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BERLIN – Business travel at a time of global financial and economic crisis is a new challenge facing an industry which, according to conservative estimates, guarantees employment for well over half a million people in Germany. According to the latest findings of the Association of German Travel Management (VDR e.V.) in its 2008 Business Travel Analysis, half of all the expenditure in German hotels is accounted for by business travelers.
Current issues concerning business travel will form the focus of attention at the ITB Business Travel Forum from March 11-13, 2009, which is expected to attract everyone from juniors to business travel managers to participate in the exchange of information at this advanced training event in Berlin. David Ruetz, senior manager ITB Berlin said: “This year, the Business Travel Days are undergoing a further qualitative improvement, because we are convinced of the importance of this sector. The business travel market remains a reliable indicator of the economic situation and also exercises a stabilizing effect. It is not seasonal in nature and remains largely immune to crises due to the fact that in an age of globalization, it is vital for staff to be able to travel.” It is a significant economic factor for the travel industry as a whole and, for the past four years, the ITB Berlin has been providing a dedicated platform where newcomers to the industry, as well as experienced travel managers, can obtain information and expand their professional knowledge.
Newcomers’ Day with an eminent speaker, Ekkehard Goetting
The Business Travel Forum will begin on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 with a Newcomers’ Day and two highly-topical subjects. In his opening speech, Dr. Friedrich Hubert Esser, professor and divisional director for vocational training with the Main Association of the German Skilled Trades in Berlin, will talk on the subject of “Training in Times of (Financial) Crisis.” Another prominent speaker, Ekkehard Goetting, chairman & CEO of the German Economic Delegation in Hong Kong, will address a contentious issue under the heading of “Farewell Germany? Learning, living and working abroad.” The amendments that have been made to careers in travel, and the creation of a new professional qualification for mobility management, are of major importance to anyone entering the industry. The Council of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) Berlin will be providing exclusive details about the current stage of discussions at the ITB Berlin.
Major topics: visas and MICE
In the keynote speech of the Business Travel Executive Day/MICE on Thursday at the ITB, Lutz I. Stammnitz, president of procurement, mobility and logistics, Siemens AG, Munich and Business Travel Manager of the Year 2008 (TIC), will provoke a debate as to whether business travel management constitutes a “black box.”
For the first time, MICE topics will form a separate component in the program of the Business Travel Forum. Under the heading of “Legal, illegal, or irrelevant? The problem of visas for business travel,” a panel of experts will discuss some frequently-neglected issues associated with visas. Decision-makers can learn about “Event Guidelines,” as well as taking part in the panel discussion “How good is Germany’s position as a MICE destination?”.
On Thursday and Friday, the VDR Academy is holding three practically-based workshops in which staff involved with the operational aspects of business travel can learn important details about contracts with airlines, fiscal aspects of business travel and events, and the fundamentals of planning business trips.
New: “Aktuelle Stunde” – main topic: ancillary air travel costs
The “Business Travel Practitioners’ Day” on Friday, March 13, will feature a number of highly-informative subjects. The “Aktuelle Stunde” (Topical Hour) is a new feature in which prominent speakers will report on a number of items, among them “Including aviation in EU emissions trading.” During the subsequent discussions, travel managers will investigate the “main factors in pushing up air ticket prices,” which include the surcharges for security and aviation fuel, for using credit cards and for baggage, and many other contributory aspects. And Verkehrsclub Deutschland e.V. will be using its “Guidelines for environmentally acceptable business travel” in order to show how business travel can be organized in ways that are both profitable and ecologically sound. This will be just one of many contributions to the subject of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in tourism. The CSR Day will be held for the first time at this year’s ITB.
The ITB Business Travel Forum will take place from March 11-13, 2009 in Hall 7.1a, New York 3, during the ITB Berlin Convention.
The ITB Berlin Convention
The ITB Berlin 2009 will take place from Wednesday, March 11 to Sunday, March 15 and will be open to trade visitors from Wednesday to Friday. Parallel with the trade fair, the ITB Berlin Convention will take place from Wednesday, March 11 to Saturday, March 14, 2009. The ITB Berlin Convention is the world’s largest travel industry convention. Last year some 100 events attracted more than 11,000 participants. For full program details click on www.itb-convention.com .
Fachhochschule Worms and the US-based market research company PhoCusWright, Inc .are partners of the ITB Berlin Convention. Turkey is co-hosting this year’s ITB Berlin Convention. Other sponsors of the ITB Berlin Convention include Top Alliance, responsible for VIP service; hospitalityInside.com, the media partner of the ITB Hospitality Days; Flug Revue, the media partner of the ITB Aviation Days; and the Planeterra Foundation, the sponsor of the ITB Corporate Social Responsibility Days. Partners cooperating with the ITB Business Travel Days are Verband Deutsches Reisemanagement e.V. (VDR), HSMA Deutschland e.V., A&O Hotels and Hostels, Deutsche Bahn, geschaeftsreisekontakt, hotel.de, IHK Organisation, and Intergerma.


