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Genies has raised $65 million to build a non-fungible blockchain avatar platform. The company, which has partnerships with entertainers such as Michael Jackson and Justin Bieber, raised the money with the help of Bond, a venture capital firm co-founded by Mary Meeker. Dapper Labs, which built the NBA Top Shot app, also participated in the fundraising. The company uses the Flow Blockchain for its avatar platform.
Genies raised $65 million in funding
In its latest funding round, Genies has received $65 million from the Mary Meeker-led Bond Capital. Other investors in the round included Dapper Labs, Coinbase Ventures, and NEA. The company will use the funding to expand its blockchain strategy and continue to roll out its avatar creator tools. Currently, Genies has more than 100 employees and has partnered with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.
Genies aims to launch a secondary digital marketplace in 2021 and sell digital goods to users. Users will be able to purchase items from a collection and trade them on other digital marketplaces. The company is also working on ways to get into celebrity partnerships to expand its reach. Genies raised $65 million in funding to fund its product development and expansion.
The new funding will help Genies continue to expand their avatar creator, which allows users to express their identity in virtual ways. The company plans to become the first company to offer its users full virtual identities. The company has already begun digitizing famous people during events. The company has already secured funding from artists like Rihanna and Cardi B. They also have partnerships with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group for 2021.
Genies was founded in 2017 and provides tools for the creation of stylized avatars. This technology allows users to build their digital personas using their smartphones. The app is available for both iOS and Android smartphones. Users can dress up their digital personas with various clothing and facial accessories.
The company also plans to open a marketplace for hundreds of partners. This will enable developers to use Genies technology within apps and create a portable identity for their customers. Genies is another company that has been making headway in the metaverse. The startup’s funding indicates that the broader space is paying attention to its product.
Is it a bet on Dapper’s brand of blockchain?
Genies has made a bet on blockchain to sell digital apparel. The company has already tested selling digital apparel inside a native mobile app. This foray into NFT economics could be a big bet on the Dapper blockchain. Though less decentralized than other blockchain networks, it could offer lower fees and better transaction capacity. It also provides developers with a friendly platform with built-in user benefits.
Dapper Labs is one of the leading companies in the NFT industry, with projects including NBA Top Shot, which has already generated $500 million in trading volume. This is the company’s next project, and it recently announced a $65 million Series B round led by Bond Ventures, NEA, NetEase, Breyer Finance, and Tull Investment. Dapper Labs is also working with Genies, the avatar creator startup. The two companies are working together to create a digital avatar platform that will sell resellable items online. The product is currently in beta but a full-fledged version of Genies is expected in Q3 2021.
Genies has raised $65 million in funding to launch its nonfungible token (NFT) platform. The company has partnerships with a who’s who of entertainment, and it will allow users to customize their 3D cartoon avatars. The company is also looking to court developers to get back on its feet.
Genies raises $65 million in funding for its nonfungible token (NFT) platform
Genies, a startup that provides styled virtual avatar creation, has raised $65 million in a Series B funding round led by Mary Meeker’s Bond firm. The investment round also included investments from Coinbase Ventures, Dapper Labs, NEA, and Tull Investment Group. The company also announced a partnership with Universal Music Group in December. In the announcement, Genies did not disclose the latest valuation of its nonfungible token (NFT) token platform.
The NFTs are a type of cryptocurrency that is used to sell digital products. Genies is planning to open a marketplace for developers that will allow developers to integrate its technology in their own apps. This technology will help users create a portable digital identity. The technology is based on a blockchain, which keeps records of past transactions and makes it almost impossible for tampering with the information. While NFTs have been popular for years in cyberpunk and science fiction literature, the technology has yet to reach the mainstream.
Dapper Labs is one of the most prominent names in the NFT market. Its NBA Top Shot platform has generated over $500 million in trading volume. Dapper is now focused on building a NFT marketplace for Genies. Its platform features cartoon avatar creation and trading, and has celebrity endorsements. The startup recently announced a $65 million Series B funding round led by Bond. The money will help Genies launch its NFT marketplace and further develop the technology behind avatars.
It has partnerships with a who’s who of entertainers
Dapper Labs is a Vancouver-based venture-backed startup that has partnerships with a who’s who in entertainment. Its portfolio includes NBA legend Michael Jordan and current players and funds like Josh Hart, Michael Carter-Williams, Udonis Haslem, and Shad Mitchell. The company also counts 2 Chainz and former NBA player Derrick Rose among its investors.
It will allow users to outfit 3D cartoon avatars
Toke thinks a centralized metaverse is bad for users and developers, because only a handful of companies would make the rules and make avatars. So he wants to make the avatar system open to developers and individual creators. Last year, he said that 24 companies were using the Toke avatar system. But that spiraled.
Genies’ Avatar Agency already works with thousands of celebrities and athletes from the NFLPA to the MLBPI and the NBPA. The company has partnered with various companies that produce digital goods for their celebrity clients. It is also partnering with Giphy and Gucci to offer marketplaces for digital goods.
The company is currently developing 2D cartoon avatars and is planning to release 3D avatars later this year. It is also preparing to release a software development kit (SDK) to enable developers to create and monetize avatars. In addition, it will launch an avatar social network that lets users communicate with other avatars.


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The pandemic-era drop in overseas travel by Chinese tourists and students has been a boon for Gen-Z focused online shopping platform Dewu.
The platform where users once mainly bought and sold trendy sneakers to each other has morphed into a marketplace for retailers of all sorts of branded and luxury goods.
Dewu, also known by the English name Poizon, now has 150 million active users, and hosts what retail consultants Re-Hub estimate to be nearly three-quarters of China’s luxury cross-border “daigou” trade that was once largely plied by individual shoppers.
“We’re getting more formal in that we’re allowing some of these larger retailers and developing the tools for the larger retailers to sell into our marketplaces,” said Jeff Unze, general manager for the San Francisco office of Poizon Global.
Daigou translates as ‘buying on behalf of’. Before the pandemic, millions of Chinese made a living by either travelling abroad and buying items that were cheaper overseas and then reselling them inside China, or shipping items into China.
Trade by daigou was a key sales driver for many global brands including Estée Lauder, a2 Milk and Kirin Holdings-owned supplements and vitamins brand Blackmores, until pandemic-related travel restrictions ground the industry to a halt.
But, unexpectedly, these restrictions actually worked to boost the overall cross-border grey market trade, with wholesalers and platforms like Dewu taking over from individuals. The trade has grown by 40 percent from 2019 levels to an estimated $81 billion this year, consultants Re-Hub say.
It’s Daigou but Not as We Know It
Persistent price differences between markets like Europe and China mean consumers can expect discounts of around 40 percent for some products, said Thomas Piachaud, the Shanghai-based head of strategy at Re-Hub. This is an obvious draw for Chinese shoppers whose travel options are limited by cost, the slow resumption of flights and lengthy wait times for visas.
“I think we have to level up our idea of daigou,” Re-Hub’s Piachaud said. “Essentially there’s this chain from global retail to Chinese consumers not directly from the brands. That’s the professionalisation of daigou at work.”
While this more formal form of daigou can help retailers and wholesalers move inventory from markets like Europe, where consumers are battling high inflation and a weak economy, it can also mean missed opportunities for brands to sell directly to consumers.
Vivi, a 22-year-old student from Nanjing who declined to use her last name for privacy reasons, first bought a Prada bag on Dewu in 2021 and has since also bought other items, including a Louis Vuitton bag and Balenciaga sneakers.
“I chose Dewu to buy luxury because it has a cheaper price than brick-and-mortar shops,” she told Reuters.
End of an Era
Estée Lauder estimates up to 40 percent of its total sales to Chinese consumers was processed by daigou before the pandemic. Daigou trade also accounted for one-third of annual retail sales for the Australian vitamins and dietary supplement sector said Blackmores CEO Alastair Symington.
But like the trade, the brands that once relied on daigou are also changing their retail strategies to reach Chinese consumers more directly.
Blackmores has already started selling directly to Chinese consumers by partnering with online market places such as Alibaba’s Tmall Global and JD Global and PDD Holdings’ Pinduoduo, Symington told Reuters.
“Over time, our intention is that we will move into brick and mortar so we will move into retail stores maybe over the next sort of two to three years,” he added.
New Zealand’s baby formula producer a2 Milk is also shifting to boost sales through cross-border e-commerce to make up for slumping daigou trade, it said in its recent earnings release.
Luxury outerwear brand Canada Goose opened two new stores in China last quarter, boosting the total permanent outlet numbers in the mainland to 21, as recovery in Chinese travel overseas remain weak.
But for some, the end of the old-style daigou means also means an end to their livelihoods.
Felix Fu, who owns a gift shop in Sydney, used to pack hundreds of boxes from 8am to 11pm daily to air ship health supplements, milk power and UGG branded boots to China.
“After COVID, a lot of brands here have opened up shops in China, either online or offline. They no longer need daigou, so most of the daigou shops have closed down,” he said, adding turnover in his store shrank by two thirds from the pre-pandemic levels of a little over A$1 million ($655,000) and the shop is barely profitable.
By Casey Hall; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Miral Fahmy

