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PETSPYJAMAS LEAD ‘PET PROTEST’ AT ST PANCRAS
Travellers at St Pancras were greeted by a canine crowd as PetPyjamas lead a ‘pet protest’ to allow dogs to travel on the Eurostar
The number one pet lifestyle destination PetsPyjamas.com recently launched a petition in a bid to allow pets to travel in a designated carriage on the Eurostar, something we recently covered on this very website. With over 3,000 signatures and the number growing every day, PetsPyjamas.com still need as much support as possible to reach the 100,000 signatures needed by 30 September to make change happen and for the petition to be debated by the government. The ‘pet protest’ at St Pancras saw celebrities supporting the campaign, including Leah Waller, Rosie Fortescue, Brix Smith Start, Leo Gregory and Cheska Hull.
PetsPyjamas let pets take the lead at the organised ‘pet mob’ to draw attention to their campaign to allow dogs to travel on Eurostar. Dogs from pugs, boxers and daschunds all wore supporting #PetsToParis bandanas while their owners carried banners and flags to generate as many new signatures as possible and to raise awareness for the campaign.
‘As a dog owner and originally from continental Europe I understand the importance of making it as easy as possible to travel with your dog,’ says Gracia Amico, CEO of PetsPyjamas.com. ‘Travelling by Eurostar would open a whole new holiday opportunity for many dog lovers, but also for the hospitality industry on both sides of the channel.’
Find out more about PetsPyjamas.com and their pioneering campaign #PetstoParis at petspyjamas.com/eurostar-campaign/


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Steve Forbes on BusinessWeek's travails and the paid-content question
"When something is free, you probably should look underneath the hood," Forbes quipped. (Indeed, in this case the $1 magazine comes with $43 million in annual losses and $31 million in debt. Caveat emptor.)
"BusinessWeek has faced what a lot of us have faced, but they've faced it more severely," he said. "It's a storm that has spared no one. Rather than buying up others, we've been focusing on how do we refit ourselves for this new era. Thankfully we went very heavily into the internet and put a lot of resources on it seven or eight years ago when everyone else putting theirs in deep freeze."
I also asked Forbes if he foresees his namesake magazine switching its website from an all-free model to one where readers would have to pay to access some or all content.
"I think what you're going to see is a whole slew of people trying various things," he said. "There's certain content, specialty content, where that might work. We do it with some of our letters. We'll have to see how what they call microprocessing, where you'd pay half a penny for an article, how that might work." (I'm pretty sure he meant micropayments.)
"There's going to be a lot of ferment. But I don't think it's going to be one-size-fits-all. I think it's going to be tailored to very specific sites and very specific types of distribution."
That sounds like the philosophy of Journalism Online, the e-commerce start-up founded by Steve Brill and Gordon Crovitz to help newspapers find the best way to charge readers for content. Is Forbes planning to do business with them? "We're very familiar with Gordon, and I know Steve Brill by reputation, so yeah. We're talking to them."

domain: news


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Budget retailer Aldi is known for its bargain prices and must-have Specialbuys, and one of its latest releases may look very familiar.
As always, Aldi releases its Specialbuys on Thursdays and Sundays and this week was no different.
Shoppers were quick to get their hands on Aldi’s new Avenue ladies grey fur sliders – and they look almost exactly like a pair from Next.
The new sliders, which come in grey or pink, are priced at £6.99 and have already sold out online.
The slippers feature a cork base, moulded footbeds for extra comfort and a plush faux fur strap.
High street retailer Next offers sliders which are eerily similar to Aldi’s, but come in at £23.
Next’s version also has a cork base, moulded footbeds and a faux fur strap, though the base is white, rather than grey like Aldi’s.
You can shop Next’s version here.
Shoppers can save themselves around £16 in the run up to Christmas by purchasing Aldi’s version of the slippers.
Aldi’s Avenue ladies fur sliders are currently sold out online in grey, though shoppers can check stores.
The pink version of the sliders are available online and instore now.


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Agnikul Cosmos Pvt Ltd, a city-based startup incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras here has secured the patent from the Central government, for the design and manufacturing of single-piece rocket engines using 3D printing technology, the company said on Wednesday.
Agnilet, developed by the company is the single-piece 3D printed rocket engine fully designed and manufactured in the country.
Agnikul Cosmos has become the first company to design a rocket engine that can be printed as a single piece of hardware using 3D printing technology, the city-based company claimed in a statement.
”Designing Agnilet as a single piece of hardware has not been an easy ride, but our team has proved it to be otherwise. This patent is a testament to the world-class designed-in-India and made in India deep technology engineering that the Agnikul team is able to do,” company co-founder and CEO Srinath Ravichandran said.
”We sincerely would like to thank our mentors and guides from Indian Space Research Organisation, industry and academia for constantly guiding us, hand holding us and walking with us through the highs and lows,” he said.


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Previously known as PBL Media. Four divisions of free-to-air television, digital publishing, video-on-demand 'Stan' (advertising and subscription) and content production. Listed on ASX in December 2013.
|Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd||AUS||website|
|Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd|
This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 15/100 in the Media category of the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices (last updated 23 Sep 2022). The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.
Source: S&P Global (2022)
Modern slavery disclosure is a critical step in mitigating the risk associated with modern slavery practices in companies' operations and supply chains. The quality of the disclosure signals the level of commitments and efforts that the companies have put in managing these risks. In 2021 the Monash Centre for Financial Studies analysed and ranked the disclosure quality of the modern slavery statements submitted by the 300 largest listed companies on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX300). This company's modern slavery disclosure statement received a grade of F.
Source: Monash University (2021)
In 2021 six subsidiaries of this company paid penalties totalling $159,840 after the ACCC issued them with 12 infringement notices for allegedly charging subscribers and advertisers excessive payment surcharges. Nine will also provide approximately $450,000 in consumer redress to eligible advertising, home delivery and digital subscription customers. The ACCC was concerned that from December 2018, after Nine merged with Fairfax Media, most consumer and advertiser transactions processed by Nine in which a payment surcharge was applied involved an excessive payment surcharge. Nine applied payment surcharges to digital and home delivery subscription services as well as radio, publishing, TV and digital advertising.
Source: ACCC (2021)
In 2011 Ticketek was fined $2.5 million by the Federal Court for anti-competitive behaviour towards Lasttix, a start-up rival. The Sydney court ruled that Ticketek took advantage of its strong market position on four occasions to prevent Lasttix from supplying its own services to event promoters. Ticketek was a subsidiary of Nine Entertainment at the time.
Source: news article (2011)
According to the democracyforsale.net website, this company donated $204,300 to Australia's major political parties between 2012 and 2018, as disclosed to the Australian Electoral Commision (AEC).
Source: Democracy For Sale (2018)
This company appears on the 2021 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, signifying a commitment to supporting gender equality through policy development, representation, and transparency.
Source: Bloomberg (2021)
|Revenue||1.85 billion AUD (2019)|
|Subsidiaries||Fairfax Media Ltd
Founded in 1841 as John Fairfax and Sons, and controlled by the Fairfax family until 1990. Publisher of digital, print and radio media across Australia and New Zealand. Including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age (Melbourne), The Australian Financial Review; in rural and regional Australia; national and community papers and digital in New Zealand; Domain Group Real Estate; a 54.5% interest in Macquarie Radio Network in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Also commenced Stan, a subscription video on demand service in 2014 via StreamCo, a joint venture with Nine Entertainment Co. Merged with Nine Entertainment in 2018.
Stan Entertainment Pty Ltd
Video streaming service
Originally a 50:50 joint venture between Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media. Both companies committed AU$50 million to create the Stan video streaming service, which launched in early 2015. Nine has since bought Fairfax, making Stan wholly-owned by Nine. Operates only in Australia, with over 2 million subscribers.
|Address||24 Artarmon Rd, Willoughby, NSW, 2068, Australia|
|Phone||02 9906 9999|
Products / BrandsStan
Stan Video Streaming


