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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a special time to commemorate those we’ve lost, celebrate survivors and renew our vow to carry on the fight.
This month also serves as an important reminder to ourselves and those we love to schedule a breast health check-up or mammogram. Early detection and prevention is an important step in fighting breast cancer.
Once your appointment is set, join us in celebrating Tough Enough to Wear Pink Day on October 19. Once again, we’ve got a challenge for you! On October 18, show your support for breast cancer awareness by wearing pink and encouraging your household, coworkers and friends to do the same.
A couple of our favorite wines are also collaborating to support the cause. Purple Cowboy and Clayhouse wines have partnered up to support Wrangler Tough Enough to Wear Pink through Paso Pardners in Pink. A portion of the sale of each bottle goes to Tough Enough To Wear Pink.
2017 marks the 13th Anniversary of the founding of Wrangler Tough Enough to Wear Pink. To date, more than $25 million dollars have been raised through our organization! It’s all made possible with the help of sponsors like Wrangler, Montana Silversmiths, Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association, Clayhouse and Purple Cowboy wines. Our goal is to raise $50 million dollars by the 20th Anniversary of Tough Enough to Wear Pink in 2024.
Throughout October, we’ll be sharing breast cancer “Survivor Stories” collected over the past few months. We’ll announce the “Survivor Stories” grand prize winner of a trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and Gold Buckle seats at the end of October. Make sure you’re following the our Facebook Page so you don’t miss an update.
And don’t forget to wear your PINK on October 19!


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TikTok has been at the center of takeover speculation.
Apple may have expressed interest in possibly buying TikTok, according to a report, the latest in a swirl of speculation about takeover interest in the virally popular social media app.
Apple is one of several parties that has expressed interest in TikTok, according to a report Tuesday from Axios, citing multiple unnamed sources; the report disclosed that none of those sources are inside Apple. The iPhone maker didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment, but Bloomberg reporters tweeted later that the company said it has had no discussion to buy TikTok and isn’t interested in a deal.
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TikTok, known for its quirky, short videos, is owned by Beijing-based tech company ByteDance. Its links to China have stoked political pressure to explore a sale of TikTok to a US-based company or risk being potentially banned from operating in the US. President Donald Trump has said he’s considering an order to force ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok, and later suggested the US should receive a portion of the transaction price. (It’s unclear whether the government has the authority to request such a payment.)
Microsoft has been public about its “continuing discussion” for a TikTok takeover.
Later Tuesday, Fox Business reported that Google and Facebook both had expressed interest in TikTok in the past and that TikTok indeed has multiple suitors. Google and Facebook didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
See also: Trump targets TikTok: Everything you need to know
Microsoft still pursuing TikTok buy, Googel Pixel 4A…

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Just three weeks after Elon Musk introduced the Model 3 to the world, the number of reservations for Tesla’s mass market EV is already close to surpassing 400,000. And while rival car companies may not be in panic mode just yet, there’s no question that they’ve been caught a little bit off guard.
In turn, we’ve started to see auto manufacturers and executives more freely throw a few jabs in Tesla’s direction. Just last week, for example, GM executive Dan Nicholson threw some shade at Tesla over the fact that the Model 3, in contrast to the Chevy Bolt, won’t truly launch until 2018.
“I am very proud of the Chevrolet Bolt that’s coming out, which will be the first to market as a long-range affordable battery electric vehicle,” Nicholson said. “It will have more than 200 miles of range and it will be in production by the end of 2016, so it’s not necessary to put down $1,000 and wait until 2018 or some time after that.”
Also getting in on some of the anti-Tesla action is Nissan. Earlier this week, the Japanese-based auto manufacturer rolled out a new ad campaign touting the fact that you can pick up a Nissan Leaf today without the prolonged waiting period that comes along with making a Model 3 reservation.
Nissan has now turned those reservations into fodder for its own advertising for the electric Nissan Leaf.
“No one should have any reservations about getting an electric car today,” trumpets a Nissan ad that appears around the country today. The ads appear in Friday’s New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, reminding consumers that Nissan has been mass-producing the all-electric Leaf since 2010.
The ads also ask rhetorically, “Why wait when you can drive an all-electric Leaf now? And why drop $1,000 to stand in line when you can get $4,000 cash back and best-in-class range?”
Valid questions, to be sure, but it’s hard to imagine anything slowing down the Tesla Model 3 hype train at this point.


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The SUV segment cars are capturing the market to a great extent because of its multifarious use. It is one of the fastest selling cars in the automobile industry at the moment as the cars have extremely spacious interiors along with sturdy exteriors. As the SUV can accommodate many more passengers than a sedan or a hatchback, people prefer buying it for the purpose of luxury and for long distance travels. The following are some of the new SUV cars to be launched in India in 2013.
Top 5 Upcoming SUV Cars in India in 2013
Range Rover Sport
Land Rover has seen a massive success with the launch of Evoque in the country. It is said to be the best luxury SUV in the world at the moment. The new Sport has a longer wheel base which has been increased by 178mm giving more space to the rear passengers. The car has been given an athletic look with slim headlights and sloping grille. The car is powered by a 5-litre, V8 super charged engine which is capable of producing maximum power of 510PS. The car is expected to be launched by October 2013.
Price: Rs 1-1.1 crore.
New Mitsubishi Outlander
The Outlander is facing a lot of competition from cars being launched in the same segment. The new Outlander has been fitted with a lot of new features to get an advantage over its competitors. The front end or the car is the interesting bit with the rear end being left slightly blank. The car is powered by a 2-litre, MIVE petrol and 2.2-litre Clean diesel engine with a 6 speed automatic gearbox. The car is expected to be launched by November 2013.
Price: 20-23 lakhs.
Hyundai Santa Fe
With a variety of cars being launched in the SUV segment, Santa Fe is not doing so well in the automobile industry. Hyundai has decided to launch the new generation model with better looks and styling. The massive upfront grille and the sharp headlamps make the car look more attractive than before. The car is equipped with a 2-litre diesel engine capable of producing maximum power of 194bhp and comes with a 6-speed automatic gearbox. The car is expected to be launched at the 2014 Auto Expo around December 2013.
Price: Rs 22-26 lakhs.
The Tiguan is a typical Volkswagen car. The car stands out amongst other cars with two part rear lights. Just like the other high end cars of the company, the Tiguan has interiors with the best finish. The car has an impressive boot space and also features audio system and steering controls. It is powered by a 2-litre , TDI engine which is capable of producing maximum power of 160PS. Tiguan has been fitted with ESP, 6 airbags and seatbelts in order to ensure safety of the passengers. It is expected to be launched by December 2013.
Price: Rs 18-25 lakhs.
After the success of the Captiva in the Indian market, the company decided to launch the new Trailblazer. The car made its debut at the 2011 Dubai International Motor Show. It is powered by a 2.8-litre, Duramax turbo diesel engine. The interiors have the typical Chevrolet design with a flowing instrument panel. It is a 7-seater and has three row tumbles. The USB and the auxiliary connectivity audio system along with digital climate control system are some of the added features in the Trailblazer. It is expected to be launched by January 2014.
Price: Rs 17-22 lakhs.


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The automakers need each other, but they also need a bold leader to secure their future. A defect has been discovered on part of a Russian space rocket that is due to launch next month carrying satellites into orbit for U.S. startup OneWeb, two Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday. Hurricane Irmas deadly tear through the Caribbean will hobble the regions multi-billion dollar tourism industry for months, just as hotels, airlines, and cruises were gearing up for the regions peak winter season. Ive read the books many times to my own children, astonished at how much is in them for my grown-up self about that growing-up process, and about the times I grew up in, too. Buy aldara for women. LeVert was building toward a career year when he went down in November with what at first appeared to be a devastating foot injury. Teenage girls have designed Africa's first private satellite due to launch into space in 2017. It's hoped it can monitor and find answers to South Africa's drought crisis. Ts roundup of people, places and things to know now. Cheap aldara 1.5mg tablets. Website URL:


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The National Audit Office of Lithuania, implementing the functions of the fiscal institution, assessed the Economic Development Scenario for 2022–2025, published by the Ministry of Finance on 30 June 2022.
The growth of economic development in Lithuania was rapid in Q1 of 2022, but it is projected that the second half of the year will be less favourable for the development of the country’s economy. The Ministry of Finance projects that Lithuania’s real GDP will grow by 1.6% this year. Lithuania’s international trade is expected to be affected the most, nonetheless, household consumption expenditure and investment will support the growth of the country’s economy. At the end of Q1 of 2022, changes in the structure of the Lithuanian export of goods are observed. Compared to February, the export of goods to Russia and Belarus decreased by more than one-third in March, while the increase in export to the countries of the European Union (EU) is evident. It is projected that the country’s real GDP will increase up to 2.1% in 2023.
“With high projected inflation, pressure to adopt additional measures, such as tax cuts or various compensations, applied to all residents, is intensifying. International organisations recommend targeted support to the most vulnerable groups and warn that the stimulus of domestic demand complicates attempts of the European Central Bank to tackle inflation. Taking into account the negative balance of risks, decisions must be made very carefully, as the measures that increase the deficit of general government may lead to growth of public debt,” says Jaroslav Mečkovski, Principal Economist of the Budget Policy Monitoring Department.
As the geopolitical situation remains difficult, Lithuanian and global economic perspectives are obscure. The uncertainty related to Russia’s war in Ukraine remains. The imposition of new sanctions by the EU against Russia and Belarus and countermeasures that may be potentially used by these countries might lead to rapid growth in the prices of energy resources and raw materials. The prolonged risk of supply chain disruption persists, driven by China’s measures to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. This affects the industry of Germany which is the largest trading partner of Lithuania, because it is highly dependent on the components produced in China. The uncertainty of the economic situation, a rise in prices and interest rates are reflected in the worsening expectations of the business and consumer survery results of the eurozone. Besides that, challenges related to the further management of the pandemic remain. These risks may pose challenges to the economic development of both Lithuania and the country's main trade partners. According to the National Audit Office of Lithuania, the economy of Lithuania will be close to its potential in 2022.
The National Audit Office of Lithuania, implementing the functions of the fiscal institution, endorses the Economic Development Scenario for 2022–2025, as it is suitable for the preparation of the budgets attributable to the general government.