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Who says meat-eaters have all the fun? London's burger joints are after the vegetarian pound, so if you're in search of more than a bean burger in a soggy bun, here are some of the best veggie burgers in town.
In what is certainly the month for vegan and vegetarian-based offerings, popular plant-based burger bar Halo Burger (currently in Pop Brixton) are about to open their second restaurant, in Shoreditch.
As before, they've teamed up with Beyond Meat, and they'll be the first in the country to be launching with Beyond Meat's 4.0 patty, which they say should taste more like meat than ever. Plus Beyond
If Christmas for you means enjoying the key components of a Christmas dinner in a bun, then our roundup of London's best Christmas burgers is a list you're going to want to work your way through.
Next week's a bumper week for burger folk Five Guys. Not only are they opening their 100th UK store (in St Paul's since you ask) but they're also about to launch their first breakfast menu in four of those stores.
Two of those stores will be in London - the new one at St Paul's and the Oxford Circus branch. Alongside the usual burger offering there'll be four breakfast sandwiches - all a variety on the egg, cheese and bacon theme.
They've been big in Tooting Market and now Boom Bap Burger have found a permanent home in Bethnal Green for their mix of burgers and hip-hop.
They've been slowly growing a loyal fan base for their grass-fed and dry aged beef burgers - now the duo behind Black Bear Burger are opening a permanent spot in Brixton Village.
Liverpool Street has been doing rather well for burgers of late. Following the recent opening of Honest Burger, the Patty & Bun opposite Liverpool Street station is about to get a lot bigger.
Originally mainly takeaway with a few stools inside, they're
Twelve years is a long time in the burger business, so it’s understandable that Byron have decided to freshen things up a little. After welcoming celebrity chef and author Sophie Michell as their Food & Drink Director in June, there’s now firm plans to shake up the menu.
Starting at the first ever Byron site in High Street Kensington, then rolling out in other branches across 2020, there’ll finally be a dedicated brunch menu. And if
Liverpool Street is getting more burgers with the announcement of the opening of a new Honest Burgers. Their new place is just up the road from the station on Old Broad Street, taking over from Gow's restaurant. It'll be one of the bigger Honests, seating 136 inside.
As usual, you'll be able to get all the usual Honest favourites - like the Tribute which is beef, bacon, American cheese, burger sauce,
Acclaimed chef Neil Rankin has spent eight months working on the secret ingredients for a unique plant-based burger, which will feature on the menu at his new environmentally-friendly restaurant, Simplicity Burger on Brick Lane.
You wait for ages for a Le Bun burger pop-up and then two come along at once! Mere days after announcing their pop-up in the City (with special mash-ups), Le Bun are also going to be popping up in The Smuggler's Tavern in Fitzrovia.
They'll have their usual
If you've been missing Le Bun's French-inspired burgers, then this is the news for you. They're kicking off a residency in The City at New Street Grill and Old Bengal Bar, taking over the food for four weekends.
The burgers on the menu include
Every now and again there's a collaboration between restaurants that makes you stop in your tracks. Last week it was the bacon naan pizza from Dishoom and Pizza Pilgrims - and this week it's the turn of Patty&Bun and Padella.
They're teaming up for the mighty
He already has two Michelin stars to his name at his eponymous restaurant and now Claude Bosi is getting into the burger business. If you were watching Snackmasters on Channel 4 last night, you might have seen him recreating a Burger King Whopper in his own style - and now he's brought that to his Oyster Bar, downstairs at Bibendum.
The Bosi Burger is an eight-ounce beef patty, topped with Swiss
For just one month, Hovarda in Soho is bringing Istanbul's best burger to London as Akali Burger take over the lunch menu. In Istanbul, the restaurant started as a fusion diner and a boutique bakery but slowly became known for serving some of the city's finest burgers.
Every burger comes in an 80g, 160g or 240g sizes (alas it doesn't look like the 800g size is making it over), and is topped with
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Oath CEO Tim Armstrong told the audience of Recode’s Code Media conference in Huntington Beach, Calif. Tuesday Verizon’s mobile video service Go90 is being folded into Oath, with Verizon distributing content that was previously exclusive to Go90 on various Yahoo and Verizon properties.
“We had two separate strategies now, now it will be one strategy,” he said. “We have taken Go90 into Oath.”
Turning Go90 from a standalone service into a multi-platform distribution strategy could also mean that Go90’s consumer-facing brand may eventually go away, even though this won’t happen imminently. “The brand will remain, I don’t know how long for,” Armstrong said Tuesday.
Verizon launched Go90 in late 2015 with a focus on mobile video for a millennial generation, with content from partners including AwesomenessTV, Vice, New Form Digital and Endemol Beyond. “Go90 was a super ambitious project,” Armstrong said Tuesday.
However, he conceded that it was hard to build a standalone brand for the service, saying that it “was sort of off on its own.” Go90 underwent multiple iterations, and the team behind it was switched out halfway through. Verizon decided to lay off most of the former Intel Media OnCue team a year ago, and handed over the development of Go90 to the former Vessel team.
On Tuesday, Armstrong said that oath would be able to use the deals Go90 had struck to enhance its video strategy across the board. “The content deals really match with distribution,” he said.