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China's WTO ride turns fears into fruit
Updated: 2011-12-09 22:18
BEIJING - When China wrapped up 16 years of hard bargaining to secure long-awaited membership to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on December 11, 2001, Chinese firms were probably more alarmed than relieved.
With tariffs to be slashed and restrictions on foreign rivals to be eased, a shaky future seemed to loom for some of China's least competitive industries, notably banking, agriculture and auto making.
Ten years later, those industries are holding up well, if not thriving.
Chinese lenders are among the most profitable banks in the world and were barely hurt in the financial crisis. China's self-sufficiency rate in grains has remained above 95 percent, and the country surpassed the United States in 2009 to become the world's biggest auto producer.
Analysts attributed China's success to the catfish effect, government-sponsored reforms, limited market openness and its position in the global value chain.
The catfish effect, in which the existence of strong rivals drove the weak to improve themselves, was obvious in China's banking industry.
Back in 2001, having just survived the Asian financial crisis and freed of some of their massive bad loans with government aid, China's four major state-owned banks remained insolvent as a whole.
Today, those banks are much healthier than 10 years ago and passed the test of the global financial crisis with good asset quality and profitability, said Ba Shusong, an economist with the Development Research Center under the State Council, or China's Cabinet.
"Competition spurred China's banking industry to advance market-oriented reforms and improve its competitiveness through restructuring and better management ... so the key is whether the external pressure can change into an internal drive," Ba said.
In the past decade, the government helped rid the country's four major state-owned commercial banks of more non-performing loans. It also injected nearly $80 billion to help them restructure into shareholding companies.
And because China only agreed to limited openness for the financial services industry when joining the WTO, that provided a certain level of protection for the industry, analysts said.
"The government was being cautious with the financial sector," said Zhang Junsheng, a researcher with the Institute of International Economy, University of International Business and Economics. "It took into consideration how much the industry could bear."
Economist Louis Kuijs with the Hong Kong-based research group Fung Global Institute said China's WTO agreement made it hard for foreign companies to compete in several areas where they are restricted from entering the market or subject to differentiated prudential regulation.
Foreign banks accounted for only 1.85 percent of the total assets of all financial institutions in China at the end of 2010, according to central bank figures.
The combination of government-propelled reforms and limited openness also provided a cushion for China's agriculture, one of the most worrisome industries during WTO accession talks.
Tariffs on imported farm produce declined 72 percent in the past decade to less than a quarter of the world average, said agricultural economist Guo Xiaoming with the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences.
Compared with highly mechanized and industrialized production in many developed countries, China's agriculture typically features small-scale, scattered production with less advanced technology.
As a result, China saw its trade deficit of farm produce surge. Some products such as soybeans, wool, rapeseed and cotton now heavily rely on the much cheaper, subsidized foreign supply.
Currently the self-sufficiency rates of soybeans, edible oil and cotton are 30 percent, 50 percent and 60 percent, Guo said.
"However, the impact on the overall agricultural sector was within the safe range," he said. "Overall, the sector is growing healthily and stably."
The government has remained basically self-sufficient in grain supply in the past decade, with grain output reporting the eighth consecutive year of growth.
China has reduced farmers' tax burdens, beefed up subsidies to grain growers and brought private capital into agricultural production to increase the scale and improve technology, Guo said.
Kuijs noted agriculture was not as open as manufacturing, a more competitive industry of China.
Trade restrictions remain in place in many agricultural markets, notable those of staple food, he said.
In China's manufacturing sector, one of its weakest links was the car industry, which had been protected by high tariffs and offered few choices for Chinese consumers before entry to the WTO.
High costs and weak brands and technology were among the biggest disadvantages of his company compared with foreign rivals, said Hu Maoyuan, chairman of the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (Group) (SAIC Group), China's leading auto maker.
By July 2006, China had lowered the tariff on imported finished automobiles to 25 percent from 70-80 percent before WTO accession and that of imported parts and components down 10 percent from 18-65 percent.
Facing drastically tougher competition, SAIC Group managed to reduce its production costs 30 percent within the five-year grace period after WTO entry, while investing heavily to improve quality, technology and services, Hu said.
In 2010, SAIC Group ranked eighth in world auto sales, selling 3.58 million units.
Kuijs said China's policies to make foreign direct investment attractive led foreign car companies to build cars in China rather than import them.
As a result, China's market was not flooded by imported cars, but cars made by joint ventures of Chinese and foreign firms, saving Chinese car companies from being devastated by foreign brands, said auto analyst Jia Xinguang.
In 2010, the industrial output value of China's auto sector soared to almost 10 times the amount in 2001. The country's own car brands, notably Geely and Chery, also have taken off in the past decade.
Surging consumer demand, fueled by fast economic growth, helped Chinese car makers grow. China's per capita GDP exceeded $1,000 for the first time in 2001 and topped $4,000 in 2010.
At the initial stage of getting rich, people tend to choose cheaper cars, helping China's indigenous car brands gain market presence as foreign companies target higher-end markets, Jia said.
Like the car makers, many of China's manufacturing enterprises avoided direct competition with foreign firms because of their different positions in the industry, Zhang said.
As Chinese auto makers move up the value chain in the future and more foreign firms turn to the resilient Chinese market amid the economic downturn, competition is likely to intensify, Jia said.


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UK – AGEM teams up with G3 as Official European Media PartnerBy Phil - 24 November 2014
The Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) has announced that its Board of Directors has approved the selection of Gaming Publishing Group, publishers of G3 magazine, as AGEM’s Official European Media Partner.
As the official European publication of AGEM, G3 magazine will support the trade association’s members in its marketing efforts and trade event participation, and play a vital role in publicizing AGEM’s activities focused on political action, regulatory influence, responsible gaming initiatives, trade show partnerships and educational alliances. Gaming Publishing Group will also continue to support AGEM via its various media platforms, including the G3 Newswire web portal and mobile application.
“The AGEM Marketing Committee and its membership as a whole have very high regard for G3 Editors Lewis Pek and Phil Martin and Gaming Publishing Director John Slattery,” AGEM Executive Director Marcus Prater said. “They have proven over the years to be exceptional chroniclers of the global gaming industry and AGEM is very pleased to partner with G3 going forward. Our global membership base of 145 companies will benefit greatly from this alliance.”
Capping a year that has seen the continued expansion of the G3 team, the confirmation of G3 as World Partner to Clarion Gaming and the hugely successful launch of the G3Newswire dedicated App, Gaming Publishing is excited to announce becoming the “Official European Media Partner” of AGEM.
“It’s been an amazing year for Gaming Publishing and G3,” said Gaming Publishing Director, John Slattery. “We have expanded our sales team with the appointment of an experienced gaming industry sales professional, Alison Dronfield; achieved a first for both ourselves and Clarion Gaming with the appointment of Gaming Publishing as a pivotal World Gaming Partner; invested once more in both content and technology with the launch of the G3Newswire App, which has been installed across 3,000-plus devices worldwide since July; and to crown all the hard work the team has invested in our range of digital and traditional media, G3 has become the official European media partner to the gaming industry’s largest and most influential trade body, AGEM.”


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Sussex outdoor Beer Fest returns to fairgrounds in May
AUGUSTA – Hundreds of craft beer selections, food trucks, live music, fund raising for a good cause, and even a mechanical bull are among the offerings being touted for the Sussex County Big Brew Beer Festival.
Unlike the two-session Morris County Big Brew Beer Festival, the Sussex event runs one session, from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and takes place outdoors and under tents.
Tickets cost $53 prior to April 25, and designated driver tickets cost $10. All tickets include unlimited tastings and a souvenir tasting glass.
On tap will be more than 200 unique brews available for sampling, including local breweries like Sussex’s own Angry Eric Brewing in Lafayette.
Also on site will be six food trucks, The Cow & The Curd, Oink & Moo BBQ, Empanada Guy, Waffle de Lys, The Outslider and Pizza Vita.
Music will be provided by local cover band Sick Star Nation, and a mechanical bull will be available for those who think they are up to the challenge.
A portion of the proceeds will support the restoration of the historic Newton Fire Museum, which is in danger of closing due to a lack of necessary repairs.
Direct donations to the Newton Fire Museum can be made at www.newtonfiremuseum.org
Go to http://bigbrewnj.com/sussex/ for tickets and more information.
Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; email@example.com
If you go:
Sussex County Big Brew Beer Festival
What: More than 200 craft beers, food trucks, live music, a mechanical bull, and a benefit for the Newton Fire Museum
Where: Sussex County Fairgrounds, 37 Plains Road in Augusta
When: Saturday, May 9, from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Cost: $53, $10 for designated drivers. Ticket prices will increase on April 25 and again on May 2.


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The first major game from developer Relentless Studios and publisher Amazon Game Studios, Crucible was a free-to-play massively multiplayer first-person shooter designed to be the first title to show
Amazon Games has announced that Crucible, its free-to-play competitive team-based shooter for PC, will be launching on May 20, 2020.
In Crucible, players will be able to choose from
Several Crucible Pre-Season changes have been announced for this latest title from Amazon Games in light of player experiences with the game in its first few weeks.
You can get the details straight
Amazon has popped up late Friday night to inform everyone that the grim reaper has visited their gaming studios again, and this time the report is that Crucible is dead.
Why is Crucible dead?