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With the continuous popularization of smart phones, the saturation trend of 4G market has emerged. The landing of 5G commercial will drive the development of 5G mobile phones and bring new vitality to the mobile phone industry. IiMedia Research (AI Media Consulting) data show that it is expected that there will be a change of 5G mobile phones in 2020-2023, and the global shipment of 5G smart phones will increase to 401.3 million units in 2023. At present, Huawei, VO, Xiaomi and other Chinese mobile phone brands have all taken part in the 5G market battle. In addition, 5G mobile phones will further drive the development of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. The upstream component manufacturers, the middle-stream communication equipment manufacturers and the downstream terminal manufacturers will all benefit. It is estimated that the market size of 5G related products and services will reach 1.15 trillion yuan in 2025. Ai Mei's consulting analysts believe that under the background of favorable policies, economic prosperity, technological development and expanding social demand, the 5G mobile phone industry will accelerate its development. Players with strong technological and economic strength are expected to become track leaders and the head effect of the industry will gradually become prominent.
集成电路为信息产业的基础。中国虽为全球最大半导体市场，但国产率低，核心芯片极度缺乏。根据 IC Insights 统计资料，2018年中国集成电路自给率仅为15.35%。中国政府给予集成电路行业大力的政策支持及税收减免。2016-2018年和舰芯片收到共计52亿元的政府补助，2019年成为首家成功受理的台资晶圆代工企业。然而，芯片制造属于典型的资金密集型行业，和舰芯片在过去三年主要投入28nm工艺集成电路生产线的研发生产，投资额约50亿美元，目前仍处于亏损状态。根据艾媒咨询测算，和舰芯片主要固定资产和专有技术使用权成新率在60%以上，未来3年内的折旧摊销将依然巨大，难以盈利。且受限台湾半导体政策，和舰芯片技术落后台湾母公司一代，落后台积电两代，更将面临28nm制程激烈的市场竞争。
Integrated circuits are the foundation of the information industry. Although China is the world's largest semiconductor market, the country's productivity is low and core chips are extremely scarce. According to IC Insights statistics, China's IC self-sufficiency rate was only 15.35% in 2018. The Chinese government has given strong policy support and tax relief to the IC industry. In 2016-2018, HeJian received a total of 5.2 billion yuan in government subsidies. In 2019, HeJian became the first Taiwan-funded foundry company to be successfully accepted by the science and technology innovation board. However, chip manufacturing is a typical capital-intensive industry. In the past three years, HeJian has mainly invested in the research and development of 28nm process integrated circuit production lines, with an investment of about 5 billion US dollars, and is still in a deficit state. According to iiMedia Research, the newness rate of the main fixed assets and proprietary technology of HeJian is above 60%. Depreciation and amortization will remain huge in the next three years, making it difficult to make a profit. And limited by Taiwan's semiconductor policy, HeJian’s technology lags behind Taiwan's parent company by one generation and TSMC by two generations.


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Back in the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic, watch parties were all the rage, as people gathered in huge numbers online to simultaneously watch and share their thoughts on a movie, in what was an attempt to recreate the theatrical experience for the digital age at a time when virtually every cinema had closed their doors to the public.
After a while the trend began to fade, even though theaters are still struggling to maintain any sort of meaningful business despite the reopening plans being firmly underway, but it appears that Disney are still intent on arriving several months late to the party. A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that Disney Plus was in the process of developing a feature that would allow multiple households to stream the same content at the same time, and now it appears that the rebranded GroupWatch extension is in the testing phase.
There’s no timeline on when it will officially be added to the service, but GroupWatch gives up to six paying Disney Plus customers the opportunity to share their viewing experience, and it’s already being tested in Canada. The bad news for those hoping to circumvent paying the $29.99 for Mulan, though, is that Premier Access titles will need to have been purchased by all households in order to use the feature.
People who find themselves desperately missing the communal experience of heading out to their local multiplex will no doubt be interested in Disney Plus‘ GroupWatch, especially when movies are still being pulled from the release schedule. Not to mention it’ll be a great tool for families and friends to share the enjoyment of sitting down together and diving into the Mouse House’s extensive back catalogue.


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From March 6, 2021, the base hourly wage for all employees of Sainsbury’s and Argos stores will increase by 5.3% from £ 9.50 to £ 10 an hour minimum across the UK. Hourly wages for staff in central London stores will drop from £ 10.10 to £ 11.05 for employees, and from £ 9.75 to £ 10.50 in the London suburbs.
The supermarket chain is also increasing additional payment rates for drivers. Online grocery drivers will now receive £ 11.50 per hour, with a base rate of £ 10 per hour plus an additional £ 1.50 per hour. Argos Fast Track Delivery drivers will receive £ 11 per hour based on a base rate of £ 10 per hour plus an additional £ 1 of 75 pence.
As part of their rewards package, all colleagues at Sainsbury’s, Argos and Habitat get a 10% discount on their purchases across all three brands. At certain times of the year the Sainsbury’s Colleague Discount rises to 15%, saving a typical store colleague around £ 300 per year. This increase will now occur every payday for five days to help coworkers better plan their budgets and purchases.
Simon Roberts, CEO of Sainsbury’s, said: “To kick off the new year, I am delighted that one of the first things we do is invest in our colleagues and increase our base hourly rate to £ 10. We are making this important investment to show our colleagues how much we appreciate the brilliant work they do for our clients every day. It also reflects the significant progress we are making against our plan and to save money we can invest in lower prices, provide fantastic colleague service and make shopping convenient for customers.
“We have also listened to our colleagues and are improving our colleague rebate program to help them plan their grocery expenses and better manage their purchasing budgets, which could save our colleagues hundreds of dollars per year. “
Sales of the supermarket chain’s clothing brand Tu grew 33.6% year-on-year in the 28 weeks to September 18, 2021. This is a 9.1% increase from two years before the pandemic. The supermarket said Tu’s sales increased sharply and were helped by an increase in full-price sales. He attributed the rise to Tu’s online sales.


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From: Food Quality & Safety Magazine, February/March 2010
New regulations adopted by the United States will affect the international food supply chain
In the past, within living memory, food processing was largely a localized system with production facilities located near the source of the food product supply, the two linked by short and relatively simple logistics. Today the global food processing industry is estimated at more than $2 trillion in annual sales, with approximately 25% directly involving international import/export sourcing.
From Napoleon's army to today's consumer, the focus is on food safety
Napoleon wanted to conquer the world, but he knew, as his famous quote aptly states, “an army travels on its stomach.” To be sure his men had safe rations, he offered a 12,000-franc prize to anyone who could come up with a food preservation method. Nicolas Appert, the chef and distiller who ultimately claimed the prize, spent more than a decade discovering that boiled foods placed in airtight glass containers would not spoil. In 1810, Peter Durand, a British merchant who received a patent for...
Results raise important public health issues
Researchers at McGill University in Montreal have found new evidence that eating Escherichia coli-contaminated chicken can cause urinary tract infections (UTIs).
Canadian food inspectors are 'walking in a fog'
Although the Canadian food safety program is ailing, the government can fix its problems with substantial effort and investment, according to one researcher.
Ensuring safety of the international food supply is as critical as ensuring domestic safety
Last year, millions of Americans looked to the nation’s capital for the latest news on pending healthcare legislation, while other bills that are critical to our nation’s health and well-being worked their way through Congress virtually unnoticed. The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 passed in the House, and the Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) is coming up for debate in the Senate in early 2010. These bills represent the first comprehensive overhaul of American food safety laws in...
Sliding Softwalls; UV Lamp Detects Impurities; Sanitary Checkweigher Scales; New IQF Film; Bi-Level Grout & Corner Brush; Tray Indexing Conveyor Added to Product Line; Double Blade Ultra Hygiene Squeegees; New Impact Doors
The HACCP food safety system has become a globally recognized standard
The hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) food safety system was developed by the Pillsbury Company, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Army Natick Laboratories in the late 1960s to develop foods for the space program.
Food handlers, processors bring pathogens in
The media and the public generally focus first on the actual pathogen when a foodborne illness occurs, eventually turning their focus to the source of the illness. Often, an infected person causes the outbreak directly—or even indirectly—through a series of improper actions or inactions. Humans can be considered the parameter of these illnesses.
Using a quality management system can improve the recall process
In the food and beverage industry, brand equity is imperative to an organization’s success. A recall is one of the most devastating things that can happen to any organization within this industry. Added to the cost to consumers and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there are regulatory issues and negative customer reactions to address, as well as the possible effect on market share to consider.
The technology can analyze 50 samples in an hour
Heavy metals can be toxic for humans when they are not metabolized by the body and accumulate in the soft tissues. Depending on the heavy metal in question, toxicity can occur at levels just above naturally occurring background levels, meaning that consumption of food with a high heavy metal concentration can cause acute or chronic poisoning.
LC-MS/MS technology improves honey screening
Throughout history, people have used honey to sweeten and add flavor. Although its sweetness is similar to that of granulated sugar, honey has a distinctive flavor that is largely determined by the flower type from which the nectar is gathered.
A periodic review of sanitation fundamentals is critical to success
After an extended holiday from my column, I would like to get back to basics and examine how to educate sanitation crews. If a sanitation crew knows both why they are doing the job and the importance of doing it correctly, they can take pride in the accomplishment of a job well done. I will use my sanitation handbook as a reference guide.
The end of the year is always an opportunity to make lists of things like the top news stories of the year, the top scientific breakthroughs, and other great advances. But when a decade is ending, the lists come even more fast and furious.
Nearly two decades ago, Food Quality was launched as the first publication to exclusively target the food quality and safety market. The world—and the food industry—were a lot different back then.


