales are now being rolled out in about 1000 stores.
Shoppers simply have to place their produce on the Tiliter AI Scale which will display the accurate weight of the product.
Read more: https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/woolworths/woolworths-announces-huge-change-to-fruit-and-vegetable-aisle-and-it-could-save-you-big-dollars-c-7028149


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Commentary: Amid the launch of new workstations and software, a new chip and a new catchphrase, Sun Microsystems set the stage for its future growth. Sun also hinted that its current quarter ending 30 September is on track.
Of course, it wasn't easy to spot the financial news Wednesday. Sun's New York City product launch featured a race car, a spoof of the Survivor TV show, a few glitches and plenty of jabs at Hewlett-Packard, which competes with Sun in the Unix workstation space.
Before we get into the long-term view, let's cover Sun's first quarter. Sun execs didn't say much since they are in their quiet period, but chief operating officer Ed Zander told financial analysts that there was no need to change the company's guidance from August. In August, Sun told analysts demand was strong. In this case, no news is good news from Sun. According to earnings tracking firm First Call, Sun is expected to report first quarter earnings of 25 cents a share.
As for those pesky questions about Europe, Zander said the value of the euro is disconcerting, but it's something companies just have to manage around. Europe accounted for 27 percent of Sun's sales in fiscal 2000.
Every five years or so, Sun reinvents itself and coins a new phrase. In 1990, Sun said the "Network is the Computer". In 1995, Sun wanted to "Dot-com the World". Yesterday, Sun was all about the "Net Effect".
Officials also were sure to note that the Net Effect slogan is more than a marketing pitch. One exec told analysts that "this isn't BS".
The Net Effect strategy is designed to make Sun's hardware, software and technology an integral part of the network. If all goes well, Sun's hardware sales will track the growth of bandwidth -- picture the hockey stick graph. Sun's new pitch is about scalable architecture and marshalling resources across the network.
The lynchpin of this Net Effect strategy is Sun's UltraSPARC III processor, which will power Sun's new line of workstations including the just announced Sun Blade 1000 and Sun Fire 280R. Those two workstations play in the low-end of the market. The next six to nine months will feature products for the high-end. Sun also unveiled enhancements to its Solaris 8 operating system and other network software.
It's worth noting that the UltraSPARC III is 18 months behind schedule, but that's more fodder for gear-heads than investors. The UltraSPARC II is still selling well and boosting Sun's sales by eye-popping percentages.
If Sun can grow sales with arguably long-in-the-tooth products, imagine what it can do with the new stuff?
For perspective, Sun's year-over-year revenue growth has accelerated in each of the last four quarters for Sun, including 25 percent in the first quarter, 27 percent in the second, 35 percent in the third and 42 percent in fourth quarter reported in July.
Sun execs made things clear for analysts -- odd number versions of the UltraSPARC chip signal a new pipeline of products/potential revenue. The UltraSPARC kicked off a sales surge and the second version was an upgrade. The UltraSPARC III chip and the workstations it powers signals a new revenue stream for Sun.
The UltraSPARC IV will advance the third version, but the UltraSPARC V, which should arrive in 2003 will take the revenue baton from there. The new roadmap for UltraSPARC V was behind previous projections, but officials noted it was conservative. Zander said he "felt good about our chances" of meeting the timeline. He should -- there are 200 engineers working on the UltraSPARC V.
The workstations announced Wednesday will be ready to ship in volume for October, November and December, but Sun isn't expecting a stampede. Customers' upgrade cycles are varied -- with some customers adopting Sun's latest products quickly and others content with the current versions. This Net Effect upgrade cycle is a multi-year thing not an overnight jump, said officials.
"We're setting records with our current products," said Zander. "Something changed in the buying cycle. It's more than just buying a bunch of boxes. Customers are buying architecture."
Zander said Sun's recent acquisition of Cobalt Networks was "not a Linux play, but more of an appliance play". Some analysts don't agree. SoundViewWit Capital analyst Mark Specker said in a recent research note that Sun's Cobalt purchase suggest the company "believes a chunk of its served market may shift away from its very profitable high-capacity Unix servers".
"Sun Microsystems has been multi-handed about Linux both offering to 'love it to death' and suggesting that 'we already have the best Unix in the world,'" said Specker.