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Window of opportunity grows wider for dairy exports
In 2009, Bain & Company issued a report projecting a 7-billion-pound gap between expected world milk production and demand by mid-decade. A lot has happened since then: a global recession, a tepid recovery and fear that the world will slip back into recession if Europe and the U.S. don’t clean up their fiscal fiascoes.
But does that 7-billion-pound gap exist? And if it does, can the U.S. dairy industry reform our domestic dairy policy to take advantage of it?
The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy wondered the same thing and asked Bain analysts to revisit their 2009 work. The reanalysis, released this fall, is good news.
Bonus Content: More Details on Bain Study
"Import demand for dairy products will remain strong, driven by emerging markets," says Brett Burgess, a manager with Bain in Dallas. "The world supply-demand gap is wider than we originally anticipated, with the U.S. a likely source to fill it."
Mexico, China, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia and Russia are expected to increase dairy imports over the next few years. All but India, with its borders closed to U.S. dairy products, are potential U.S. markets. Even India will create opportunities elsewhere as other exporting countries rush to meet its needs.
Mexico’s dairy consumption is still growing, albeit slowly, and is expected to continue with stable economic growth. The resolution of a trucking dispute might also help restore trade levels with the U.S., Burgess says.
"China’s demand gap by 2013 will be wider than we originally expected," he adds. "Even if there is a slowdown in the Chinese economy, a ‘slowdown’ in China means a 5% to 6% growth rate, which will continue to drive demand growth."
Burgess acknowledges that New Zealand’s Fonterra has been actively building dairies in China. And it has also increased dairy product exports to China. But even this won’t be able to satiate China’s appetite for more dairy products.
"Russia is expected to remain a major dairy importer despite government efforts to encourage domestic production and stricter documentation requirements, which effectively block U.S. and Ukrainian imports," Burgess says.
Like India, that demand will likely be filled by other exporters, opening up other markets that these exporters can’t fill.
As for competitors, Burgess expects New Zealand to continue to grow its export capacity at least through the end of this decade. Much of that increase will come from the conversion of sheep pasture to dairy. He expects that land conversion to peak by 2020.
After that, Kiwi dairy producers will have to rely on irrigation of marginal land and grain/silage feeding to increase milk yields. While they might be able to produce more milk using these methods, their cost of production will increase as well. "Despite this higher production, New Zealand will not produce enough milk to close the global latent demand gap," Burgess says.
In Europe, quotas are increasing 1% per year from 2009 through 2015. European Union milk production could increase 5% to 8% from 2009 to 2020. "After 2015, further growth will be constrained by environmental regulations and the steep incremental investments required to expand," Burgess says.
For the U.S., higher feed costs are probably the biggest constraint to expansion. Even so, increasing feed prices will likely not shift the relative position of the U.S. versus Europe and China. And New Zealand could see a doubling of feed costs later this decade after peak production is reached under its grazing model, Burgess says.
The other advantages the U.S. has is its large milk supply, the stability of that supply year-round with little seasonality (at least compared to many of its competitors) and its ability to expand that supply.
"The window of export
opportunity for the U.S. will remain open, but not indefinitely," Burgess says. "The U.S. has yet to make key policy reforms." These should include:
- Milk pricing systems to improve forward and futures pricing to better manage price volatility.
- Reform of the price support program so the U.S. is no longer the buyer of last resort, and the removal of disincentives for product innovation.
- Bringing U.S. standards of identity closer to global norms to meet customer needs.
"If the U.S. doesn’t make key reforms, we will miss out on sustainable volume and value growth; unmet demand will accelerate the expansion of other [global] producers; and the U.S. industry’s competitiveness will erode," Burgess says.
U.S. Falls Short
A survey of international dairy ingredient buyers says the U.S. is a "natural partner" with an abundant milk supply that doesn’t suffer the seasonal ebbs and flows of grass-based exporting countries.
Nevertheless, the U.S. must become a more reliable partner. "It’s hard to make the U.S. a supplier of strategic ingredients if I can’t count on them to be there when things are good and bad," says one buyer. "If the domestic U.S. market takes off, I worry that my export supply will disappear."
Adds another: "The U.S. is dead last by a lot on research and development."


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Next Xbox will include Blu-ray, Kinect 2.0, and AR glasses: report(Read article summary)
A British magazine has published details on the next Microsoft Xbox video game console. Just don't call it the Xbox 720.
According to the editors at Xbox World, the new device will be called "Xbox," and not, as others have speculated, "Xbox 720." The magazine says the new Xbox will include improved voice controls, an upgraded Kinect platform, Blu-Ray capability, some sort of "innovative controller," and the ability to record and playback broadcast television.
Down the line, augmented reality glasses could even be part of the equation.
Microsoft, for its part, has not commented on the Xbox World report, and it's not clear where the magazine obtained its information.


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DETROIT, April 14, 2021 ~ In a media release today, The Detroit Auto Dealers Association and the Downtown Detroit Partnership announced the Motor City Car Crawl, a new city-wide outdoor charity event that will occur the first weekend in August.
The festival will feature new vehicle displays from local dealerships, family activities, food trucks, live entertainment, and more across six downtown parks, including Beacon Park, Cadillac Square, Campus Martius, Capitol Park, Grand Circus Park, and Spirit Plaza.
April 14, 2021 ~ Detroit Auto Dealers Association Executive Director Rod Alberts tells Paul W. they are creating an event called The Motor City Car Crawl, an outdoor summer event that will showcase new cars while helping area children’s charities.
“Our goal is to create an event in conjunction with the DDP that focuses on raising funds for local children’s charities, while showing off some of the latest cars and trucks,” said Rod Alberts, executive director of the DADA. “It has been some time since we’ve been able to have an event like this and we believe that the Motor City Car Crawl will benefit both the local charities and local businesses as well.”
The four-day event will include an August 7 ticketed charity event featuring live entertainment and an array of food and beverage offerings. The event will raise money for eight Detroit children’s charities, including Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan, Boys Hope Girls Hope Detroit, Children’s Center, The Children’s Foundation, Detroit PAL, Judson Center, March of Dimes Metro Detroit, and University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
Motor City Car Crawl vehicle displays and entertainment will be free throughout the weekend. Ticket prices and the list of featured entertainment for the August 7 Motor City Car Crawl charity event will be announced soon.
More information is available at DADA.org and DowntownDetroit.org.


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ANZ wealth's head of network sales has been appointed as the bank's new state manager for Victoria and Tasmania in itswealth retail sales team.
Joe McGrath will be based in Melbourne, with the appointment effective immediately.
Mr McGrath has been involved in the Victoria and Tasmania advice and broking market for the past 12 years with various roles at ANZ, and was most recently the head of network sales for its wealth division, ANZ said in a statement.
"Joe is a well-regarded wealth professional with extensive experience in financial markets and wealth products," ANZ Wealth head of sales Don Sillar said.
"I am pleased Joe is taking on this role, leading the retail sales teams in these states and bringing his substantial knowledge into this market."
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Unoaku Anyadike is slaying without makeup in her recently released pre-birthday photoshoot. The 2015 MBGN beauty queen’s birthday is coming in a few days; September 16.
The melanin-poppin model teamed up with photographer Rani Tahouf to capture some shots of herself posing in denim without makeup.
IS THIS GOING TO BE THE HOTTEST LAWYER IN LAGOS? – SEE SEXY PHOTOS >
IS THIS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN ANAMBRA STATE? – SEE PHOTOS >
When will she join SOS Face Of The Week though? Hmmm!


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"Unriddled" is HubSpot's weekly digest of the tech headlines you need to know. We give you the top tech stories in a quick, scannable way and break it all down. It's tech news: explained.
Experts Tackle AI Misconceptions at CES 2019
While the dispute around artificial intelligence (AI) was, at one point, how much impact AI will have on everyday life, we're now focused on where it will affect us the most. At least, that is the theme of current AI discussions at this week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nev.
Sayon Deb and Steven Hummel, research analysts with the Consumer Technology Association, led a talk on Monday morning at CES 2019 suggesting AI's abilities are overestimated in some industries and underestimated in others. What those industries are might surprise you. Read full story >>
Google's 'Project Soli' to Help Physically Impaired Use Smart Products
Google has received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop high-powered sensory devices that would help people with vocal or physical disabilities operate smart products -- which normally require speech or touch-based commands to use. These sensory devices, currently known under the name "Project Soli," reportedly emit a radar signal that can interpret various physical gestures the same way a smartphone processes keyboard commands. Read full story >>
Amazon Unveils Smart Wall Clock
"Alexa, what time is it?" That phrase took on a whole new meaning at the end of last year when Amazon unveiled the Echo Wall Clock -- and it's exactly what it sounds like. This voice-enabled clock face uses Amazon's Echo technology to set and tell you the time, and even set brief countdown timers for you. But, there are a few caveats to this digital-analog hybrid. Read full story >>
'Bandersnatch' Sparks Huge Marketing Opportunity for Netflix
Originally aired on the BBC, Black Mirror has seen immense success since the dystopian drama began streaming on Netflix. But for all the show's popularity, its most recent episode, "Bandersnatch," might have revealed a valuable marketing opportunity for Netflix.
"Bandersnatch" isn't like other Black Mirror episodes -- or other TV experiences, for that matter. The 90-minute stream is interactive, allowing the viewer to decide what the main character does at various turning points in the story. But this choose-your-own-adventure format isn't just a novel idea for show business; the choices that viewers make throughout the episode has critical implications for how Netflix creates new shows and movies, the stories those shows and movies tell, and which ones its suggests to its users. Read full story >>
Google Wants Feedback About Search Results
When it comes to ranking well in Google Search results, SEO marketers have vied for placement in the company's "featured snippet" boxes since they started appearing at the top of search result pages several years ago. But because these snippets aren't always the perfect answer to a person's query, Google has started to solicit feedback from its users to make these answer boxes better. The feedback Google seeks now comes in the form of a long blue feedback bar beneath certain featured snippets. Read full story >>
New Bill Confronts Tech Threats From China
Last week, United States Senators Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) presented a bipartisan bill to defend the U.S.'s intellectual property against China, which has shown continued interest in replicating the U.S.'s latest advancements in technology.
"We need a whole-of-government technology strategy to protect U.S. competitiveness […] and address the Chinese threat by combating technology transfer from the United States, " said Sen. Warner, a former technology and telecommunications executive. The proposed bill would create a new government entity in charge of protecting the U.S.'s most sophisticated tech supply chains. Read full story >>
Watch Out for These 7 Tech Trends in 2019
Closing out this week's tech breakdown is a series of trends we should pay extra attention to in the year ahead: On opening day of CES 2019 in Las Vegas, two market researchers for the Consumer Technology Association revealed "trends to watch" -- seven of them, actually -- in the tech sector in 2019. Among them are advancements in wearable technology, drones, self-driving vehicles, and a few emerging trends you might not have expected. Read full story >>