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02 March 2020
Amazon pumps own products through search algorithm
Click on image to download high resolution version
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, written by Dana Mattioli, Amazon recently updated its search algorithm to bring more of its own private label goods to the top of the results page.
“Late last year, these people said, Amazon optimized the secret algorithm that ranks listings so that instead of showing customers mainly the most-relevant and best-selling listings when they search—as it had for more than a decade—the site also gives a boost to items that are more profitable for the company,” says Mattioli.
On the other hand, Amazon executives dispute the claims, saying the e-commerce giant has not changed the algorithm to account for profitability of products. According to the unnamed whistleblower(s), an ongoing battle was in the midst between Amazon’s retail team and the “A9” (algorithm) engineers, who did not want to favor the company’s private label.
“Customers often believe that search algorithms are neutral and objective, and that results from their queries are the most relevant listings,” says Mattioli. Which brings us to ask, will e-commerce shoppers look elsewhere if they’re not finding relevant merchandise quickly enough?
“Legally, search algorithms are constitutionally protected speech under the First Amendment, according to previous judicial opinions,” says Greg Sterling, a Contributor with Search Engine Land. “Therefore, at least in the abstract, Amazon can rank results in whatever manner, using whatever factors or criteria it pleases.”
An extra murky layer is added in when we consider that the Amazon retail team, who develops the company’s private label items, also oversees independent wholesalers and third-party sellers on the site. So, when seller post their products to Amazon, they’re also handing over valuable consumer data to the e-tailer, such as which products are trending or up-and-coming.
“I used to sell on Amazon and I sold over $2,000,000 per year,” Paul Wenke commented on the WSJ article. “A few years ago I realized Amazon had the same product I had and was selling for less than me. I lowered the price and they lowered their price within an hour.”
In September, Roni Molla, a Contributor for Vox, published an article stating: “One out of 10 products pages you visit on Amazon comes from sponsored content, a 3 percentage point jump up from last year.” In other words, more sellers are paying to sponsor their products to have higher search results or features.
“Case in point: the luggage brand Samsonite, which has to pay for sponsored ads in order to be the top result when you search “Samsonite” on Amazon,” says Molla.
What can sellers do to combat these alleged algorithm changes? OFFPRICE recommends purchasing below-wholesale products at a competitive price point, to improve your own profit margins and continue meeting the needs of deal-seeking consumers. Price point will continue to be a key factor, especially for online retailers, but also brainstorming new ideas to keep your customers shopping with you.
We expect private label apparel, footwear, and accessories will continue being a huge competitive edge for many boutiques and small business owners. After all, why would consumers shop elsewhere if they believe they can only find a product at your store?
Find unbeatable deals and custom label merchandise at OFFPRICE Show in Las Vegas, February 3-6, 2020, at the Sands Convention Center. Or, start shopping today at www.offprice365.com. For questions, contact Mikaela Kornowski, Marketing Manager, at 262-754-6906 or firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
Data Supply Chain And The FTC
The former director of the Consumer Protection Bureau at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Lydia Parnes, talks to BostInnovation.com about her time at the FTC. She offers recommendations to startups saying that they should think “about online privacy as a data supply chain. ‘You need to create responsible data supply chain management.’ she said. ‘And that goes beyond ads.'” A unique perspective from inside the FTC. Read more. And, for a perspective on why the free-flow of personal data can be “good,” and there may be too much paranoia floating around, read Farhad Manjoo in Slate.
Amazon Display Strategy
Macquarie analyst Ben Schacter points to Amazon job listings (a snippet: “We are looking for engineers who enjoy working on a v1.0 product… building systems that will form the foundation of highly strategic new businesses.”) and remarks that e-Commerce leader Amazon appears to be stepping into the world of display advertising in a much bigger way. GigaOm’s Ryan Kim paraphrases Schachter’s note to investors, “[He] concludes that Amazon is likely planning to use its consumer data and new ad targeting experience to raise eCPMs for online display ads both on its own site and on third-party sites.” Read more. Mpire Chairman Matt Hulett notes on his personal blog that Amazon has “2 million affiliates generating on average 5,000 impressions per month per publisher, or 120 billion impressions per year.” That’s a mighty big ad network. Read it.
Page Taking Names, Adding Titles
In a re-organization of the executive layer, new Google CEO Larry Page has added “S”s to many VP titles and – according to some – put more of an engineering spin to management of his and Sergey Brin’s brainchild. According to the L.A. Times, among those to get the SVP moniker is Susan Wojcicki who will now be SVP of advertising. The LA Times Jessican Guyann says, “Page has been thinking about how to reorganize the company to cut bureaucracy and politicking while speeding up innovation.” Read more. And, read why Grandma may be part of the plan according to Forbes.
Invite Media CEO Nat Turner looks for certain traits in figuring out if someone can be a successful salesperson and shares them on his personal blog. He writes, “You want someone who you (1) can trust, (2) is articulate, (3) delivers on what they say, and (4) is smart enough to think on their feet and not sound like an idiot.” Read more.
AppNexus CEO Brian O’Kelley recalls his Right Media days in ClickZ and says it’s time to stop thinking about exchanges as a noun (you know, an ad exchange), but instead think of the word as a verb. He explains, “Every time a buyer and seller meet in the digital ether, whether through RTB or a hosted trading platform, a value exchange is happening.” a-HAAAAAA!! -that’s still a noun!! #winning Read more. I’m just sayin’.
Matomy Media Group Re-Brand
Adsmarket, XTEND and Matomy are now all one brand – the Matomy Media Group – according to a press release which says the reason is “to better reflect its integrated offer of providing one gateway to multiple media distribution channels, platforms, and technologies. Additionally, the Matomy Media Group has expanded its capabilities to support the growing need for mobile advertising as part of an all-inclusive digital media plan.” Ofer Druke is CEO of the Matomy Media Group and Adi Orzel is CEO of Matomy Market and Matomy Media. Read more.
SEO And E-Commerce Pitfalls
E-commerce retailer Overstock.com is still reeling from a Google Search penalty which hurt Overstock’s SEO and cost the company 5% of its revenue. According to Internet Retailer, the reason for the penalty as told to Overstock by Google had to do with improper linkage: “The links were from Overstock promotions on university-related web sites—those with a web address ending in ‘.edu’—that offered discounts to the site operators, such as student bloggers.” Read more.
Intent Data For Spring
BlueKai has released its latest intent data report and says that among the retail intent “gainers,” categories such as kayaks, heels, sandals, barbecues and shorts made the top 5 in February 2011. BlueKai attributes warm weather aspirations and the pending spring season as possible reasons for the intention trends. Download it (PDF).
Spreading the data-driven love, Google VP Neal Mohan presented at the Society of American Business Editors and Writers conference and Tia Gannon of SMU’s Daily Mustang offers a summary. Quoting Mohan, she begins, “Display advertising is all the advertising you see on the internet that wasn’t generated as a result of search inquiry. It is made up of two components that Mohan calls the 2 Ds.” Read about the 2 D’s.
Argentina-based ad network Smowtion is expanding its offices into the U.S. and positioning itself as a sell-side platform. According to a release, “Smowtion’s network includes over 120,000 Web publishers worldwide, serving an audience of 270 million unique users.” Read more.
Ad.ly Booted From Facebook
The walls are growing at Facebook as All Things D’s Peter Kafka reveals that celebrity tweet and social ad network Ad.ly has been told to take it’s business elsewhere. According to Kafka, Facebook’s reasons cited for Ad.ly’s ouster include: “It doesn’t want any users using their Facebook profiles to sell stuff, period; it wants that to happen on Facebook user pages. [UPDATE: Ad.ly says they have always used pages, not profiles, to pitch stuff].” Read more.
The Travel Data Grab
The U.S. Justice Department has approved Google’s acquisition of ITA software which makes travel reservation software. Google SVP of Local and Commerce Jeff Huber says, “We’re confident that by combining ITA’s expertise with Google’s technology we’ll be able to develop exciting new flight search tools for all our users.” Read the Official Google blog post. Is Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. shaking in their boots? Maybe. The WSJ’s Rolfe Winkler says Expedia is spinning off TripAdvisor and that it may be due to a pending Google-opoly in travel. Read it. PaidContent’s Joseph Tartifkoff writes about the compromise Google had to make to appease regulators: “Google will fund research and development of the back-end technology ITA provides to other travel search engines ‘at similar levels to what ITA has invested in recent years’ and that Google would have only limited access to the data ITA gathers from those companies.”
Give Me RTB
Ad server AdJuggler announced that it has launched what it’s calling an “Exchange Media Platform” which it says is “an extension of its ad serving platform that enables publishers and networks to optimize unsold inventory by accessing more than 30 audience-based and real-time bidding (RTB) campaign sources.” AdMeld is powering access to RTB display media sources. Read more.
A New Exchange
Ad serving company ZEDO announced late last week that it, too, is launching (currently in private beta) it’s own ad exchange called ZINC. A company blog post claims, “The ZINC Exchange features only premium, guaranteed inventory – you choose and buy the inventory you want. There isn’t any remnant inventory.” Read more.
Union Square Ventures’ Albert Wenger sees commoditization ahead in the mobile space. He writes on his personal blog, “There are two major commoditization battles brewing now: mobile OS and mobile networks. On your mobile device as an enduser, you don’t really care about some of the major features exposed by a traditional desktop OS, such as the filesystem…” Read more.
But Wait. There’s More!
- WPP’s Ogilvy To Launch China-Focused Division In U.S. – The Wall Street Journal
- Google unveils campaign for display advertising – Business Standard (India)
- VAST and VPAID Update in Which We Chase a Chicken – IABlog


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High-stepping lunching ladies kick up their heels — and some very sexy shoes — for a good cause
What: The National Kidney Foundation "Pump-A-Licious" luncheon.
Where: River Oaks Country Club.
The 411: Merele Yarborough reprised her role as chair of the strut-your-fancy-footwear fundraiser. The midday frolic featured a Neiman Marcus fashion presentation of the latest sassy footwear — everything from YSL to Manolo Blahnik to Jimmy Choo — worn by models dressed all in white. KHOU Channel 11 news personality Mia Gradney emceed the event that raised $150,000 for the foundation that supports awareness, prevention and treatment of kidney disease.
Who: Lora Clemmons, Joann Crassas, Jan Carson, Anita Smith, Alissa Maples, Virginia Steppe, Nancy Mathe, Rosemary Schatzman, Melicia Tjou, Courtney Teshoian, Katie Deutser Miller, Shawntell McWilliams and Dameria Curry-Boston.