In my column yesterday, I said I was "amused" that 3Com chief executive Eric Benhamou just got around to installing a home network. I goofed and misinterpreted what he said.
A number of 3Com employees set me straight. Benhamou has had a home network for at least six years. "At the time it consisted of an enterprise router and 10BT. Nowadays he is using our new HPNA gear and AirConnect -- a lot slicker," one reader informed me via email.
See ZDII for US tech investor news.
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Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom. And read what others have said.


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WWE: SuperSmackDown LIVE; The Great American Bash Five-Point Preview July 3, 2012
Every time SmackDown goes live, it comes with its share of surprises – just picture Mick Foley’s holiday celebration or the many WWE Legends who showed up for the recent SuperSmackDown LIVE: Blast from the Past. Couple this with the fact it’s The Great American Bash – appearing on Syfy for the first-time-ever – and that this particular show falls on the day before Independence Day and the fireworks are sure to fly.
Lest the WWE Universe forget that it was on that very holiday when future WWE Hall of Famers Edge and Hulk Hogan once teamed up to win the illustrious World Tag Team Titles. What could be the next monumental happening to come out of this earth-shattering television event? Who might show up to be part of it? There is already the mega announcement of The Great American Bash 20-Man Battle Royal main event – featuring a stunning list of Superstars including WWE Champion CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, John Cena, Alberto Del Rio and Big Show and World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus.
Hang on tight, WWE Universe, because SuperSmackDown LIVE is sure to be a bumpy ride.
Thanks for stopping by our Blog, CeNation!
Follow us on Twitter: @TheJohnCenaBlog


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The Nelson Food Cupboard has partnered with local artists to recognize Hunger Awareness Week that is taking place this week.
The slogan for the week-long campaign is “Lettuce Beet Hunger.” An eye-catching poster with this message is the result of a creative collaboration between two local artists, South Slocan potter Karel Peeters and Nelson photographer David R. Gluns. The poster serves as a reminder that the solutions to hunger can be home-grown.
“Hunger is a real issue in this community,” explains Nelson Food Cupboard coordinator Anna Kirkpatrick. “Each month about 1,000 customers come through our doors.”
The Nelson Food Cupboard operates a barrier-free food bank and works to address the root causes of food insecurity. Food cupboard customers are a diverse group and include families, children, seniors and people with disabilities.
A recent survey indicates that 99 per cent of the food cupboard’s customers reside in the Nelson area. Almost half have lived here for more than a decade.
“One way we supply healthy food is through our Harvest Rescue and Grow a Row programs,” said Kirkpatrick.
Each year locals donate thousands of dollars worth of excess garden produce and tree fruit.
There are many ways to contribute. Donations of food and money are always welcome. As you plan your garden, consider planting an extra row for the food cupboard. Vegetables such as green beans, carrots, potatoes and squash are always in high demand. The food cupboard welcomes volunteers to help with Harvest Rescue or other programs. Food donation boxes and donation jars will be available in various local businesses throughout Hunger Awareness Week. Watch for information tables at the Kootenay Co-op and at Nelson’s Garden Festival. For more information call 250-354-1633.


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The bank said consumers expect to spend mostly on essentials and less on durable goods like cars and furniture, as well services that involve face-to-face interactions like eating out, travel or going to the movies.
A Royal Bank report Monday estimated the drop in economic output and sharp rise in spending could put the federal deficit at $265 billion this fiscal year.
The report said deficits could be close to double those the Liberals predicted just over six months ago as revenues drop — not including an expected need to spend more to help the economy recover.
“If they needed to extend some of the (aid) programs to ensure that the economy wasn’t going to be … more meaningfully impacted, they’re in the fiscal position to do so,” said RBC economist Colin Guldimann, who co-wrote the report.
“Of course, there is a position when some spending becomes too much spending and it’s really hard to know where that is.”
Federal spending on fighting the pandemic and its effects, by the government’s most recent figures, amounts to about $174 billion.
About one-third of service and energy companies told the Bank of Canada they have tapped a federal wage subsidy to reduce or avoid layoffs. Other firms looking to rehire or hire new staff cited an emergency federal benefit for workers as a hurdle to their plans.