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You’re not going to want to miss this new challenge. It involves TikTok users giving waiters huge tips – and the videos are really emotional to watch.
Venmo was founded in 2009 as a digital wallet that allows you to make and share payments with friends. Little did they know, over 10 years later it would become the basis for a viral TikTok challenge.
The challenge sees TikTok users grouping together to really change someone’s day by giving them a huge sum of money, and the trend perfectly how social media can be used positively.
What is the Venmo Challenge?
A new TikTok challenge is going viral, and this one’s all about giving back to food servers.
The Venmo Challenge sees TikTok users asking their followers to donate small amount of money into a specific Venmo account.
Then, when the account has reached a certain amount, usually $1,000, the TikToker will take that money and give it to a waiter or waitress.
Who started the Venmo Challenge?
The challenge was started by a TikTok user called Lexy Kadey, who has almost 700,000 followers on her account @LexyLately. In her bio, she calls herself a “serial tipper”, and her Venmo Challenge videos have gone viral.
She started the challenge back in May and has since donated money to 35 different food servers.
Lexy also has a YouTube channel where she has started posting compilations of all the Venmo Challenge videos.
Social media users love the TikTok Venmo Challenge
Many people have taken to Twitter to express how much they love the Venmo Challenge.
One Twitter user said: “The venmo challenge on tiktok is the best thing to ever come out of that app. I hope it never stops it’s so amazing.”
Another said: “I just found the “Venmo receipient challenge” on TikTok that Lexy Kady started. My faith in humanity just shot up. My whole dang day is made.”
Some have criticised the challenge, claiming that people are only doing it to try and increase their TikTok followers, however most agree that the videos are a positive contribution to society and the perfect use of social media.


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ADOTAS – Uh oh … more trouble for NebuAd ahead. Its CEO, Robert Dykes, has jumped ship after spending months defending the company against activists and legislators who charged NebuAd with invading consumers’ privacy online. Following an inquiry in Congress, the ISPs that worked with (or were considering working with) NebuAd have stopped their dealings with the company. Dykes’ departure may hammer the last nail in NebuAd’s coffin unless they completely change their business model – without an activist leader or clients, where can they go?
VeriFone Holdings has appointed Dykes to serve as senior vice president and CFO (he’ll assume the latter post following the filing of the company’s third fiscal quarter report). Dykes replaces Clinton Knowles, who served as interim CFO, after its former CFO, Barry Zwarenstein, was let go.
Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers has plucked up previous CBS Mobile chief Cyriac Roeding. He will be an entrepreneur-in-residence and may help Kleiner Perkins move its mobile-investment project along (it has partnered with Apple to launch the $100 million iFund specifically for mobile investments).
Bebo, a social media network, has snagged Nicole Vanderbilt from Google to mastermind its international expansion plans (focusing first on France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands). At Google, Vanderbilt was the head of industry marketing in Europe and India.
Harlan Stone has been named president of Major League Gaming’s sales arm, MLG Properties. Previously, Stone was a principal at Velocity Sports & Entertainment.


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iOS 7 vs. Android KitKit: Which Had the Most Hype?
By Kia Dargahi
Android and iOS have come to be the most used and talked-about operating systems in the mobile industry. It comes to nobody’s shock then that when these gargantuan platforms receive major updates, everyone is watching. The two have been duking it out to become the world’s best and most-used mobile system, and Android is currently leading the latter of the two races. With this in mind, things may take a turn for the better for the Cupertino-based company.
iOS 7 was the first of the two major updates to be announced on June 10, 2013. Flashback a month however, and the first rumors regarding iOS 7 had begun to circulate the web. Inside professionals spoke of a flatter and completely redesigned operating system. It was an alien experience according to those who found themselves with the revolutionary software. Upon hearing this news, most thought of a Windows Phone 8 counterpart; however, this was not the case. Apple had managed to keep its OS very recognizable yet changed enough so that it would be considered cool again (the skeumorphism was getting old). When the official release started hitting shelves, it either blew away the user’s expectations or failed to meet them. iOS 7 can be described as a love-hate operating system; there doesn’t really exist a middle ground with this version of the iPhone operating system. Furthermore, the largely positive and optimist reviews made by those inside the loop had the general public waiting for a storm to arise, and in some cases, it did. Some acclaim the new features such as Control Center or AirDrop; however, others dismiss the so-called “breakthroughs in features” as a mere copy of those existing on Google’s mobile-operating system. This being said, it can definitively be stated that iOS 7 had a large amount of hype surrounding its imminent release.
When Android 4.4 KitKat launched on old Hallows’ Eve, the general public was more than pleased with the direction the candy-coated operating system was headed toward. The tech giant is taking a step away from the design that debuted on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich; the familiar shades of bright blue that once made the face of Android have been replaced with a motif of cards showing user-personalized information. Replacing the design creates a step into the future, making a sleeker and softer color combination that will doubtless be popular amongst those with modern vision. While this can hardly be described as the kind of jump in design and software that occurred from iOS 6 to iOS 7, this is without a doubt a hint of more to come from Google. In a sense, the version number says it all: 4.4. It isn’t quite the leap in technology that 5.0 will certainly be, but it will undoubtedly cover most of the issues that plague the fragmented operating system. Don’t think, however, that KitKat isn’t going to pack a sweet amount of features. 4.4 is said to run significantly better on older Android devices. Google has also improved the phone and messaging apps, unifying Google Talk and Hangouts (this will come in the near future). Furthermore, if a business or chain pops up on your caller ID, the search-engine giant will automatically add all of its contact information into your contacts — cool! That’s not all; Google Now can be opened from anywhere within the operating system with a mere “Okay, Google” — neat! Google is showing its intentions with the future of its operating system; the tech giant is willing to hold off on the big release for an entire year so that it can further improve the one thing that the operating system is made fun of for: fragmentation.
While it would be foolish to say that the loser of this “competition” is just not as good an operating system as the other, it clearly shows the directions that the two giants of our time are heading. iOS 7 was without a doubt the most-anticipated update of the year, and Android 4.4, the incremental update that it is, simply could not meet the expectations of this massive accomplishment. Apple wanted to make a bold move with iOS 7, and that’s certainly what it seems to have come off as. Google never expected the general public to think that KitKat would break the rules of mobile operating systems, but it does nevertheless expect noteworthy regard for its full focus on driving the operating system to a stable and defragmented future. iOS 7 may have come out on top this time, but there’s a storm looming over in the horizon — a sugary one.


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On “Back to the Future” Day, a.k.a. Oct. 21, 2015, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” viewers saw two special guests who decided to drop in for a surprising appearance: Marty McFly and Doc Brown.
(OK, it wasn’t actually McFly and Brown, it was their real-life counterparts Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, but we can pretend.)
The pair dropped into Kimmel’s show Monday night after their Delorean broke down and were greeted to a slew of happy viewers, but McFly and Brown themselves weren’t too pleased with the future they were given.
“So, are people watching us on TV right now?” McFly asked Kimmel while donning his signature red vest and high-top Nikes.
“Yes, people are watching us on TV right now” Kimmel replied. “Although, honestly, most people will probably watch us on their phones on the toilet tomorrow.”
“That’s gross,” McFly said.
Brown was also perplexed by the fact that we, in the future, don’t have flying cars or hoverboards yet.
(We agree, let’s get on that, people!)
Even though the future is free of flying cars and hoverboards, one prediction from “Back to the Future II” did come true Monday: Self-tying laces. Nike released its first pair of 2015 Nike Mags to Fox on Monday, the first shoe of its kind.
All proceeds from the limited-edition sales will go towards Fox’s foundation to fund Parkinson’s research.
With the hopefully possible cure to Parkinson’s disease, the future actually looks pretty bright!
- Jimmy Kimmel fools Apple users with ‘first look’ at iPhone 7
- Two for the price of one: Ben Affleck sneaks Matt Damon onto ‘Jimmy Kimmel’
- Back to the future: Michael J. Fox models first pair of Nike self-lacing sneakers
- The future has arrived: It’s ‘Back to the Future’ day
- Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy stop by ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ to discuss breakup, new show


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LCBO warns customers of alcohol shortage across province
During the height of the summer backyard barbecue season, the LCBO is warning its customers about a shortage affecting stores throughout the province.
Store shelves are noticeably bare, with customers complaining that some of their favourite wines are completely out of stock, while beer shelves look like they’ve been raided before a long weekend.
The blame, the LCBO says in a statement, can be placed on its new warehouse management system at their Durham Retail Service Centre – automated technology that keeps track of inventory, stocks stores and fills wholesale orders.
“While the transition to the new system is progressing well, deliveries remain slightly behind schedule,” a statement from LCBO reads.
The LCBO says while it’s “working diligently” to make sure stores are re-stocked, it says the delays will also affect wholesale customers.
The provincial agency has not released a list of affected products, the extent of the shortage nor a timeline for when stores will be fully re-stocked, only saying it will be “as soon as possible.”
However customers have noticed the issue has affected a number of locations, both in urban centres and cottage country. The shortage has led to customers taking to social media to complain about bare shelves in some stores.
Whoa @LCBO. Walk into store with Vintages shopping list and not one product available. Shelves half empty. Get your act together.— Toronto Tess (@TorontoTess) July 6, 2019
All @LCBO stores in Kingston have been short on booze for a few weeks. Literally bare shelves throughout the stores. I found out today that the shortage originates with the Whitby warehouse. Agency Stores are not impacted because their stock comes from ottawa. #YGK #monopoly— Mikey Likes It (@michael20270505) July 5, 2019
Notices have been posted on store shelves in some LCBO locations telling customers to speak with an employee for recommendations on alternative products if the item they are looking to purchase is currently out of stock.


