text:
In a groundbreaking collaboration, Folio3 AgTech, a leading player in agriculture software, joins forces with Gro Alliance, the nation's largest independent seed producer. This strategic partnership aims to redefine industry norms by maximizing transparency in seed production, setting a bold new standard for customer insights.
Under the agreement, Gro Alliance will leverage Folio3's cutting-edge EcoDocs platform, enabling comprehensive traceability into field and hybrid performance. This initiative empowers Gro Alliance's operations team with invaluable data, offering insights into hybrid performance across diverse fields and crop seasons.
Folio3's renowned EcoDocs platform, celebrated for its flexibility, and scalability, allows tailored customization to unique business needs. Muhammad Abdullah, Vice President at Folio3, expressed satisfaction, highlighting the platform's adaptability. He stated, "Our experience in the agriculture industry has helped us develop EcoDocs, a flexible and scalable platform. As a member of the American Seed Trade Association, we are pleased to see how Gro Alliance is utilizing the platform for traceability and transparency."
Beyond performance tracking, the collaboration involves digitizing aspects of Gro Alliance's facility operations. This includes monitoring temperature and moisture levels, ensuring superior quality seed products. The agreement also encompasses enhancements to pesticide management within EcoDocs, streamlining compliance with Worker Protection Standard (WPS) regulations.
The partnership signifies a monumental leap in transforming seed production practices. By embracing innovative technology and a commitment to transparency, Folio3 AgTech and Gro Alliance aim to elevate industry standards and enhance customer experiences. The integration of EcoDocs into Gro Alliance's operations reflects a strategic move toward a more data-driven and efficient approach, benefitting farmers and stakeholders throughout the agricultural landscape.


text:
Stories Tagged as
Liquidity will be key to weathering COVID-19 slowdown
"Credit is the mother’s milk of economic activity," said one analyst.
How auto industry towns are faring a decade after the bailout
We take a look at four cities whose fates are linked to Chrysler and GM.
Is generosity enough to prop up this post-recession town?
Janesville, Wisconsin's resources are stretched thin after GM left the city and took jobs with it.
The economic legacy of our most recent ex-President
A new biography takes a look at Bush's eight year term.
Estimating costs and benefits of the auto bailout
The auto bailout cost taxpayers $9 billion. Was it worth it? Mostly.
GM's new CEO is a woman. So what? What will she do for GM?
GM is now free of the U.S. government holding at stake in it, and has named a new chief executive, its first woman but a GM lifer.
GM is no longer 'Government Motors'
The federal government is now officially out of the car business.

domain: news


text:
What's going on with Japan? Part 2 of 2 | SiGMA
Alidad Tash, Managing Director of 2NT8 Limited, joined us on 6 October to share his expertise and insights on Japan’s forthcoming gaming industry.
In part 2 of the interview with Yanni Collins, Alidad explains why he thinks Japan will be a formidable mark despite the series of setbacks to its IR plan and development due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He also sheds light on how the Pachinko industry as well as the online gaming industry will impact the IRs in Japan and vice versa.
Yanni Collins, SiGMA (Moderator)
Alidad Tash, 2NT8 Limited


text:
The Xperia Tablet Z sounds like a bigger brother to the recently revealed Xperia Z smartphone.
Tech deals, prizes and latest news
Get the best tech deals, reviews, product advice, competitions, unmissable tech news and more!
10 things you should never do on Facebook
Windows 10: release date, price, news and features
iPhone 7 release date, news and rumors
10 best mobile phones in the world today
Why you should avoid hotel Wi-Fi like the plague


text:
Where To Watch Apple’s Fall 2015 Event
Hey Siri, Give Us A Livestream
Like clockwork, Apple’s fall event is upon us once again. Similar to last year on the exact same day, Apple will showcase new products on September 9 at 10 am PDT/1 pm EDT. The company has kept quiet about specific announcements, as it usually does, but by now we know what to expect. The iPhone 6S, new Apple TV, and possibly even iPad Pro are all slated to be unveiled in San Francisco on Wednesday. Here’s where you can watch all the company has to announce.
Tuning In To Apple’s iPhone 6s Event
As mentioned before, video of the event will go live on September 9 at 10 am PDT/1 pm EDT.
Those hoping to watch the official Apple fall event livestream will have to do so on an Apple product. The company’s primary stream can be found here and is only accessible on iOS 7 or higher, Mac OS X 10.8.5 or higher, or Apple TV running software 6.2 or higher.
Keeping with the theme of iProducts, the stream will only work in Safari web browsers on your iPhone, iPad or Mac.
Unless you use Windows 10. For the first time, “PC” users can access the official Apple event stream too. Those on Windows machines will need to be running Windows 10 using the new Edge browser.
If You Use Android
But all is not lost if you haven’t chosen to buy into Apple’s ecosystem. While Cupertino may prefer you use one of their creations to see them announce their products for 2015, there’s always a workaround. Savvy Android users have used VLC to view the event in past years. By tapping Media and Open Network Stream, users are able to input Apple’s stream and watch the event. We’ll update this post when Apple makes the link available.
What Will Apple Bring Users?
If tradition holds, Cupertino could bring buyers an updated version of last year’s iPhone 6 device, with a new processor, camera, and the company’s Force Touch feature. Going off of the invitation’s Siri hint we could see the iOS 9 Proactive Assistant features fleshed out, as well Siri for Apple TV. The new set-top box could enable users to control their viewing experience by voice, or even send texts and set reminders via their TV. Other rumors include a possible iPad Pro, and the unveiling of their Apple Music Android app. We’ll be covering all the action tomorrow here on Popular Science, so be sure to check back.


text:
If you’ve been paying attention to the cryptocurrency markets lately, you’ll know that Bitcoin, Ethereum, and even altcoins like Dogecoin are surging in popularity. Bitcoin itself has hit a peak above $60,000, while hovering at less than $10,000 just a year before.
So what’s responsible for this sudden boom in the cryptocurrency market? And is this upward trajectory going to remain – or is this another short-lived crypto bubble about to pop?
A Bit of History
First, let’s cover a bit of history. Bitcoin, one of the earliest cryptocurrencies (and certainly the most popular) was created in 2008 by an unknown individual (or possibly, a group of people). It began circulating in 2009, but didn’t gain much initial attention. A handful of early adopters immediately saw the potential of the currency, but for most people, cryptocurrency was seen as something mysterious, uncertain, and downright strange.
Around 2017, there was a major surge in crypto interest. Steadily rising prices, widespread available of crypto wallets, and heavily emphasized media attention sent Bitcoin prices soaring to nearly $20,000 by the end of the year. But this growth was retrospectively viewed as volatile and reactionary, as prices began to plummet in 2018 down to less than $7,000. Prices for other cryptocurrencies saw similar trends – rising sharply, then falling and stabilizing.
There, prices and public interest held steady for a few years, with a few lows and highs.
It’s only in the past few months that Bitcoin and other currencies have seen a massive resurgence, hitting massive all-time highs.
How exactly did we get here?
Coinbase and Renewed Public Acceptance
First, Bitcoin and other currencies have demonstrated their capacity for resilience – and the general public is seeing signs that these currencies are here to stay. Despite plummeting to major low points after a burst bubble in 2018, many naysayers insisted that this was the beginning of the end for a fad currency. But this was not the case; Bitcoin remained in use consistently in the years that followed, showing no signs of weakening as a currency in the market. Those who remember the sharp rise and fall 3 years ago have a renewed perspective on the currency, seeing it as more legitimate and capable of enduring hardships.
Adding to public confidence is a combination of many different businesses and organizations throwing their full support behind Bitcoin and other currencies. For example, Coinbase – an exchange where users can buy, sell, and use cryptocurrencies – introduced its initial public offering (IPO), trading publicly for the first time. It’s also reported enormous revenue growth, fueling investor optimism for the futures of both Coinbase and the cryptocurrencies traded on its platform.
Additionally, many other major companies have made recent moves that demonstrate the true power of cryptocurrency. For example, Visa and PayPal now offer cryptocurrency-related services, and Nvidia (known for their graphics cards) recently announced a new chip designed to specialize in cryptocurrency mining. It also helps that celebrities like Elon Musk have publicly stated their support for cryptocurrencies, driving their fans to purchase more coins.
We’ve spent most of this article talking about Bitcoin, since it’s the most visible and the most prominent of all cryptocurrencies, but we also need to acknowledge the supporting role of other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Litecoin, and even the meme-based Dogecoin. Interest in these cryptocurrencies has a kind of synergistic effect; when more people buy and value a currency like Bitcoin, there’s a ripple effect to other currencies as people try to get in closer to the “ground floor.” But rising activity in other currencies is also good for Bitcoin, since it always gets residual attention from being the dominant player on the market.
Inflation and Economic Woes
Some people are investing more heavily in cryptocurrency because they have long-term economic concerns. Heavy quantitative easing, higher wages, cheap borrowed money, and other factors could be leading us to a period of high inflation and the reduced spending power of the American dollar. If this environment unfolds, a decentralized, independent digital currency would hypothetically increase in value compared to USD – resulting in a profit for holders.
COVID-19 and the Remote Digital Future
It’s also worth noting that the COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on how we see and use technology on a daily basis. For many months, people were practically stuck indoors, paying digitally for everything and working remotely. It made people realize how decentralized we’ve become and how dependent we’ve become on digital technology – even if we’re not fully augmented cyber-humans yet.
In a world where people work remotely, pay digitally, and have full trust in online services, cryptocurrency is king.
We also can’t afford to neglect the role of FOMO – the fear of missing out. When a consumer sees their friends, family members, and even strangers on the internet profiting off a trend, they’re often filled with anxiety at the thought of “missing out” on this opportunity. As Bitcoin rose from $10k to $20k, doubling the holdings of Bitcoin holders around the world, millions of people bought in just so they could be part of the assumed ride from $20k to $30k. Ironically, this increased buying action is a big part of what pushed the price of Bitcoin higher, driving even more FOMO.
The trouble with FOMO is that it often has a pyramid scheme-style effect; people sometimes buy in only because they believe someone else will buy in at a higher point, rather than because they believe in the inherent value of what they’re buying. Inevitably, when FOMO-driven buying actions reach a peak, they tend to crash in the aftermath.
Is This Another Bubble?
So is this the start of another bubble? Will we see the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies “pop” like it did in 2018?
It’s hard to say for certain, but there are a few factors that can help us contemplate the future accurately.
The price of Bitcoin, and its value, is derived almost entirely from consumer belief – just like all other forms of currency. There’s nothing inherently valuable about the piece of paper we call a dollar bill. The value comes from the fact that we collectively believe in its buying power; we have total confidence that it’s going to be accepted no matter where we take it, and that other people believe in its long-term reliability. The same is true for gold; it’s true that gold is scarce, but scarcity alone doesn’t make it valuable (for example, radioactive waste is even scarcer than gold, but its value is practically negative). Gold is valuable because we all believe it’s valuable.
Accordingly, the future of Bitcoin is entirely dependent on how consumer belief is changed. Currently, Bitcoin has proven itself practically “unbreakable.” It’s survived for 13 tumultuous years. It’s survived multiple burst bubbles. It’s even survived multiple hacking and manipulation attempts – even during its more vulnerable early years. Because of this, it would take a lot for consumer confidence to be shaken.
One force that could spur another big drop is regulatory action. The SEC, and regulatory agencies around the world, are closely scrutinizing the trading patterns of cryptocurrency. If they somehow restrict or modify access to cryptocurrency for large segments of the population, it could have a major impact on value and trading.
That said, the sharp rise in the price of Bitcoin may be an exaggerated one. While it’s true that consumer confidence is high (and still rising), it’s hard to say whether the price increases are an accurate reflection of the pace of confidence increases. In other words, it makes sense that the price of Bitcoin is going up – but this big of a leap may be unjustified.
Economics is a complex field of study and Bitcoin is a complex financial construct. No one can say for certain how the stock market is going to perform in the future – and for cryptocurrencies, we have far less information and less historical precedent. It’s easy to see how we got to this point, since we have the benefit of hindsight, but it’s pretty much impossible to say where we go from here.