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Fraud poses an escalating danger to companies in the iGaming and online gambling. On a global scale, digital fraud rates surged by a staggering 68.6% in iGaming.
Given the high transaction volumes during major sporting events, ever-evolving regulatory landscapes, and the complex challenges associated with breaking into new markets, iGaming operators find themselves in dire need of trustworthy fraud detection mechanisms that create strong confidence in their business expansion efforts.
In this high-stakes background, companies must equip themselves with a robust and tailored fraud prevention solution designed to meet their specific requirements.
Fraud in the iGaming Industry
Fraud in the iGaming industry can take various forms, including stolen credit card information, bonus abuse, identity theft, or even chargebacks from players seeking refunds. To safeguard their financial interests and reputation, iGaming operators must prioritise fraud prevention. However, a common concern is that strict security measures might discourage legitimate players, causing a drop in conversions. Striking the right balance between security and user experience is crucial.
The Cost of Fraud
The financial repercussions of fraud are significant in the iGaming industry. Fraudulent transactions result in direct financial losses, as operators must reimburse players who fall victim to fraud. Additionally, chargebacks can lead to fines and higher processing fees. Many reports highlight that promo abuse alone contributes to a significant portion of fraud-related losses in the online casino sector, emphasising the seriousness of this issue. Beyond the immediate monetary impact, fraud can erode trust among players, which can be even more damaging in the long run. The estimate indicates that businesses experience a $4 impact for every $1 lost to fraud, and this expense is rising annually. Thus, investing in fraud prevention is essential for both short-term stability and long-term growth.
Optimising Security without Sacrificing Conversions
Enhancing security measures can indeed introduce some friction to the deposit process, potentially leading to a drop in conversions. However, a thoughtful approach can mitigate these concerns and even enhance trust, ultimately boosting conversions in the long run:
Streamline User Experience: Focus on optimising the user experience during registration and payment. Make the process as seamless and intuitive as possible to reduce the time and effort required from players.
Communicate the Benefits: Inform players about the security measures in place and how they benefit from them. Stress the importance of a secure environment and the steps taken to protect their information and funds.
Implement Progressive Verification: You can start with basic identity checks during registration and gradually introduce more extensive verifications as the player’s activity and account history grow. This minimises friction during initial registration while increasing security as the relationship with the player deepens.
Benefits of fraud prevention
Financial Asset Security: Shielding against payment fraud reduces financial losses, ensuring stability and reliability for future planning while fostering trust and loyalty for your player’s data protection.
Chargeback Prevention: Fraud protection helps mitigate chargebacks, averting revenue loss, additional fees, and the time-consuming process of resolving disputes and ensures a seamless checkout process.
Reduced Abandoned Carts: A secure deposit experience minimises concerns about fraud, leading to a decrease in abandoned shopping carts and an increase in completed transactions. Thus, contributing to a positive brand image.
Protect your business and players with FERO
As iGaming fraud continues to surge globally, operators need reliable solutions that detect fraudsters without blocking real players. By specialising in the unique needs of iGaming, FERO empowers operators to transform the online checkout and deposit journeys, making them seamless and personalised for players while helping iGaming companies recover lost revenue. See some of the key ways FERO is uniquely positioned to help your business stay secure and personalised as a safe place to play:
Promo Abuse Predictor: FERO’s iGaming promo abuse solution utilises advanced algorithms to identify and prevent fraudulent exploitation of promotional offers and bonuses in the iGaming industry. By staying one step ahead of fraudsters, this tool ensures a fair and secure gaming environment while safeguarding operators from financial losses due to promo abuse.
Payment Method Predictor: With FERO’s Payment Method Predictor, iGaming operators can proactively predict the ideal payment method for each player. This empowers businesses to make informed decisions, optimising their payment processes to reach the right balance between user satisfaction and retention, ultimately enhancing the conversion rate.
Transaction Authentication Booster: FERO’s Transaction Authentication Booster optimises the authentication process, strategically leveraging authentication exemptions to enhance the overall user experience during transactions.
Contact us to learn how FERO can help your iGaming business deliver unique deposit and payment experience, improve player satisfaction, and increase conversion rate.


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/// NTT Docomo Mulling Bet on Tizen OS
When the first smartphone to run Tizen — the Linux-based platform for mobile devices being developed by Samsung and Intel — finally debuts in 2013, it may do so in Japan. Industry sources tell the Yomiuri Shimbun that NTT Docomo, Japan’s largest wireless carrier, has quietly signed on to work with Samsung, Intel and others to bring a Tizen handset — likely the first — to market. Tizen has been pitched by its creators as a more open alternative to both Android and iOS, and one powerful and adaptable enough to run across everything from smartphones and tablets to smart TVs. With Linux guts and a higher-level interface for Web apps, it’s designed to be HTML5-friendly, which will theoretically make it appealing to developers. Just how appealing remains to be seen. But obviously that’s the key question here. Because no matter how slick and powerful Tizen is, it’s not going anywhere without a robust ecosystem and significant developer support. Which isn’t to suggest it’s a non-starter. But it’s certainly at risk of becoming one.
The rest is here:
NTT Docomo Mulling Bet on Tizen OS
- 07/08/2014 • Gillian Flynn’s ‘Sharp Objects’ Being Developed for TV With Marti Noxon, Jason Blum
- 06/12/2013 • It’s Ba-a-ck — Deals Site Offers the Microsoft Kin One for $25
- 05/25/2013 • Broadway? Bigscreen? ‘Blue Highway’ Preps for Both
- 04/18/2011 • Google Becomes Big Fan of Oregon Wind Farm [Digital Daily]


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North American companies received a record number of robots in 2018, but the industry that long led the region’s push into automated technologies saw a decline last year.
A new report from the Association for Advancing Automation’s Robotic Industries Association showed that nearly 36,000 robots were shipped to companies in the region in 2018, an increase of 7 percent compared to the year prior.
The automotive industry, however, saw its share of the market for new robots decline to 53 percent — its lowest level since 2010 — as its shipments declined 12 percent to more than 19,000.
The downturn in robot shipments to automakers and their suppliers coincides with a tumultuous time in the U.S. auto industry as companies seek to adjust to a changing vehicle marketplace.
A3, however, downplayed the decline by robotics’ largest consumer amid significant increases in other segments — and the continued embrace of automation by more small and mid-size companies.
“While the automotive industry has always led the way in implementing robotics here in North America, we are quite pleased to see other industries continuing to realize the benefits of automation,” A3 President Jeff Burnstein said in a statement.
The food and consumer goods sector, the report said, saw 48 percent more robots shipped last year, while plastics and rubber companies saw 37 percent more. Other industries to report substantial increases included life sciences at 31 percent and electronics at 22 percent.


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Small Businesses Get Online Help
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When major franchises, discount wholesalers and mass merchandisers began to set up shop around the country, many skeptics predicted that small- and medium-size "mom and pop" operations would soon go the the way of the dinosaur.
However, the World Wide Web has changed all that. Each day, new sites debut that unite small- and medium-size companies to provide large-scale buying power, share marketing solutions and exchange successful ideas and strategies.
It's a market that some say is just starting to benefit from the Internet's growth.
"The small- to medium-size business category has previously been underserved, but now it is exploding," said Eric Klein, senior analyst, Yankee Group. "There is a significant amount of activity out there and the category is now being barraged with information that can help it."
"The market is changing very quickly," Klein noted. "More and more larger companies are heading toward the small business community to help it adopt technology and grow the bottom line."
IBM Corp. launched the The Global Group Purchasing Program, a B2B buyer's auction and Internet solutions program, in May in Hungary. The site is designed to meet the needs of IBM's small- and medium-size business clients in Central and Eastern Europe.
"At the heart of the site is a reverse-auction e-commerce portal where businesses list the products and services they want to purchase and suppliers bid for the offer," explained Gabor Mohai, director of sales, IBM Hungary.
"The site provides businesses with access to goods and services they never had before while establishing an Internet presence," he added. "The system is free to buyers. Sellers pay a nominal commission. We feature a broad product range that includes the paper, electronic, agricultural and construction industries."
Hungary and neighboring Slovenia have proved to be Internet powerhouses. Therefore, plans are under way for the site to expand its reach throughout the world, said Marc Schectman, president of GGPP.
"Our clients are the buyers," he said. "They tell us what they want and we get the suppliers to compete in the reverse auction. We create a healthy competition among suppliers. Plus, the sellers pay a fraction of what they normally pay for marketing. The model is geared toward success throughout the world. We currently are setting up offices in Newport Beach, Calif., and Memphis."
"The reverse auctions really work," he added. "The benefit of working with vertical markets is that you gain and give expertise."
Online auctions are a force to be reckoned with, according to edeal Services Corp., which offers AuctionEnabler, an online auction application.
"As many business struggle with the cost of e-commerce solutions, we bring online auction creation and management directly to the desktop," said Colin Webster, chief executive officer of edeal. "AuctionEnabler lets any small- or medium-size business create and add a branded full-service online auction site to an existing Web site with no upfront development costs.
"While large businesses have benefited from the incredible growth of online auction sales, customized auctioned development costs that can easily exceed $150,000 have put this market far out of reach for many businesses," he continued. "Since it is free, the product removes these barriers for small and medium-sized businesses and allows them to enter this fast-growing competitive e-commerce market."
AuctionEnabler, which launched this summer, attracted 500 customers during its first two weeks online, according to Webster. "We are growing day by day and breaking down barriers," he said.