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Meeting digital transformation head on is the best way for your organisation to prepare for what will be an uncertain and fast-changing future.
European employees are taking advantage of new technology and creating fresh workplace trends that must be understood by senior business executives.
Windows 7 and Windows 8 cannot last forever and a smart IT leader will help their business move to Microsoft Windows 10 as early as possible.
As business has grown ever more-dependent upon technology, the pace of change has outrun the pace of education to produce enough experienced people, with contemporary skills, to maintain that technology, says Dr. Shane Shook.
Anonymous online counseling program shows success in reaching veterans who would otherwise suffer alone from stigmatized disorders.
Shree Dandekar talks about Dell’s use of social media and the need for social media analytics.
Could you put together a profile of your best customers? Here’s how to rationalize your customer base so you can pull out trends to better meet their needs.
E-commerce and other fields are becoming 24/7 operations, so they need a business continuity system that functions without customers noticing IT disasters.
A migration's success largely depends on benchmarking and its cloud services provider.


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PubliCola lived for three and a half years as an independent online news start-up founded by former Stranger News Editor Josh Feit and kept afloat by Urban Visions CEO Greg Smith and Concur Technologies COO Rajeev Singh.
One moral of the story: Though there's been a lot of hype about the promise of new media, so far it's very hard to make it financially as a small, local-politics-oriented, online-only news site.
Now Feit and Barnett are linking back up with a print product, Seattle Met, and will henceforth be known as PubliCola@SeattleMet. They'll be writing for Seattle Met, but also online at their old site, which was purchased by SagaCity Media, the owners of Seattle Met, for an undisclosed sum.
"What a short, strange trip it’s been,” Feit said in a statement.


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Two huge buckets of Chicken have taken Zalka highway by storm... A new interesting initiative by KFC which you can't but notice. Even though I didn't eat KFC in years, this activation might bring me back in.
I don’t know if you have noticed the huge KFC installation on the Zalka highway. It’s a part of a new campaign by KFC, #BucketUp. KFC wants costumers to vote for their favourite team, Spicy or Regular, via Instagram or www.kfcbucketup.com. When you vote, you will get a chance to win your weight in chicken. You might have noticed the huge scoreboard, keeping track of the results and serving as a real-time social feed. The giant 3D chicken buckets are connected to the scoreboard and they move up and down every time someone votes.


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The HIV-oriented joint venture of Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Japan's Shionogi is turning to a Chinese manufacturer for a cheap supply of dolutegravir, the active ingredient in its Tivicay. The deal is seen as a way to cut the cost in China and some other developing countries of the JV's newest HIV fighter.
This year the FDA gave drugmakers, wholesalers and logistics companies an extra four months to get on board with new regulations requiring them to be able to track lots of prescription drug products all along the chain of custody. Now pharmacy groups are asking if they could catch a similar break.
China's Zhuhai United Laboratories bills itself as the world's largest manufacturer of the API for the antibiotic amoxicillin. But the sterile manufacturing for some of its amoxicillin products has been called into question by inspectors in Europe, which is banning the sterile drugs for now, except in limited cases.
Three members of a gang that for years made South Florida one of the most dangerous spots for cargo theft in the country are going to federal prison for their part in a scheme to steal and resell $2.2 million worth of the cold medicine Mucinex and $500,000 worth of baby formula off tractor-trailers.
Sterile injectable drugs are a growth area, but they are notoriously tricky to manufacture. Mylan has found that out the hard way and is having to expand a recall of cancer drugs that it began in April because they may contain particulate. Some of the drugs were manufactured for Pfizer.
Hospira recalled more than 60 lots of the pain reliever ketorolac tromethamine injection in January because of the potential for crystals in the 18 million vials that had been shipped in the U.S. and Singapore.
For the second time in 8 days, law enforcement authorities have charged people with buying drugs illegally and reintroducing them into the legitimate supply chain.
Federal authorities have rounded up nearly three dozen people indicted in a far-ranging scheme in which they allegedly sold $200 million worth of diverted drugs that included blockbusters like Bristol-Myers Squibb's antipsychotic Abilify, Gilead Sciences' HIV med Truvada and Novartis' cancer drug Gleevec.
It has taken more than a year to get its manufacturing problems, and lozenges, back into shape and shipped, but GlaxoSmithKline says some Nicorette Lozenges are back on retailer shelves. That is particularly good news for those former smokers who have substituted a Nicorette habit for a smoking one.
Mylan may be fending off an unsolicited $40 billion buyout offer from competitor Teva even as it is being rebuffed for making its own $31 billion bid for Perrigo, but it still has to take care of business as usual. Right now that includes having to recall 8 lots of injectable cancer drugs, most of it manufactured for Pfizer, after particulate was discovered in vials.


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Microsoft has confirmed that support for SteamVR games and software on its low-cost Windows Mixed Reality headsets will arrive on Wednesday November 15th, albeit in the form of a public beta.
Announced back in October 2016 Windows Mixed Reality is an ecosystem designed to bring low-cost virtual and augmented reality hardware to the Windows platform, with the promise of less demanding system requirements and lower purchases prices than the competition. While Microsoft's hardware partners have been relatively quick off the mark with the announcement of hardware for the platform - including models from Acer, HP, Asus, Lenovo, Samsung, and Dell - all the hardware in the world is nothing without software support.
To boost the ecosystem Microsoft announced that it would add support for Valve's SteamVR platform to Windows Mixed Reality, but since the original announcement has been silent on exactly when.
Rolling Stone is now reporting that Microsoft has a release date in mind: November 15th, at which time Windows Mixed Reality users will be able to use their headsets with all the software designed for SteamVR. This release, however, is to take the form of a public beta, and the magazine says Microsoft has yet to confirm a fully-fledged launch date.
Not Half-Life 3, though. Probably.
Windows 10, Vive, Nvidia exclusive.
Adjusts resolution for your GPU.
Announces DaaS offering, too.
Offers short-, mid-, and long-range options.
MIT Licence so it can live on.
Sony snagging the lion's share.
Aims to block bot manipulation.
Physical keyboard with its own VR avatar.
Boasts higher specs than the competition.
Will compete with Acer, Asus, Dell, HP.
Calls it the Asus Windows Mixed Reality Headset.
As Dell unveils its Visor.
For developers. In the US.


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Mitsubishi Motors Corporation yesterday signed a technology licensing agreement with its powertrain JV enterprise in China Harbin Dongan Automotive Engine Manufacturing Co., Ltd. for 4- and 5-speed automatic transmissions.
Dongan Automotive began construction work on a new factory in March this year that is scheduled to commence production in April 2010. The new facility will have an annual production capacity of 150,000 units and will produce 50,000 units in its first year of operation. With this addition, the Dongan plant's combined capacity will risse to 300,000 units / year. In 2007, the plant had sales volume of 280,000 units.
Mitsubishi says the production capacity will be raised to meet future increases in demand.
In 1998 Mitsubishi made a 15.3-per cent equity investment in Dongan Automotive Engines and has to date provided engineering and technical assistance covering the production of engines ranging from 1.3-litre to 2.0-litre and of 5-speed manual transmissions. The automatic transmission license agreement signed yesterday will lead to a further handing of Japan's engineering technology and its commitment to the Chinese auto engineering firm .
The technology transfer will allow Dongan Automotive to supply core automotive parts not only its own group companies but also to other automobile manufacturers in China and will contribute to further growth and development of the Chinese automobile industry.
The building up of a locally-based production system will allow Mitsubishi to meet AT market needs which are expected to increase on the back of the growth of the car market in China.
The signing of the licensing agreement was attended by, among others, MMC President Osamu Masuko, Vice Chairman of Preparatory Committee China Aviation Industry Corporation, Vice President Liu Tao Avi China Industry & Technology Company Limited, Board Chairman & President Ma ChuanLi DAE, Governor Li ZhanShu The Peoples' Government of Heilongjang Province, Mayor Zhang XiaoLian The General Office of the Peoples' Government of Harbin, and Mitsubishi Corporation Motor Vehicle Business Division COO Kozo Shiraji.
The major shareholders of the Harbin Dongan Automotive, based in Harbin Heilongjang province are, Harbin Dongan Auto Engine Co.,Ltd (36.0 per cent), Harbin Dongan Engine (Group) Co., Ltd. (19 per cent), Harbin Aircraft Industry (Group) Harbin Hafei Motor Co., Ltd. (15 per cent), Mitsubishi Motor Co (15.3 per cent), Malaysia China Investment Corporation: (9 per cent), Mitsubishi Corporation (5.7 per cent)


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With fraudsters looking to take advantage of online shoppers by creating fake websites and selling counterfeit goods, the best way to avoid getting caught out is to be a savvy internet user! Here we have provided a guide on how to stay safe online over the festive period.
Concern over cyber threats has hit an all-time high, with a recent global cyber risk perception survey finding that 79% of organisations now rank cyber risk as a top-five concern.
While concern might be high, this isn’t necessarily translating into action.
PwC’s 2018 Global State of Information Security survey found that only 51% of executives have an accurate inventory of employee and customer personal data.
Which leaves us pondering: are companies doing enough to protect their data?