text:
'Cajun Pawn Stars' -- We Got Illegally Raided ... Cops Jacked Our Sewer Snake
'Cajun Pawn Stars' We Got Illegally Raided Cops Jacked Our Sewer Snake
10/13/2014 8:00 AM PT
The stars of "Cajun Pawn Stars" are being drummed out of business by cops who are out to get them ... stooping so low as to illegally seize a chain saw and sewer snake ... and now they are gunning for justice in court.
Jimmie DeRamus and his wife Peggy claim the Alexandria PD in Louisiana barged into their shop in June, claiming the shop -- which was featured on the History Channel -- was fencing stolen goods. Police tried seizing the saw and the snake but the owners refused to oblige because there was no search warrant.
Cops left but came back the very next day -- armed with a warrant -- and took the goods and more. DeRamus claims in a new lawsuit cops ran roughshod in the store, shutting it down and shoeing away customers. DeRamus says police also roughed up his brother, Johnnie.
DeRamus says the raid severely damaged their business and created a false impression the shop was a front for illegal activity, so he and his wife are suing the City and the PD for defamation.


text:
West-bourne is one of a number of New York restaurants and bars that have, in the past few years, worked to radically reduce the amount of waste they send to landfills. Tactics include careful, creative menu planning to use up excess ingredients, composting, arranging to have deliveries from distributors made via cargo bike and opting not to offer takeout, which typically involves single-use containers that restaurants can only hope are being composted or recycled.
Estimates vary, but according to nonprofit ReFED, the U.S. restaurant industry generates 11.4 million tons of food waste annually. And then there’s all the other trash: plastic wrap, paper napkins, stained menus, disposable packaging, takeout containers and items that are recyclable in theory but not really in practice, such as berry containers and waxed cardboard.
Covid-19, which has dealt a blow to the city’s restaurants, made adhering to sustainable practices more difficult in many respects. But restaurateurs say they’re finding ways to continue their environmental mission, even as they’ve changed their entire business model in the past few months.
Before the shutdown, Rhodora, a restaurant and natural-wine bar in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, had been slowly adding to the pared-down menu of seafood and pickled vegetables it had opened with in September as it built a network of suppliers that met its strict, no-waste specifications.
“We originally wanted to go with a cheese distributor, but we realized there was no way to do it without a lot of plastic packaging,” owner Henry Rich said. “We ended up going directly to a farm, but they only had cows. Then we met someone who had a goat farm.”
When the pandemic hit the city, Rhodora closed its kitchen as it worked out how to reopen safely without cutting corners on its principles. Challenges included the temporary shutdown of Brooklyn Grange, the rooftop farm where the restaurant sent its compost.
That situation was easily solved: Rhodora, which belongs to the Oberon Group, quickly determined its recycling hauler could take the compost to a farm upstate.
The restaurant began to sell community-supported agriculture boxes, meanwhile, to generate income, help suppliers and provide a community service, all with minimal packaging.
Prepared food, however, created a dilemma. In light of the city’s decision to eliminate its composting program, Rhodora decided to go with reusable containers such as glass jars and recyclable packaging. The restaurant also started offering composting for the community—sending customers’ compost upstate with its own, at its parent company’s expense—a service that has received a plethora of requests since it launched last month.
“Is it more expensive to be sustainable? Yes,” Rich said. “But the ethical implications of going back to contributing 25% to global warming? I’d rather close than do that.”
Nevertheless, some sustainable practices have been indefinitely suspended. Reusable cups, which were warmly welcomed at coffee shops before the pandemic, are now widely shunned. And fast-casual chain Dig Inn, which last year launched a reusable to-go container program at its Washington Square Park location, has put the effort on hold.


text:
The speciality finance firm, which is also backed by Singaporean multinational banking organisation, United Overseas Bank, has also provided venture debt financing to cloud software solutions company Capillary Technologies, online grocery store ZopNow, diagnostic chain Suburban Diagnostics, ad-tech venture Affle, personalisation-focused fashion marketplace Voonik and used vehicles marketplace Credr.
“We are seeing a lot of doubling down take place. A lot of companies are raising fresh capital, and therefore, are now actively raising venture debt as part of the round, or immediately after,” said Vinod Murali, MD, InnoVen Capital.
The companies, some of which are part of the venture debt firm’s current portfolio, have all raised significant amount of funding from leading venture capital and private equity firms, including, Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, Warburg Pincus and Eight Road Ventures, which was formerly known as Fidelity Growth Partners.
The latest spate of deals come soon after the Mumbai-based speciality debt firm announced it had completed 100-plus transactions in the country, while also closing its debut deals outside its domestic market of India, in Malaysia and Thailand. “There’s value in venture debt even if there is a large equity round.
This is also a testament to our strong relationships with our port folio companies,” explained Murali. Given its accelerated deal flow, InnoVen Capital, which had earlier forecast disbursals of of $65 million (about Rs 432 crore) in 2016, could now end the new financial year with disbursals of up to $75 million (about Rs 500 crore), according to Murali.
“The pipeline is very strong. We are looking at completing 35-40 transactions over the next 12 months. Founders are looking to raise capital now, so that they don’t have to raise money later, while on the back foot,” said Murali.
Innoven Capital typically lends to startups that have raised at least between $3 and $5 million in funding, preferably from one of the venture capital firms it works with. It lends at an interest rate of 15%, with loan tenures ranging from 2-3 years, and does not accept the personal guarantees or the assets of the founders.
However, if any portfolio company gets acquired or decides to make its public market debut, the venture debt firm will be in line for additional compensation that kicks in as a net settlement for the firm.
InnoVen Capital, which has provided debt financing to about 70 companies, counts a number of leading Indian startups among its portfolio, including, Snapdeal, Freecharge, Myntra and Practo.
In April last year, Temasek acquired SVB India Finance for about Rs 300 crore, and rebranded it as InnoVen Capital. Later in July, it was reported that Union Overseas Bank was in the process of picking up a 50% for an undisclosed amount. Both backers have committed to provide paid-up capital of about $200 million in the firm.
- Zetwerk raises Rs 16 crore from InnoVen Capital
- Venture debt firm InnoVen Capital invests $1.7M in DocsApp
- InnoVen Capital commits Rs 418 crore in first half of 2018
- XpressBees raises Rs 35 crore in venture debt financing from InnoVen Capital
- InnoVen Capital enters the New Year on a high note, records 28% y-o-y growth
- Quikr raises Rs 55 crore in venture debt financing from InnoVen Capital


text:
Celebrate the impending release of Madonna's&nbsp;13th&nbsp;studio album, Rebel Heart, by taking a look at the&nbsp;many ways&nbsp;Madonna has inspired today's pop princesses, including Ariana Grande, Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Britney Spears.
Plus: Kid Rock strikes back at the Beyhive, unretouched photos from a Jennifer Lopez shoot surface online and author J.K. Rowling speaks up on behalf of Madonna. Be sure to also see which stars are performing on TV today.
Selena Gomez is currently breaking the internet with her stunning V magazine cover but let's not forget about the divas that went before her. We've put together a gallery of the publication's best pop star covers.
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! We’re taking a look at some of the major pop couples that are undoubtedly exchanging presents, gleefully holding hands and, um, probably doing some other stuff on this blessed day of romance.