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This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Huawei plans to become world’s biggest smartphone supplier as it introduce Huawei P Smart 2019
- Poland arrests Huawei employee on spying allegations
- Chinese economic expert Xiang Songzuo warns that economy shows signs of crashing
- Xiang’s Headline statistic: At most 1.67 percent GDP rate of growth
- China’s Five phases of consumption
- Major misjudgments about China’s economy
Huawei plans to become world’s biggest smartphone supplier as it introduce Huawei P Smart 2019
Huawei P Smart 2019
Huawei (WHA way) has surpassed Apple as the world’s second-largest smartphone supplier, behind Samsung, but aims to become the largest with the introduction of a new low-cost smartphone, the “Huawei P Smart 2019,” selling for around $200.
It includes a number of features that once would have appeared only in much more expensive smartphones, including a dual-camera array, face unlocking, fingerprint scanning, and AI in the camera app to identify what you are shooting. It uses the Huawei’s powerful Kirin chipset, giving it more power and performance than even more expensive competitive devices. Its only disappointment, according to reviewers, is that the camera isn’t as powerful as those on competitive phones.
I have spent a part of my career as a senior software engineer developing chip-level operating system software for embedded systems, so I know exactly how any chip or any electronic device can be turned into a tool for espionage. Furthermore, I can tell you that not only is it doable, it is not even particularly difficult for someone with the right skills.
This could not be detected by tests, because the chip would work normally until a backdoor is activated by receiving, say, a secret 1024-bit code. Then it will execute commands sent to it by Chinese engineers. Thus, the Chinese are then in control of any devices with Huawei chips, and it cannot be detected until it is too late. And since Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei was previously an officer and engineer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), there is little question that these steps have been taken.
China’s biggest natural resource is its population of 1.4 billion. China sends them overseas to work or get educated and controls them by the United Front Work Department (UFWD). China’s officials even call them “secret weapons.” China’s fleet of fishing boats in the South China Sea and East China Sea have crews that have been trained by the military for espionage, and even to fight in battle.
This is how China works, and now China’s Huawei is launching low-cost smartphones to be purchased by the millions around the world, and which can be controlled by China’s military, at the right time.
As I have written in detail in the past, if Huawei really wants to convince Westerners that their products do not contain secret “backdoors,” then they should invite American and Western engineers to work side-by-side with Chinese engineers in development centers in China, so that American engineers can examine all the internal code and scripts, just as Chinese workers work in development centers in America. Expert Reviews and IDC (11/2/2018) and Bloomberg
- China hackers collect data on hundreds of millions of Americans and Westerners (21-Dec-2018)
- University of N. Florida and Pentagon cut ties with China’s Confucius Institutes (30-Sep-2018)
- New book documents extensive Chinese infiltration into Australia’s organizations (26-Feb-2018)
- Concerns grow over China’s covert infiltration into New Zealand’s government (16-Feb-2018)
Poland arrests Huawei employee on spying allegations
Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ISA) has arrested two individuals. One is a Chinese national going by the name “Weijing W” or Stanislaw Wang, who works as a sales director for Huawei in Poland. The other is a Polish national, “Piotr D,” a former high-ranking officer of Poland’s ISA. Both were charged with spying against Poland for China. ISA officers raided the homes of both suspects on Tuesday morning. They also seized documents and electronic data from the offices of Huawei and mobile phone operator Orange Polska, where Piotr D had worked recently.
This comes after the December arrest by the Canadian police, at the request of the United States, of Ms. Meng Wanzhou (Sabrina Meng), the chief financial officer (CFO) of China’s Huawei Technologies, which was founded by her father Ren Zhengfei. According to reports, China has retaliated by arresting as many 13 Canadian citizens.
At the same time, many European countries are becoming more aggressive at prohibiting the use of Huawei technology, since it might have “backdoors” that permit espionage or control. This is increasingly becoming a more serious tit-for-tat escalation of actions that shows no sign of ending and may spiral into something much bigger.
- China jails Canadian journalist Michael Kovrig in apparent retaliation for Canada arrest of Meng Wanzhou (12-Dec-2018)
- Canada arrests the chief financial officer of China powerhouse Huawei (07-Dec-2018)
- Mike Pence’s China ‘containment’ speech signals more contentious US-China relations (26-Oct-2018)
Chinese economic expert Xiang Songzuo warns that economy shows signs of crashing
In a speech given in early December by Professor Xiang Songzuo, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow of the Center for International Monetary Research at China’s Renmin University in Beijing, he said:
You can look at the history: only the Wall Street Crash of 1929 can compare to the steep decline that the Chinese stock has experienced this year. Many stocks are down 80 or even 90 percent.
In his speech, Xiang backed up his concerns with numerous facts and figures. Such speeches are normally dismissed, but in this case, the speech has so alarmed Chinese officials that it was banned from the internet, though it was translated into English and posted outside of China before it was banned. Furthermore, a number of financial firms are taking Xiang’s conclusions very seriously.
As many problems as the U.S. economy has, China’s economy is much worse because of real estate bubbles, ghost towns, shadow banks, and a hugely leveraged credit bubble that could crash at any time. While I can make a general statement like that, Xiang has backed up those concerns with specifics.
Many people believe that since China is a Communist dictatorship, they cannot have a recession because the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will control the economy enough to prevent it. It does not work that way. Like every socialist economy, China’s economy was headed for disaster until it was opened to free markets in the 1970-80s. In fact, every socialist economy has either opened up to free markets to some extent or ended in disaster and massive bloodshed. Today, only Venezuela and North Korea have refused to open up to free markets, and both of those are disasters, with bloodshed in the future.
China today is subject to the same market forces and the same generational forces as every other country. People fool themselves into believing that politicians can actually change things. In China, only the politics will be different, but the outcomes will be the same. China Change (28-Dec-2018) and National Interest and Naked Capitalism and Don Tai (29-Dec-2018)
Xiang’s Headline statistic: At most 1.67 percent GDP rate of growth
The headline statistic in Xiang’s speech is his claim that China’s GDP rate of growth is at most 1.67 percent, or may even be negative. China’s official National Bureau of Statistics claims that China’s rate of GDP growth is at 6.5 percent. This one statistic alone could explain why the CCP felt it necessary to censor Xiang’s speech.
Nobody is surprised that China lies about statistics. Mao Zedong lied about agricultural statistics during the Great Leap Forward in 1958-59, with the result that tens of millions of Chinese died from starvation or were executed.
The problem is that you can lie about statistics only for a while, and then reality causes a financial crisis, which is what Xiang is predicting.
Since the CCP can pump money into any business at will, it would seem that any financial crisis can be prevented. The problem is that any business that can count on being bailed out has no motivation to become efficient, and so loses money.
Xiang says that this has happened with almost all Chinese businesses:
Look at our profit structure. To put it plainly, China’s listed companies don’t really make money. Then who has taken the few profits made by China’s more than 3,000 listed companies? Two-thirds have been taken by the banking sector and real estate. The profits earned by 1,444 listed companies on the SME board and growth enterprise board are not even equal to one and half times the profit of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. How can this kind of stock market become a bull market?
When we buy stocks, we are buying the profits of the company, not hype and rumors. I recently read a report comparing the profits of China’s listed companies with those in the U.S. There are many U.S. public companies with tens of billions dollars in profits. How many Chinese tech and manufacturing companies are there that have accomplished this? There is only one, but it’s not listed, and you all know which one that is. [Xiang is referring to Huawei, the Chinese tech company.] What does this tell us?
Xiang says that there are major risks in the economy, and major battles to be fought:
China’s economic decline indicates that there is a major issue with the focus on expansion and growth: It has deviated from the fundamental and moved to speculation. … What are our current financial risks? They are hidden, complex, acute, contagious, and malevolent. Structural imbalance are massive, and violations of law and regulations are rampant. … We have rampant speculations everywhere, in too many aspects.
According to Xiang, “Basically China’s economy is all built on speculation, and everything is over-leveraged.” This is significant, because when a company is over-leveraged, then when there is an economic downturn it will not be able to meet its debt payments. If every company is like that, then when one company goes bankrupt, it will create a chain reaction that sends every company into bankruptcy.
This is the basis of Xiang’s statement that China’s stock market is facing a huge crash greater than America’s 1929 crash.
China’s Five phases of consumption
According to Xiang, in the four decades following economic reform, China has undergone five phases of consumption:
- Solve the food problem.
- The “New Big Three”: short for refrigerator, color TV, and washing machine.
- Consumption of information
- real estate
According to Xiang:
But these five waves have essentially all come to an end. Car sales have dropped sharply and real estate spending is also substantially decreasing, so we are facing serious problems. This is the crux of the six stabilities called for by the Politburo [stable employment, stable finance, stable foreign trade, stable foreign investment, stable investment and stable expectations], or as some internet users have joked, the six “tender kisses” [kiss, is a homophone for , stability].
Xiang says that China made a historic mistake by relying on consumption:
Look at these numbers. That China faces a long-term economic downturn is not a problem by itself. But you may have noticed that the consumption and the service sectors now make up 78.5 percent of GDP. Going by the government’s logic, this should be a good thing, since it means the economic transition to a consumption economy has been successful: we used to rely on investment and export, now we rely on consumption and the service sector. This sounds reasonable, but think about it: in a country like China, as investment slows dramatically, how can we maintain economic stability by solely relying on consumption?
Xiang says that consumption and services comprise 78.5 percent of GDP, which is good news to some extent, but it is far eclipsed by negative implications of low investment.
Major misjudgments about China’s economy
Xiang says that in the past year, China has made major misjudgments about the economy.
The first misjudgment was vastly underestimating the negative effects of the US-China trade war on China:
First, the trade war between China and the U.S.. Did we make some inaccurate assessment? Did we underestimate the severity of the situation? Let’s recall some slogans from the mainstream media at the beginning of the year:
- “In the trade war between U.S. and China, the Americans are lifting rocks only to smash them on their own feet”
- “China is sure to win.”
- “China will win the trade war without a doubt, be the battles big or small.”
What’s behind this kind of thinking? To this day, we keep suffering from a cognitive dissonance between our understanding of the Sino-U.S. trade war and the international reality. This calls for deep reflection.
The second misjudgment has caused private businesses to lose confidence in the national leadership, with the result that investment by private business owners has fallen substantially. According to Xiang, this has occurred because the Chinese media have been suggesting that the economic reforms of the past 40 years will be reversed, and there will be a return to full-scale socialism:
Since the beginning of the year, though, all kinds of ideological statements have been thrown around: statements like
- “private property will be eliminated,”
- “private ownership will eventually be abolished if not now,”
- “it’s time for the private enterprises to fade away,” or
- “all private companies should be turned over to their workers.”
Then there was this high-profile study of Marx and the Communist Manifesto. Remember that line in the Communist Manifesto? Abolition of private property. What kind of signal do you think this sends to private entrepreneurs?
With regard to the trade war, Xiang says that it is really a clash of value systems, with no solution in sight:
In addition to this, there are three major external challenges. The first is the trade war, which is in fact no longer a trade war but rather a clash between two opposed value systems. It can be said with certainty that the Sino-U.S. relationship has come to a crossroads right now and faces significant historic challenges. What are we to do? To be honest, I don’t think we have really found much of a solution.
You are aware that Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou was recently detained in Vancouver. In the past two days, mainstream media such as BBC and CNN have been reporting on how the U.S. is going at Huawei on all fronts. What this tells us is that this issue is not simply about trade or economics.
Unless the date is postponed, China and the U.S. have until March 1 to reach agreement on a huge list of trade and trade secret protection issues, before the U.S. substantially increases tariffs on Chinese imports.
What this almost certainly means is that the can will be kicked down the road. This could mean that the March 1 date will be postponed, or it could mean that president Trump will simply increase the pressure on China by increasing tariffs by a small amount.
- China defends million-prisoner ‘reeducation camps’ and Sinicization of Islam in Xinjiang (14-Oct-2018)
- China says that its economy is “sound and stable” (06-Dec-2006)
- China Prime Minister warns country becoming unstable (24-Jan-2006)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, China, Huawei Technologies, Ren Zhengfei, People’s Liberation Army, PLA, Meng Wanzhou, Sabrina Meng, United Front Work Department, UFWD, Poland, Internal Security Agency, ISA, Weijing W, Stanislaw Wang, Piotr D, Xiang Songzuo, Renmin University
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Improving Utilization Rates According to DisplaySearch, worldwide TFT LCD fab utilization rates have been increasing since January, which was the month that posted an all-time low utilization rate of 50%. The utilization rate improved to 62% in February and increased again to 69% in March. The Austin, Texas based market research firm is expecting the rate to improve to 79% in Q2’09.
Excess Capacity There is still considerable excess capacity due to record CAPEX in 2008 for adding LCD production capacity. The rate of capacity expansion has slowed and LCD manufacturers are pushing out equipment purchases, deliveries and installs. Ramping up LCD fabs has slowed down as well. All of these activities should bring the LCD market closer to supply and demand equilibrium in 2H’09 according to DisplaySearch. The LCD market directly depends on end-user demand for LCD goods. With the US economy continuing to struggle there is no guarantee that 2H’09 will be good for companies involved in the LCD suppy chain.
China The economic stimulus package has boosted demand for LCDs, especially for those that are manufactured from Taiwan-based LCD suppliers such as AU Optronics (AUO) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) and geared toward LCD TV applications. This has had a positive impact on fab utilization rates. The added demand from China has had a stabilizing effect on decreasing panel prices. The potential market for LCD goods in China is enormous, which should have a positive impact on the overall LCD market now and in the future.