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Business process as a service (BPaaS) is emerging to be a BPO game-changer reminiscent of software as a service (SaaS) a decade ago. Specifically, BPaaS is adding arrows to organizations' outsourcing quiver in how they approach their finance and accounting and other back-office functions.
"Businesses that leverage traditional outsourcing deals are looking to move off of inflexible contract and delivery structures," says Robert McNeill, vice president for analyst firm Saugatuck Technology. "The pillars that built and supported legacy outsourcing are under severe pressure. Labor arbitrage, old technologies, and traditional business models limit effectiveness. Businesses are looking for more flexibility, innovation and responsiveness from their outsourcers. BPaaS is providing that alternative."
McNeill says the BPaaS proposition may include infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and SaaS, as well as the traditional benefits of outsourcing, such as process expertise and labor arbitrage.
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Global leading, focused supplier of cocoa beans and cocoa ingredients, Olam Cocoa, focuses on natural ingredients, new flavours and delivery formats as it rides the healthy snack trend
- Int'l Plastics News for Asia 2013-12
- Outlook 2014, which gathers the insights of industry experts on the industry trends and developments, is a major undertaking for Ringier Trade Media's editorial team. It has always been a special issue because we get to talk to those who are directly involved in the industry and in the process, we obtain valuable information on what to expect in the coming year. Most of the interviews for this report were done at K 2013 where companies also launched new products. It's perfect timing for us. Speaking of K, the 2013 edition has exceeded the expectations of exhibitors and visitors alike. Despite the sluggish demand in Europe, the show was well attended by companies from Asia, and we saw numerous innovations aimed at improving the productions processes and quality of raw materials being used in emerging applications. The next-generation consumer electronics are expected to benefit from more advanced polymer and engineering thermoplastic solutions. These new materials aim at launching more stylish products that meet environmental and high performance criteria that con
- International Plastics News, Middle East & Africa 2013-11
- This issue is a special one because it carries Outlook 2014 which gathers the insights of industry experts on the industry trends and developments, and what to expect in 2014. We divided Outlook 2014 into two sections, one on plastic and the other on rubber. Given that the Middle East and Africa are two fast-growing regions, the plastics and rubber industry in these two regions are expected to attract huge investments that would in turn help establish world-class production facilities. K 2013 has exceeded the expectations of exhibitors and visitors alike. Despite the sluggish growth of Europe, the show was well attended and saw numerous innovations aimed at improving the production processes and quality of plastics products being used in various sectors. With the growing popularity of bioplastics, which was also highlighted at K 2013, it is inevitable that more countries in the Middle East and Africa will take the same direction and increasingly use bio-based materials. The possibilities are endless, and companies providing materials solutions are expected to com
- Int'l Plastics News for Asia 2013-10
- This issue features a Special Supplement on K 2013, the world’s biggest trade exhibition for the plastics and rubber industry. With over 3,000 exhibitors, this event remains the best platform to introduce to the world the latest products and technologies. For professionals, the event is packed with valuable information. Asian companies have grown in number as the region continues to prove its worth in the global market. The Special Supplement provides the show’s highlights and a glimpse of the products on exhibit. Ringier’s Plastics and Rubber vertical also features a special section on K 2013 where we bring you the latest industry and product news. The advantageous elliptical lens design and roll mould method has yielded more benefits as solutions for optically-based cylindrical polymer/plastic materials processing, including the manufacturing of micro-structured optical-quality roll-surface engraved mould components used for the management and control of light. In another section, we also looked into the development of new compounds for the production of supe
- International Plastics News, Middle East & Africa 2013-9
- This issue features a Special Supplement on K2013, the world's biggest trade exhibition for the plastics and rubber industry. With over 3000 exhibitors, this event has retained its lead and has served as the world premiere of the latest products and technologies of those engaged in plastics and rubber manufacturing. The Special Supplement provides the show's highlights and a glimpse of the products that will be exhibited. Ringier's Plastics and Rubber vertical also features a special section on K2013 where we bring you the latest industry and product news. The need to recycle plastics had led to the spread of useful information on its advantages and the latest technologies that can be applied. South Africa is one of the countries in the African region where industry players are taking active part in disseminating information on the importance of plastics. We covered one company that serves as link in educating the public and businesses on the various recycling methods and their benefits. The Middle East is a growing petrochemicals hub and the various major projec
- Int'l Plastics News for Asia 2013-8
- In this issue we have post-show reports on three major trade exhibitions in Asia – Chinaplas, InterPlas Thailand and JEC Asia. Over the years, these shows have grown – in size and scope – that a large number of visitors now include these shows in their planning. The success of every edition of these shows reflects the highly dynamic Asian region’s plastics and rubber industry which international companies continue to explore. Several reports in this issue touched on automation and how important it is in ensuring uninterrupted and cost-efficient operations. In the injection moulding process, the use of robots has significantly reduced cost and enhanced quality. We also covered milestones of two leading companies in the industry. Borealis opened its catalysts plant in Austria and Lanxess inaugurated its butyl rubber facility in Singapore. Demand for raw materials has been on the rise in the past few years that companies have started to invest in ensuring stable supply of key materials. The medical sector has been benefiting from the R&D initiatives in material solut
- International Plastics News, Middle East & Africa 2013-7
- Infrastructure development entails high demand for construction materials and supplies. This issue looks at the trend towards more complex plastic pipes with various functional layers and how extrusion machinery producers are responding to market needs. Aside from serving the technical requirements for the functionality of multi-layered pipes, the process technology concept for this complex system also plays a critical role where flexible solutions are always welcome. The medical and healthcare needs in the MENA region have encouraged the development of materials solutions catering to this sector. Medical devices and equipment benefit from the developments in engineering plastics where lightweight products are now manufactured at lower cost. A steady supply of catalysts is now assured in the wake of rising global demand. A leading provider of solutions in the fields of polyolefins, Borealis, recently opened its new catalyst plant in Linz, Austria. The move will also boost R&D through the research centre the company has set up. K 2013 is scheduled to take
- Int'l Plastics News for Asia 2013-6
- T his issue carries another Special Supplement, this time InterPlas Thailand 2013. The annual Manufacturing Expo, of which InterPlas Thailand is one of the concurrent events, has been an important platform for companies wanting to explore the ASEAN market. The show has grown fast with new highlights added. We also included post-show reviews of two Asian shows that were well-attended this year. These exhibitions have taken a special place in the region’s plastic and rubber industry for being the launching pad of new processing technologies. A special report on engineering plastics provides an overview on the expanding properties of newly launched engineering plastics and how they have been well accepted as replacement for material, like metal, in the production of more consumer products. Lastly, the process of pellet screening has benefited from the release of a new system that addresses the concerns of materials producers and manufacturers of plastic products for consistency and quality.
- International Plastics News, Middle East & Africa 2013-5
- Engineering plastics have played a key role in the manufacture of electronic products. Designers of computers and electronic components choose plastics for their toughness, durability, ease of fabrication into complex shapes and their electrical insulation qualities. The continuing miniaturisation of circuit boards and components increasingly relies on high-performance plastics to provide tough, dimensionally stable parts that can withstand both the stress of assembly and the strain of use. The packaging sector has been a recipient of technological advances. In this issue, we featured two companies engaged in packaging. One company provides an insight into the production of flexible packaging; the other presented its efficient filling and sealing system.CHINAPLAS 2013 Supplement focuses on Asia’s no. 1 exhibition for the plastics and rubber industry. With about 2,900 exhibitors from all over the world, the event has launched many value-added features that could very well give an insight into the future applications of plastics and rubber.
Samai is the first rum distillery in Cambodia, and proudly the only one producing premium and industrial rums in the Kingdom, writes JEAN ALINGOD-GUITTAP.
The fight against obesity continues with multi-sectoral partnerships, commitment and strong food innovation.
The 2019 ASEAN Automotive & Motorcycle Parts Manufacturing Summit successfully ended following a two-day run, from 6-7 November at the Holiday Inn Cikarang Jababeka in Indonesia.