text:
Get the digital magazine on your device!
FREE TRIAL – Limited time only
Researchers at Bristol University have developed a new technique in quantum computing, bringing superfast problem-solvers closer to reality »
In what is best described as a flash memory willy-waving demo, Kingston has unveiled a 1TB USB thumbdrive -- that’s over a thousand gigabytes on your keyring »
Here's Syria's three-year-old civil war -- mapped in all its morbid chaos »
Wired.co.uk reviews the Samsung Galaxy K zoom »


text:
Microsoft said it would speed up SP2 distribution to meet its self-imposed goals, having distributed just one-fifth of its planned installations a month after launch.
Microsoft on Tuesday said that as of last week it had distributed 20 million copies of Windows XP Service Pack 2, last month's comprehensive security update to the company's flagship operating system.
On Aug. 6, the company set a goal of distributing 100 million copies within two months through its automatic update service alone. That projection didn't include installations of the upgrade downloaded from the Windows Update Web site.
Despite being 80 million copies short--even counting Windows Update distributions--Microsoft said it was still on track to meet its goal. The company will be increasing the rate at which automatic update notifications go out.
"Microsoft is aggressively monitoring and managing the download of SP2, and the numbers of downloads will increase per day over time," a Microsoft spokesman said. "It's not as if the rate stays constant. Microsoft is on track to do 80 million in the next month."
Microsoft clarified that the two-month period began Aug. 18, when SP2 began rolling out via the automatic update service, giving Microsoft a full month still to reach its goal.
Automatic update figures represent mostly consumers and small business customers, according to Microsoft.
Following concerns over SP2 by both IT managers and computer makers, large companies have prevailed on Microsoft to block the update from installing automatically.
Security experts, while urging people to embrace the update to protect themselves against Internet hazards, have warned that it could wreak some havoc of its own.
"Service Pack 2 makes significant changes to improve the security of Windows XP, and these changes may have negative effects on some programs and Windows functionality," US-CERT (the U.S. Computer Security Readiness Team), a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, advised late last month. "Before you install Service Pack 2, back up your important data and consult your computer manufacturer's web site for information about Service Pack 2."
One analyst said companies' apprehension about those negative effects would make it tougher for Microsoft to reach its goal.
"It's not that companies aren't accepting SP2--they should, since they demanded it," said Steve O'Halloran, vice president of AssetMetrix in Ottawa, Canada. "It's that companies are planning the SP2 deployment as if it's another operating system. And in some ways, it really should be viewed that way, because there are business applications that experience interference from SP2. So the 20 million figure hopefully is an indication that companies are sitting back and figuring out how to do this right."
Even if Microsoft achieves its goal of 100 million SP2 installations, that still won't cover the whole XP user base, much less the Windows world as a whole.
Of Microsoft's approximately 390 million operating-system installations around the world, Windows XP Pro constitutes 26.1 percent, and Windows XP Home 24.7 percent, according to IDC.
SP2 remains irrelevant for the remaining 49.2 percent of Windows users unless they upgrade. That total is composed of Windows 2000 Professional (17.5 percent), Windows 98 (14.9 percent), Windows Me (6.5 percent), Windows 95 (5.4 percent), and Windows NT Workstation (4.9 percent).


text:
Too Faced Lace Palette May 2017
Too Faced Just Revealed a Sexy New Product Coming Soon
You might recall that back in March, Too Faced cofounder Jerrod Blandino revealed a sneak peek of sexy lace compacts. Now, he's sharing yet another glimpse at lace-embossed beauty swag. "Workin' 9 to 5," said the makeup mogul in the caption to the above image, providing no other details.
Fans are already eagerly speculating what the product could be. "I really hope this is a Dolly Parton collab," said one commenter, who picked up on the caption's possible reference to one of the performer's songs. "It looks like Neapolitan ice cream and I hope it smells like it too," shared another. Honestly, we'd be quite satisfied if this item was inspired by either of those themes. Stay tuned for updates as they become available.


text:
Honda Aircraft Company has delivered the first HondaJet into Europe. The announcement was made during a ceremonial delivery at AERO 2016, which is taking place in Friedrichshafen, Germany from April 20-23.
The first HondaJet to enter service in Europe will be operated by Rheinland Air Service, the exclusive HondaJet dealer for Central Europe.
According to the company, the HondaJet was developed from a clean sheet design and incorporates advanced technologies and innovations.
The HondaJet Over-The-Wing Engine Mount (OTWEM) configuration, natural-laminar flow wing and composite fuselage were developed from long-term Honda research activities.
The company says these innovations combine to make the HondaJet the fastest, most spacious and most fuel-efficient jet in its class.
The HondaJet is manufactured at Honda Aircraft Company’s world headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The HA-420 HondaJet received FAA type certification in December 2015 and immediately began customer deliveries in North America.
In the picture above: Honda Aircraft Company President and CEO Michimasa Fujino participates in a ceremonial delivery with Johannes Graf von Schaesberg, chairman and CEO of Rheinland Air Service.


text:
Over the weekend one of Nintendo’s website servers got hacked temporarily. The hack attack was less severe than the hack that affected Sony’s PlayStation Network. The hack that Nintendo was hit with did not lead to the leak of sensitive information or cause any operational damage.
The hacker group Lulzsec claimed responsibility to breaking into some of Sony’s websites and stole customer information. The same group posted data on the Internet claiming that it was one of Nintendo’s “server configuration files.” Lulzsec said that they were not targeting Nintendo but they said that they hope Nintendo plugs the gap.


text:
I just came across this announcement from Midwest Tapes regarding Warner DVDs from movies released theatrically.
For library users, those who cannot purchase these DVDs will not only not be able to see the movies on the release date, but also will lose the extras that make watching the DVD version so interesting.
What do you think of this decision?
We have recently learned that Warner Home Video will no longer distribute theatrical releases to libraries or home video rental stores until 28 days after they release the movies for sale at retailers. This Warner Home Video policy applies to all public libraries and video rental outlets such as Redbox, Netflix, and Blockbuster.
In addition to being released 28 days after the retail version, Warner’s rental version DVDs and Blu-rays will not contain bonus features or extras. However, we understand that there will be a significant price reduction for these products, apparently amounting to an average $4 per DVD title and $8 per Blu-ray title (see cost breakdown below).
Warner Home Video has announced that it may seek to enforce its new policy by auditing its distribution partners’ sales. Additionally, Warner may require retailers, like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target, to limit the number of copies of a new release that may be sold to a single customer.
Please note that Warner’s new policy will only impact titles that have a theatrical release, perhaps amounting to about 12 titles per year. Non-theatrical Warner releases will not be affected by this policy.
Below are the first three Warner theatrical titles affected. Note that Warner’s rental versions will feature rental artwork.


text:
Last year's "NBA Draft Combine" for NBA 2K10 - a paid downloadable mode that went out before the game's release - will be part of NBA 2K11's main game this year, according to a 2K Sports community manager.
Today over Twitter, 2K's Ronnie Singh proffered that last year's Draft Combine - a novel way to get gamers involved pre-release - wouldn't go out ahead of the game for NBA 2K11.
Draft Combine allowed gamers to develop a prospect for NBA 2K10's "My Player" mode in a series of drills and scrimmages pre-release, so that he'd be ready for the league on day one. This year, it'll go out with the main game on day of release.
That said, contacted by Kotaku this afternoon, Singh also indicated 2K Sports still has plans for a free, pre-release download but didn't characterize it as DLC as most understand the term - being a game extension or add-on. Pressed for details, neither he nor 2K would confirm anything, but it seems to be a more robust demo than is typically released.


text:
Georgian Prime Minister will participate in several events within the scope of the Davos International Economic Forum. PM will meet with the representatives of large business circles.
Giorgi Gakharia, Prime Minister of Georgia participated in a Panel Discussion along with the representatives of the European Commission. The topic of discussion will be the opportunities that Europe and the EU create for the EaP countries.
Meetings with business circles, representatives of large companies such as the City group will also be held today.
Prime Minister’s meeting is planned with Angel Gurría, the Secretary-General of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Georgia will host the event of the aforementioned organization next year. Today’s meeting will be an important opportunity to discuss issues related to the event.


text:
A new study from Intercom shows the stakes are high for customer support and overall customer experience (CX) this holiday season
The Australian crypto exchange said while it had no exposure to FTX, it was "not immune" to its fallout.
The Central Bank of Argentina has issued a new set of rules for operators of digital wallets in the country. Customers of companies like Uala, a wallet popular in Argentina,…
Customer retention begins at onboarding, so use these metrics to help you track the success of your customer onboarding processes.
A new study by Replicant shows 95% of contact centers have already adopted, are implementing, or plan to use automation within the next year.
AI-powered Freshchat is a tool that helps customer-support (CX) employees expedite calls and includes a unified customer record bank.
Elevate your enterprise data technology and strategy at Transform 2021. Conversational AI startup Cognigy today announced that it closed a $44 million series B funding round led by Insight Partners,…


text:
Many people in the banking industry are very excited about mobile banking. At conferences, in reports and in news articles for industry insiders, there is near monolithic agreement that within a few years everybody will be banking using their smartphones.
There’s just one small group that isn’t convinced: The overwhelming majority of consumers.
Lightspeed Research recently asked 10,000 people whether they believed having the ability to manage their finances on their mobile phones was important. About 80 percent of them said no.
[Related Article: Smartphones Changing the Way You Pay]
Only about four percent said that mobile banking was “very important to them,” and about ten percent said it was “somewhat important.” (The numbers vary a bit by credit card issuer.)
Meanwhile the plurality of people, approaching 50 percent of most bank customers, just don’t care. They find mobile banking “Very unimportant,” the report found.
[Resource: Get your free Credit Report Card]
This less-than-rosy outlook for smartphone banking was backed up recently by Rahu Gupta, president of Fiserv Inc., a data company for the financial services industry. People aren’t picking up on mobile banking because they still don’t trust that it’s safe, Gupta said at a symposium organized by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
That could cause problems for banks, which are counting on mobile and online banking to reduce their costs.
“We see a big trust issue, and that is leading to adoption barriers,” Gupta said, according to American Banker. “If the consumer takes a pass on mobile, we’re all in trouble financially.”
[Featured Product: Looking for credit cards for fair credit?]
Image: Johan Larsson, via Flickr.com