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In response to the competitive streaming landscape, Apple has announced an increase in prices for some of its subscription services. This move follows similar actions from other entertainment giants, as they navigate the evolving industry.
As of Wednesday, Apple has raised the prices for Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and Apple News+ in the United States and select international markets. The adjustments come after the tech company previously raised prices for Apple TV+ and Apple Music in October 2022.
For Apple TV+, the monthly cost to enjoy popular shows like The Morning Show and Ted Lasso has been raised to $9.99 from $6.99. Similarly, Apple Arcade now costs $6.99 per month (previously $4.99), and Apple News+ subscription is now priced at $12.99 per month (previously $9.99).
Apple shared its commitment to providing the best possible experiences for its customers through the consistent addition of high-quality entertainment, content, and innovative features to its services.
Shares of Apple experienced a 1% decline on Wednesday, trading at $171.75. However, the stock has gained an impressive 32% this year.
Notably, Apple is not alone in raising streaming prices. Netflix recently increased the monthly prices for its Premium and Basic plans in the U.S., while Disney elevated the price of its Disney+ Premium plan earlier this month. Discovery+ also made price adjustments to its ad-free monthly subscriptions on October 3rd.
According to Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani, these price hikes by Apple may just be the beginning. Daryanani anticipates that Apple will continue to raise prices, considering it currently lags behind competitors like Netflix ($15.49) and Max ($15.99). Daryanani rates Apple's stock as Outperform with a price target of $210.
In conclusion, Apple's move to increase prices for its subscription services reflects the ongoing dynamics of the streaming industry. As competition intensifies, it appears that Apple is leveraging price adjustments as a means to enhance its position and financial performance.