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Sony has announced the launch of its new wearable air conditioner in Japan. Sony’s wearable air conditioner can easily fit in your shirt to keep you cool in summer.
Dubbed as Reon Pocket, the new wearable air conditioner from Sony comes with a host of interesting features. It is available only in Japan for 13,000 Yen (approx. Rs 9,000). The wearable air conditioner was teased in 2019 and it was supposed to launch during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, the Olympics has been pushed to 2021, Sony has decided to launch the product right now.
Sony Reon Pocket features
The wearable air conditioner from Sony weighs just 85 grams and it is small enough to fit into a regular-sized pocket. The company has also revealed a special t-shirt that makes it easier to carry the pocket AC. The company claims that with the latest device, it can bring down the temperature by 13 degrees Celsius to give some relief from the heat. Furthermore, the AC can be also used in the winters as it can increase the temperature up to 8 degrees Celsius.
In order to use this device, users need to first put it into the inner pocket of the t-shirt and then download the Reon Pock application from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. From the app, one can switch on or off the air conditioner. Furthermore, one can also toggle between cooling and warming. Additionally, users can also adjust the temperature with a simple click.
It is important to note that the device must make contact with the skin in order to provide cooling. It works on the Peltier effect, which is the concept of thermodynamics. Sony’s wearable air conditioner can deliver up to 90 minutes of battery life and it takes two hours to get completely charged via USB Type-C port.


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By Lisa Johnston
New products on display at the American International Toy Fair, held in N
Fourteen companies have agreed on set of open specifications allowing for seamless voice and data handoffs between GSM/GPRS cellular networks and wireless-LANs.
The participating companies are Alcatel, AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless, Ericsson, Kineto Wireless of Milpitas, Motorola, Nokia, Nortel Networks, O2, Rogers Wireless, Siemens, Sony Ericsson and T-Mobile USA.
The specs, called Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), will enable service providers to deploy interoperable solutions that enable dual-mode handsets equipped with cellular and wireless-LAN technology to roam and handover seamlessly between cellular networks and public and private wireless LANs, including 802.11-based LANs and Bluetooth personal area networks (PANs). UMA promises to give subscribers a consistent set of mobile voice and data services as they transition between access networks, the companies said. Solutions based on the UMA specifications support the handover of active mobile voice calls and data sessions between networks, ensuring no interruption of service and delivering a consistent user experience as they jump from one network to another.
Besides developing and maintaining the initial specifications, the participating companies are working with the 3GPP standards organization to use the specifications for a 3GPP standard.
Specifics of the UMA specifications are available at www.umatechnology.org. Development of the specs began in late 2003.
This TWICE webinar, hosted by senior editor Alan Wolf, will take a look at what may be the hottest CE products at retail that will be sold during the all-important fourth quarter. Top technologies, market strategies and industry trends will be discussed with industry analysts and executives.


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Why Nutella's personalized branding strategy didn't work out
As companies continue to make fools of themselves by interacting with potential customers on social media, the popular hazelnut spread Nutella has created a personalized branding marketing strategy that hasn’t worked out the way it intended.
Nutella’s “Make Me Yours” campaign has been mocked by several social media users, as it set up a website for consumers to order their own personalized label of the product with an associated hashtag #mynutella.
As our sister site Business Review Australia reported, Nutella’s strategy began overseas earlier this year before hitting Australia last week. Customers were asked to submit their idea for a label, upload a receipt and receive their own customized jar of Nutella.
Although the response was positive early on most people on social media platforms look for laughs anytime they’re given the opportunity. Some of the recent Nutella memes include the label with the words “diabetes” “allergen” and “oops.”
It’s no surprise in the opinion of one public relations expert. InsideOut public relations director Nicole Reaney said she could see this coming, as the company never properly targeted its pitch and ventured away from its traditional audience.
RELATED TOPIC: Is mascot nostalgia the next big marketing trend?
“When you hand the reins over to the public, you expose yourself to potential backlash,” said Reaney. “Sometimes that is a good thing. In this case however I’d say it’s a PR fail.
“Nutella is a brand that is marketed to families. In this particular campaign, it’s not families being engaged. It’s probably people in their teens and 20s having a bit of fun.”
Ferrero Australia expressed its disappointment in the public’s reaction.
“Although some people have chosen to use the campaign as an opportunity to create and post less than appropriate images online, most consumers have embraced it in the manner it was intended,” said Ferrero.
Nutella won’t reward those who have submitted social media pranks, as one of the conditions of the campaign was that all personalized labels are “subject to approval by the promoter.” It goes on to say submissions can’t be offensive, inappropriate, obscene or defamatory.
In the future, Reaney believes SME marketers need to be careful when using personalized branding, even though it seems like a good idea on the surface.
“The key lessons are to align your campaign to your target market and test it with a few people in that market to see if there is any chance of it backfiring,” said Reaney. “The other is always anticipate and pre-empt any negatives that can go wrong with a campaign and what steps you would have in place to resolve it.”
The morale of the story is it’s not always the best idea to go to the internet for feedback.


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Redoubling its challenge to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, Hulu is finally offering an ad-free version of its Internet movie and television streaming service.
On Wednesday, the big-studio-backed Hulu announced that users can now watch movies and shows without commercials for $11.99 a month. Since 2010, the company has offered a for-pay subscription service, and though this included fewer ads than the company's free service, it still included ads—much to the chagrin of some Twitter-happy American consumers. "I've heard all the arguments for it, but I'd never pay for Hulu and still sit through ads. Nope," one North Dakota woman wrote on Twitter this spring.
Now, she doesn't have to. And those with existing subscriptions can upgrade to the new ad-free version for $4. The move puts Hulu in more direct competition with Netflix, whose popular internet streaming offering operates as an ad-free subscription service. Netflix is used by about 40 million Americans, Hulu by around 9 million. Amazon also offers ad-free streaming as part of its Prime service, where people pay $99 a year for free shipping on retail orders.
Perhaps not too coincidentally, Hulu announced earlier this week that it had agreed to offer movies and shows from the cable network Epix, whose deal with Netflix is ending. Today, Epix offers such high-profile films as Hunger Games: Catching Fire, World War Z, The Wolf of Wall Street, and the Rocky movies.
Founded in 2007, Hulu is a joint venture from Comcast's NBCUniversal, 21st Century Fox's Fox Broadcasting, and Walt Disney's ABC—i.e. the old guard of TV and movies. Comcast, which also runs the country's largest cable television operation, is perhaps the biggest rival to Netflix, and is the company with the most to lose as Americans "cut" their cable cords in favor of streaming services. Like so many others, the cable giant realizes it must change with the times.


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Jovo debuted the fourth iteration of its open-source voice app development framework this week. Jovo v4 offers rebuilt and enhanced..
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Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of services, and Apple CEO Tim Cook welcome MLS players at the Apple campus in Cupertino, California, in January.
“We’re in Year One of a 10-year partnership,” Cue said in on-the-record remarks made on a media call on Tuesday morning and embargoed until Thursday, “so this is just the beginning. But we’re off to a great start with subscriptions and viewership. We don’t share specific subscription numbers, but I can tell you we’re certainly doing much better than we had forecasted.”
Cue has guided the launch of the unique pay service on Apple TV. He is one of the most powerful executives at Apple, overseeing Apple’s services, including Apple Music, Apple News, Apple Podcasts, the Apple TV app, and Apple TV+, as well as other products like Apple Pay and Apple’s iCloud services.
“I’m very proud and happy with what we’ve accomplished so far, but I am sure that the best is yet to come,” he added. “It’s been a great few months for such a quick turnaround. So I’m incredibly proud of everyone on our team, everyone in the league. The teams, players and owners have been instrumental in making this a huge success to start the season.”
Apple has adjusted its MLS offerings, testing the number of games it offers in front of the paywall each matchday. The lifting of the embargoed remarks coincided with the announcement of a price reduction for MLS Season Pass for the rest of the season (as low as $39 for Apple TV+ subscribers). Cue said the mid-season offer was comparable to the strategies of others.
“Our number one goal when we started this," he added, "was to make sure that in Year One, we’ve got all the MLS fans that were out there to feel like and see that we really care deeply about the game that they love, and the teams that they love."


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This is a syndicated repost published with the permission of Statista | Infographics. To view original, click here. Opinions herein are not those of the Wall Street Examiner or Lee Adler. Reposting does not imply endorsement. The information presented is for educational or entertainment purposes and is not individual investment advice.
Markets have rebounded significantly after a tumultuous two months of COVID-19 economic panic in March and April. While top indices like the S&P 500 are just starting to creep into positive territory for the year, large tech companies are sitting pretty with enormous gains.
The biggest players in the S&P 500 are still growing, despite the overall index being up just 4 percent on the year. Since the beginning of the year, Netflix and Amazon have seen their stock prices both grow by 44 percent and 67 percent, respectively, while Microsoft has had a 31 percent growth. Apple, which started their recovery slower than other tech companies, has surged to 50 percent growth on the year in stock price. Other top tech companies like Facebook and Alphabet have also both seen overall gains in the double-digits.
Back in February, these companies accounted for over 20 percent of the total share of the S&P 500, and many feared their stock losses could bring the broader market down further. On the contrary, they’ve served to boost the S&P 500 into positive territory and continue to account for a greater share of the entire index. Recent earnings reports at the end of July showed continued revenue gains by most large tech companies, with Amazon blowing estimates out of the water with surprising growth across most sectors of their business.
This chart shows the index and share-price growth of select tech companies in 2020 through August 12.
Join the conversation and have a little fun at Capitalstool.com. If you are a new visitor to the Stool, please register and join in! To post your observations and charts, and snide, but good-natured, comments, click here to register. Be sure to respond to the confirmation email which is sent instantly. If not in your inbox, check your spam filter.