text:
When Wendy’s decided to remake its 42-year-old hamburger, the chain agonized over every detail. A pickle chemist was consulted. Customers were quizzed on their lettuce knowledge. And executives went on a cross-country burger-eating tour.
The result? Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy, named after late Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas.
The burger — with extra cheese, a thicker beef patty, a buttered bun, and hold the mustard, among other changes — made its debut in restaurants Monday.
“Our food was already good,” said Denny Lynch, a Wendy’s spokesman. “We wanted it to be better. Isn’t that what long-term brands do? They reinvent themselves.”
For Wendy’s Co., based in Dublin, Ohio, reinvention is critical. That’s why executives at the 6,600-restaurant chain spent the past 2 ½ years going over burger minutiae during an undertaking they call “Project Gold Hamburger.” That included deciding whether to switch from white onions on its burgers to red (they did), to change the fat/lean ratio of the meat (they didn’t), or to go with plain or crinkled pickles (they picked crinkled.)
Wendy’s is trying to boost lackluster sales and fight growing competition from much bigger rival McDonald’s on one end and expanding fast-casual chains such as Five Guys on the other.
Part of the problem is that Americans in the economic downturn are being pickier about how they spend their dining-out dollars. But the biggest issue is that Wendy’s, which hadn’t changed its burger since the chain began in 1969, let its food offerings get stale while competitors updated their menus.
Still, it can be risky to tweak an old favorite. The past is littered with examples of this, including New Coke and Clear Pepsi, which were pulled from store shelves because customers didn’t like them. Wendy’s itself stumbled a few years ago when it rolled out breakfast foods. The company now says its mistake was offering omelets and pancakes, which aren’t conducive to eating on the go.
“We have a lot of catching up to do in some areas,” said Gerard Lewis, Wendy’s head of new product development. “But after we launch this hamburger there will be folks who need to catch up to us.”
How it all began
Project Gold Hamburger started around early 2009, shortly after hedge fund magnate Nelson Peltz bought Wendy’s and combined it with Arby’s. The marriage ultimately failed, with Peltz selling Arby’s to a private-equity firm this summer.
It was clear that Wendy’s had lost its way. In six of the past 11 quarters, the company has reported lower or flat revenue at restaurants open at least a year, a key measure of a company’s growth. And after Thomas died in 2002, Wendy’s struggled to find a new face for ads, at one point running bizarre commercials featuring a man wearing a red pigtailed wig.
Wendy’s also faces strong competition from McDonald’s, which has snatched customers from rivals by remaking itself into a hip, healthy place to eat, with smoothies, Wi-Fi and coffee drinks. Last year, McDonald’s had 49.5 percent of the fast-food burger market in the U.S, up from 41.6 percent in 2002, according to research firm Technomic. During the same period, Wendy’s share fell to 12.8 percent from 14 percent. Burger King’s fell to 13.3 percent from 17 percent.
Anxious to reverse the decline, Wendy’s polled more than 10,000 people about their likes and dislikes in hamburgers. Surveys showed that people like Wendy’s food but thought the brand hadn’t kept up with the times. So, executives were shipped off to eat at burger joints around the country to measure burger characteristics like fatty flavor, salty flavor and whether the bun fell apart.
“I’ve traveled more with this burger than I have in my entire life,” said Shelly Thobe, Wendy’s director of hamburgers and new platforms.


text:
The PlayStation 4 Launch Day set has already sold out from the pre-orders. There's still the standard non-Launch Day set.
Then there are the other PS4 Launch Day Bundle Sets which are now made available. I expect them to sell out soon.
If you're still going for the XBox One, it's still available for pre-orders.


text:
This new range features designs celebrating the University, achievements by its academics and alumni and artefacts from Cambridge University Library on ethically and sustainably produced clothing and accessories. International shipping is available.
Take advantage of a special alumni discount for the Endellion String Quartet's superb concerts, these concerts are all held on Wednesdays. The dates for 2017 are 15 February, 15 March, 26 April and 24 May.
Cambridge alumni and former postdocs can login to access over 900 specially prepared, online, animated, video lectures and case studies by leading experts, thanks to Cambridge Judge Business School's Library.
The University Library is delighted to announce increased alumni access to academic research. In addition to the longstanding right of MAs to borrow books from the Library, alumni will now be able to access a huge range of academic work online and free of charge.


text:
During the past week, a colleague in the cybersecurity industry – someone I respect – messaged me, stating, “they [Facebook] will be able to read my WhatsApp messages. I expect to see targeted ads based on my chat.” I did, of course, point out that the end-to-end encryption meant this was not possible; however, I did add that caution should be used when using Facebook Messenger.
The new change, as clarified since the confusion, means that WhatsApp is being commercialized in the sense that business communications and transactions may use a hybrid of Facebook servers and WhatsApp. And given that most of WhatsApp users are likely to also have the Facebook app installed, then it’s probable that contacts and device information are already being shared with Facebook, so leaving WhatsApp does little to prevent Facebook from accessing the data in question anyway.
The exodus of people switching to Telegram, Signal, and similar apps due to privacy concerns over the change in policy actually demonstrates a lack of understanding, or more importantly, a lack of willingness to understand the actual changes being made. Changes that, incidentally, are now being delayed from February to May due to the backlash.
In moving to other apps, I wonder how many people took the time to read the privacy policies of the apps they are moving to? My hunch is ‘not many’. Did they jump from the frying pan into the fire? And did they ask how these reportedly more privacy-conscious apps are going to monetize their service and become profitable companies? After all, they are not doing it just for fun.
There have been industry groups that have attempted to create a standard to simplify the language and readability of privacy policies, but as the privacy policies above show, there is still significant room for improvement. For example, the financial services industry in some countries has been regulated to ensure financial products explain terms in short, easy-to-understand statements to avoid the mis-selling of products to consumers. It seems prudent for other sectors to adopt such policies as well.


text:
The exciting LG Rollable and Rainbow could put the brand back on the map in H1 2021
LG has been desperately trying to squeeze a profit out of its mobile division for the last few years, but even though the company recently confirmed the imminent outsourcing of its low to mid-end smartphone designs and production, the 2021 spiritual successors to the 5G-enabled Velvet and Wing will undoubtedly remain in-house.
For the time being, however, there's absolutely no indication that these exciting devices will be called LG Velvet 2 and Wing 2, with the Korea-based tech giant instead planning to adopt unique Rainbow and Rollable labels.
That's according to a number of recent reports, the latest of which highlights that LG Rollable is merely a tentative name for a potentially game-changing product scheduled to see daylight at some point in the "first half" of 2021. The somewhat mysterious ultra-thin and lightweight handset could be preceded to stores by a more conventional flagship almost certainly branded LG Rainbow and a budget-friendly Q83 model with built-in 5G support.
Who's ready to rock and roll?
This may sound unlikely for a company that has yet to unveil a single direct rival for Samsung's Galaxy (Z) Fold or Z Flip lineups, but LG purportedly aims to beat its arch-enemy to the punch when it comes to so-called "rollable" (or extendable) mobile devices.
TCL all the way back in March, followed by Oppo just last month. One of these two companies, as well as other major China-based industry players, could end up releasing a rollable phone in limited numbers before LG, but Samsung is expected to focus on expanding its foldable portfolio next year and only take things to the next level in 2022.The first brand to showcase such a product (albeit not in a final, commercial-ready form) was
LG Rollable concept renders
The key difference between a rollable and a foldable device is that the former can change its shape (at least in theory) without causing display wrinkles or deformations of any sort. A sliding mechanism is needed in order to pull that off, but just like any moving part, that may well impact the long-term durability of these undeniably eye-catching products.
Still, LG clearly feels rollable designs could generate high demand, possibly among the same people who found the quirky Wing alluring, reportedly moving ahead at full steam with a 6.8-inch phone capable of stretching out to cover up to a 7.4-inch screen area.
The LG Rainbow will be "based" on the Velvet's design
While the exact release schedule and specifications of the LG Rollable are still under wraps, the LG Rainbow is tipped for a March 2021 commercial debut (at least in South Korea) with a Snapdragon 888 processor on deck.
This very interesting-sounding slab will essentially follow in the footsteps of both the LG Velvet and V60 ThinQ 5G, finding inspiration in the former's objectively magnificent design while packing Qualcomm's next ultra-high-end chipset.
Obviously, that means the LG Rainbow will most likely be priced closer to the $900 starting tag of the Snapdragon 865-powered V60 than the $600 mark of the upper mid-range Velvet. The only other thing we "know" about the Rainbow is that it will "come with Wacom's AES (Active Electrostatic)" stylus, although it's unclear if that means the phone will be sold alongside a stylus as standard or simply support the aforementioned writing accessory for folks willing to purchase it separately.
Another (semi) interesting device rumored to come out by the end of June 2021 is the LG Q83 5G. If the name is any indication, this could offer slightly humbler specs at an even lower price than the already reasonable LG Q92 5G, also known as the K92 5G.
Much like the Q92/K92, the LG Q83/K93 is expected to sport a, cough, "unique rear camera design", targeting "both domestic and foreign markets" with "excellent hardware specifications compared to its price." The question is will the specs be "excellent" enough and the price low enough for LG to take on Samsung's 5G-capable Galaxy A-series handsets?
17 Apr, 2021More evidence that LG Rollable was pretty far in production before it was cancelled
23 Feb, 2021The LG Rollable might never be released as development is paused
15 Jan, 2021LG CEO on if the company is exiting the smartphone business
11 Jan, 2021The LG Rollable has been shown off for the first time in a teaser video
17 Dec, 2020LG Rollable's premium specs and eye-watering price have leaked