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With the market introduction of the ID.3 this summer, Volkswagen plans to make e-mobility affordable for many people.
The basic version of the ID.3 will be less expensive in Germany in terms of acquisition and operation than comparable internal combustion models. As regards operating expenses alone, ID.3 drivers in Germany will save about €840 per year.
“With the ID.3, the electric car will finally become affordable. This model is entirely fit for everyday use and even costs less than an internal combustion model thanks to the environmental bonus,” says Thomas Ulbrich, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen brand responsible for E-Mobility. Currently, preparations for the delivery of the ID.3 are well underway. “The time schedule will be met,” Ulbrich confirms. "The ID.3 will be introduced to the market in the summer, as announced."
The ID.3 will be the first updatable electric car from Volkswagen based on the modular electric drive toolkit (MEB). During production, the current software version will initially be transferred to the vehicle. Over subsequent months, the digital functions will be regularly updated. The objective is to deliver the 30,000 pre-booked ID.3 vehicles in the 1st Edition to customers throughout Europe at almost the same time.
Next generation cars will be equipped with software, sensors and processors that enable vehicles to anticipate and avoid accidents, and to keep learning new reflexes, the German car brand’s strategy chief Michael Jost said in Berlin.
“How quickly can data and algorithms improve? Our customers should benefit from deep learning every week, and every day. We are moving from being a device company to being a software company,” he said.
“We want to have no more accidents by 2050,” he said.
The basic version with a range of 330 kilometers costs less than €23,430 in Germany, following deduction of the environmental bonus. It is therefore at least as inexpensive as comparable models such as the Golf Life. In addition, ID.3 drivers in Germany save about €840 per year on operating expenses. Among other items, there is no road vehicle tax, no oil changes are required and the ID.3 is assigned to a less expensive insurance class (class 17). Energy costs are also lower.
Like the ID.3, the next ID. model from Zwickau is also to be offered with a neutral carbon balance. Volkswagen will be bringing the first electric SUV produced with a neutral carbon balance onto the roads with the ID.4, Ulbrich announced in Berlin: “With the ID. family, we are showing that clean mobility as possible. The best thing is that driving an electric car not only protects the environment and your bank balance but is also enjoyable. I am very much looking forward to bringing the ID.3 to our customers in the summer.”
Ulbrich also admitted that Tesla has a 10-year start on rivals when it comes to building electric cars and software.
“Tesla is an impressive manufacturer,” Ulbrich said. “It is a motivator for us. Tesla has 10 years more experience. But we are very quick in catching up.”
Furthermore, Volkswagen offers its customers a number of possibilities of charging their electric cars with climate-friendly power. For charging at home, CO2-free Volkswagen Naturstrom is available. On the roads, the fast charging parks of the IONITY joint venture offer 100 percent eco-power – just like charging stations at the Volkswagen plants.
Deliveries of the compact ID.3 will start in the summer and the world premiere of the ID.4 will also take place this year. In addition, the production of Volkswagen’s new electric car generation in China will start at the end of the year.
The VW brand expects to build 1.5 million electric cars by 2025. Volkswagen Group, whose brands also include Porsche, Audi, Skoda, Bentley and Bugatti, will launch 75 electric cars by 2029 and be capable of building 26 million vehicles.


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As usual more 'System Stability', but 'exploits' and 'flashcarts' are reported to be still working!
Nintendo has just released a new version of its firmware for its current handheld consoles. The 3DS, New3DS, 2DS, New2DS, and all XL derivatives take advantage of this mandatory update 11.5.0-38 if they connect to the internet. Changelog is common, it emphasizes system stability, we know what that means. "Additional improvements in the overall stability of the console have been made, as well as other minor improvements to make the use more convenient."
You can see the full titlelist update reports from Yellows8 for Old3DS and New3DS and of course Nintendo's official ChangeLog and finally Smealum has already released updated PayLoads that support v11.5 for everyone to enjoy!
NEWS SOURCE: Nintendo sort la mise à jour 11.5.0-38, faisons le point (via) Logic-SunRise


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At least 30 Sears Auto Centers will be among those locations closed as part of Sears Holding Corp.’s plan to close as many as 120 of its retail stores.
The reeling retailer announced before the holidays that it would close from 120 to 140 Sears and Kmart stores in an effort to reduce costs.
Sears Holding has already announced 79 specific stores that will be closed, and among that group are 27 locations with Sears Auto Centers. More of those centers will surely be among the 40-60 more stores Sears Holding will close.
Prior to the closings, Sears operated 768 auto centers at 842 of its full-line Sears stores.
Article courtesy of TIRE REVIEW.