The latest figures from the federal government show the $45-billion wage subsidy program has paid nearly $17.1 billion to 245,160 companies as of June 29. Meanwhile, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, or CERB, has paid $53.53 billion in benefits to 8.16 million people as of June 28, since it was introduced in late March.
David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, argued in a research note Monday that the Liberals shouldn’t make deep cuts to their aid measures.
He calculated that households will have a surplus in their budgets by $202.9 billion due to Ottawa’s deficit spending, while corporations would see a surplus to the tune of $37.1 billion.
“As federal deficits can create surpluses in other areas, the opposite is also true,” Macdonald wrote. “Federal surpluses, through cutbacks and austerity, must force another sector into deficit by the same amount.”


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Tag Archives: minicars
It’s summertime, time to go outside and play! Or, whip out those Tamiya paint cans and spray the plastic bodies of your favorite JNC model kits. Do it outside when it’s sunny and dry to avoid accidentally painting your furniture or … Continue reading
Do you want to see a Lego Land Cruiser set? There’s a 40-series up for evaluation right now, and if it gets enough votes it could become an official Lego kit.
The news came down this morning, dropping like a bombshell in the diecast world. For 2016, Matchbox will add two Japanese icons to its lineup. The first is a no-brainer: the ND Miata is Mazda’s latest sportster and the most … Continue reading
Only in Japan could something so obsessed with detail, patience and completism exist. This KPGC10 Nissan Skyline GT-R scale model is, quite simply, astounding, measuring over 21 inches in length at 1:8 scale and comprised of over 400 individual pieces that … Continue reading
The new Acura NSX will retail for approximately $150,000. If that’s too rich for your blood, we spotted this scale model tucked away in a corner of the Acura booth at the Detroit Motor Show. It will, according to the company, … Continue reading
What you are looking at here is not a kenmeri Skyline. It’s an insanely detailed scale model of a kenmeri Skyline made by a new outfit out of Shizuoka called Ignition Models. They make a variety of 1:43, 1:18 and 1:12 … Continue reading
This is could be the earliest Hot Wheels Japanese car ever made. The Hot Wheels Datsun “Z-Whiz” 240Z of 1977 is certainly the first Japanese casting, but this is a pre-production prototype of that casting, making it one of the earliest Z-Whizes known to … Continue reading
On Monday, the Japan Post released a series of commemorative stamps and a 1:64 diecast car to honor the 25th anniversary of the Mazda Miata and the upcoming debut of the fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 on September 3. We’ll be on hand at … Continue reading
We are proud to show you the latest Hot Wheels to wear the JNC inkan, the long-awaited second color of the immensely popular Datsun Bluebird 510 Wagon. However, this is also the third color, because this model is being released … Continue reading
StarQuest fans rejoice, as we at JNC are proud to announce the newest Hot Wheels to don our trademark inkan — the Chrysler Conquest! Our lips have been sealed shut for months, however with its imminent release to the pegs, we felt … Continue reading
Um, you might want to join the Hot Wheels Red Line Club this year. It was announced today that one of the club exclusives this year will be none other than the SCCA Toyota 2000GT campaigned by Carroll Shelby. Last … Continue reading
Just a friendly reminder that the beautiful blue Hot Wheels X JNC Datsun 620 will be available this Saturday, February 15, at participating Kmart stores across the US. In fact, it will only be available at Kmart this weekend, and when they’re gone, they’re … Continue reading
Last year Hot Wheels graced us with the Toyota 2000GT, a car JNC readers have been clamoring for ever since the first hints of Mattel venturing into the world of nostalgics. For 2014 two re-colors of the million dollar baby … Continue reading
We know, we know. It was hard just to find the orange one. But we absolutely love Mattel’s casting of the Datsun 620 so we are happy to report that not only is there a second version on its way, … Continue reading
We’ve been to Mattel’s design studio in El Segundo, California a few times but have never been granted permission to take photos. Instead, we signed a mountain of NDAs. Clearly what we needed to be was CBS News.