text:
Do photographer’s care if their name is attached to their images, or just that the images generate some revenue for them? While doing some recent searches, I discovered it can sometimes be very difficult to determine who created an image.
Three senior news executives have joined Kevin Smith’s new media company, The Mega Agency
. Smith is delighted to announce that Paul Tetley, David Leigh and Karlo Pastrovic have joined the Mega team.
, a London-based image licensing startup launched two years ago, has announced that it now has more than three million images in its collection. “Our three millionth image was uploaded by a photographer in China, of a family playing ping pong in a Beijing park,” says Picfair founder Benji Lanyado.
A US-based celebrity photo agency is currently looking for a buyer interested in taking over its operations or acquiring its archives. Founded in 2003 by a music photographer, the company has established reputable and strong relationships with publications, artists and publicists. With just one highly motivated owner who wishes to retire, it is profitable, has no debt and is reasonably priced. A buyer could either manage the company as an independent archive or integrate the archive (1.4 Million images, fully captioned in English) to its own collection.
If you’re curious as to why Shutterstock’s stock price keeps rising while from the perspective of many in in our industry Shutterstock’s long term growth prospects don’t appear to be that favorable, David Trainer offers some interesting insights. See here
. Trainer is CEO of New Constructs (www.newconstructs.com
), an independent research firm that leverages proprietary technology to find key insights from the Financial Footnotes of 10Ks and 10Qs. After studying his analysis here are a few of my thoughts.
, the world’s largest provider of royalty-free stock videos, music tracks and sound effects, as well as millions of photos, has announced the appointment of Jason Teichman
as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer and Board Director. In this role, Teichman will help the company continue to accelerate its growth by scaling its creative marketplace, leveraging its unique relationship with the artist community, and furthering its investments in emerging media such as drone footage and 360-degree video.
, the world's leading multicultural stock photography agency, has recently announced the launch of a new website with a focus on world-class curated royalty free imagery
and motion clips. The new Blendimages.com
offers an improved user interface, a simplified pricing model, large image previews, and is the only place to search the entire Blend Images collection.
RM photographer working with the major stock production companies may have some very difficult decisions to make in the near future.
With the rise of Offset
, AdobeStock Premium
and iStock Signature
it seems that RM photographers that are not also owners or shareholders of production companies, like Blend Images
, Image Source
and Tetra Images
, may find that they can earn more by moving their collections to RF.
A reader sent me a note recently indicating that after seeing an Offset
promotion he had asked Shutterstock
the following question: “Do you think, clients - professional or not - are expecting this level of imagery from a high end collection?” The images shown in the promotion were taken in Thailand by Brooklyn-based photographer Lucy Schaeffer
. The Offset tagline said “her images mix refined, understated luxury with the country’s beautiful and dramatic scenery. Be Transported.” The following are links here
show the two images that were shown in the promotion.
has reported Q2 2016 revenue of $124.4 million up from $104.4 million compared to Q2 2015. The growth is due mainly to new customers and increased activity by enterprise clients.
This is an update on the story we published last week
concerning Carol Highsmith’s copyright infringement suit
against Getty Images and other defendants.
has been acquired by Bytedance, a digital tech company based in Beijing. The stock agency will continue to operate independently as a photo, video and commercial licensing agency serving editorial media, advertisers, creative agencies and brands, in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The needs of stock photo customers are changing. Successful agencies and distributors are adapting to those needs. Increasingly, customers are turning away from the large collections that purport to have everything. They are moving toward smaller, tightly curated collections that have a narrow focus in terms of the subject matter they represent. Aurora Photos
is one such agency.
that photographer Carol M. Highsmith
has filed a copyright infringement suit in New York against Getty Images
. Damages could be worth $1 billion.
investors often ask my opinion of stock photo industry’s future and the potential for Shutterstock’s growth. I tell them growth will slow significantly. Demand from customers willing to pay for the images they use will decline. Shutterstock has grabbed about all the customers they can from Getty so there is not much potential for growth there. Adobe will take a much bigger share of the market. Recently an investor asked me, “What would you do if you were Shutterstock?” Here’s what I told him.
has created a infographic
timeline showing the History of Stock Photography. They are actively seeking feedback and interaction on the infographic so that we can gather as much information as possible.
, has implemented a significant improvement to its website security by switching all site pages to "HTTPS" including the dedicated mobile website and the Dreamstime applications for iOS and Android.
In response to changes in the industry and client requirements Africa Media Online
has introduced a new simplified pricing model. The South Africa based picture library has moved away from the complexities of narrowly defined RM usages and is now offering clients a simple procedure for establishing what an image costs.
Shutterstock has launched a new keyword suggestion tool for iPhone that leverages a combination of metadata (man) and pixel data (machine) to suggest more relevant and accurate keywords for images that are uploaded in the Shutterstock contributor app
To deal with increased customer demand for simpler, easier to understand pricing, and the general decline in the use of Rights Managed images industry wide, plainpicture
in Germany has introduced a new pricing model they call (RS) plainpicture Rights Simplified
. has announced an API integration with Google. The image licensing deal provides Google’s digital and mobile display advertising products, including Adsense, Adwords, and Admob, with access to Shutterstock’s collection of more than 90 million images for license.
A few iStock contributors tell me that since the introduction of subscription sales in March 2015 downloads
as reported on the contributor’s portfolio page no longer tell the whole story.
Paul Banwell, Senior Director, Contributor Relations for Getty Images has just sent contributors the following letter regarding Getty’s directions for the future. This information should be of interest to every stock image producer and distributor regardless of their relationships with Getty Images.
Downloads from iStock continued to decline in the first half of 2016. Since 2011, I have been tracking the number of downloads and images in the collection of 430 of iStock’s leading contributors. At the end of June 2016 these contributors had between 56,465,000 and 58,967,000 total downloads during their iStock careers. iStock has over 100,000 contributors, but despite the small number in this group we believe the images licensed by this 430 represent almost one-third of all the images iStock has licensed since the company began operations.
A couple weeks ago I wrote an articles asking “What Is ‘Commercial’ Stock Photography.”
I questioned how big the demand is for “candid,” “natural” and “real life” grab shots of what happens in front of the photographer rather than staged shots that look real but are carefully posed with great production values. A reader suggested I contact Jerry Taven who founded Nonstock about a fifteen years ago.


text:
First, there was the 2002 Lincoln Blackwood. Now, there's the 2006 Lincoln Mark LT. And just as buyers of the...
Ford is getting overwhelmed, a problem most automakers would envy.
Read This Article
Hybrid naysayers constantly say hybrids aren't worth the extra cost because it will take years to recover the premium paid for their high-tech vehicles versus a non-hybrid equivalent.
The redesigned Navigator sees a price hike for 2015.
At the Detroit Auto Show, Lincoln unveiled its MKZ concept, a lightly veiled version of the next car it will introduce.


text:
Campbell Soup Co. on Tuesday raised its earnings guidance for the year, but cut its sales outlook as it reported its profit sank 22% in the latest quarter.
Adjusted earnings are expected to grow to $2.75 to $2.83 a share, compared with previous guidance of $2.53 to $2.58 a share. Sales are now expected to come in down 1% to flat, compared with previous guidance of flat to growth of 1%.
Campbell, the largest soup company in the U.S., has made a variety of moves in the past year meant to jump-start sales growth, including introducing organic varieties of classic products like tomato bisque, reducing the use of artificial ingredients, and pledging to remove high-fructose corn syrup from more foods.
Among the big U.S. food companies, Campbell has been one of the most aggressive in responding to rapid changes in how Americans eat, but its embrace of simpler, more natural products has so far had limited payoff.
"While organic sales for the quarter were comparable to a solid prior year, we recognize that we have more work ahead to improve our growth trajectory," said Chief Executive Denise Morrison, though she did note the company saw a third consecutive quarter of adjusted gross margin expansion."
In all, Campbell's profit fell to $194 million, or 62 cents a share, from $248 million, or 78 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, per-share earnings from continuing operations were 95 cents.
Sales fell 2.3% from a year earlier to $2.2 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast 76 cents a share in profit on $2.21 billion in revenue.
In the quarter ended October, organic sales were flat, as higher selling prices and a reduction in promotional spending were offset by volume declines.
In the fresh segment, sales increased 8%, but were down 3% excluding the acquisition of Garden Fresh Gourmet, on declines in carrot ingredients, fresh carrots and refrigerated soup, partly offset by gains in Bolthouse Farms premium refrigerated beverages and salad dressings.
Sales for the global baking and snacking segment dropped 6%, hurt by currency translation, but sales of Pepperidge Farm products increased as gains in Goldfish crackers, fresh bakery and frozen products were partly offset by declines in cookies.
The simple meals and beverages segment saw its sales decrease 2%. U.S. soup sales decreased 3%, driven by declines in ready-to-serve soups and broth, partly offset by gains in condensed soup. Sales of U.S. beverages decreased primarily due to declines in V8 V-Fusion beverages, partly offset by gains in V8 Splash beverages. Sales of other U.S. simple meals increased, driven by gains in Prego pasta sauces, Campbell's dinner sauces and the new Prego and Pace ready meals.
Gross margin decreased to 34.3% from 35.3%. Excluding items impacting comparability in the current year, adjusted gross margin improved 2.6 percentage points, driven by productivity improvements, higher selling prices, improved supply chain performance and lower promotional spending, partly offset by cost inflation.
Shares, up 13% this year, were inactive premarket.
Write to Anne Steele at email@example.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires


text:
Wired Productions have today announced that the PlayStation exclusive Zombie Campaign DLC will be released for Tiny Troopers on September 27th.
This DLC will let players get their hands on eight brand new zombie-laden missions which involve various challenges to repel the army of the dead. Players will engage in operations such as assembling and deploying troops to eliminate the supernatural invasion, protecting soldiers against the incoming stream of relentless undead, surviving against all odds until backup can arrive, and making sure all operating systems are still up-and-running throughout the zombie apocalypse. Players will also get the opportunity to unlock brand new trophies!
Take a look at the DLC trailer and let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.