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The employees of locally based chain Express Lube are a lot busier these days.
And they have the San Antonio Spurs to thank for much of that business.
The family-owned business has been giving away a free premium oil change with each playoff win for the Silver and Black.
The promotion worked a little too well.
“We had people spending that night waiting for an oil change,” recalls Jason Smith, who serves as the vice president of operations for the company.
Then there were the assembly lines of cars that extended from an Express Lube shop and into neighborhoods and into the entrances of nearby retailers.
Some tweaks to the promotion notwithstanding, to date, Express Lube has serviced 3,499 cars — more than $140,000 in free oil changes.
More than 60 percent of those who came to Express Lube from the promotion are new customers, says Smith, who is now aiming to turn those new visitors into return customers.
To that end, Smith has launched a new campaign to increase the network of Express Lube stores in the greater San Antonio area.
The chain currently boasts 25 stores in and around San Antonio.
Smith wants to bump that number up to 27 stores by year end.
Smith’s growth plan is a testament to the success of Express Lube, which was founded by his father, Harold Smith, in 1990.
Jason Smith’s growth strategy is also emblematic of an industry where the small guys are feeling the squeeze.
“There has been a lot of consolidations, bigger stores buying out the single-store operators,” Jason Smith says. “The competition is fierce.”
More shops, Jason Smith adds, means more buying power — especially when it comes to advertising dollars.
And hopefully, it will mean more customers as well.
Over the course of its 24 years, Express Lube has only built two stores from the ground up. Most of the growth has been through acquisitions of existing operations.
Going forward, either route could be an option for growing the Express Lube name, Jason Smith says.
“We didn’t open any new stores last year,” he adds. “Now, we’re getting back into the swing of things.”


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Waltz to Introduce Bill to Lessen American Dependence on Chinese Drugs
Washington, March 23, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) will introduce legislation to lessen America’s dependence on Chinese pharmaceuticals and combat America’s supply chain risk.
The Strengthening America’s Supply Chain and National Security Act is a bicameral bill and is sponsored by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in the Senate. Waltz is the lead sponsor of the bill in the House.
“Coronavirus has unfortunately been a wake-up call to the danger of American reliance on a hostile foreign power like China for medical supplies,” Waltz said. “We must identify our supply chain vulnerabilities and build out domestic capacity to eliminate dependence on China and other nations, for the safety and health of all Americans.”
1. Direct the Department of Defense (DoD) to determine the extent of its dependency on foreign entities for drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), and pharmaceutical components. The DoD would also be required to determine whether this dependency creates a national security risk and create recommendations to eliminate this issue.
2. Restore Buy American Act’s intent for DoD and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) purchases.
On February 10, 2020, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that the country of origin for pharmaceutical companies with respect to the Buy American Act is determined where the manufacture of the final product occurs, not where the API is sourced.
3. Requires drug makers to provide the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with information to determine volume of APIs used in pharmaceuticals.
Currently, the FDA requires drug makers to include the sources of the drug’s API, but it doesn’t require them to provide the volume of API deriving from each of its sources. Because of this, the FDA cannot determine the extent of dependency or target potential risks for drug shortages.
The legislation would require drug makers to provide API information to the FDA in order to determine pharmaceutical dependency on foreign entities like China. The information would then be shared with the DoD to assess risks and “hot spots” more vulnerable to drug shortages.
“Over a year ago, I warned about our nation’s critical vulnerabilities and supply chain risk in key sectors of our economy, including the medical supply chain, as a result of decades of lost industrial capacity to China,” Rubio said. “The industrial capacity of a nation still matters, and we are learning a painful lesson as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Once our nation has recovered from this unprecedented crisis, we must take steps to address the systemic vulnerability and supply chain risk that the coronavirus pandemic revealed. It is unfortunate that it took a global pandemic to make clear the ramifications of offshoring our industrial base to countries like China. This legislation represents a serious, bipartisan effort to prioritize the rebuilding of our nation’s productive capacity.”
“Coronavirus has exposed a serious risk in our supply chain. Being dependent on China for pharmaceuticals — especially at the height of this pandemic — poses a serious threat to U.S. national security and public health across this country. I’m glad to work with a group of bipartisan senators to prioritize American manufacturers and ensure adequate pharmaceutical supply throughout this crisis and beyond,” Murphy said.
“The coronavirus pandemic has made clear what we’ve known for years: that our dependence on drugs and drug components imported from China and other countries is a threat to our national security and our public health,” Warren said. “This bipartisan bill proposes commonsense solutions to start addressing this problem and I’ll keep fighting to secure our drug supply chain and boost manufacturing here in the United States.”