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The Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market kicked off its fifth season Saturday at a new location, with new vendors and attracting new customers.
The Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market kicked off its fifth season Saturday at a new location, with new vendors and some new customers.
The weekly farmers’ market is located at Charles Clark Square, home in winter of the downtown ice rink. Organizers say the location is a better fit than the previous location at the former Greyhound bus terminal.
“I absolutely love it here for a number of reasons,” said Steve Green, the market’s general manager. “We have washrooms here, we have hydro here, we have potable water here and we have a flat concrete surface. I’ve already seen over a dozen wheelchair (users) shopping here, which has been fantastic. It’s a site that we can keep clean and it has plenty of space and is accessible for everyone.”
Green said the former location had broken pavement and potholes and was not ideal for people in wheelchairs or those who use walkers.
This is the first year Mary-Louise Smith has been able to attend because she is in a wheelchair. She said accessibility issues previously prevented her from supporting local farmers, and that really bothered her.
“Now I’m entitled to fresh stuff at a reasonable price and I’m supporting the local farmers. That means a lot to me,” said Smith, who planned to buy some seasonal fruits, veggies and hanging potted flowers Saturday. “The only thing missing now is a roof in case it rains.”
And while Saturday’s forecast called for a chance of rain and thundershowers, the sun peaked through the clouds, making for perfect conditions for the outdoor market. But weather is one of the main reasons Green said he’s hoping a permanent roofed location is in the future for the farmers’ market.
“It’d be nice to have some covering we could use besides tents. This is a nice first step and this is a nice location, it’s just a lot of work to have the coverings set up,” said Green. “I’d love to see it grow and take over as much space as possible.”
Green said he’d love to see the farmers’ market running year-round and, with an increase in vendors and customers each year, he sees a growing trend of people who would be able to support it all year long.
“A farmers’ market bridges that gap between the county and the city. People these days want to know where their food came from…. And they want to know that they’re paying a farmer who is feeding their family,” said Green. “A farmers’ market puts the maximum dollars in the hands of the people who are doing the hardest work.”
One of the new vendors at this year’s farmers’ market was Dane Charles, owner of Salute Espresso Bar. Customers were lining up for his freshly roasted, ground and brewed imported varieties of coffees.
Back for a second year was 18-year-old John Kosty who, along with his brother, Andrew, 13, and cousin Caleb Vegh, 18, sells produce from his grandfather’s farm called Ernie’s Farm of LaSalle.
Kosty said they use bags and baskets of dried cobs of corn, with signs advertising popcorn, to draw attention to their stand.
“You can put the whole cob in a paper bag and microwave it and the kernels pop and come off the cob and make popcorn,” said Kosty. “It’s just a simple way of making popcorn.”
Kosty said while the dried cobs usually get skeptical looks from people, after they buy one and bring it home to try for themselves, they usually return for more.
“It’s a good sales pitch,” said Kosty, adding it gets people interested in what else they have to sell.
Kosty said their grandfather is allowing them to use the farmers’ market as a way to make some extra cash.
“He’s the main brains on the operation but he’s letting us sell the stuff to make money for college. But we pay for the seed and everything like that,” said Kosty.
While the dried cobs are an attraction, the white corn is what Kosty said they sell most of, nicknaming it white lightning because “it’s white and it sells really fast.
“It’s not yellow corn, and that usually throws people off, but it’s sweet and tender and is usually our biggest seller,” said Kosty.
Green said it’s sad that most local farmers have a hard time getting their produce sold in local stores, which is why the farmers’ market is a good opportunity.
“They’re forced to send their food off to some food depot some place and hope that it makes it back this way,” said Green. “I can tell you that we ship away the majority of our produce. Very little of the produce that we make in Windsor-Essex stays in Windsor-Essex … A farmers’ market cuts out that middleman, and that’s really important.”
What you’ll find at the Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market:
• 33 vendors, the majority of which are local farmers selling produce – seasonal fruits and veggies as well as greenhouse-grown
• Artisans selling art and crafts
• Several vendors selling soaps and essential oils
• Fresh roasted coffee and steeped teas
• Fresh eats and drinks, such as soups and desserts
• Baked goods and breads
• Vegan alternatives
• Organic produce
• Fresh fish
• Corn-fed veal and Angus beef
General info and special occasions:
• The Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market will run every Saturday from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Charles Clark Square until Oct. 12
• On the first Saturday of every month, a live chef demonstration will be held at 11 a.m.
• Every week there is live entertainment provided by 3-4 different local performers
• June 22 Pet Day hosted by the Windsor-Essex Humane Society
• June 29 Bike Day hosted by the City Cyclery
• July 13 Singalong and dance with Beebo the Clown
• July 20 Multicultural Day, activities for kids, including crafts and dancing
• July 6 and 24 Border City Brawlers – they are going to be giving away free tickets to a match that will be that day
• August 10 Calling All Artists – a day of free space for all artists to show and sell their art
• For more visit drawindsor.ca/downtown-windsor-farmers-market, or contact Steve Green, general manager for the Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market, at 519-9966-9157 or by email at firstname.lastname@example.org


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Bentley and MUlliner have announced the imminent start of accepting orders for 22-inch rims made of carbon. These wheels will become the largest production wheels of this type in the world. It took five years to develop them. The cost of such carbon rims has not yet been disclosed.
Among the advantages of the new rims, the developers noted a decrease in unsprung masses. So, each wheel is 6 kilograms lighter than the standard one. As a result, the car will have better controllability, braking will also be more effective.
In addition, it is argued that carbon wheels are safer than traditional metal alloy wheels. For example, upon a strong impact on an obstacle, an alloy wheel splits, this leads to an explosive destruction of the tire and a loss of control is not excluded. A carbon wheel in a similar situation provides a slow outflow of air to allow predictable deceleration.
Finally, a disc made of composite materials turns out to be more rigid than a traditional one made of metal alloys: this provides a tighter contact of the tire with the road surface and reduces its wear.
By the way, carbon rims have already been tested as part of the certification program of the German technical inspection TUV: it is claimed that this is the first such case for non-metallic rims in the world. These discs will be available for purchase at the end of this year.
On the eve of the Bentley company announced the construction of the thousandth car as part of the MUlliner personalization program. The jubilee car is the Bentayga crossover, which will soon go to a European customer.


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Manitoba Harvest, known as FHF Holdings Ltd. in the business world, is about to be purchased for up to $419 million by leading cannabis producer, distributer, researcher, Tilray Inc. The worlds largest hemp food manufacturer was founded just 21-years ago has also become a leader in the natural foods industry.
“We are excited about being an important part of the growth strategy for Tilray,” says Bill Chiasson, Manitoba Harvest CEO. “By leveraging our combined strengths and capabilities, we will be able to accelerate our mission of transforming consumer health through the power of hemp.”
The two companies plan to grow both companies’ revenue while bringing nutritious hemp foods and supplements to more households across the U.S. and Canada. According to the release, the acquisition will expand Tilray’s product portfolio into the natural foods category and bring Manitoba Harvest expertise in working with cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD).
“Tilray’s acquisition of Manitoba Harvest is a milestone for the cannabis industry. It builds on the strategic partnerships we have formed with consumer brand industry leaders and demonstrates our track record of disrupting the global pharmaceutical, alcohol, CPG, and functional food and beverage categories,” says Brendan Kennedy, Tilray president and CEO.
“We’re excited to work with Manitoba Harvest to develop and distribute a diverse portfolio of branded hemp-derived CBD food and wellness products in the U.S. and Canada.”
Once the transaction is complete, Manitoba Harvest will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tilray. The company will continue to operate its seed-to-shelf supply chain model and leverage its retail relationships across North America. Tilray and Manitoba Harvest will also work together to develop innovative new CBD wellness products and hemp-based consumer food products.


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Brandweek will feature live discussions with marketing pros at ULTA Beauty, Converse, UPS and more. Meet us in Miami Sept. 11–14 to boost your business and elevate your brand.
Instagram will roll out Instagram Shop, which it initially detailed in May, in the U.S. starting Thursday, with plans to take it global in the coming weeks.
The Facebook-owned photo- and video-sharing network also revealed that U.S. users will be able to complete their transactions with Facebook Pay, also in the coming weeks.
Instagram began running a small global test of Instagram Shop earlier this month.
The new destination in its Explore tab will enable users to shop from brands and creators, discover trends, see personalized recommendations and preview exclusive offerings.


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If you’ve watched a professional football game on TV recently, you might think it’s business as usual for the NFL this year. After all, four of the top five most watched TV shows last week were NFL games! The problem is teams are having trouble getting people off their couches and into the stadium. So, the NFL’s taking some very unusual steps to help football thrive during the economic downturn. Here’s what they’re doing, according to USA Today:
- They’re offering more “layaway” payment plans. In the past, ticket demand was strong enough that most teams could afford to make fans pay for their season tickets in one lump sum. This year, only half of the league’s home games were sold out by September. So many teams have set up payment plans, where fans can now buy their season tickets in installments.
- They’re enforcing a new “Fan Code of Conduct.” That’s a set of rules to help teams crack down on drunken or abusive fans. For example: It sets limits on the number of alcoholic beverages fans can buy at a game. The goal is to make the experience of going to a football game more family friendly.
- Football teams are offering All-You-Can-Eat seats. We’ve talked about this popular trend in baseball parks before. Now, you’ll be seeing it in more football stadiums too. Basically, it’s a section where fans can pay a slightly higher price for tickets, in exchange for eating all the hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, and soft drinks they can handle.
- One more thing you’ll be seeing in the NFL this year: More direct communication between teams and fans. This summer, several teams held “town hall” meetings, where season ticket holders got to speak directly to players and owners via live teleconference! In Atlanta, new season ticket buyers are being thanked with a personalized video from team owner Arthur Blank. In the video, Blank holds a mock press conference where he announces each new fan by name, and presents a team jersey with the fan’s name on the back.
As one executive puts it: The economic downturn has reminded teams that fans are one thing they should never take for granted.


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The past year, Aller Petfood has undergone reorganization preparing the company for the future business development and growth. To mark the changes and the new path, Aller Petfood has introduced a new logo and a new website, www.aller-petfood.com.
Aller Petfood is planning on reaching out to a broad geographical area. The plant in Denmark facilitates Europe but also countries beyond the European borders. Russia and the CIS countries are facilitated from the two plants in Russia. Since January 2014, Aller Petfood has also been able to supply customers in the Middle East and North African countries from its new production facility in Turkey.
In 2013, Aller Petfood Group (APG) started centralizing some of the vital functions within the company, ensuring that information and development in the organization is channeled to each single unit of the business. This includes nutritional knowledge and product development as well as finance and marketing, according to the company.
Pet owners want a lot from their pet food brands. They want primary proteins that suit what they believe is best for their animal. They want grains or they don't. They want something customized, but it has to be easy to understand.
Constraints and crises, like those experienced in 2020, help drive innovation and sustainability offers context.