text:
In 2011, Singapore was bitten by the cafe bug—hard.
Seeking to replicate Melbourne’s cafe model here in Singapore, independently owned and operated cafes began sprouting up every other week. From the CBD to the heartlands, no neighbourhood went untouched.
With the arrival of cafes came changes in our everyday behaviours. A culture of cafe-hopping took off, as did brunch. Rather than hang out at malls, Singaporeans began heading to cafes, which in turn introduced them to third wave specialty coffee.
From the bean’s roasting to the barista’s skill, specialty coffee’s production methods are considered artisanal, sometimes even scientific. Often, bean origin is traceable, and the importance of sustainable sourcing is touted as one of the key differentiators from kopi.
Eventually, cafes and roasters like Nylon Coffee Roasters, Strangers’ Reunion, Dutch Colony, Pacamara, Group Therapy, Common Man Coffee Roasters and Chye Seng Huat Hardware set up shop and made a name for themselves.
Unfortunately, these cafes which have stood the test of time are the exception, not the norm. 6 years later, cafes in Singapore resemble stale bread more than they do Melbourne’s vibrant cafe culture.
Cafes continue to pop up, although at a much lower frequency than they did before. Save for a few, drinks and food menus pretty much resemble one another. And if you asked a random stranger on the street what the difference between a long black and kopi is, there’s a high chance they wouldn’t know the answer.
So the question is, what went wrong? How has so little changed with the coffee industry in recent years, and what can we realistically expect for the future?
Some believe that the problem with Singapore’s cafe culture lies in a lack of vision and ambition.
Over the phone, Grant from Mercanta, one of Singapore’s leading green (unroasted) coffee bean suppliers, tells me that “the problem with many Singaporean cafe companies is that they start small, and stay small.”
Cafes in Singapore sometimes opt to roast their beans in-house and to do this, they have to buy a bean roaster.
“Start-up coffee roasting companies used to buy roasters with a capacity of 12 kgs per batch,” says Grant. “This was the standard first machine for a new company.”
However, in line with the needs of the market and the growing trend for in-store roasting, “Many new roasters now buy machines with a capacity of just 5 or 6 kilos, or even 1 or 2 kilos.”
This, according to Grant, may be limiting the ability of their business to grow in the short to medium term, especially if they have ambitions to go into wholesale.
Of the 20 over companies that Mercanta supplies beans to, only 5 or 6 of them are viable businesses like Two Degrees North or Dutch Colony, buying up to 600 kg of beans a month. The rest buy only a fifth of that amount.
“For cafes, much of their capital goes into getting a good espresso machine rather than a good sized roaster which can easily cost up to $60,000,” he adds.
Given that most cafe leases in Singapore expire within 2 to 3 years, the pressure is on for cafes to break even within a year, hence explaining why cafes tend to play it safe and avoid making large capital investments.
However, Grant believes that playing safe can also hamstring their growth. “Eventually, cafes find that they lack the capacity to gear up and expand further when needed.”
As for Will Leow, founder of Pacamara, Knockhouse Supply Co, and now the Alchemist, the problem with cafes boils down to a lack of focus.
“What is their USP (unique selling point)? For everything I do, I make sure I know my USP: comfort. Many people just start cafes and they’re known for nothing but convenience. People visit them because they just happen to be there.”
Perhaps this is why almost half of the 369 cafes and coffee houses that opened in 2011 have since closed.
For a city that’s “pushing hard to be the centre of innovation”, there has also been a glaring absence of it in Singapore’s coffee and cafe industry. To call it creatively starved would be an understatement.
Adrian Khong, the founder of Jewel Coffee, shares that “between 2008 to 2012 and 2013, there was a lot more innovation.” Since then, “The rate that we’re seeing new things coming up for coffee has slowed down.”
“Maybe it’s become too much for the consumer to handle,” he guesses, though it’s not clear what he means by this.
Will has a more pessimistic take on the situation. Putting it bluntly, “There has been no innovation,” he says. “It’s the same everywhere. The layout in coffee stores is the same, even the machines used are also the same.”
To Will, most cafe owners aren’t in favour of taking risks and breaking the mould, and opt instead to follow a tried-and-true pattern by sticking to the knowledge of what works.
For the smaller players at least, it seems like the next 6 years might be just as uneventful as the last. But for the industry’s big boys, they’re moving quietly under the radar with plans to reach the masses and put Singapore on the map.
While a cafe culture may be prevalent here, many coffee players are still trying to tap into a larger, mainstream Singaporean population.
Adrian, whose Jewel Coffee has opened 11 franchise outlets across Singapore, tells me that they haven’t even reached the masses yet.
It’s for this reason that we hardly see third wave coffee players in shopping malls. “The mall owners don’t get it,” he tells me, “And if they don’t get it, they won’t allow us to expose our product to the masses.”
“In places like the CBD where people are more sophisticated, there’s a proliferation of specialty coffee stores, but how many CBDs do we have?”
One strategy which has been widely employed of late has been to tap into Nespresso’s coffee-pod market.
While Nespresso has long been seen as the antithesis to specialty coffee, a prime example of convenience trumping quality, specialty coffee players are gradually coming to accept that they can’t ignore its tremendous popularity.
Enabled by the gradual expiration of Nespresso’s patents beginning in 2011, companies like Perk, Hook and Providore Coffee have turned the competition on its head and come out with their own Nespresso-compatible range of pods for those who prefer instant, fuss-free coffee.
When I ask Paul Berthelsen, the founder of Perk Coffee, how sales have been for his coffee pods, he declines to reveal any numbers but does say one thing: “Good.”
One reason underlying the push to become more mainstream is the fact that there are over 40 small-time coffee roasteries currently under utilised in Singapore. Kang Yi Yang, who co-runs 2 Degrees North Coffee Co, one of the larger specialty coffee roasters and wholesalers in Singapore, only roasts a few days a week.
At present, specialty coffee sees much less in demand than commercial coffee which still occupies the lion share.
Hence to save costs and utilise their equipment more economically, 2 Degrees shares roasting space with Santino Coffee Specialists (which is also owned and operated by his family). Unlike 2 Degrees North, Santino not only roasts specialty beans but also also supplies gourmet/commercial coffee to it’s customers.
To put things into perspective, Yi Yang operates a 1 kg and 12 kg roaster for 2 Degrees’ specialty coffee business while Santino operates a 60 kg roaster to service its commercial clients.
“We roast up to a few hundred kilograms of coffee beans a week. They roast easily over a few thousand,” he tells me.
It’s a shame, especially as Paul reports that Singapore’s coffee is well on par with that from Australia. Given that he’s an Aussie and a farm owner in Kenya where some of the best beans are grown, I’m inclined to believe him.
“We’re way better than Brisbane and Perth in terms of coffee.”
As for Melbourne, the coffee capital of the world, not so much, he says. But the potential is there. Already, we roast the exact same green beans as them, draw from the same suppliers, have the same roasting facilities, and use the same espresso machines.
The difference he says, boils down to barista skill. “Baristas, the final step in the product, are where Melbourne still has the edge,” he tells me.
As Pauline from Liberty Coffee confirms over email, “There is a well-documented shortfall of manpower in the F&B industry. Few baristas truly exhibit the depth of knowledge, the skill and the showmanship the profession demands.”
Fortunately, this is an issue that can be fixed.
In 2011, Pamela Chng founded Bettr Barista, an organisation specialising in coffee education, training, and international certification.
Since then, they’ve trained over 3000 students to be baristas, some of whom have even gone on to participate in world championships.
These competitions are a big deal, and involve entire teams of people including a coach, his/her assistants, a barista, a coffee bean roaster, and the coffee bean producer and farmer.
Just this year, former Bettr Barista student Natasha Shariff placed 4th in the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship, accompanied by Jervis Tan of Kinsmen Coffee who placed 4th in the World Latte Art Championship.
“We’re starting to show that world that we’re taking this coffee business quite seriously,” says Pamela over the phone. “Not only that, we hope to lead the region one day as well.”
Besides raking in prestigious titles, Singapore’s success in these competitions has helped elevate the public’s perception of the coffee industry.
Where once unappealing, the idea of working with coffee is slowly taking off, bringing with it more respect for those involved in the industry.
“More young people want to be a barista,” she shares. “They’re starting to see it as a viable career path. We still have those who underestimate the skills it takes, but the job is also more aspirational than ever.”
At the same time, with most cafes struggling to keep afloat, it’s obvious that coffee education and appreciation has been kept on the backburner all these years.
“Singaporeans have never been discerning,” replies Will when I ask if Singaporeans know the difference between good and bad coffee. “Maybe only 1% know what they’re doing, the other 99% don’t,”—a fact that is as much the fault of cafes as it is the consumer’s.
In fact, do you know why a flat white costs as much as it does?
It all starts with the green coffee. A crucial principle of third wave coffee lies in both paying coffee farmers fairly and being able to tell its story. From the altitude it’s grown at to the size of the harvest from a particular year, this is all information that enriches the experience of consuming specialty coffee.
Hence, not only do roasters pay up to 3 times more for specialty green coffee than commercial green coffee; many of them also make trips to Guatemala, Colombia, Ethiopia and Sumatra every year to connect with farmers. And these trips don’t come cheap.
There are also different skill levels involved for roasting specialty green coffee. “The process for commercial beans is simpler as compared to specialty coffee,” says Yi Yang. “For specialty coffee, the roasting process is tailored to each bean.”
To help ensure the consistency of each roast, Yi Yang employs the use of a specific piece of roasting software that he pays $200 a month for.
Unlike commercial coffee beans, specialty coffee isn’t burnt or sweetened with margarine and sugar like what you find in hawker centers. Rather, priority is placed on roasting them fresh and teasing out the various flavour profiles of each bean.
In comparison to wine, which has around a 200 aromatic and flavour compounds, coffee has over 1,500. From the fruity acidity of high-altitude African coffee to the chocolate nuttiness or even smoky, leathery character of lower altitude south American and Indonesian beans, these are all nuances that put a premium on specialty coffee.
And lastly, you’re paying for the barista’s hard work. “It takes more than a push of a button (which is what Starbucks does) to produce a cup of espresso. [It takes] actual skill,” says Adrian.
Paul (from Perk Coffee) also tells me that “the best cafes teach their baristas to froth the milk at 65 degrees exactly. And there’s no thermometer or anything, they have to go by [touch and habit].”
Save for some places like Chye Seng Huat, few cafes have been able to combine both education and business under one roof.
At present, Chye Seng Huat’s in-house roastery offers customers a peek into the roasting process. Moreover, their coffee bar allows customers a 360-degree view of the baristas at work, as well as an opportunity to speak with them and ask questions.
While this is an example that more cafes should seek to emulate, it’s not enough to expect them to do this on their own. Consumers need to show them the way.
“I have friends in the industry who are interested in delving deeper into coffee education and the perfection of the art,” says Paul. “Why? Because they’re starting to see a growing interest amongst the consumer. They’re observing instances of customers coming in and asking questions about the bean and the coffee.”
He acknowledges that while this is still a niche area and not necessarily appreciated by every cafe-goer, it’s definitely something worth having. After all, knowing your stuff is precisely what third wave coffee is all about.
Of course, moving towards a culture of greater coffee education and appreciation will come at a cost. “We’ll have to start charging more per cup,” says Paul, “If more time is spent on educating and chatting, we won’t be selling as many cups of coffee as we once did.”
That said, basic espresso making and latte art classes can go up to $300 per person, which is indicative of how coffee education could become a potential revenue generator.
So what’s next for Singapore’s coffee and cafe industry? What can we expect to see next year, in three years, or in 5 years time?
Will believes that if there’s any area in which cafes will undergo a revamp, it’ll be to do with enhancing the customer’s cafe experience.
He tells me of his desire to bring in an under-the-counter espresso machine to Alchemist, one that would free up his shop counter space and therefore allow the barista to interact more easily with the customers.
It’s a daring move considering that Singaporeans aren’t exactly the most open to interaction with service staff, though it’s refreshing that Will is seeking to change this. At the same time, he remains doubtful if the market is ready for this and would prefer if a bigger player could test the waters first.
On the other end of the spectrum, for those who just don’t get specialty coffee, rejoice, because it’s about to get a lot more mainstream.
Jewel Coffee, in an attempt to diversify its offerings and appeal to a mass market, is in the works to bring ice-blended drinks and bottled juices to its stores.
Perk Coffee, on top of its current offerings, plans on bringing in coffee add-ons such as matcha powder, cocoa powder and chai turmeric in addition to their online coffee beans.
Singapore’s coffee scene will likely set foot in foreign waters too.
Amongst Singapore’s more established roasters, and cafes, there has been talk about the need to expand overseas given the high cost of doing business in Singapore and the difficulties in depending solely on the relatively small local market for growth.
Today, cafes that know as much about coffee as they do about running a business continue to thrive and seem to be headed for a bigger slice of the pie. As for everyone else, the cafe industry will continue to offer the dream of being your own boss and escaping the 9-to-5 grind.
But while little has changed in Singapore, local players looking to do more (and better) would do well to heed the successes of coffee businesses overseas.
Over in San Francisco, Sudden Coffee has pioneered a new process of creating instant coffee from specialty coffee beans without compromising on flavour. So if you think Nespresso-style pods are convenient, this will blow your mind.
In Bath in the UK, Colonna Labs, which was born from the coffee shop Colonna and Smalls, has partnered with the University of Bath to conduct research on how coffee and brewing water can contribute to the science of sustainability.
So for anyone who wonders how much innovation one can really expect of a food product like specialty coffee, the answer is simple: a lot.
One needs only to stretch their imagination and look beyond the bottom line, something which admittedly remains a challenge for small business owners in Singapore. But with the cafe and coffee industry being as saturated as ever, perhaps taking the risk with something different might actually pay off in the long run.