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Doordash is trying to give more control over the fees charged by restaurants in response to the widespread backlash from moms and pop restaurants over the economics of distribution apps.
On Tuesday, the food delivery company launched a new à la carte menu service in preparation for more people to avoid takeaway in exchange for seated meals.
With the new commission, restaurants can choose to pay only 6% of their orders, which can be increased to 15%, 25% and 30% depending on their needs. Previously, restaurants were forced to negotiate prices. As a result, many small restaurants fork more than 30% of all food orders to tech giants simply because customers chose to order food from their website or app rather than calling the restaurant directly. was doing.
“DoorDash is excited to offer new and better options that allow businesses to choose the products and services they need,” said David London, Head of Government at DoorDash, in a statement.
However, the new rates for San Francisco-based companies will cost consumers.
Customers who choose the cheapest doordash service will be hit with a $ 5 shipping fee, while customers who choose the Cadillac version will only pay a $ 2 shipping fee.
In recent years, tensions between restaurants and shipping companies such as GrubHub and UberEats have created new pricing.For example, in 2019, the restaurant Published posts The fake fee system GrubHub charged restaurant owners for orders that were never made.
After the pandemic, many city governments, including New York, mandated distribution apps 15% or less charge On a per-order basis to help the restaurant industry survive state-mandated blockade orders. Most of the price caps are temporary, according to industry sources, but some lawmakers are aiming to make them permanent.
Shipping company fought a pandemic capInsisted that consumers would pay more and restaurants would lose their business. In fact, many delivery companies have done better than ever because during the pandemic, consumers trapped in their homes deliver more often for their meals.
“This is to listen and make adjustments to our merchant partners,” said Christopher Payne, Chief Operating Officer, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. “Basically, we’ve learned together what a restaurant needs and tested the way what the next stage of pricing should be.”
Doordash’s share rose more than 3% on Tuesday morning.
Doordash’s new pricing structure can cost more to customers
Source link Doordash’s new pricing structure can cost more to customers


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Famous high street businesses, including Topshop and the recruitment specialist Reed, are being named and shamed by an internet campaign targeting the rise of unpaid and very low paid internships that, it is claimed, is undermining the link between pay and work.
Topshop, the star performer in Sir Philip Green’s £2.7bn Arcadia retail empire, is exposed for paying graduates on month-long work experience secondments just £3.50 a day plus limited travel expenses.
Urban Outfitters, the American clothier with stores in a dozen cities around the UK, has been attacked for advertising a nine-month unpaid internship in their merchandising department for people who are
hardworking, organised [and] able to multi-task.
And Reed, one of the country’s largest job agencies, has been nicknamed
Greedy Reed for having advertised 46 unpaid internships within its company, variously described as
intern executive assistant and
secretarial admin internship. The adverts were recently taken down after the company was reminded by the campaign of the obligations of the national minimum wage legislation introduced in 1999. There is no legal definition of an “intern”, and the law says that anybody who qualifies as a worker must be paid at least £6.08 an hour if aged 21 — via redwolf.newsvine.com


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DeWine Forms Working Groups For Next Reopening Phase
Ohio is taking the first step in slowly reopening businesses, beginning with health care procedures and work at dentists’ and veterinarians’ offices. Gov. Mike DeWine says companies following strict safety measures is not only in the best interest of public health but for the future of their business.
The state's coronavirus response moves from the "Stay At Home" order to what's being called the "Stay Safe Ohio" order, with many of the same social distancing measures in place.
DeWine says he’s gathering experts in different industries, such as restaurants, salons, and gyms, to form customized plans that best protect workers and customers. He says people need to know that when these places do open, they'll be safe.
"If that business is going to thrive. If people are going to come in, if customers are going to be there. People have to feel, the public has to feel every precaution is being taken, every safety measure is being taken," says DeWine. "Having that public confidence is absolutely essential for businesses to be able to come back and to make it. And so the 'how' of how we roll this out is so very, very important,"
DeWine says he hopes to announce when restaurants and hair businesses can open within the next week.


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Branded is a weekly column devoted to the intersection of marketing, business, design, and culture.
The wild ride that is Elon Musk’s Tesla seems to have hit a rough patch: This week, the electric-vehicle giant announced slightly disappointing revenue for the year and warned that 2024 volume growth “may be notably lower” than previously expected. There was no word on ending significant discounts it introduced in the latter part of 2023, partly due to a more competitive market.
That competition includes one of the world’s hottest carmakers, a brand that most U.S. consumers haven’t even heard of, for the understandable reason that its vehicles aren’t (yet) available to them. China-based BYD—which stands for Build Your Dreams—recently announced that it sold more than 3 million vehicles last year, 1.6 million EVs and 1.4 million hybrids. Tesla, long the global EV leader, reported 1.8 million total sales for the year. And in the fourth quarter, BYD, for the first time, put Tesla in its rearview mirror in pure electric-model sales, moving about 525,000 EVs compared to Tesla’s 485,000 deliveries.
It’s been a remarkable rise, and it may be just starting. About 90% of BVD’s sales still come from China, but it is making inroads in Europe and elsewhere, bringing along lessons and strategies honed on its fiercely competitive home turf, where it has become the clear market leader.
Founded in Shenzhen in the mid-1990s, BYD was originally a battery company before founder Wang Chuanfu acquired a state-owned automaker in 2003, eventually concluding that electric vehicles represented its best opportunity to become a truly global business. Vertically integrated (not only innovating new batteries but owning access to resources like lithium mines) and with a reputation for manufacturing efficiency, BYD has primarily competed on affordability: Its cheapest vehicle is around $12,000 in China (compared to about $39,000 for the cheapest current Tesla).
Early on, BYD struggled with both quality and aesthetics; an early model was basically rejected by dealers as being too unappealing. A dozen years ago, Tesla chief Elon Musk literally laughed off the prospect of BYD as a serious competitor, dismissing their vehicles as subpar. “Have you seen their car?” he asked at the time. “I don’t think it’s particularly attractive, the technology is not very strong.”
Others saw potential: Notably, a subsidiary of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway invested $230 million in a 10% stake in the company in 2008. In 2016, BYD brought in German designer Wolfgang Egger, whose background includes Alfa Romeo and Audi, as its design head. Since then, its styling has evolved into more consumer-friendly looks (with less emphasis on oddball design quirks like “guitar” strings embedded in doors) and greater variety, offering two dozen models to appeal to many tastes. Also in 2016, the company signed megastar Leonardo DiCaprio as a brand ambassador, burnishing its cred. In 2022, it launched in Europe, with aggressive pricing and incentives.
Brands like BMW and Mercedes (and Tesla) still carry more status and prestige both in China and Western markets; Porsche is the latest to announce a luxury EV. But Chinese-made cars’ reputation has been steadily improving. “These are very advanced vehicles,” an auto expert at global consultant AlixPartners told NPR. “They are not quite up to the quality standards that the U.S. and European vehicles are. But they’ve come a long way, and the difference is now pretty negligible.” Particularly for the price: BYD’s current models aren’t head-snapping sports cars, but they’re solid and practical. It’s an approach that worked for Toyota and other Japanese carmakers when they went global, and later for Korean brands like Hyundai and Kia.
BYD’s route to the U.S. market will be more complicated. Chinese automakers rose and thrived in the burgeoning EV market, partly thanks to government subsidies and tax breaks, following what The Economist described as the “ransacking of technology from joint ventures with Western carmakers and Western and South Korean battery makers.” But that’s not the whole story. China is the world’s biggest market for EVs—about one in three cars sold there is a “new energy vehicle,” either electric or hybrid—and it’s proven a fiercely competitive one. BYD has a slew of Chinese EV-centric rivals, including MG, Geely, and NIO, and the battle for market share has no doubt helped all the (surviving) competitors improve and innovate.
Nevertheless, the European Commission is investigating whether BYD and other Chinese brands are subsidized in ways that violate trade rules. And it is currently thwarted from entering the U.S. consumer market by high tariffs and other government policies that aren’t likely to change anytime soon.
Still, BYD is keeping its foot on the accelerator, selling in Australia, Latin America, and Asia; it offers five models in Europe with more to come in 2024, and has announced plans for a new production facility in Hungary. Next, the company says it will roll out a new brand, Yangwang, explicitly targeting the luxury market, including a $150,000 Lamborghini-like model.
Meanwhile, Tesla is reportedly aiming to introduce a model in the $25,000 range in 2025, which sounds like an attempt to get into BYD’s lane. Certainly Musk isn’t laughing at Chinese automakers these days: “I think the Chinese car companies are extremely competitive,” he said not long ago. “By far, our toughest competition is in China.”


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The world’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero Honda on Friday said it will produce over 45 lakh units in 2009-10 from its three facilities in India and will decide on setting up a fourth manufacturing unit within the next six months.
“Despite difficult conditions, we will surely produce 4.5 million units for 2009-10 against 3.7 million units of last fiscal... The market wants more,” Hero Honda Managing Director Pawan Munjal told PTI on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum here.
The company, which has three plants at Dharuhera, Gurgaon and Haridwar with a total annual production capacity of about 50 lakh units, has so far sold 34,13,594 units in this fiscal.
Hero Honda had earlier set a target of selling 40 lakh two-wheelers in 2009-10, but later revised it upwards.
When asked about setting up of a Greenfield facility, Munjal said, “Very soon we will do a feasibility study. It should take about six months to take a decision.”
For the coming fiscal year, Munjal said the company will launch about 8-9 models in order to keep up market expectations of new products and will enhance its presence in the rural areas.
On competition, especially with the revival of Bajaj, he said, “We remain prepared for healthy competition that provides food for innovation.”
Earlier this month, Hero Honda had reported a 78.34 per cent jump in its third quarter net profit at Rs. 535.77 crore on the back of a quarterly sales volume of over a million units. It had a net profit of Rs. 300.42 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.