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We live in a world entirely ruled by technology, and younger generations utilize the internet for basically everything. As such, modern car shoppers expect communication to be fast and their experience to be impeccable when shopping for vehicles online. In an ever-changing world of automotive retail, dealers must now learn how to adjust to each and every customer.
One major challenge that dealers have encountered is a generational shift in the way younger shoppers view car ownership. Unlike generations past, these new shoppers typically do not prescribe to the notion that buying the nicest, newest car on the lot is important—such an act is “uncool” to the Gen-Z crowd. Instead, they’re taking advantage of modern technology—conveniences like Bluetooth and navigation—incorporated in affordable late-model vehicles. Add on society’s insistence to transition to cleaner, fuel-efficient electric vehicles, and you’ve got millions of drivers who expect more from the car lot.
With dramatic changes occurring over the years—connected technology, digital and mobile channels and lengthy vehicle lifespans, for instance—it’s no surprise why so many younger shoppers have lofty expectations when visiting the dealership. They’ve grown up in this era. They understand what works and what doesn’t, and researching online comes naturally to them. They can find inventory, pricing, vehicle features and ratings with a few taps of their mobile. And, if interested in a vehicle, they’ll take the steps necessary to get it—whether that means going to a dealership or buying online through retailers like Carvana.
Dealers are addressing younger generations with technology like advanced CRM systems, web chat and more. But how should dealers compete with Carvana and similar online automotive stores?
Utilizing next-gen training methods and emphasizing employee engagement is key for dealers to properly and swiftly adapt to the new age.
reaching and training the next generation
Maritz Automotive, a leader in the automotive industry, became a Premier Sponsor of Northwood University in hopes of helping further the development of that next generation of professionals.
Terry Erwin, SVP of Auto Sector Sales at Maritz Automotive, announced the Maritz Automotive Scholarship for Northwood University students.
“[We] help our automotive clients improve their business results by applying our expertise in behavioral science to drive performance,” says Terry Erwin. “It just makes sense that we understand how the upcoming automotive professionals are preparing for their careers. It’s important to listen to, talk and work with the students who have decided that the automotive business is where they want to be.”
Maritz Automotive team members have conducted classroom discussions with students in Northwood’s Automotive Marketing and Management programs, and those students were asked to write and submit an essay to compete for the scholarship. The winning applicants will be announced in early 2020.
Automotive experts at Northwood University and Maritz Automotive realize that the evolution of auto is coming—and fast. These leaders, including Northwood University graduates and upcoming Maritz Scholarship winners, understand the need to adapt better than anyone, and they’re well-positioned to evolve alongside the new crop of shoppers, ultimately protecting the future of automotive retail.


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Star Wars fan site The Star Wars Post has spotted a new trademark for Star Wars Rivals that has been applied for by Lucasfilms and Disney. Searching for the trademark in the database gives two results, in which one specifically mentions that this trademark can be used for a video game.
This begs the question: Could Star Wars Rivals be the new Star Wars game? Although nothing much is known about this new trademark, it is possible that it is related to the upcoming Star Wars game that is in development along with Battlefront 2.
But there is also speculation that Star Wars Rivals could be the next Star Wars animated series.
Alongside Battlefront 2, it is known that an action-adventure Star Wars game from Visceral Games, directed by former Uncharted director Amy Hennig, is under development. Amy says the new Star Wars game will be spiritually similar to the Uncharted series, but it won’t be ‘Star Wars Uncharted’. She further hinted that the game may show both sides of the conflict, both from the antagonist and protagonists view, while making distinctions between Star Wars and Uncharted.
Star Wars Battlefront 2, boasting a single player campaign set across multiple eras, is set to launch later this year while Visceral’s Star Wars game is expected to launch in 2018 for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Let us know if you think that Star Wars Rivals could indeed be a new game by commenting in the comments section below.


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THE MAIL CARRIER’S FAVOURITE PICKUP, TORONTO – Burlington’s Nickel Brook Brewing Co. announced via Instagram that online pre-sale for their June Funk Lab release is now live. Log into their website to order Uncertainty Principle No. 1 which is a barrel aged sour that is sure to go fast. If you want it sooner though, visit them on release day on Saturday at 10 am.
- New Sour Brett IPA at Blood Brothers
- New Mixed-culture Farmhouse Ale at Rouge River


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Mobile Payments to Reach USD1.3tn annually by 2017
MOBILE| Aug. 16, 2012, 7:52 a.m.
The scale of global mobile payment transactions is expected to rise nearly fourfold over the next five years to more than USD1.3tn, a new report from Juniper Research has found.
The report – Mobile Payments Strategies: NFC, Remote Purchases & Money Transfer 2012-2017 – found that growth would primarily be driven by sales of physical goods by both remote purchases and NFC transactions.
These transactions – which will account for 54% of the total value of mobile payments by 2017 – have already been bolstered by stimuli such as the widespread rollout of NFC support infrastructure and the increased engagement of operators with the m-Commerce space. Nevertheless, it observed that despite this growth, those physical goods sales conducted via the mobile phone would still only account for around 4% of global retail transactions by 2017.
According to the report, the recent spate of activity across the NFC value chain has marked a tipping point; it cited Google Wallet, VeriFone’s POS terminals and the operator-led ISIS and Project Oscar consortia as key developments in this regard. However, it cautioned that for NFC to fulfil its potential, marketing behind the mechanism would need to be scaled up dramatically.
As report author Dr Windsor Holden pointed out, “While we are now seeing significant deployments of contactless infrastructure, consumer awareness is extremely low. Thus, it is imperative for all members of the NFC value chain to engage with the public to heighten its profile as a simple, intuitive payment mechanism.”
The report also noted the growing importance of mobile as a means of enabling both domestic and international money transfer, although it stressed that in many markets service adoption was being inhibited by national regulatory requirements and by a lack of interoperability between services.
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Jay Walker Continues Quest To Sue The Internet Into Oblivion With Patents
from the tarnished-legacy dept
Jay Walker created Priceline. That was a good idea, and he showed that he could execute on that. But since then, apparently the only thing he’s wanted to execute on is destroying his legacy by becoming a full on patent troll, and suing as many big companies as possible. Last year, we noted that Walker claimed he had effectively invented “friending” (Patent: 5,884,27 for “establishing and maintaining user-controlled anonymous communications.”) and sued Facebook. That same article talked about him suing the Powerball lottery (Patent: 7,740,537 on “applying lottery multipliers”).
Earlier this year, he apparently decided to accelerate that campaign, by suing basically every successful internet company. All in all, he sued 100 different companies, including Microsoft, eBay, Amazon, Facebook (again), WalMart, GroupOn, Apple and Google.
But why stop there? On October 18th, Walker got a new patent: 8,041,711, for a “Method and system for providing a link in an electronic file being presented to a user,” and before the day was over, he had sued Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo and Vibrant Media over that patent. He got the lawsuits in so fast that the USPTO website apparently hadn’t even listed his new patent at the time (it has now).
With those last lawsuits, Walker claimed that the various companies wouldn’t have existed without his inventions (“A number of great companies can trace their genesis to technology that was first developed at Walker Digital in the mid-to-late 1990s.”) Once again, he doesn’t seem to shy away from ridiculous hyperbole, claiming that his invention is why those companies have targeted advertising:
Those “revolutionary technologies ? were a direct result of investments made by Walker Digital,” according to the complaints.
Let’s put this plainly: that’s bullshit. Nothing that any of those companies did was a result of any investment by Walker Digital. Walker is relying on a popular myth, that patent infringement lawsuits are about someone “copying” an idea from someone else. The reality (and studies have shown this repeatedly) is that most patent infringement lawsuits have nothing to do with one company copying someone else or copying a patent. In this case, it’s pretty damn clear that these companies most certainly did not build their own targeted advertisement program because of anything that Walker did. Claiming so is flat out laughable.


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Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI) is acquiring logistics company Newgistics Inc., from private equity firm Littlejohn & Co., for $475 million. The buyer intends to operate the business as an independent unit into the first quarter of 2018 to avoid disruptions during the holiday shopping season.
Newgistics provides more than 500 retail clients with e-commerce logistics and parcel services through nine operating facilities. The Austin, Texas-based company provides a variety of services, including: digital commerce development, deep analytics, relationship management, systems integration, fulfillment, parcel delivery and returns management. Newgistics is a workshare partner of the United States Postal Services (USPS) and processes nearly 100 million parcels each year, according to the company.
“Newgistics fits uniquely at the intersection of our parcel growth strategies and will accelerate the overall transformation of Pitney Bowes,” states Pitney Bowes CEO Marc Lautenbach. “This acquisition – combined with recent innovations in mailing and shipping for SMB clients, organic growth of our Global Ecommerce business, and expansion of our presort and parcel services network – definitively anchors Pitney Bowes in a growing space and vastly increases the value we can deliver for our clients.”
Founded in 1920, Houston-based Pitney Bowes offers mail processing equipment, mail supply services and software. Parcel volume, according to Lautenbach, has increased globally by 48 percent over the past two years and is expected to grow at least another 17 percent by 2021. In addition to the Newgistics deal, Pitney Bowes announced the opening of a new presort services operating center in Huntington Beach, California. The new facility will help Pitney Bowes to further expand in the U.S. domestic parcel industry.
Littlejohn is a Greenwich, Connecticut-based investment advisory firm that backs middle-market companies seeking a change in capital structure, strategy, operations or growth. The firm is currently investing from Littlejohn Fund V, the firm's fifth fund with nearly $2 billion in capital commitments.
Littlejohn has remained active throughout 2017. The PE firm recently bought chemicals producer Cornerstone from HIG Capital; purchased money vault maker Tidel; bought sheet metal producer Maysteel; and acquired patio furniture manufacturer Brown Jordan International in January 2017. Littlejohn also raised a $406 million collateralized loan obligation fund (CLO), called Wellfleet CLO 2016-2 in November 2016.