text:
Superdrug Just Made This Huge Commitment To Inclusive Beauty On The High Street
"Inclusivity" and "diversity" have become buzzwords in recent times. Used as a symbol of "wokeness" by brands which tends to involve one positive action followed by radio silence. But one high street store is committing to permanent change. As Stylist reports, from now on, Superdrug will only stock inclusive beauty brands both online and on its store shelves.
Three years ago, Superdrug asked women of colour about their beauty shopping habits. Two thirds of black and Asian women said the high street failed to "cater for their beauty needs," while 36 percent of respondents felt there was a lack of advice in high street beauty stores. In response, Superdrug launched the #ShadesofBeauty campaign, encouraging brands such as L'Oreal, Maybelline, and Revlon to produce additional shades.
But the shade ranges of some other brands haven't expanded. So, in April, Superdrug wrote to every single one of its suppliers, requesting that base products, including foundation, be suitable for any customer, reports Stylist. All makeup brands were also asked to include warm and cool tones and to remember the diversity of skin tones when releasing products such as concealers and powders.
"Diversity has become a buzzword in the beauty industry over the last few years, but, at Superdrug, we don’t see inclusivity as a trend, it is a fact of life," the company's commercial director, Simon Comins, told the magazine. "In 2019, it is unacceptable that some brands aren’t catering to our diverse and beautiful customer base."
“We want all our customers, no matter what gender, shade, or skin type to be able to get their correct foundation in store and online," he continued. "This is why we challenged our suppliers to be truly inclusive and offer a minimum of 20 shades ranging from pale to dark." According to Comins, Superdrug currently offers over 650 foundations and is hoping to increase this number in the near future.
Although Rihanna's Fenty wasn't the first brand to introduce a wide array of foundation shades, it was among the first high-profile names. (Her Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation launched with 40 shades in 2017.) Now, the likes of Charlotte Tilbury, Pat McGrath, Estée Lauder, and Lancôme all have diverse shade ranges. Estée Lauder's Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup has a whopping 56 options.
“When I started in makeup, brands left inclusivity up to the makeup lines that specialised in it — as if makeup for any skin tone other than white was somehow shrouded in mystery," Terry Barber, director of makeup artistry at MAC, told Vogue, adding: "It was just laziness and elitism.” It's worth noting that MAC's Studio Fix Foundation has always offered 50 colour variations.
But it's not just foundations that need a shift. It's the entire makeup category, including lipsticks, concealers, and contouring products. Any person can tell you that the appearance of a classic red lip differs depending on your skin tone. So why aren't brands waking up?
According to Stylist, two brands — Revolution and Barry M — were the first to reply to Superdrug's letter with a commitment to inclusivity. It's not yet clear how long it will take for each and every name to produce the minimum 20 shades, but let's hope that the next few years will see diversity finally becoming the norm.


text: Cotton Australia and the Australian Cotton Shippers Association have postponed the Australian Cotton Conference on the Gold Coast for another year, until August 2022. The organizations that jointly host the event made the final decision due to the ongoing uncertainty regarding the coronavirus-related restrictions currently and possibly in place. The conference was scheduled to take place on Aug. 3-5 at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre in Queensland, Australia. The 2020 edition had already been canceled. The event brings together farmers, agronomists, researchers, brands and marketers, students, supply chain partners and industry groups. For 2021, the two organizations are now considering holding some smaller, regional events.


text:
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Alan Hartline's family has been involved in the grocery business for decades.
"We've seen a tremendous amount of uptick in buying behaviors from panic buying, to stocking up and changes in the types of items that people are buying," says Hartline.
Some of those items are obvious like sanitizers and cleaning supplies but keeping fresh meat has also been a challenge at Kingma's on Plainfield.
"We're seeing customers that normally would come in and buy a couple pounds of ground beef maybe buy 10 pounds of ground beef; but they'll want it in two pound packages," says Hartline.
Social distancing has also presented another challenge.
"We've got tape lines that help the customer get guided through the 6 foot rule," says Hartline.
But a silver lining is starting to appear, Hartline says he's seen a noticeable difference recently.
"I think for the last week we've seen a little bit of traffic down finally. So, I think as people are staying in more," says Hartline.
That means some of the hard to find items are finally more available.
"We're seeing more normalized shopping. I know even bath tissue at certain stores is now available. We have it available today," says Hartline.
- House Democrats proposing a commission to study US pandemic response
- Rockford company's donation keeps virtual visits going for ICU patients
- Online video conferences are the target of 'Zoom-bombings' amid coronavirus crisis
- Coronavirus live updates, April 1: Michigan reports 1,719 new cases, 78 deaths
- 'Pandemic' scientist says his team has discovered potential cure for COVID-19
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.


text:
Shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) fell up to 3 per cent to Rs 2,542.1 on the BSE in Monday’s intra-day trade after Mukesh Ambani-led oil-to-chemicals (O2C) company on Friday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 16,203 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 (Q4 FY22), up 22.5 per cent over the year-ago period’s Rs 13,227 crore, but slightly short of expectations.
The stock was quoting lower for the sixth straight trading day, down 9 per cent during the period. It had hit a record high of Rs 2,855 on April 29, 2022. In comparison, at 09:25 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 1.5 per cent at 54,039 points.
RIL’s consolidated revenue from operations surged 38.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 2.07 trillion for the reported quarter, which met street estimates, according to Bloomberg.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (ebitda) grew 34.3 per cent YoY to Rs 31,366 crore, driven by O2C (24.8 per cent up YoY) and digital service (25.3 per cent YoY) mainly on account of higher refining earnings in O2C coupled with tariff hike undertaken in December 2021. Revenues and Ebitda for the quarter were its highest ever. CLICK HERE FOR MORE
“Q4FY22 results were below our estimates on account of lower than expected O2C profitability. However, overall commentary remains positive given global refining scenario is favorable in near term as petrol & diesel product cracks are trading at multi-quarter highs,” ICICI Securities said in a note.
Retail segment added 714 new stores with overall stores crossing 15,000 benchmark while revenue surpassed pre-Covid levels.
In the telecom business, while sim consolidation led third consecutive quarter of net subscriber decline, positive surprise was on higher ARPU growth and modest beat at EBITDA levels owing to higher topline.
The ARPU saw a growth of 10.6 per cent QoQ at Rs 167.6, the brokerage said. “We remain positive on the company with investment in new energy verticals being key monitorable going ahead,” it added.