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Jul 23, 2013
Thor’s hammer to drop on Android devices this fall to coincide with the release of the new movie. Gameloft has teamed up with Marvel once again to bring Thor: The Dark World to Android, a free-to-play title that features more than 100 missions against Marauders and Dark Elves. It’s up to Thor to lead Asgardian forces into battle to regain order in the Nine Worlds.
“Thor: The Dark World â€“ The Official Game will allow fans of the franchise to play as one of Marvelâ€™s most iconic Super Heroes in a game of epic scope and beauty.â€ said Javon Frazier, VP Games Marketing at Marvel, in a press release. “With this new game, we are further expanding the successful relationship between Marvel and Gameloft.”
Check out Thor’s mighty powers in this new trailer!


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Galaxy S21 series launch today In this series, Galaxy S21 Galaxy S21 + and Galaxy S21 Ultra will be launched. These smartphones will also be introduced in India along with the global market. Indian users will be able to watch Samsung’s social media platform and an official YouTube channel for this event.
Samsung’s biggest event of the year 2021 ‘Galaxy Unpacked’ is going to start sometime later. This event will start at 8 pm. In this, the company will introduce the most awaited Galaxy S21 series smartphone. In this series, Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 +, and Galaxy S21 Ultra will be launched. These smartphones will also be introduced in India along with the global market. Indian users will be able to watch Samsung’s social media platform and an official YouTube channel for this event.
What will be special
Before the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S21 series, important disclosures have been made. According to the video released by the company, the S Pen has been supported in the upcoming smartphone series. Also, a rear camera setup with a vertical design can be given. The company can offer this series of ultra devices Galaxy S21 Ultra with S Pen support.
An epic #SamsungUnpacked you will not want to miss – only 6 more hours to Unpacked! Tune in at https://t.co/D6nxws2O4T “rel =” nofollow
– Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) January 14, 2021
Samsung Smart Tag Plus has been introduced. Bluetooth connectivity will be available in it. With the help of which you will be able to track your device. It can be connected to anything like a bicycle bike key.
Earbuds can be used for 5 to 18 hours on a single charge.
It will cost $ 199. That is about Rs 14,554. Earbuds will come in three color options.
Galaxy Buds pro can identify the device You can simple tap and move from one device to another. It will get 2mm vents. Wearing it can be comfortable.
It will come with an Intelligence Active Noise Cancellation. It will come with a two-way speaker system. 360 degree sound will come with a motion intelligence system. Al Algorithm has been used. These earbuds will come with a variety of calling modes.
Samsung has introduced the Galaxy Buds Pro which will provide an experience of great sound quality.
The price of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra has been revealed shortly before the launch. The Galaxy S21 Ultra can be launched in three storage variants and its starting price can be $ 199 i.e. around Rs 87,000.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 smartphone will come with a 6.2-inch Full HD Plus AMOLED display. It will be given 2X zoom, Galaxy S21 + smartphone will get a 6.7-inch panel. The same Ultra model will come with a 6.8-inch Dynamic Amoled 2X display.
The initial price of the Samsung Galaxy S21 series smartphone will be EUR 849 (around Rs 75,600) in India. The Galaxy S21 series can be offered with the Exynos 2100 SoC in the global market and the Snapdragon 888 chipset in the US market.
In today’s event from Samsung, the latest Galaxy Buds Pro TWS wireless earbuds and Galaxy SmartTag Bluetooth tracker can be launched.
You will get a chance to win a phone in live streaming
Samsung has also said that viewers will get a chance to win around 21 Galaxy smartphones during live streaming. This will require answering some simple questions asked during live streaming. So if you want to win Samsung’s phone then you have to keep a close watch on Launch Live Streaming.


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This opinion piece from the Baltimore Sun calls on the province to shift its planning priorities to include all of its residents, not just the humans.
"It's all about priorities, and unfortunately too few people consider wildlife when plans are being made."
"Planning, legal and financial considerations all too often take precedent."
"This province isn't just urban sprawl, 400-series highways, vast retail shopping centres and industrial developments. It's forests and streams, rolling hills, rivers and lakes which have been here much longer than humans. And it's animals."