We at JNC are proud to share the latest Hot Wheels release to bear our inkan logo. A couple weeks ago the third official color of the popular Hot Wheels 1970 Toyota Celica arrived at the JNC office, but as usual we took … Continue reading
On Tuesday at 9am Pacific Time, Hot Wheels will be releasing a limited edition, online-only version of the legendary BRE Datsun 510. Here’s how to get yours. UPDATE: The car has sold out in a little under 2 hours. Better … Continue reading
Just in time for 86 Day festivities, the Lamley Group has leaked that the Toyota Corolla AE86 Hot Wheels casting will be making a return to the pegs in 2014. This time around, the car will be silver with 80s-vintage … Continue reading
We’ve been sitting on this news for months, but now that it’s been leaked, we are stoked to share with you, our dear readers, the latest Hot Wheels wearing the JNC inkan — the Datsun 620!


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MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT » NEWS
AdamAndEve.com reported strong sales and profits in its second quarter of 2013. The company reported a 12% increase from Q2 2012.
High-end apparel retailer Ralph Lauren reported “better than expected” first quarter 2014 results this week, according to a press release. Net income was $181 million for the first quarter compared to $193 million for first quarter fiscal 2013.
OfficeMax released it’s second quarter financials and according to the report the office supply retail saw a 4.3% decrease in sales.
Fifth & Pacific, which includes clothing and lifestyle brands such as Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, and Lucky Brand, released it’s second quarter financials which showed a net sale increase of $45 million.
2Q13 Highlights: – Total revenue increases 14.1%, includes Super Supplements – Comparable store sales grew 2.3% – E-commerce revenues increased 18.5%, 8th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth – Fully diluted EPS of $0.60 – Opened 10 new stores.
Macy’s Inc. and LIDS Sports Group, a subsidiary of Genesco Inc., announced each have signed an agreement to open a licensed team merchandise department in Macy’s stores and online, according to a press release.
Wayfair.com, an online home furnishing retailer, has announced the acqusition of lifestyle retailer DwellStudio for an undisclosed amount of money. Wayfair.com said the acquisition not only adds product design and development to the brand portfolio but also means the possibility of new product lines by the end of 2013.
As we move closer to the 2013 holiday season, retailers are cautiously optimistic about consumer spending however they are expecting to see an uptick in the November and December months. Not surprisingly, retailers expect mobile to play an increased role in driving sales with minimal contributions from social media.
H&M, Hennes & Mauritz, one of the world’s largest retailers known for offering high fashion and quality basics at affordable prices, is proud to announce the launch of its highly anticipated Shop Online store
Fab.com announced its plans this week to centralize operations from Europe to its New York City headquarters, according to a recent blog post written by CEO and founder Jason Goldberg.


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MG Motor says the partnership will ensure environmentally-sustainable and secure recycling of MG ZS' batteries, thus ensuring greater peace of mind to the ZS electric vehicle owners about their ecological footprint.
MG Motor India Pvt. Ltd, one of the new entrants in the Indian car market, on Monday, announced a collaboration with TES-AMM, an electronic waste recycling service provider, to effectively recycle the lithium batteries fitted in its present and upcoming electric vehicles (EVs).
In January, MG Motor launched the ZS electric sports utility vehicle as its second product in the Indian market. The company has also collaborated with multiple charging infrastructure providers to set up charging stations at the company’s dealerships and customer residences.
Also Read: Why your health premium is suddenly spiking
The partnership will ensure environmentally-sustainable and secure recycling of MG ZS EV batteries, thus ensuring greater peace of mind to the ZS EV owners about their ecological footprint, said the company in a statement.
“TES-AMM has Asia’s only Li-ion battery recycling plant and is one of the few companies certified in multiple management systems including 18001:2007/R2 (Responsible Recycling) alongside others. It uses a unique mechanical-hydrometallurgical process for enhanced asset recovery that is environmentally superior and safer," the company further mentioned.
Lack of recycling facilities for lithium-ion batteries has been one of the major impediments in the adoption of electric mobility across the globe. In India, such facilities are yet to come up due to lack of availability of electric vehicles across segments.
“At MG, we are on a mission to develop a comprehensive EV ecosystem that supports India’s drive towards its greener and cleaner future. We strongly believe that battery management is a critical area that needs focus. Our partnership with TES-AMM builds along these lines and ensures that batteries not only re-enter the value chain, but are also recycled while following the most eco-friendly protocols," Rajeev Chaba, president and managing director, MG Motor India.