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New York—BelAmiOnline today confirmed its expansion into the U.S. marketplace through a campaign to sign exclusive American talent to its existing lineup of 40 exclusive models throughout Europe.
Brady Jensen, who epitomizes the all-American stud, is the first announced exclusive in the lineup of American models who look like they stepped off an Abercrombie & Fitch photo shoot. Brady has been signed with BelAmi for some time now and has been shooting scenes with the studio throughout Europe. He is currently in Budapest on his second shoot with the studio.
“I couldn’t be any happier about my decision to sign with BelAmi,” said Jensen. “They are amazing to work with and being able to travel the world and shoot with these world class production teams is mind blowing. You can expect to see a whole new me now that I’m shooting with BelAmi. I’m sure all my fans will be happy to see the growth and me moving to a whole new level in my career. I can’t wait for everyone to see.”
BelAmi founder George Duroy said, “This is the natural next step for BelAmi. After 18 years of selling into the U.S. market and experiencing the commercial success that we have it makes sense to find the best U.S. talent and combine it with the unique production and creativity of the BelAmi brand. Together, I believe we have a winning combination and the birth of a new generation of adult films.”
BelAmi’s publicist added, “The BelAmi Boy has become one of if not the strongest brand in the all-male adult film market. This iconic look and model type is not easy to replicate but Brady perfectly fits into this archetype and adds something new to the mix. Fans are going to go crazy for the new crop of American talent and this content will bring even more fans to BelAmiOnline than ever before.”
This next phase of BelAmiOnline comes after unprecedented growth over the past few years worldwide and particularly in the U.S. market. The company has been a stable in the U.S. adult film market since its inception in 1993 and online since 1999. Throughout the years, BelAmi has maintained arguably the top-selling DVD lines in the U.S. market as recently as 2010’s Taboo, which sold over 12,000 copies and 2011’s blockbuster release, More than You can Handle, which is on its way to topping that total. In addition to a thriving DVD line, BelAmiOnline maintains a membership base that is virtually unsurpassed in today’s marketplace.
BelAmiOnline will announce more American exclusives in the coming months, including a brand new fresh face that has never shot with anyone but BelAmiOnline.


text: Today, Google announced a new way to navigate Google, the new Google bar. The new Google bar is easy to use, big and bubbly. It’s everything you would want in a easy, modern day navigation. What’s more, it has integration with Google +. This has just been released, so we do not know if it will have implications on search engine optimization or social media marketing yet. However, we will be testing and watching closely.


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Introduces new standards, tools and guidelines for Visa payWave. Extends Visa Ready Program to enable Visa payment functionality in the cloud.
Karachi February 24, 2014 – Visa today announced it is offering clients new options to securely deploy mobile payment programs, including for the first time an option to host Visa payWave-enabled accounts in a secure, virtual cloud. The move expands Visa’s support for mobile payments globally and will give financial institutions greater choice in offering consumers secure ways to pay with smartphones.
Visa’s support for cloud-based payments follows the introduction of a new feature in the Android mobile operating system called Host Card Emulation (HCE); HCE allows any NFC application on an Android device to emulate a smart card, letting users wave-to-pay with their smartphones, while permitting financial institutions to host payment accounts in a secure, virtual cloud.
“Our clients and partners around the globe are continuously looking for flexible, cost efficient and secure ways to enable mobile payments,” said Elizabeth Buse, Executive Vice President, Global Solutions, Visa Inc. “The Android HCE feature provides us with a platform to evolve the Visa payWave standard, support the development of secure, cloud-based mobile applications, while at the same time offer greater choice to our clients.”
According to data released by International Data Corporation in February 2014, 78 percent of smartphones sold in Q4 2013 run on the Android operating system, and Android is enjoying strong gains in markets outside the U.S., including in China and Latin America. Android also recently became the fastest platform to reach one billion users worldwide.
“The Android community continues to build innovative ways to improve the lives of mobile users. We introduced HCE to make it easier for developers to create NFC applications like mobile payments, loyalty programs, transit passes, and other custom services,” said Benjamin Poiesz, Google Android Product Manager. “Visa’s move to enable NFC payments with Android devices is welcome news and will guide the way for the payments industry.”
Visa Ready for Cloud-Based Payment Applications
In addition to supporting clients who are hosting the Visa account data on secure elements in smartphones, Visa is extending the Visa Ready Program to also support financial institutions and partners who wish to securely deploy Visa accounts in the cloud. The program provides new standards, tools, services and implementation guidelines, and ensures that cloud-based applications with Visa payment functionality are compatible with Visa’s requirements and payment industry security standards. The program includes:
Ensuring payment security is one of Visa’s highest priorities and security in cloud-based payments is no exception. Visa will deploy several layers of security to protect payment accounts in the cloud, including at the Visa network, application and hardware levels. One-time use data, real-time transaction analysis, payment tokens and device fingerprinting technology make up a multi-layered defense against unauthorized account access.


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Borderlands 2 players on Xbox 360 are having difficulty downloading a Compatibility Update required to play the recently-released Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt add-on, according to a thread on developer Gearbox's official forums.
Gearbox released a new Compatibility Pack through Xbox Live late yesterday, which is necessary to access Sir Hammerlock. Soon after users began reporting errors stating downloads were freezing around the 98 and 99 percent marks. Other players complained of difficulties accessing online multiplayer as well.
"We're receiving reports that some are receiving a 'Can't download compatibility pack' error message while in the process of downloading this content," reads a post from community manager ChrisF. "We're working with Microsoft to address this and expect the issue to be resolved within hours."
ChrisF later noted that deleting past Compatibility Packs for use with previous downloadable content shouldn't effect downloading the latest one. Earlier this morning Gearbox announced via Twitter that the company is still working on fixing the error, and that it would be extending the weekend's Gear Up event until the issue is resolved.
"We're working with Microsoft to get the Compatibility Pack download error on Xbox 360 addressed ASAP — will share updates here as we can," the company tweeted.
Polygon has reached out to Gearbox for more details on the problem and will update this story with more information as we have it.
Update: Gearbox's twitter account still says that the developer is working with Microsoft to fix the error, but has uploaded a Troubleshooting guide for those suffering from the Compatibility Pack issues.
If you're still getting the Compatibility Pack download error on Xbox 360, we have troubleshooting at this link: bit.ly/VIbyqO— Gearbox Software (@GearboxSoftware) January 15, 2013
- VR headsets replacing standard displays is likely, not insane
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- PlayStation horror series Siren is getting a manga adaptation
- Trials Fusion - Overview video
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- Fantasia: Music Evolved won't support Twitch streaming, but will offer other sharing options


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A different kind of robbery happened at a Gilbert 7-eleven store.
Court records reveal an unusual robbery happened on July 29 at a 7-eleven store near Gilbert and Baseline roads.
Gilbert police report that 24-year-old Colt Karasco was upset with his mother and decided to rob the 7-eleven. He entered the store with two steak knives and two hammers on his belt.
When he entered the store, he reportedly told two people and a clerk to leave the store and call the police. When police arrived, he released another clerk. While Karasco was alone in the store, he allegedly broke windows by throwing items through them.
Before walking out of the store and being arrested, Karasco took the $187 he stole and threw it back into the store.
He later told police that he knew they would come and return him to prison.
Korasco has prior convictions for assault and aggravated assault on an officer. This time, he attacked no one, took the money, then returned it, kidnapped people, then let them go.
Karasco returns to jail having been charged with armed robbery and kidnapping.


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Google released WebVR back in 2016 as an experimental project with an aim to make virtual reality available to masses by bringing it to the web platform and supporting all the virtual reality headsets ranging from entry models like Goole Cardboard to high-end headsets like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. In the initial phase, both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox supported Google’s WebVR.
The project was in constant development over the last two years, with Google showing off the progress every time it could. However, in the September of 2017, the Google Chrome team revealed that WebVR was being reworked from the ground up to increase the support for even more devices.
While this was being worked on, a few weeks back we saw the launch of Google’s new augmented reality on the web project, which the company featured in a blog post on its website. The project allowed users to interact with 3D objects (referred to as articles by Google) on the web and even aims to allow users to use their smartphone cameras to put the objects around them, just as they can do it using Apple’s ARKit or Google’s ARCore.
Now, it has been confirmed by W3C that the in-development WebVR 2.0 API is being renamed to ‘WebXR’ as it brings support for both augmented and virtual reality technology. In an interview given to VentureBeat, Chrome WebVR developer Brandon Jones said,
VR is great at giving you a sense of scale relative to yourself, while today’s mobile AR is great at giving you a sense of scale relative to your environment. So imagine you’re looking for a piece of furniture or a TV or something similar for your home. An app built for both VR or AR could let you stand next to the object in VR, at the correct scale, to get a sense for how big it is. The AR side of it could then project that same object into your room to indicate it if will fit the space. Of course, the really exciting point will be when you can do both with a single headset, getting that personal sense of scale and grounding in your environment simultaneously.
It’s clear that Google is now focusing more on the augmented reality side of things rather than VR. In hindsight, augmented reality is better than virtual reality as it doesn’t require users to use costly virtual reality headsets. Currently, augmented reality capabilities might be present only on high-end smartphones, however, when its released for the web, it can be made easily available even on the low-end devices. For now, WebXR is not yet integrated into Chrome, but Google has built an experimental browser with WebXR support for developers to try out.