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I just received an e-mail from a friend urging me in the strongest terms to see the new Al Gore movie “An Inconvenient Truth.” To wit: “This movie really does a great job at explaining how and why global warming is happening. I believe that every single person on this planet should see this movie. If we don’t start making changes now, we are in for a climate catastrophe – in our lifetime. Seriously. This is not an exaggeration – it is reality. It’s almost too big to fully understand. It’s terrifying. But we can do something about it.”
After reading a recent Berkeley Daily Planet story, which described how high school kids were creating posters promoting the movie and putting them up in vacant store windows, I thought… “Wow… serious word of mouth!”
It’s like the liberal version of the grassroots groundswell that propelled “The Passion of the Christ” to become such a hit.
Judging from my exchange with my e-mailing friend, these expressions of support aren’t orchestrated, but the film’s Web site, climatecrisis.net, definitely provides plenty of material for those of a mind to spread the word.
As an organisation, finding the right marketing channels is an essential part of your marketing strategy.
2017 is the year in which CMOs are expected to outspend CIOs on technology, according to Gartner, which is no surprise given the way in which consumers of all kinds are increasingly using technology in their everyday lives.
As it prepares for a 2017 IPO that could be the largest in the social media space since Facebook went public in 2012, all eyes are on Snapchat.
Amazon Prime was launched in 2005 as an express shipping membership program and more than a decade later it has tens of millions of subscribers who enjoy a lot more than just free, fast shipping on millions of products Amazon sells.


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Microsoft Corp. does not plan to change its per-processor software licensing model when hardware containing dual-core and multicore processor technology for the Windows platform becomes available next year.
The Redmond, Wash. software maker will announce on Tuesday that all its software currently licensed on a per-processor model will continue to be licensed that way for hardware that contains dual-core and multicore processors.
This policy applies to several products in the Windows Server System family, including SQL Server, BizTalk Server and others, Cori Hartje, Microsofts director of marketing and readiness in the worldwide licensing and partnering program, told eWEEK in an interview late Monday.
"For example, Microsoft SQL Server Standard edition will be able to run on a four-processor server with dual-core processors, utilizing all cores on the processors, and requiring just four licenses. Thats the same number of licenses required if the SQL Server software is running on a server with single-core processors," she said.
Hartje also stressed that the current version of SQL Server, the Windows Server 2003 family of products and associated Microsoft server applications that currently operate on todays server hardware would also run on the upcoming hardware with dual-core processors.
"This was recently demonstrated by [Advanced Micro Devices Inc.] on an HP ProLiant DL585 server powered by four dual-core AMD Opteron processors and running a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating system," Hartje said.
Microsoft had also received a lot of industry feedback, especially from Intel Corp. and AMD, which showed that it "made sense for our technology to be licensed in the per processor mode. We really want our customers to take advantage of these enhanced technologies and of the growth and the speed that they will be able to get from that," she said.
Dual-core processors consist of two processing execution units, or cores, on one chip, and are viewed as a promising way to boost computing power, allowing servers, workstations and PCs to perform more functions simultaneously, Hartje said.
Both Intel and AMD plan to deliver dual-core processors for industry standards-based server hardware, and both companies product road maps include plans for multicore processors.
Intel executives have said that by the end of 2006 they expect more than 80 percent of the companys server products to be shipping with multicore technology.
Margaret Lewis, a commercial software strategist for AMD, of Sunnyvale, Calif., told eWEEK that the company was "extremely pleased that Microsoft has joined us in our leadership position pushing dual-core technology out into the market."
"If they hadnt done it, or if a vendor chooses not to do it, it would bring a layer of disruption to the existing software ecosystem. And you know, I think these vendors might find that their customers just say no to the software for dual-core systems. The customer might not exercise these options, but they could," she said.
Vendors of proprietary RISC systems, such as Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM, charge on a per-core basis; if a processor contains two cores, for example, a customer is charged for two "processors." The problem is that the definition of processor may become increasingly confused.