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Intel on Friday released new Core i5 and Core i7 desktop processors that can be overclocked, giving users the flexibility to ramp up the clock speed to boost application performance.
Intel unveiled its newest flagship processor for the desktop market, the Core i7 980x Extreme. The CPU pushes the envelope by including six physical cores, and hyperthreading technology to virtualize twelve cores--its almost like having twelve comput...
Intel acknowledged Monday that at least one counterfeit version of its Core i7-920 processor made its may into the U.S. market, and said it's trying to determine how many more are out there.
A European online retailer has started selling Intel's first six-core processor for desktops before the chip's official release by the hardware giant.
Intel on Thursday announced a new vPro platform for its Core processors to make remote maintenance and management of PCs easier in an enterprise.
Intel on Wednesday released its fastest laptop processor to date, also setting the stage to release its next generation of chips for mainstream laptops.
Even as it is pushing mobile computing, Intel expects desktop computers to continue to be in demand in the long term, an Intel executive said on Thursday.
Intel's upcoming Lynnfield processor will be in the spotlight at the Computex exhibition in Taipei next week, as hardware makers and computer vendors gear up for the release of the chip later this year.
New Core i7 processors from Intel have surfaced on retail sites, giving early details of the new Nehalem-based processors ahead of the company's official launch of the chips.
Retailers are now taking orders for what could easily be the world's fastest laptops, powered by Intel's speedy Core i7 desktop processors.
Intel plans to stop selling one of its high-end desktop chips this year, less than one year after it was released, the company confirmed Thursday.
In an unlikely union of technologies, PC retailer Eurocom has said it will ship laptops powered by Intel's Core i7 processor, which the chip maker has dubbed the "fastest processor on this planet."
Intel celebrated the launch of the Core i7 at a party in Sydney's Cruise bar. Intel boasted about releasing the fastest CPU on the planet, and provided some real-time demonstrations of video encoding and physics processing, with the Core i7 leaving t...
PC makers on Monday launched desktops that incorporate the latest technologies to work alongside Intel's new Core i7 chips, which have received praise for their speedy performance.
Intel began sales of its high-end Core i7 desktop chips in Tokyo late Saturday night, bringing to market a series of processors that are significantly more powerful than any of the company's current desktop products.
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FLASHBACK to the heyday of the 1950s when Jaguar ruled the roost at Le Mans and its sports cars were revered the world over.
From 1951 to 1957 the famous British marque dominated the 24 hour classic claiming victory no less than five times.
Getting the chance to experience the racing greats was a privilege only for a few but now that illustrious heritage is returning to the track and being thrown open to everyone as part of Jaguar’s Special Operations plans.
With a fleet of more than 400 historic models at its disposal – acquired by the recently created JLR Special Operations Division from private collector Dr James Hull – Jaguar is offering drives in some of the most cherished models ever made.
It includes the chance to get behind the wheel of C and D-Types as well as driving the E-Type – famously described by Enzo Ferrari as the most beautiful car ever made – as well as sampling some of Jaguar’s current models such as the F-Type.
The heritage experience sessions will be staged at the Fen End test track in Warwickshire close to the company’s spiritual home in Browns Lane, Coventry and will cost anything from £95 to more than £2,000 for a full day’s driving.
For that comes an immersion in automotive history that is second to none and a reminder of Jaguar’s engineering expertise where more than half a century ago it was producing cars with a 0 to 60 time of four seconds – quicker than most super models of today.
We have just sampled what’s on offer around the 1.5-mile circuit at Fen End in recreations of a C-Type and D-Type from the 1960s then got to grips with one of the last V12 E-Types ever made in 1974, an XK150 Drop Head Coupe from 1958 and the very last Coombs Mk ll saloon from 1967 – a car which became a favourite with cops and robbers alike thanks to its potent 3.8-litre engine.
What is incredible is how fast these cars can travel. The D-Type could top out at 170mph and like its C-Type predecessor was effectively a road going racing car.
In fact a C-Type from the early 1950s was listed in the Jaguar catalogue for £2,327 – then a sum of money which would have bought you three semi-detached houses.
With less than 125 C and D-Types ever made the survivors are worth a small fortune today and the Le Mans winners, which are also on display at Fen End, are worth millions.
John Edwards, managing director of the Special Operations Division, said it was the first time in Jaguar’s 92 year history that vehicles of such calibre have been made available of driving experiences.
“It’s an extremely exciting new project at Fen End, underscoring the very essence of what Special Operations is all about – celebrating heritage with our eyes firmly on the future,” he said.
While the next heritage experience is likely to be in the spring, the Special Operations team is already establishing itself by building six lightweight E-Types to complete the original production run from the early 60s, the exclusive F-Type Project 7 coupe with its D-Type-inspired design and a high performance Range Rover Sport – the most powerful Land Rover ever made which has lapped the Nurburgring in Germany in eight minutes 14 seconds making it a two tonne SUV that’s almost as quick as a Ferrari 355.
Other aspects of the division’s brief include supplying Jaguar and Land Rover enthusiasts with works-based restoration services and with Edwards now chairman of the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust it will also promote the brand’s lineage across the globe as well as establishing a new racing series for historic Jaguars in Europe.


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An Apple Employee Explained The Amount Apple Earned Through Fortnite
According to an Apple employee, Apple earned more than $ 100 million from Fortnite’s in-game purchases with a 30 percent commission it received through the App Store.
The Epic Games and Apple controversy is not likely to fall off the agenda because of the controversy surrounding the commission. A recent news story about Epic Games and the Apple controversy, which has left Apple in a difficult position many times, also came from an Apple employee.
First, for those who stayed away from events, Epic Games was not happy with the high market commissions of Apple and Google. Epic Games resorted to their own ways when the share received over 30 percent of each sale was too high. He added the payment method, in which he offered a 20 percent discount to save himself from high commissions. As a matter of fact, this behavior has exacerbated the situation. This has now turned into a battle that Epic Games is looking for rights to. In fact, a video released by Epic Games soon showed us that it was prepared for these events in advance.
Video released by Epic Games:
Apple, which has been running from case to case since then, has not been able to get away with it. Even now, the Battle of Epic Games, which has received the support of different companies such as Spotify, continues. Apple CEO Tim Cook is even known to be preparing for his testimony next week as the third and final part of the Epic Games trial approaches.
Fortnite was released on the App Store in 2018 and was required to give Apple a 30 percent commission on every payment made in-game. One Apple employee confirmed that Apple has earned more than $ 100 million through Fortnite since 2018, thanks to a 30 percent commission it imposes. According to Bloomberg, Michael Schmid did not specifically specify 100 million in dollars, nor did he provide information on whether it exceeded 200 million.
Sensor Tower estimated Apple’s revenue through Fortnite at $ 354 million, which, as we can see, is more than the amount given by an Apple employee.


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Interview: Mahmoud Al Sougatri
Which factors are contributing to Misrata’s economic revival, and what is the resulting impact on Libya’s broader economic expansion?
MAHMOUD AL SOUGATRI: Misrata is recovering, supported by growing optimism from the new businesses that are emerging in the city, as well as the ongoing work to rebuild and strengthen the infrastructure that supports all of this activity. At the same time, the manufacturing base is getting stronger, which contributes to a positive environment that attracts business, talent and investment. The Port of Misrata and the Misurata Free Zone are essential to the region’s resurgence, serving as the backbone for economic activity in the area. In addition, amid global challenges stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Libya has also been working to recover from a period of conflict that damaged its governance structure and disrupted the normal flow of business. Despite these challenges, Misrata – and especially the private sector – are leading the country’s revival. Beyond the advantages of infrastructure and location, the city’s youth population is a vital aspect of its upward trajectory because they have an optimistic and innovative approach, and are adept at leveraging technology to find solutions.
Where are the main economic challenges underpinning Misrata’s recovery?
AL SOUGATRI: Governance and regulation are a central part of the infrastructure that makes up the business environment of a city, along with the physical infrastructure of utilities, roads, ports and the internet. This is where policymakers are working to streamline bureaucracy through digitalisation and reforms that can help to encourage business growth. However, there are limits to what can be done as a city government. The factors that weigh most heavily on the business environment and the economy in Misrata are addressed at the national level, either through laws or through the actions taken by various ministries. Improvements have been achieved in this area, and there is a recognition of what needs to be done at the national level to sustain an environment conducive to growth and investment.
However, due to the lack of a unified governance model, the path to meaningful progress can be challenging. Businesses in Misrata have the infrastructure available to access markets in Europe and the neighbouring countries of Tunisia, Egypt, Chad and Niger, as well as markets abroad. Nonetheless, they are limited in their ability to trade and conduct business in these markets because of sanctions, import restrictions and weak implementation of trade agreements. None of these issues can be resolved without the government’s ability to negotiate in a unified way on behalf of Libya. Forging a collective front would better position Misrata to capitalise on the considerable growth expected in Africa in the coming decades.
What sectors do you see as the most dynamic and promising for Misrata’s economy?
AL SOUGATRI: While Misrata continues to be strong in its historical domains of manufacturing, trade and agriculture, its most promising growth areas are technology and entrepreneurship. Businesses in these fields are not only serving the needs of companies in traditional sectors, but are also creating new sectors to cater to the demands of consumers. This innovation brings much energy to the city’s economy, allowing businesses and potential employees to access a global market for services and labour. In the long term, strengthening these global connections, leveraging the educated youth population and transferring knowledge will be essential drivers for growth. In the short term, we are working to dispel the negative perceptions about Libya that have arisen in recent years due to the conflict, and showcase the reality and opportunities available now.