text:
Trade between Asean and the EAEU was $16 billion in 2015.
Commerce Ministry announces a feasibility study on a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union.
Free trade agreement will boost trade.
Cambodia and South Korea sign five agreements.
Negotiations for a free trade agreement with China are to begin next month.
Cambodia and China will launch the first official consultation on a bilateral free trade (FTA) agreement feasibility study in Beijing on Dec 3
Thousands of Cambodian products could soon be shipped duty-free to EAEU market.
The upgraded version of the China-Singapore FTA will take effect on Oct 16.
Australia and Indonesia signed a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) on Monday after years of negotiations.
PM urges China to consider entering a free trade agreement with the Kingdom to spur trade and investment between the two nations.
Officials plead with representatives of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Over 50 business leaders from Hong Kong met with high-ranking Cambodian officials.
Cambodia is seeking a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom.
A meeting of BRICS of emerging economies is expected to rally against trade protectionism.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in appoints his new minister for trade while Washington is seeking to amend the current agreement.


text:
I delivered a keynote talk at a conference in Las Vegas recently. The conference was focused on digital employee communications, and was connected to a much larger event, the Digital Signage Expo (DSE). After the internal communication conference wrapped up, I spent some time walking the Expo floor.
Wandering among the booths from big companies I’ve heard of and small ones that were new to me, I was reminded of just how prevalent digital signage has become and how little it gets mentioned in summaries of digital communication platforms. The menu at the Popeyes Chicken near me is digital. The images move, attracting the eye, while making changes (new menu items and pricing changes, for instance) can be done once and distributed across the network. No need to print and ship hundreds or thousands of new menus. Digital signage is catching on in malls. Digital billboards greet drivers approaching the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge.
Digital signage isn’t new. I remember visiting the offices of Southern California Gas Company in the early 1990s, where communication staff produced the content for signs using PowerPoint. Employees could spend a minute or two catching up on important messages in common areas where the screens were located, or at their desks via their PCs. Today, it’s not unusual to attend a conference where digital signs stream tweets containing the conference hashtag. In fact, when I checked into my hotel in Las Vegas, the massive digital sign behind the front desk displayed a constantly updated waterfall of tweets from guests featuring hashtags the hotel had introduced, focusing on events at their property.
Advances in a number of technologies are making digital signage even more compelling. About five years ago, I saw a fascinating example of a billboard in The Netherlands, that was designed to address a growing problem: Thugs would attack ambulance drivers and paramedics while passersby stood and watched, taking no action. The billboard told just such a story, and with a camera pointed from the billboard to the street, it put those looking at the video into the scene. They were the ones standing around doing nothing. After the action ended, the billboard implored citizens to call for help should they ever encounter the situation in real life.
In another example, a video presented at the Expo showed how far the marriage of location-based marketing and digital signage has come. Women’s Aid???a campaign to end domestic violence???is conveying the message that “If you can see it, you can change it.” The group’s billboard features the face of a battered woman. It’s not a static image; she blinks. Nothing else about the billboard changes as long as nobody looks at it. A camera notices when one person looks at the sign, which causes the bruises to start healing. The more people who notice, the faster the woman’s face returns to normal. A filmstrip at the bottom of the sign features those who are looking at it, which in turn encourages more people to stop and look.
Then the sign adds smartphones to the mix, messaging those in proximity to encourage donations. (Passersby who have not opted into the service sending the message can follow instructions on the billboard to donate.)
You can see the video here:
[vimeo 108381287 w=500 h=281]
Personalized digital signage is surging. At Cisco Systems, digital signs on each floor communicate news and information of interest to the people working on that floor. It’s also tactile; tap a headline and get more information. Tap a video and it starts to play. Some of the displays at the Digital Signage Expo featured interactive signs that come right out of science fiction movies. I played with one that let me move contents around on the screen, increase or decrease its size, start and stop videos, and open new content.
One of the vendors at the show, STRATCACHE, is where IABC member Chuck Gose works; he was instrumental in adding the digital internal communication conference to DSE. “It used to be that digital signage vendors simply sold their hardware and software to communications departments. And these departments were left to figure it out themselves,” Gose, the vice president for corporate communication told me. “I was in those shoes once. No more. That’s one of the reasons I joined STRATACACHE. We are investing real dollars to educate communicators on how to best take advantage of the technology. But not just digital signage alone. It’s important that it’s integrated intelligently with all technology that communicators have access to. We are looking at the best research to provide guidance but also connect communicators with each other to create a learning community. Communicators often learn best from their peers???they just don’t always know who they are.”
One announcement coming out of DSE combined the Internet of Things (IoT), big data and digital signage so retailers can deliver one-on-one experiences for customers based on information derived from their connected devices (like smartphones and wearables). The announcement, from Intel, also addressed the privacy concerns that are sure to arise. Intel sees in-store digital signage as a business opportunity, as does Google, which made its debut at DSE this year. Using the company’s Chromebox computers and Chrome Sign Builder, you can create “intelligent digital signs that are easy to build, schedule, and deploy,” according to a post on the Google for Work blog.
Some of the trends anticipated by those in the industry include signs that can tell how a viewer is reacting emotionally in order to adjust the on-screen images to produce a more positive response, more innovation through data collection, and the growth of digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising networks.
As I talked with representatives at booths at the DSE trade show, I realized few were exploiting the employee communication opportunities. One presenter at the digital internal communication conference, a communicator from one of the Vegas Strip hotels, talked about how she was using digital signage to reach employees who don’t sit in front of??computers. This audience has been a challenge since intranets first surfaced in the early 1990s. While internal communicators are slowly adopting mobile solutions, digital signage presents a genuine opportunity to ensure no employee misses an important message, while also seeing that??the messages are tailored to the employee’s location (and, eventually, even to his or her own job). The strengthening connection between mobile devices and signs hold huge promise for production and field staff with limited or no intranet access.
If you’re using newer digital signage technology in your job???for internal or external communications???let me know. If I get enough good examples, I’ll feature them in my next Tech Talk column.


text:
If a bunch of latest reports are to be believed, the next-generation Samsung Galaxy S9 could well be the fastest smartphone ever. This is due to the fact that the South Korean giant has recently announced its latest version of the LTE modem designed specifically for its Exynos chipsets. These LTE modems will support a mind-boggling six-carrier aggregation or 6CA, which could make download speeds of up to 1.2Gbps possible in the near future.
As we know, Samsung will have at least one Galaxy S9 variant with the Exynos processors, which are developed and built in-house. You might ask what carrier integration means. Stated simply, it is a means of increasing the download speeds of any device. Using this method, LTE speeds might be increased with the aid of multiple LTE bands ranging across the spectrum simultaneously: this results in the acceleration of bandwidth speeds.
Theoretically, the more bands supported, the faster the data rate will be. A Samsung device with a 1.2Gbps download speed, as the company itself states, will be a very attractive proposal, given what we have heard about the design philosophy of the new device and the steps that Samsung is taking to prevent the losses it incurred in 2016, thanks to exploding batteries. The list of Galaxy S9 features will benefit from these enormously.
To give you a hint of what this means, the current Samsung Galaxy S8 range is the world’s first gigabit phone as the Exynos 9 range of processors offers 5CA. The new Samsung Galaxy S9 could be up to 20 percent faster.
It must be stated that merely having the 6CA tag need not make the upcoming smartphone the fastest ever: the telecom carriers too must switch to 6CA as well. For example, Sprint, one of the USA’s largest telecom players, only offers three carrier integration at the moment. Anyway, since Samsung is planning to start mass production of the new modems by the end of this year, we should see them inside next year’s flagship range. Assuming that it does not interfere with the Samsung Galaxy S9 release date, that is.


text:
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Limited Brands LTD, +0.42% said December same-store sales rose 2 percent over year-earlier levels. Total sales were $1.82 billion, up 2.7 percent from last year's $1.77 billion. The apparel and personal care products retailer's stock closed Wednesday up 26 cents at $22.62.
Have breaking news sent to your inbox. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Bulletin emails. Sign up here.


text:
A third-party report on UK CBD oils has shown major inconsistencies in terms of quality, safety, and legality. Some oils were found to contain less CBD than advertised or none at all, some had higher levels of the intoxicating THC, and others higher than permitted levels of contaminants.
Phytovista Labs, the UK’s premier cannabinoid testing facility, tested 30 UK CBD oils and found that 38% of products had less than 50% of the advertised CBD content, one product had none at all, almost half had THC levels averaging 0.04%, and some had residual contaminants.
This is quite worrying for consumers and patients who purchase CBD oil in good faith looking for a particular CBD content to match their dosage requirements only to be presented in most cases with less CBD than expected.
Even more concerning though are the contaminants that were found. One product contained 3.8% ethanol which is quite substantial considering 3.4% qualifies as an alcoholic beverage.
Seven products contained solvents such as methane and cyclohexane which although below permitted levels for pharmaceuticals were above food safety limits.
The reason for this contamination is because some producers use chemical compounds as solvents to extract the cannabinoids and as such will always leave residual amounts behind in the oil. Other producers us the CO2 method which is safer but more expensive.
In terms of the intoxicating THC content, it was a negligible amount that will not result in any euphoric high-like effects but it is still above the UK and EU agreed-upon level of 0.02%. As such these CBD oils are illegal and retailers selling them are technically breaking the law.
The report published by The Centre For Medicinal Cannabis, a non-governmental organisation, is a stark reminder of the dangers to consumers when purchasing CBD oil and retailers legally selling CBD oil in an unregulated market.
In light of this report, consumers are strongly advised to only purchase CBD oil that comes from a reputable retailer who can provide an independent 3rd party lab report that will show the exact cannabinoid content and any possible contaminants.
The CBD market is a thriving multi-million-pound industry in the UK with CBD being infused in all manner of goods such as food, drinks, oils and even skincare but this latest news will surely put a dent in this young industry.
The Extract contacted one prominent UK CBD manufacture (who wishes to remain unknown) and asked for his opinion. He said: “The Chinese word for crisis contains the words' danger and opportunity and I believe this is the same thing here. This report will push consumers to only purchase 3rd party lab-tested CBD products and as such remove inferior manufacturing processes and their products”.
Only time will tell if this will be the case.