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Beauty-box business VanityTrove aims to be the market leader in Southeast Asia where there's lower competition, and wants to differentiate itself by offering higher end products and strong customer service.
Singapore beauty-box startup plans to "conquer" Southeast Asia as it looks to leverage its geographical market advantage, wide network and strong customer service, and target higher end consumers.
According to Douglas Gan, CEO and co-founder of VanityTrove, while Southeast Asia is smaller than other regions, competition is lower compared to a global scale. In a beauty-box business, members pay a fixed monthly fee to the e-commerce site to receive boxes containing samples of beauty products by mail.
Within the beauty-box space, market leaders had included Australia-based GlossyBox and U.S.-based BirchBox, Gan told ZDNet Asia in an interview Thursday. After GlossyBox pulled out of Southeast Asia to focus on North Asia, Europe and the U.S., and Birchbox acquired European market leader JolieBox, this gave VanityBox the opportunity to take the lead and expand into Southeast Asia, he pointed out.
Gan said there were other beauty-box players in Southeast Asia, but these had not expanded abroad, giving VanityTrove an edge in terms of wider market recognition.
The company currently has operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, and expanded to Taiwan in December 2012 with the acquisition of GlossyBox Taiwan, he said. Moving forward, VanityTrove is looking to expand to another two Southeast Asian nations--Vietnam and Philippines--by year-end, Gan said, adding that this region would remain its priority before it ventured futher.
VanityTrove currently has "a few thousand customers", with the majority of subscribers aged between 25 and 34 years and "relatively well-off" female professionals, he said. The beauty-box concept appealed to women who were too busy to shop and preferred a service to "suss out the fuss" he noted.
"The business is also based on the concept of 'try, like, love'. Women try the products, they express their 'like' through reviews and posts on social media, and show their 'love' by making a purchase," he said.
Differentiation, customer service key to expansion Although VanityTrove charges a higher member subscription fee at S$25 (US$20.22), it differentiates itself by focusing on only mid- to high-end beauty products such as Clarins and La Mer, Gan said. GossipBox and Birchbox, on the other hand, are more diversified in their products which include fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs), he said.
He said the Singapore company was able to expand into neighboring countries because its five co-founders had a wide network of contacts across the region offering beauty samples and recommending local brands. For example, when VanityTrove began operations in November 2011, the co-founders leveraged social media to contact their friends to ask for beauty product samples and send out their first few beauty-boxes, before establishing business partnerships with beauty brands, he noted.
Delivering good customer service also played an essential role in helping the startup stand out from their customers, Gan said. For example, beauty boxes were delivered to Singapore customers personally before they started hiring a courier service, he said.
And because the business had been opened by five men without much knowledge and understanding of the beauty industry, gathering feedback was crucial for the business, he noted. In the past, for instance, customers would receive a card in their beauty-box which highlighted beauty products, discounts, and vouchers. However, the company received complaints that the graphics were "too crammed" and the lack of space on the brochure made it difficult to read. In response, VanityTrove published the information instead in the format of a small magazine, Gan said.


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Walmart (NYSE: WMT) has filed a lawsuit against Visa for $5 billion, accusing the credit and debit card network of excessively high card swipe fees.
Walmart alleges that Visa conspired with banks to illegally inflate fees that retailers pay on card transactions, and that the fees cost U.S. retailers and shoppers more than $350 billion between 2004 and November 2012.
Walmart is seeking damages for what it claims are violations of federal antitrust laws and swipe fees that cost retailers and shoppers more than $350 billion over the nearly nine-year period in question.
"The anticompetitive conduct of Visa and the banks forced Wal-Mart to raise retail prices paid by its customers and/or reduce retail services provided to its customers as a means of offsetting some of the artificially inflated interchange fees," Walmart said in court documents, reports Reuters.
The suit, filed Tuesday, comes several months after Walmart opted out of a settlement between 19 retailers and Visa and MasterCard. In December, a federal judge in New York approved a $5.7 billion class action settlement between the retailers and Visa and MasterCard despite the objections of thousands of merchants that complained it was inadequate.
Walmart, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Target (NYSE: TGT) were among those opting out of the monetary components of that suit in order to seek damages on their own.
Following December's case, the National Retail Federation issued a statement noting its disappointment with the settlement, which it appealed in January with the support of several retail organizations.
"We are very disappointed that this deeply flawed settlement has been approved," Mallory Duncan, general counsel at the National Retail Federation, said in a statement. "It is not supported by the retail industry and would do nothing to reduce swipe fees or keep them from rising in the future."
-See this Reuters article
Walmart debuts first Walmart To Go convenience store
Walmart: Fourth-quarter sales will be worse than we thought
Walmart sees record-breaking number of transactions on Thanksgiving Day
[Video] Walmart's holiday ad ranks as No. 1 for the season
Holiday retail sales rise 3.8% in line with NRF forecasts


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Published on April 4, 2011
Associated Press, The Times and Democrat
The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce is the latest group to oppose a sales tax exemption for an Amazon.com distribution center that could employ 3,000 people in Lexington County.
The group says the state should not be encouraging people to buy online instead of from South Carolina stores.
Amazon has hinted it might not build the distribution without the tax break. The company wants lawmakers to exempt state residents from paying sales tax when buying from Amazon.
Gov. Nikki Haley doesn’t support the tax break worked out by former Gov. Mark Sanford.
Amazon was also offered a free site, property tax reductions and state job tax credits. The South Carolina Alliance for Main Street Fairness, a group representing local retailers and national chains, also opposes the tax exemption.