Earlier this year, MG Motor announced its partnership with Umicore for the safe disposal of batteries, and Exicom Tele-Systems and Tata Power for second-life use of lithium-ion batteries for non-automotive purposes.
“TES-AMM has been a trusted leader in e-waste recycling. Established in 2006, we have seen a great advancement of technology which means newer goods entering into the market. TES-AMM is continuously striving to cater to the need by setting up state-of-the-art facilities that are ultramodern and cost-effective and provide safe and secure battery management," Ram Ramachandran, chairman and managing director, TES-AMM.


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Faith in an extreme street car is hard-earned. Pushing the limits of what a street car is and can be often comes at a hefty reliability price, but Chris Bishir makes striking a balance look easy. Not only did the Fort Wayne, Indiana, resident set out to compete in the True Street class at Holley LS Fest just hours before HOT ROD Drag Week tech day, Bishir won at LS Fest and then proceeded to repeat his win in Drag Week’s Street Race Small-Block Power Adder class.
At LS Fest, Bishir trounced the competition in his gray 1982 Chevrolet S10 with an 8.70-second average elapsed time. That was more than 0.4 second clear of his nearest opponent. While Bishir likes winning—something he does often—his primary goal at LS Fest was to tweak the tune on the recently installed 6.0L engine for Drag Week. Because Bishir’s class (Street Race Small-Block Power Adder) has a minimum e.t. of 8.500 seconds, Bishir wanted to get the tune-up just right to run within a three- or four-hundredths of a second of the class floor.
Read More: http://www.hotrod.com/articles/chris-bishir-wins-ls-fest-drag-week-back-back/
This week I had the great privilege of having Ken Lingenfelter, owner of Lingenfelter Performance Engineering and the incredible Lingenfelter Collection, on the show to talk about his lifelong passion for cars, business, and charity.
For over 40 years, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering has been creating some of the most powerful performance vehicles on the market. In addition, Ken started and owns the Lingenfelter Collection, one of America’s premier private car collections with over 150 rare and very desirable cars.
Although the Lingenfelter Collection it is closed to the general public, Ken regularly hosts large fundraising events throughout the year and very generously donates all of the proceeds to the many charities he supports.
Read More: http://www.thatcarpodcast.com/?p=189
Lingenfelter Performance Engineering has been invited to bring a little ruckus to the 38th annual Concours D’Elegance in Plymouth, Michigan.
Ken Lingenfelter himself, also a board member of Concours D’Elegance America, has been invited to show his personal 2007 Bugatti Veyron and 1996 Vector M12. But, Lingenfelter will also arrive with its 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS, which has been supercharged to produce 630 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque. Keeping the Camaro company will be Lingenfelter’s C7 Corvette Z06, producing 720 hp after LPE’s stage one package.
Read more: http://gmauthority.com/blog/2016/07/lingenfelter-bringing-some-chevrolet-performance-to-38th-concours-delegance/#ixzz4FAJrqqdf
If there is one downfall to having a car show in the middle of Summer, some might say it’s the heat. Well, the Holley LS-Fest is a “hot” event that eliminated the heated conditions by announcing that their 2016 event will be happening On September 9, 10, and 11. That might seem like a long time away, but you should probably make plans now, as Holley has announced that preregistration is now open for Holley LS Fest 2016.
Read the complete story: http://www.dragzine.com/news/all-things-ls-powered-to-converge-in-bowling-green-ky/
Corvette engine experts Lingenfelter Performance Engineering and performance suspension specialist RideTech have teamed up again to sponsor the Gold Autocross event during the 2016 Bloomington Gold Corvette gathering at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, June 23-25, 2016.
Read the complete story: http://www.sportscarillustrated.com/News_2016/J/news16J_0916_Bloomington_Gold_Corvette_IMS.html
Ah, the local early-morning cars and coffee meets. A relaxing drive to your favorite local hangout, good coffee and pleasant people. As a small-town Traverse City, Mich., resident visiting the Detroit area, I wasn’t fully anticipating all the action that Lingenfelter’s Cars and Coffee would bring to my morning. It blew me out of the water.
Read the complete story: https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/Articles/2016/06/20/Lingenfelter-Cars-and-Coffee
One of the hottest cars on the just-underway Hot Rod Power Tour is sure to be this Continental Extreme Yellow C7 Corvette.