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October 27, 2009
Carlson Wagonlit Travel has announced that it shortly would announce a videoconferencing management strategy, including a partnership with a technology provider.
This, according to BTNonline, quoting CWT president Doug Anderson.
“We are very close to making an announcement on a relationship with a strategic partner to offer our clients access to videoconferencing facilities,” Anderson said.
Anderson added that CWT will help customers to develop policies and booking processes for integrated management of travel and videoconferencing.
“I view it as no different than what we do to help clients with air, hotel and other supplier categories,” he said. “We will help them to access the inventory, which in some cases will be that of our partner and in others the client’s own facilities.”
CWT saw a decline in travel bookings of 10 per cent to 12 per cent in the first nine months of 2009, with client spend down by more than 20 per cent. Anderson said the U.S. has resumed growth, but Europe remains flat.
Globally, Anderson does not expect significant improvement for another two or three quarters. Since the recession began, the travel management company has reduced its headcount from 21,000 employees to 17,000.
For the article, visit BTNonline
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Following the revelation that hundreds of thousands of websites are susceptible to attacks based on the “Heartbleed” flaw in OpenSSL, Apple told Re/code that its operating systems including iOS and OS X, as well as unnamed “key” web-based services are not affected by the hack.
“Apple takes security very seriously. IOS and OS X never incorporated the vulnerable software and key Web-based services were not affected,” an Apple spokesperson told the publication.
While Apple would not say what those key web services are, 9to5Mac says it tested apple.com and various iTunes servers that host Apple’s online stores using an online tool that checks for Heartbleed and all of them are secure. The publication added that users who rely on a server powered by OS X 10.8 or 10.9 to run a web service are also secure.
Heartbleed allows hackers aware of the issue to fish for user passwords on the sites affected by the security flaw. Changing the password will not fix the problem as long as the company doesn’t patch up the issue. This Chrome plugin should help you check out what sites are vulnerable to Heartbleed at the moment, with more and more companies securing their online services.
This article was originally published on BGR.com


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LOS ANGELES – A quick look at the American sales figures of Genesis Motor America suggests that the young luxury brand is fueling at a critical point in its development. But the numbers do not tell the full story.
While sales almost tripled in 2017, the monthly reports of this year have fallen sharply. Sales in November fell by 77 percent to only 417 vehicles. They are almost 48 percent lower for the year.
The drop-off, however, is largely a by-product of the accelerated separation of the Hyundai brand, says Brian Smith, COO of Hyundai Motor America. As the companies turn off the divorce, Smith said, Hyundai executives realized that it would take longer than expected to comply with the franchise guidelines that vary from state to state.
March would turn out to be the last month that dealers receive shipments of 2018 Genesis models while the brand made a separate line from Hyundai in every state. Dealers had to follow the example to get a license and sell 2019 Genesis products and much more.
"Instead of leaving the 19 year model year 19 out, we decided that this would be the break," Smith said.
At the end of September, the licensing trip of Genesis was almost complete with 45 states on its belt.
Now comes the sporty 2019 G70 sedan, a North American Car of the Year finalist and gets a noticeable push during "Monday Night Football" halftone shows, popping up in stores across the country. The brand expects 100 to 200 dealers to have them by the end of the year. Genesis sold 128 G70s in November.


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Thistle Gate Vineyard Grand Opening in Albemarle County
You now have a new place to raise your glass in southern Albemarle County. Thistle Gate Vineyard is celebrating its grand opening this week, but the owners never intended to open a winery.
When the Cushnies moved to Scottsville and bought the property for their retirement, they knew they wanted to keep the land for agriculture.
"It's great for the community. It gives us always something to do. We're never bored and it really brings our family closer together," said Christy Cushnie, the owners' daughter.
The family decided to grow grapes to sell. "It ended up being so much effort that went into growing grapes that we couldn't let them go. We had to go into the winemaking business as well," said George Cushnie, who owns Thistle Gate Vineyard with his wife.
The Cushnies say opening a tasting room was the next logical step. "Thistle Gate Vineyard is really small-knit, it's a small community, family-oriented," said Christy.
Thistle Gate has now decided to team up with James River Brewing, which also just opened, to market the beer and wine in the region.
"I hope it brings more people to Scottsville and more jobs too and at the end of the day that people just enjoy themselves," Christy said.
The winery officially opens at 1:00 Friday afternoon.
Thistle Gate Vineyard Grand Opening in Albemarle CountyMore>>


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Liz Wagstrom, chief veterinarian of the National Pork Producers Council, said the modern farming system is designed to keep animals healthy and produce large quantities of meat.
"The bottom line is that if these products go away, it may result in sicker pigs, more expensive food, and we don't think it will improve public health," Wagstrom said.
Meat prices in Europe have not risen dramatically since the EU's ban. Danish authorities estimate the total costs for pig farmers increased by just 1 percent, or about $1.35 for every pig slaughtered -- far below food industry estimates.
U.S. health experts suggest the increase here would be modest, too. The Institute of Medicine, a non-partisan nonpartisan group of medical experts who advise the federal government on public health issues, estimates the average U.S. consumer would spend between $5 and $10 more per year on meat if antibiotics were restricted.
Farmers continue to argue that antibiotics are necessary to have a steady supply of low-cost, disease-free meat for Americans, who eat about three-quarters of a pound per day -- roughly twice the global average. They acknowledge that antibiotic-free animals can be raised by small, organic farms but say large-scale meat production requires antibiotics to keep animals healthy.
"We're pretty darn committed to our cattle, and our goal is to not have them get sick," said Mike Apley, a cattle farmer and professor of veterinary medicine at Kansas State University.
Farmers like Apley also point to a handful of studies that conclude the risk to humans is extremely low. One 2004 estimate conducted by scientists consulting for the meat industry, for instance, placed the likelihood that antibiotic would not work in a human due to animal use at 1 in 82 million.
And, they argue, it's the overuse of antibiotics in humans -- not animals -- that's causing a rise in drug-resistant bacteria. Indeed, for decades, doctors have prescribed antibiotics for common ailments like the flu and sinus infections that are not caused by bacteria. Studies show doctors often feel pressured to prescribe the drugs.
"The problem is not an animal or human issue per se," said Dr. Tom Chiller, associate director for epidemiologic science at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "It's about using the antibiotics as judiciously as we possibly can in situations where they are needed."
Some Americans are becoming more aware of the issue. Liza Greenfield, 33, said she will only buy organic, antibiotic-free meat at farmers markets because she doesn't think animals should be given antibiotics for growth.
"A cow is supposed to eat grass," said Greenfield, an administrator at the New York University. "I want to know it was out on the pasture eating grass."
As Americans show more interest, so are companies. Some of the largest restaurant and grocery chains including Kroger and Safeway now offer antibiotic-free meat. And last month, executives from companies such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Bon Appetit food services that offer antibiotic-free meat and poultry gathered in Washington to lobby for restrictions on the use of antibiotics in animals.
The FDA last week said it would ask drugmakers to voluntarily stop marketing antibiotics for non-medical uses on their labels with a goal of completely stopping the practice in a few years. Animal drugs can only be legally prescribed for uses listed on the label, so the change is expected to have a major impact on how farmers use them.
Some public safety advocates complained that the FDA, which worked with drugmakers on the proposal, should have mandated the change. But the FDA said a formal ban would have required individual hearings for each drug, which could have taken decades.
"We think the science is very solid in showing that largely indiscriminate use of antibiotics contributes to resistance," said FDA Deputy Commissioner MichaeI Taylor. "I don't think there's really any question about it."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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2019 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R pre-bookings open in India
India Kawasaki Motors has started accepting pre-bookings of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R in India at Rs 1.5 lakh. Bookings are open up to November 30. The bike is expected to launch in January 2019 and prices will be revealed then.
The bike is being brought into India via the CKD route and will be assembled at Kawasaki's Chakan plant. The ZX-6R is powered by a 636cc in-line four-cylinder engine paired with a six-speed gearbox which now meets Euro 5 norms. This motor will produce 129.7PS at 13,500rpm. The 1.3PS drop in power over the last gen bike has come by way of the cleaner emissions.
Changes to the MY 2019 Ninja ZX-6R include an updated instrument cluster with a fuel gauge, range and Eco mode indicator. Stylistic changes include a new front cowl and redone tail section, reworked LED headlamps and tail lamps. There is also a new exhaust.
The motorcycle gets a host of electronic features including KIBS (Kawasaki intelligent anti-lock braking system), KTRC (Kawasaki traction control), KQS (Kawasaki quick shifter) and LED headlamps and tail lamps.
Starts Rs 10,49,000
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Microvast has appointed board member, Craig Webster, as its new CFO. He replaces Leon Zheng, who has been CFO since 2010.
The company went public via a SPAC in July 2021. It now trades at $5.80 a share ($1.7 billion market cap). Microvast is a leading provider of vehicle battery technology for all types of vehicles. The company claims its batteries have longer range, quicker charging and longer lifespan than its competitors. It had initial success with electric buses, especially in China. Its products operate in 160 cities in 19 countries.
The company was formed in Houston in 2006 by Yang Wu. Nominally, the company has its headquarters in Stafford where it has a 4,000 sq. ft. office. The main operations have been in Huzhou, China where the company has a manufacturing plant with 1.7 million sq.ft. Mr. Wu had previously founded a water treatment company in Huzhou that he sold to Dow Chemical in 2006.
Mr. Zheng will stay on in a consulting capacity for 18 months. He will receive a fee of $25,000 a month.
Mr. Webster has served as a director of Microvast since 2012. Between 2005 and 2018, he worked for Ashmore Group, an emerging markets Investment manager. He is a UK citizen and currently resides in New Zealand. Mr. Webster will receive a base salary of $400,000 and will be required to relocate to the US to a region mutually agreeable between him and the company. (According to LinkedIn, CEO Mr. Wu lives in Hawaii, while the company has a new R&D facility in Orlando and a large manufacturing plant in Tennessee).
The company also announced the promotion of Mr. Sasha Rene Kelterborn to President. He will lead the day-to-day operations of the company. Currently based in Berlin, he will also relocate to the US, to a region mutually agreeable between him and the company.