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News Archives 2021
Trustwise attracts further capital
trustwise.io ag closed an investment round led by an investor from the life science sector
Visit trustwise on startups.ch
STARTUPS.CH is the market leader for successful company foundations in Switzerland. We are happy to be listed on startups.ch and to support new businesses to launch.
TRUSTWISE and KELLERHALS CARRARD announce Preferred Partnership
TRUSTWISE.IO LTD and KELLERHALS CARRARD, one or the largest law firms in Switzerland, have signed a preferred partnership agreement.
OFS and AUGENTIC GmbH reveal the design of the offline "Smart Banknote CBDC" prototype
We are delighted to provide the DLT technology for the “Smart Banknote Solution” announced by Orell Füssli Ltd. Security Printing and AUGENTIC
Smart Banknote CBDC
We’re proud to provide the DLT technology for the “Smart Banknote Solution” announced by Orell Füssli Ltd. Security Printing and AUGENTIC GmbH
AUGENTIC and trustwise.io announce partnership for CBDC solutions
AUGENTIC GmbH and trustwise.io ag have agreed on a strategic cooperation in the field of CBDC.
Tokenization of Digital Assets
Swiss Fintech Technology Innovations attests Trustwise a high level of transparency
Blockchain Technology Study
From the co-author and founder: Capabilities, Economic Viability, and the Socio-Technical Environment (TA-Swiss)
Launch of TrustnetONE, an international permissioned blockchain with on-chain governance


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India has 12 major ports and about 200 non-major ports. Under the National Perspective Plan for Sagarmala, six new mega ports will be developed in the country. In FY19 traffic has increased 2.90 per cent year-on-year to 699.05 million tonnes and for FY20T (up to August 2019) stood at 293.80 million tonnes. Cargo traffic at non-major ports was estimated at 348.44 million tonnes FY20 (up to Sep’19).
Since ports handle almost 95 per cent of trade volumes in India, the rising trade has contributed significantly to the country’s cargo traffic. Capacity at major Indian ports reached 1,477 million tonnes by FY19P. Capacity at non-major ports is expected to reach 968 MMT in 2019 from 750 MMT in 2016. Given the positive outlook, proposed investments in major ports are expected to total US$ 18.6 billion by 2020, while those in non-major ports would be US$ 28.5 billion.
India’s total external trade* grew to US$ 838.46 billion in FY19, implying a CAGR of 5.53 per cent since FY09. Merchandise exports during the year were US$ 331.02 billion while imports reached US$ 507.44 billion. India’s merchandise exports and imports stood at US$ 160 billion and US$ 243 billion, respectively, in FY20 (till September 2019). Adani Port and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) became the first Indian port operator to handle cargo movement of 200 million tonnes (MT) in 2018-19.
In November 2016, Ministry of Shipping has sanctioned sum of US$ 1.49 million to Gujarat Maritime Board for capacity building and safety training of workers involved in ship recycling activities under Sagarmala. The Government of India has finalised master plans for 142 capacity expansion projects worth Rs 91,434 crore (US$ 14.19 billion) under the Sagarmala programme. As of March 2018, projects worth Rs 1.85 lakh crore (US$ 28.70 billion) had been awarded under Sagarmala programme. Approximately 10,000 jobs were created through projects initiated under Sagarmala during the last three years In August 2019, India became the first country in the world to issue Biometric Seafarer Identity Document (BSID), capturing the facial bio-metric data of seafarers.
As per Union Budget 2019-20, the Jal Marg Vikas Project for enhancing the navigational capacity of Ganga, a multi modal terminal at Varanasi has been functional since November 2018.
The Government of India has allowed foreign direct investment (FDI) of up to 100 per cent under the automatic route for projects related to the construction and maintenance of ports and harbours. Ports sector in India has received a cumulative FDI of US$ 1.64 billion between April 2000 and June 2019. A 10-year tax holiday is extended to enterprises engaged in the business of developing, maintaining, and operating ports, inland waterways, and inland ports. The government has also initiated National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP), an initiative to develop the maritime sector with a planned outlay of US$ 11.8 billion. As of Union Budget 2019-20, the total allocation for the Ministry of Shipping is Rs 1,902.56 crore (US$ 272.22 million).
* - Merchandise trade


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PETALING JAYA (Oct 12): Home-grown MyNews Holdings Bhd, which already operates some 570 stores, is bringing a South Korean convenient store brand to the Malaysian market.
At its headquarters in Kota Damansara, the convenience store operator announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary MYCU Retail Sdn Bhd had signed a licensing agreement with BGF Retail Co Ltd, which runs the CU line of convenience stores in South Korea.
There are some 15,000 CU stores in the republic.
MyNews chief executive officer (CEO)-cum-founder Dang Tai Luk said the group will open 500 CU stores in five years' time, with the first set of stores set to be open in Malaysia by early 2021.
When asked about the geographical location spread of the new stores, Dang said the group will look at launching the stores in bigger cities first.
“The Klang Valley is where we would start our CU journey,” he said, noting that onboarding the CU stores is part of the group's expansion strategy.
In the first year, Dang said, the group will be looking at opening 30 to 50 CU stores first to monitor how they perform.
He noted that CU will be using MyNews’ food processing centre (FPC) and, as a result of this, the centre's utilisation rate will be increased to around 70%, partly aided by CU products at end-2021, from 35% currently.
The group expects the CU stores to break even in two to three years' time, with MyNews spending RM30 million to RM40 million in capital expenditure (capex) on the stores.
In terms of earnings contribution, he noted that group will see higher revenue as a result of the new stores that are expected to achieve better gross margins when compared to the MyNews stores, whose margins tend to be 30% to 40% currently.
He noted that there is a gestational period for the CU stores and that initially the MyNews outlets will continue to be the group's main earnings contributors, but opined that as the CU stores grow, they will contribute more to the bottom line.
Dang was not concerned about oversaturation in the convenience store market, noting that the market in Malaysia is still young and growing with the penetration rate still low.
The licensing agreement will last for 10 years, with an option to renew for another 10 years.
There are currently 570 MyNews stores at the moment. When queried about whether it will slow the launch of MyNews stores in favour of the CU stores, Dang noted that the group will monitor the situation and adjust its portfolios accordingly.
MyNews was last traded at 67 sen, with a market capitalisation of RM457.04 million.


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A Snapshot of Business News This Week
ASSOCHAM worried that panic created by government could jeopardize the packaged food industry
ASSOCHAM is seeking the Prime Minister’s intervention over the panic being created by FSSAI and other state governments over the Maggi incident. In a letter to the PM, the organization has expressed anguish that the packaged food industry in paying dearly for the notifications and press statements issued by FSSAI, which has created mistrust in the public on packaged food products. It believes that this consumer distrust could jeopardize an investment of Rs. 90,000 crore in the packaged food industry. Importantly, the packaged food industry has the potential to increase 5-fold to nearly Rs. 5.7 lakh crores by 2030. Furthermore, this sector provides employment to 48 million people in industry alone and a further 25 million indirectly in the area of logistics, transportation etc. This could also adversely affect farmers, since the bulk raw materials used for packaged foods are predominantly agri-products.
MoFPI announces formation of task force to augment food processing in northern India
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) under the leadership of Harsimrat Kaur Badal has announced that a special task force would be formed to develop the food processing sector in the northern states of UP, Punjab, Rajasthan, HP, Haryana and Uttarakhand. The task force will identify the gaps and bottlenecks and suggest policy changes that will impact on the food processing sector in these states. Importantly, as a part of the development process, the government is aiming to strengthen farm-market linkages by leveraging the contributions of the private sector in providing the latest technologies and by encouraging the “Make in India” campaign in the area of manufacturing farming and food processing equipment. The government, on its part is contributing by strengthening the cold-chain deficit in India by setting-up 138 new cold-chain plants over the next 4 years, as well as setting-up new Mega Food Parks, which will collectively create 1 million new jobs.
FreshMenu and Box8 adopting mobile-apps to increase sales and customer experience
New mobile-apps are being rolled-out by food tech companies FreshMenu of Bangalore and Box8 of Mumbai for the benefit of their customers. These mobile-apps, which are to be introduced for Android and iOS within two weeks, will help customers to track their entire order life-cycle from restaurant to their homes, using a map format. Therefore, a real-life, step-by-step tab may be kept on the order until it is delivered at the customer’s doorstep. The mobile-app will also have key features to access discounts, promotions, special offers, combo-meals etc. These food tech companies believe that their sales will be more than doubled from around 4 transactions a month to 10 transactions, with the help of this mobile-app.
MVJ Foods acquired by AVA Group
The AVA Group has recently acquired MVJ Foods. AVA is the manufacturer of the Medimix brand of soap products and this is its first foray into the food business after acquiring MVJ Foods which owns the Melam brand of masalas, spices, curry powders, pickles, jams etc. The acquisition amount has not been disclosed. Melam, established in the early nineties, has a strong presence in Kerala. It also has a formidable track record of exports; exporting to countries like USA, UK, Middle East, Far East, Australia and Singapore. AVA plans to first expand to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, before expanding its horizons further, both in India and abroad.
Punjab government invites Reliance Industries to invest in food processing sector
Punjab is seeking investment in its food processing sector from Reliance Industries. The Punjab government has written to Reliance Industries, headed by Mukesh Ambani, inviting to set-up a project on food processing in the state. The government wants Reliance Industries to set-up its project in the Mega Food Park coming up in Ladhowal. It is hoping that the company will make an announcement in this regard in the upcoming Progressive Punjab Investment Summit in October this year. This is not the first time that Punjab had MoU’s signed with the company. Reliance Industries had previously announced to invest around Rs. 2,500 crore in digital infrastructure for the state’s 4G network. It had also proposed to develop farm infrastructure at an outlay of Rs. 500 crore, to be up-scaled to Rs. 5,000 crore. Therefore, the Punjab government is very much hopeful that something positive will emerge, which will be highly beneficial for the people of Punjab.


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A few days ago Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey had put up his first-ever tweet for sale as an NFT. The tweet has now been sold for $2.9 million (roughly Rs 210,027,280) as a Nonfungible token. The NFT is basically a digital certificate of authenticity and credibility that you are the owner of a particular thing, this is also collectively known as a blockchain. Dorsey’s tweet was bought by a Malaysia-based businessman.
Dorsey’s first-ever tweet which was posted in 2006, read “just setting up my twitter” now belongs to Malaysia-based buyer Sina Estavi, who owns a blockchain company Bridge Oracle. The tweet was sold on NFT trading platform Valuables, which is owned by the U.S.-based company Cent. The CEO of Cent, Cameron Hejazi, confirmed that the tweet was bought using cryptocurrency Ether.
"These assets might go up in value, they might go down in value, but what will stay in the ledger and the history of 'I purchased this from you at this moment in time' and that's going to be in both the buyer, the seller, and the public spectators' memory," Hejazi was quoted by Reuters as saying.
While everyone thought it is just a tweet and not worth millions, Estavi who bought the tweet likened it to the Mona Lisa painting. He tweeted, “This is not just a tweet! I think years later people will realize the true value of this tweet, like the Mona Lisa painting.”
Dorsey who has received 2.9 million for his tweet had said that he would donate the Give Directly's Africa Response fund. As per the rules set by Valuables, Dorsey has received 95 percent of the amount while Cent has only taken 5 percent.
Estavi received a certificate which was digitally signed and verified by Dorsey along with the metadata of the original tweet. The data consists of the time the tweet was first posted and its text.
On a related note, people are also misusing the NFT to steal people’s artworks and make money out of them. Several artists across the world had reported that their artworks have been stolen and sold on NFTs without their permission. Some of the painters had no idea about their work being sold at double the price, some of them have come across their arts on auction sites. It is also difficult to track down the digital thieves because they are not using their original id to sell the products, many of them were found hiding behind anonymous Twitter accounts.