The wild Corvette is the result of a collaboration between Continental Tire and the legendary Lingenfelter Performance Engineering.
The one-of-a-kind Corvette will draw a lot of attention during the seven-cities-in-seven-days Hot Rod Power Tour, which kicked off Saturday in Baton Rouge, La., and ends Friday in Kansas City, Mo.
Read the complete story: http://www.corvetteblogger.com/2016/06/14/corvette-stingray-lingenfelter-continental-tires-joins-hot-rod-power-tour/


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Hack Education Weekly News
JULY 1, 2016
The US Department of Education released its “ #GoOpenDistrict Launch Packet ,” encouraging schools to use OER. Conference of Mayors Resolves to Support Digital Badging ,” says Edsurge. There’s some more research on badges and alternative credentials in the research section below. Steve Dembo recently announced that he’s leaving the company after 10+ years. One company not using Amazon to run its computing infrastructure: Blackboard.


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A Journey Through Four Decades of Joy with McDonald’s Taiwan
In a grand celebration of its 40th anniversary, McDonald’s Taiwan is launching a year-long campaign titled ‘Simple Happiness’. Conceptualized by Leo Burnett Taiwan, this campaign encapsulates the essence of joy and nostalgia, unfolding across four decades since McDonald’s first introduction to Taiwan in 1984.
C-pop Royalty Jolin Tsai Brings Magic to McDonald’s Narrative
The campaign is graced by the presence of Jolin Tsai, Taiwan’s renowned ‘Queen of C-pop’, whose illustrious career boasts over 25 million records sold. Tsai not only stars in the campaign’s film but also lends her musical talent by composing its lyrics and soundtrack. Fans can anticipate a music video and Spotify release of her song “OH LA LA LA” in early 2024.
To commemorate McDonald’s 40th anniversary in Taiwan, we loved the idea of creating a ‘happiness time machine’: a campaign that revisits memorable moments of simple happiness over the past 40 years. By embracing the latest virtual production technologies, it also looks to the future, positioning McDonald’s Taiwan as an icon of food, tech and transformation.
Brenda Kou, CMO, Asia Business Unit, McDonald’s
Embracing Cultural Evolution and Technological Innovation
Kevin Yang, CEO and CCO at Leo Burnett Taiwan, remarks on the profound cultural impact of McDonald’s in Taiwan, highlighting its journey from a novel foreign influence to a beloved brand woven into the local fabric.
The campaign film, a visual spectacle, traverses from 1984 to 2024, utilizing advanced 3D animation and timelapse effects. This cinematic journey showcases the evolution from quaint village streets to modern cityscapes, symbolizing McDonald’s growth alongside Taiwan’s societal transformation.
McDonald’s Taiwan – A Trendsetter in the QSR Industry
McDonald’s Taiwan has consistently been at the forefront of innovation in Taiwan’s Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) industry. The brand’s initiatives range from unique collaborations, like with badminton champion Tzu-Ying Tai, to creating socially impactful projects such as the e-donation platform ‘Donation Wallpaper’ and launching exclusive, limited-time menu offerings.
Revolutionizing Taiwanese Filmmaking
In a pioneering effort, the campaign’s various historical periods were filmed entirely in a Virtual Studio with Moonshine XR Studio, utilizing cutting-edge 3D modelling and mapping technology. This technique allowed for a faithful recreation of McDonald’s iconic packaging from the past, blending nostalgia with futuristic technology.
Simple Happiness is a leap forward for Taiwanese filmmaking. We created five distinct settings using 3D modelling and huge LED screens. Simulating natural sunlight was one of many hurdles, but after months of extensive planning and testing, our story was freed from the constraints of physical locations, giving us greater control, flexibility and creativity.
Hsiao Ya-chuan, an award-winning director nominated for Best Director at Taiwan’s 2023 Golden Horse Awards.
Celebrating Memories and Looking Ahead
As McDonald’s Taiwan steps into its 40th year, it not only reminisces about the past but also looks forward to continuing its legacy of innovation and customer delight. With the ‘Simple Happiness’ campaign, McDonald’s Taiwan reaffirms its commitment to bringing joy and creating cherished memories for years to come.
Watch the ‘Simple Happiness’ film and explore behind-the-scenes content.