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Stratasys sues Twin Cities 3-D printing company
The company claims Afinia’s Series H printer infringes on several of Stratasys' 3-D printing patents. An Afinia spokesman said the company is still reviewing legal documents and isn’t prepared to comment.
Afinia, a business unit of Microboards Technology, began selling 3-D printers last year and went on to land distribution deals with large online retailers, including BestBuy.com. The company targets home hobbyists and schools, making it a competitor to Stratasys’ MakerBot business.
Eden Prairie-based Stratasys said the lawsuit, filed Monday, marks the first time the company has sued another company for patent infringement.
Katharine Grayson covers med tech, clean tech, technology, health care and venture capital.
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Ultimately, the choice is up to you on whether or not going to Disney World Parks. Here's what there is to know about the reopening.
Get ready for Hurricane Karen as it hits Costco. Here's everything you need to know about the Karens refusing to wear masks.
During a global pandemic Kimye West and their social media posts have stung even more. Here are some of the worst.
These quality coronavirus memes will have you laughing, nodding, and sighing over the Karens of the world. Be prepared for laughter.
States are starting to open up and quarantines are being lifted. These coronavirus memes express exactly how we feel about emerging from quarantine.
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Now that the iconic San Diego Comic Con is going digital, everyone's wondering is this the future for the comic convention.
Fox's iconic dance competition show 'So You Think You Can Dance' has officially been pulled for 2020 thanks to COVID-19. But will it ever come back to air?
Lucky's Supermarkets, Pier 1 Imports, and more are not reopening thanks to the pandemic killing their business. Read the full list of closing businesses.


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Dropbox has announced that it will no longer be utilizing Amazon Web Service’s cloud infrastructure, favouring its own in-house solution.
The project, named “Magic Pocket” has been in the works for over two and a half years, and will store and serve over 90% of users’ data on the company’s own custom-built infrastructure. Dropbox was one of Amazon’s first customers to utilize its S3 service to store bulk data eight years ago, but has commented that the relationship will continue in certain areas.
“As the needs of our users and customers kept growing, we decided to invest seriously in building our own in-house storage system,” said Akhil Gupta, Dropbox VP of Engineering. While the company has traditionally stored file content on Amazon, the hosting of metadata and Dropbox web servers has always been in data centres managed by Dropbox itself.
“There were a couple reasons behind this decision. First, one of our key product differentiators is performance. Bringing storage in-house allows us to customize the entire stack end-to-end and improve performance for our particular use case,” said Gupta. “Second, as one of the world’s leading providers of cloud services, our use case for block storage is unique. We can leverage our scale and particular use case to customize both the hardware and software, resulting in better unit economics.”
The company has witnessed healthy growth over recent years, recently passing the milestone of 500 million users and 500 petabytes of user data, prompting the in-house move. Back in 2012, the company only had around 40 petabytes of user data, demonstrating 12-fold growth in the last four years. Dropbox initially began building its own storage infrastructure in 2013, with the company first storing user files in house in February 2015. The team hit its goal of storing 90% of its data in-house on 7 October 2015.
“Magic Pocket became a major initiative in the summer of 2013. We’d built a small prototype as a proof of concept prior to this to get a sense of our workloads and file distributions. Software was a big part of the project, and we iterated on how to build this in production while validating rigorously at every stage,” said Gupta “We knew we’d be building one of only a handful of exabyte-scale storage systems in the world. It was clear to us from the beginning that we’d have to build everything from scratch, since there’s nothing in the open source community that’s proven to work reliably at our scale.”
The move highlights the transition through to private cloud as a business benefit once enterprise reaches a certain level. Zynga is another company who have a similar story, moving between private and public cloud in recent years. Zynga is now in the process of shifting its data back onto in-house infrastructure. Dropbox’s move highlights the potential for overhead reductions when effectively moving onto private cloud, though if the company fails to scale as planned, the move could become a financial burden.
While the move does result in AWS losing a substantial amount of business, it is not the end of the relationship. The team will continue to partner with Amazon for new projects, but will also offer its European customers the opportunity to store data on AWS infrastructure in Germany, should they request it.


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A new program called Stop Waste Together that launched at Madison, Wis.-based Metcalfe’s Market last month aims to reduce food waste by selling soon-to-expire products at discounted prices.
Shelf talkers direct customers to the products, which are sold at a 25% discount, while an affixed coupon identifies the discount when the item is brought to the cash register. The cashier tears off the coupon, leaving behind a sticker with an explanation of the program.
“We try to educate the customers based on the shelf talkers as well as the sticker itself. It’s not just, ‘hey take 25% off,’ and there’s no explanation on it. When they tear off the actual coupon there’s a disclosure that states … why we’re doing this and describes the program,” Kevin Metcalfe, co-owner of the three-store independent, told SN.
Stop Waste Together was initiated by Andrew Hoeft, CEO at Pinpoint Software, maker of a software solution called Date Check Pro that helps retailers keep track of expiration dates to manage on-shelf inventory. Hoeft said he started the program because of the growing consumer awareness around food waste in the U.S.
“So we had retailers like Kevin ask us, how do we market this? How do we put this in a way that we can get our shoppers involved and help us? And that’s why Stop Waste Together was created. Because we wanted to have this brand and entity that the shoppers could affiliate with it that we could utilize to not just get shoppers to buy this product — that’s the side effect — but to be aware of the waste that happens and the efforts that the retailers that they’re shopping at are making on that,” said Hoeft.
“If you just slap a coupon on something and you don’t educate them as to the importance of it, it’s not as motivating, not going to make as much impact on food waste as if you have that emotional story that shows look, this is a part of a much greater cause.”
Metcalfe’s, a Date Check Pro user, was a logical choice to begin the consumer program because of its existing environment initiatives. The retailer purchases renewable energy credits to offset 100% of its power needs and uses LED lighting and night shades to reduce energy consumption. It also composts its unsold produce through a company called Purple Cow, which uses the produce to make fertilizer that is sold in Metcalfe’s stores.
“When Andrew approached us regarding his idea to Stop Waste Together, it was really just an easy thing for us to implement, given that our green efforts were already strong and this added to enhance that opportunity for us to continue moving forward in that initiative,” Metcalfe.
In the first month that stores have implemented Stop Waste Together, Metcalfe’s has seen redemption rates of 60% to 70% on marked down items.
“So it’s made a big impact on allowing us to minimize the amount that goes to the landfill,” said Metcalfe.
He said he recently met a new customer who decided to shop the store after seeing a local news article about Stop Waste Together.
“The positive impact is that we’re already doing a lot to help the environment, and having this additional program added on captured some exposure,” he said.
Fellow Wisconsin retailers Trigs and Hansen’s IGA have also begun implementing Stop Waste Together, and Fox Bros. Piggly Wiggly will likely launch soon, Hoeft said.
Another Date Check Pro user, Skogen’s Festival Foods, has its own program for discounting soon-to-expire products.
“They utilize a different way to mark down products than Stop Waste Together, and that’s fine. The goal is still to just prevent waste in general. So they have a way that works and we do that with them,” said Hoeft.
Pinpoint Software also plans to look at other methods for helping retailers reduce food waste.
“Our next step in the process is to find ways to innovate around once it actually does expire,” said Hoeft.
For example, Hoeft wants to help retailers donate more expired refrigerated products to food pantries by figuring out a communication system for pantries to be able to pick up the items when they are culled from stores.


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With concerns over the security of emails and mobiles increasing day-by-day, technology giant Microsoft is all set to come up with the other ways to rid tech users of their worries over passwords .
According to PTI, Microsoft Corporation chief executive Satya Nadella said, “One of the biggest security issues is passwords. One of the things that we are working on is a world where passwords are not going to be the ones that you know can get hacked but you really have other biometrics that really help us secure our computing interfaces.”
He was delivering keynote address at ‘Future Unleashed: Accelerating India’, Microsoft’s largest ever customer conference , celebrating 25 years of the Richmond-based company’s in the country.
Hyderabad-born Nadella said the company has a sense of purpose that is about empowering every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more.
“We had a mission of putting a personal computer PC on every desk in every home, but in retrospect that was a goal… Our mission was to empower every individual and organisation. That’s really what I look at as we go forward,” said Nadella, who has completed 25 years at Microsoft.
Nadella, who runs an average of 5 km a day — even today despite 16 hours of jetlag — and reads 10 books on weekends, said that with changing world and technologies, the company has more ambitions to reinvent productivity and business processes.
“Our first ambition is about reinvention of productivity and business process. We want to make sure that work no longer is a place you go to. Work is about making things happen and getting things done wherever you are,” he noted, adding that the purpose of Microsoft is to to build an intelligent cloud.
He unveiled the new cloud start-up initiative to empower the smart cities.
Talking about one of his personal phones, an iPhone, he said, “this is not my phone, but it is an iPhone. I like to somehow refer to this as iPhone Pro because it has got all the Microsoft software on it…there is Word, Excel, Power Point.”
He said he uses his own phone – a high-end Lumia.
Microsoft will bring the latest Surface Pro 4 here in January, which will be available for Rs 75,000 and above, he said. “We are not stopping at building a phone that can run apps. We are keen on creating a full PC experience from the phone. Windows Continuum is a great feature in a market like this.”
On the fast growing e-commerce space in India, Nadella said: “It is mind-blowing to see how e-commerce is progressing in this country.. am not bothered about their valuations but am more interested in the quality of their ideas, which is pretty good.”