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Sitges hotels are experiencing pronounced contrasts between weekdays and weekends. From Sunday to Thursday, occupancy does not exceed 40% on average, while on weekends it reaches 90%. Conference bookings are still low, as evidenced by the Mobile World Congress, which is currently being held in Barcelona and failing to have an impact on the local economy.
With the arrival of summer, people have returned to the streets of Sitges, and this is most noticeable at weekends, during which the town has been witnessing a pronounced influx of visitors, with bars and restaurants working at almost full levels. However, with the hotels, the prices that are being applied are mostly not those of summer, but of spring.
The problem, however, comes on Sunday nights, when the movement of visitors currently drops considerably, although there are indications that with the arrival of July the hotel occupancy rates on work days could increase. The manager of the Hospitality Guild points out that ‘the season will be too short: of the eight central weeks we calculate that only three or four will be completed. It is costing a lot’.
Regarding the celebration of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), which in other years has been held during the winter (although cancelled in 2020), the manager of the Guild said that ‘we have not noticed any kind of impact on reservations related to the event’. This year MWC in Barcelona has still suffered an impact from the pandemic: from the nine pavilions that it usually occupies at the Barcelona Exhibition Centre, there are only three this year. Also read: Mobile World Congress in Barcelona: biggest trade show in the Covid era.
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Tag Archives : Yamaha SZ
The Yamaha SZ was introduced in 2010 as a commuter 150 cc motorcycle. A Bangalore-based motorcycle customiser has modified a Yamaha SZ as an adventure.
To be more fuel efficient than before. Motorbeam.com’s reader Mr. Abhishek Goyal has come up with what appears to be a leaked image of the.
The new Bajaj Discover 150 is the most powerful and affordable model in the segment. The new Bajaj Discover 150 S and Discover 150 F.
Apart from launching the Yamaha Ray Z, Yamaha has also launched two new variants of its 150cc motorcycle. The new variants named the SZ-RR and.


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Fortify has announced the closing of a $20m equity round which will be used to drive team growth, expand its presence in high-value application spaces and transition to volume manufacturing of its Flux Series 3D printing systems.
The round was led by Cota Capital with contributions Accel Partners, Neotribe Ventures and Prelude Ventures.
Fortify has held previous funding rounds in January 2019 and July 2019, procuring more than $12 million, and commenced shipping of its Flux One composite DLP 3D printing system in September 2020. The company has also grown out its team with notable hires including Paul Dresens, formerly of Desktop Metal, as VP of Engineering and Advisor Rob Stevens, formerly of GrabCAD and Stratasys.
With this latest influx of funding, Fortify is now hoping to accelerate the delivery of its 3D printing technology to market, as well as speeding up the time to market on several high-value strategy material development programmes in collaboration with material partners such as DSM and Henkel.
“Fortify has been focused on proving the viability of our product and market opportunity over the past 18+ months and exceeded our goals set at the beginning of 2020,” commented Josh Martin, CEO and co-founder of Fortify. “This next round will expand our go-to-market footprint in key verticals such as injection mould tooling while enabling us to capture market share in end-use electronic devices.”
“The additive manufacturing market is rapidly expanding, and we believe that Fortify is unlocking one of the key barriers to growth of the industry: advanced materials,” added Bobby Yazdani, founder and partner at Cota Capital. “We are excited to collaborate and support the company as it continues to redefine advanced manufacturing.”
Want to discuss? Join the conversation on the Additive Manufacturing Global Community Discord.
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Credit rating agency Moody's has downgraded its rating on Nokia to its lowest investment grade, in the wake of the company's announcement of a slump in Q1 handset sales.
Moody's cut Nokia's senior debt rating to Baa3 with a negative outlook from Baa2, and also downgraded the company's short-term debt ratings.
The agency said the downgrade was triggered by Nokia's announcement of a 16% year-on-year decline in handset sales for the first quarter, a slump which Moody's branded “severe.”
This resulted in a 35% slump in revenues from Nokia's handsets segment during the quarter.
“While volatility by quarters is not uncommon, Moody's believes that the structural challenges facing Nokia's mobile phones segment may not be easy to address, such as the market share gains recorded by makers of very low-end phones or new phone promotions by Chinese carriers,” the agency said in a statement.
Moody's added that Nokia's transition from Symbian-based smartphones to Windows Phone with the Lumia series is “ proving more challenging than expected given that sales of Symbian-based devices are falling off very quickly while Lumia sales are only ramping up slowly.”
But the agency noted that Nokia has maintained a strong liquidity position and capital structure, with cash and marketable securities amounting to around twice the company's debt.
Responding to the downgrade, Nokia said in its own statement that the company is making progress with plans to cut operating expenses at its devices and services business by more than €1 billion ($1.31 billion), and operating expenses and production overhead at subsidiary NSN by a further €1 billion.
"Nokia is quickly taking action [and] will continue to increase its focus on lowering the company's cost structure, improving cash flow and maintaining a strong financial position,” CFO Timo Ihamuotila said.
Q1 is also thought to be the first quarter in 14 years that Nokia was outsold in terms of handset units. A number of analysts expect Samsung to have dethroned Nokia in terms of shipments during the quarter.


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Supreme X Nike Air Force 2 Announced Release Date For Upcoming Collection
Supreme collaborates with Nike Air Force 2 on a brand new collection coming out on Sept. 7th, exclusively at Supreme stores and online.
This collection includes four color options (Orange, Yellow, Teal and Dark Brown) that are all constructed with premium leather, Supreme branding on the tongue, and “WORLD FAMOUS” across the heel to complete the look. Starting at $98, Supreme and Nike fans will get a chance to pick the color and wear one of these unique sneakers. Check out more images below according to SneakerFiles:


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With a wearable on every holiday gift list this year, it's clear the market for smartwatches and fitness trackers is on the rise.
According to IDC, total shipment volume for the quarter came to 21 million units—up 198 percent from the 7.1 million shipped during the same time last year. And while Apple and Samsung hold their positions, Chinese vendor Xiaomi and newcomer XTC are proving stiff competition for the tech titans.
"China has quickly emerged as the fastest-growing wearables market, attracting companies eager to compete on price and feature sets," Ramon Llamas, research manager for IDC's Wearables team, said in a statement.
San Francisco-based Fitbit, however, retains its No. 1 position, beating out Apple, Xiaomi, Garmin, and BBK subsidiary XTC, which produces just one device—the Y01 children's phone watch.
"In addition, multiple vendors have experimented with a broad range of products and applications," Llamas said. "The challenge, however, is whether these vendors can expand their presence, as few have extended beyond the country's borders and into other markets."
Despite overall growth, IDC has seen few signs of product cannibalization. That is, smartwatches and fitness trackers can co-exist while increasing shipment volumes. It also means customers have a wider range of functionalities to choose from, be it a simple step counter to a smartphone-on-your-wrist experience.
The same can be said about pricing, according to Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers. "The average smartwatch or band came in at just over $400 and the average basic watch/band $94," he said. "This leaves a lot of room for new players like Fossil and niche players like Pebble as they have an opportunity to address this space."For more, see How to Get Started With a Fitness Tracker.
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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — You may not know his name, but you’ve almost certainly played his game.
Charles “Chuck” Foley, the Minnesota man who invented Twister, passed away on July 1. He was 82 years old.
His family said he had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Foley dedicated his life to finding new games and toys for children.
Haven’t we all, after all, been tangled in Twister’s web of fun? But few have spent more time on that plastic sheet of colored spots than Foley’s family.
“Twister took on its own life,” said Mark Foley, Chuck Foley’s son.
Mark knew at a young age that play goes with being the son of a toy inventor.
“He was a fierce competitor. When he was involved [in the game], we didn’t win,” Mark said.
Hard to believe that 47 years after Twister hit the market, the world almost missed out. The iconic mat posed a problem in the beginning. Initially made out of a shower curtain, Foley made a deal to sell 1 million games to get production in place.
“Making the mat, in and of itself, was a challenge, because there was a manufacturer that would manufacture the shower curtains, but didn’t have a machine set up to do the design he needed,” Mark said.
Foley also ran into issues with the game patent.
“Initially, the United States patent office rejected his patent. So he went there and played the game with them, and they got it,” Mark said.
But after a plug from Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor, Twister became a game everybody wanted to buy.
Ever the visionary: Chuck Foley wasn’t ready to stop there.
The Minnesota man is responsible for toy handcuffs, with a lock that made it easy for kids to remove safely, dart boards that used darts with a flat head, and of course more games.
He even ventured outside the toy market. Foley and his son brought an adhesive removal product to store shelves called “Un-DU.”
An inventor into his 70s, it’s the drive to create that his loved ones will remember most.
“He was always interested in improving, or making the quality of life, or the quality of play, better,” Mark said.
The true legacy of someone you might call the original gamer.
Chuck Foley didn’t work alone. He teamed up with another Minnesota man on Twister and several other toys and games.
Neil Raben is still alive and doing well in Mora, Minn.


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Chicken skin is going places. Traditionally eaten as a street side snack in Southeast Asia particularly in the Philippines and Thailand, we have seen the foodservice sector such as KFC, Bonchon Chicken and Texas Chicken as well as the packaged food sector launching chicken skin offerings.
KFC in Indonesia is the latest to launch chicken skin in time for Ramadan. The new chicken skin menu is priced at IDR 13,636.
In Indonesia, Texas Chicken previously introduced its chicken skin pack comprising one piece of chicken, chicken skin, rice and regular Pepsi for IDR 30,909 in March 2018.
In Thailand, the South Korean fried chicken restaurant chain Bonchon Chicken introduced its own chicken skin dish in March 2019.
Chicken skin has the potential to become the next snack ingredient, while riding the popularity of fish skin but first, it has to overcome consumer concern about calorie and fat. However, most of the fat in chicken skin is unsaturated and is found to lower cholesterol and blood pressure. This message has to go across to consumers who are increasingly looking for an indulging and guilt-free snack.


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Gold Plunges Below $1,300, and More
What’s News: Traders scramble to sell gold; prices fall to lowest level in nearly three years. Afghan Taliban are ready to free a U.S. soldier held captive since 2009. RIM launches Q5 BlackBerry for developing world. Joanne Po reports. Photo: AP
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... traders are screaming to sell all this is what's news at this hour I'm WS J live I'm Joann Co ... gold prices falling more than five percent Thursday plunging below thirty ... dollars an ounce ... this is the lowest price for gold in nearly three years investors and traders selling the precious metal before the Federal Reserve potentially curtails its bond buying program ... that thinking here is that ... the eventual end of the Fed's stimulus measures will raise interest rates and damp inflation ... adding further pressure on gold prices so far this year the price of gold is down about twenty percent the Afghan Taliban are ready to free a US soldier held captive since two thousand I ... the Taliban offer is in exchange for five days senior operatives in prison at ... Guantanamo Bay US Army sergeant Pope urged all of Idaho is the only known American soldier held captive for the Afghan war ... he disappeared from his base in Afghanistan in June two thousand nine is believed to be helping Pakistan ... the Taliban suffered sixteen searching for Dell for the Afghan detainees comes on word that Afghanistan's President honey Karzai ... is now willing to join planned peace talks with the Taliban ... on the condition that the Taliban flagging nameplate are vermouth and the militant group's new office until hot ... and Research in Motion launches a new Q five BlackBerry in that the developing world ... releasing a new phone at an event in Dubai as the company seeks to maintain its popularity in the Middle East ... amid heavy competition from rival ... smartphone makers the Q five is keyboard equipped and runs on the new BlackBerry ten operating system ... the limited release in to buy is the first time customers have been able to take the phone home after the Q five was first unveiled last month bookie keep us anomaly this is about this tepid and what's news I'm WS J last ...


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Rovi Survey Shows High Streaming Video Rates on Mobile Devices
Streaming video use on mobile devices is growing at a fast rate, those in the streaming media industry have been hearing for months, but how much are people actually watching? To mark Monday's start of the 2013 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, digital entertainment company Rovi has released an insights report on global mobile streaming.
The insight report contains results from research conducted by Rovi and others, such as Frost & Sullivan. In addition, Rovi will issue a press release Monday that includes statistics from a survey it conducted last month in the U.S. and Europe, questioning roughly 2,700 viewers. The full survey results aren't available to the public, but were made available to press.
In the United States, 66 percent of tablet owners stream video 2 to 3 times a week, or more, finds Rovi. Beating that number is Italy (73 percent) and Spain (71 percent). And how long are those people watching? Rovi found that U.K. residents watch the longest, with 66 percent of tablet owners watching for an average of 30 minutes. Tablet owners in the U.S. were close behind, with 62 percent watching for an average of 30 minutes.
Rovi looked at what type of content viewers in various countries are watching on their tablets. Residents of the U.K. lean toward TV shows (33 percent of tablet users), while viewers in the U.S. and Germany prefer movies (35 percent and 30 percent). No matter the country, cell phone users were more likely to watch user-generated content (UGC). The highest rate was in Italy, where 47 percent of cell phone users said they watched more UGC than any other type of video.
The survey also looked at live video, and found that nearly half of respondents in the U.S. and the U.K. (49 percent and 49.5 percent) have streamed a live event to a mobile device. Of the surveyed countries, Italy and Spain showed the highest viewership of live mobile video (63 percent and 59 percent).
Download the full Mobile World Congress Edition of the Rovi Insights Series for selected insights. Rovi also offers a free Rovi Insights app, available for iOS and Android, which includes other findings.
After acquiring IntegralReach, Rovi is unveiling a big data analytics solution for targeted reach.
Rovi and Parks Associates find enthusiastic use of connected TV features, as well as a desirable demographic.
The offering lets retailers sell disc "conversions," actually access to online UltraViolet copies.


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If competitor stories are valid precedent, HubSpot’s IPO last week was a good move.
But it certainly won’t be an easy road for the Cambridge, Mass.-based marketing automation provider that made its NYSE debut last week. Not with future investment in marketing automationfrom competitors and not with recent advancements like Oracle’s integration with BlueKai, according to a marketing automation analyst.
“IPOs worked for Marketo, Eloqua and Responsys, so the precedent is good,” said Gerry Brown, senior analyst for customer engagement and marketing technology for Ovum Research. “Competition for HubSpot will become intense as other vendors, such as Sitecore, offer marketing automation as an add-on. HubSpot needs to make sure they don’t get distracted from execution by the razzamatazz of the IPO.”
Need to Deliver
HubSpot’s success, Brown added, depends on its ability to keep hitting quarterly revenue targets. Investors are watching. HubSpot raised $125 million for its initial IPO offering and is trading now this morning at $27.25, down from first-day trading of around $31.
The company certainly has some ground to make up after reporting consistent losses. We reported yesterday that HubSpot according to its S-1 statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission lost $17.7 million in the first six months of 2014. That’s compared with $16.4 million in the first six months of 2013.
Maybe, we wondered, it’s not the time to invest in HubSpot.
“They need to keep showing quarterly growth and hitting targets,” Ovum’s Brown said. “Just look what happened to Rocket Fuel, whose shares fell from $60 to $20 when it missed its profit target in the first quarter. Stock market expectations are currently inflated, and newly IPO’d companies need to avoid volatility, and deliver on their promises.”
But despite net losses, HubSpot gained a certain freedom through its IPO, according to Louis Columbus, vice president of Worldwide Marketing for iBASEt Corporation.
“HubSpot’s decision to pursue an IPO versus being acquired preserves its freedom to innovate and grow as it choose,” Columbus told CMSWire. “According to its S1, HubSpot sees European and global expansion as essential to their growth.”
Outbound is Broken
Columbus sees HubSpot building out its product and services roadmap much faster than before, including their aspiration of being a platform.
“HubSpot clearly sees their business become more platform-centric over time, where applications are ancillary components to a broader strategy,” he said. “The growth and maturing of their platform is key to their future. Being acquired would have forced them to reconsider the platform vision; now they are also free to continue building out that direction of their strategic plans as well.”
Columbus also sees HubSpot’s focus on content-driven marketing as “redefining lead generation” and continuing “over the long term.”
“Outbound marketing is so broken in so many companies, I doubt the cloud-based marketing automation space will fade out anytime soon,” Columbus told CMSWire, adding:
Too many companies are doing a carpet-bombing approach to marketing; they are buying lists with tens of thousands of people on them who may not care at all about their products, and then they pump out e-mail campaign after campaign. This is very ineffective and often leads to marketers getting reputations as spammers. HubSpot helps companies break their addiction to carpet bombing e-mail campaigns and focus on attracting only prospects interested in speaking with them.”
But is HubSpot’s platform in need of catch-up to competitors? Ovum’s Brown noted that Oracle announced the integration of Eloqua and BlueKai at Oracle Open World in San Francisco last week. Integration with Oracle and Responsys marketing automation will follow shortly, he added.
According to Brown, BlueKai is the force behind Oracle’s new cloud-based Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) proposition, which enables:
- Online behavioral data to be merged and enrich enterprise customer data sources
- Access to new potential customers through identifying relevant online behaviors and “lookalike” profiles
“A new partnership with company data provider Dun & Bradstreet also provides enhanced company profiling DaaS for sales teams,” Brown told CMSWire. “This is well beyond what Hubspot and Marketo can offer for marketers.”
Eloqua, he added, is now therefore becoming embedded into the Oracle Customer Experience stack, which includes sales and service, as well as marketing functionality.
“This far outstrips the range of Marketo’s ‘marketing only’ proposition,” Brown said. “However, Marketo is still growing at 60 percent per quarter, which is a pretty healthy rate. Marketo is probably the best of the independent best-of-breed vendors that includes HubSpot and Act-on. These vendors will likely be constrained mostly to the mid-market as large enterprises choose integrated full enterprise-wide cloud suites from the likes of Adobe, Salesforce and Oracle.”
Title image by lev radin / Shutterstock.


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O'Neill's 37th Summerfest will kick off next week in O'Neill...
Jul 6, 2022 (0)
This Saturday, July 9th there will be a Kids Water Fun Day in the park in Atkinson for the benefit of the family of Ryan Keogh.
The event will consist of water games for the kids, bounce houses and a dunk tank as well as a free-will donation lunch which includes pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs, salad, chips and water. There will be silent auction items to bid on too.
Donations collected will go toward an education fund for Ryan's children. The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Gun raffle tickets are available at Anson Feed, Mitchell Equipment, Triple R Tire, W.M. Krotter, CO Enterprises or any Atkinson Fireman.
In O'Neill, you can purchase tickets at J&S Electronics and J&S Outdoors, Revelation Wellness and A&J Auto and Tire Repair.
Ryan perished in an accident on May, 16 and leaves behind a wife and five children
Welcome to the discussion.