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The S&P 500 finished above 5,000 for the first time on Friday, extending a rally on solid earnings and economic data that have raised confidence the US economy can avert recession.
Large tech companies such as Google parent Alphabet and Amazon continued to enjoy outsized support from investors, also lifting the Nasdaq.
"This is an environment that emphasises the importance of following the leaders," said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments.
"When you look at the leading stocks in Wall Street, clearly you can see technology continues to lead time and time again."
The broad-based index finished at 5,026, up 0.6 percent, notching its 10th closing record of 2024.
The tech-rich Nasdaq jumped 1.3 percent to 15,990, while the Dow Jones dipped 0.1 percent to 38,671.
Stocks have been on an upswing since late October as the Federal Reserve pivoted away from aggressive interest rate increases while inflation has eased.
Revised consumer price index data showed a downward revision in December. Markets are looking ahead to an updated CPI reading next week for January.
Among individual companies, Expedia shares dropped 17.8 percent as it reported lower earnings compared with the year-ago period.
The travel firm named company executive Ariane Gorin as its new CEO, replacing Peter Kern, who will continue to serve as vice chairman. (AFP)


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CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - Shipping and receiving packages has been a monumental task for many businesses during this pandemic.
With the U.S. Postal Service overwhelmed for the last couple of months, one owner said sending merchandise to his customers has been a nightmare.
“We don’t know what the hell ... heck ... is happening down there,” said Brian Lynch, owner of Only In Clev in Kamm’s Corners.
Like many other Northeast Ohio business owners, they too have been wondering the same thing.
He said his shipping struggles started late last month.
“We noticed the packages were just sitting there in limbo down at the post office. We got a message on Nov. 30, then the next date after that was Dec. 5. And it was just countless amount of parcels with the same message,” said Lynch.
And those delivery delays, have led to numerous complaints from customers about clothing they haven’t received.
“I even sent a few different people a second package, because they didn’t receive the first one. It was just, you know ... this is a new experience,” said Lynch.
And these mailing issues, which are beyond his control, are now affecting more than his bottom line.
“The tough part is having a customer question your company’s integrity,” he said, adding he’s moving on from the USPS to another shipping company.
“Without question, we’ve already made the decision. We’re switching to UPS. I’m not going to freak out about this ... the Post Office. I’m sure we’ll use them again in limited situations. We’re just not going to use them for a big Christmas rush again.”


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When French leader Napoleon was asked what he thought of the UK he famously replied: "Britain is nothing more than a nation of shopkeepers." So, who would have thought that in 10 years time - the 200 anniversary of the British victory over Napoleon's troops at the battle of Waterloo - experts predict that there will be only a handful of market traders and independent retailers left in the country. Once the lifeblood of Britain, the butcher, baker, grocer and hardware store were a feature of every town. But today the corner shop is battling to survive. The 'Big Four' supermarkets, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and Morrisons, control 75 per cent of the £80bn grocery sector, providing the backdrop for a story showing a massive fall from grace for many of the nation's best loved high streets retailers.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has been asked by the Federation of Small Businesses to get the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to do an urgent Competition Commission inquiry into the monopoly position of the 'Big Four' in the grocery sector.
Until now, an official probe has been resisted because the supermarkets are not seen as having a monopoly. However, this is only because the supermarket and convenience store sectors are examined separately. If they are combined, Tesco alone would be close to 40 per cent of the market, which would automatically trigger an inquiry. Combined the two sectors are worth £143.7 billion a year. This is without considering petrol stations and their attached convenience stores.
Between 2000 and 2004, 7,337 independent retailers shut. For example, Lambeth Walk was once a vibrant street in south London, lined with shops and home to one of the capital's most diverse local markets. Now, that is all but a distant memory of how the place proudly stood in its heyday. Half of it has been made into 'convenient' modern flats, and the other consists of shop fronts that are permanently boarded up. High financial overheads and urban planners have marked the end for the street as a commercial and social centre. Now it is a far cry from what inspired the nationally popular music hall song of the same name in the 1930s.
According to George Wilkins, 72, who has run a photography shop there since 1965: "The walk will never be the same again. Big businesses and property developers have wiped out the small trader and neither our local council nor the Government has done anything to stop it.' Mr Wilkins, now the street's longest-serving shopkeeper, has had to move four times in 15 years because his premises kept getting demolished.
Over the past century, especially decade, fears have steadily grown about the future of Britain as a trading nation. In 1945, there were 500,000 independent retailers. Today the number is down to 30,000 with a further 2,000 going out of business last year. A Government forecast set out in the High Street Britain 2015 report, paints a bleak picture for independent retailers, with predictions that there will be just a handful left in 10 years time.
The increasing dominance of large supermarkets will lead to the demise of shopkeepers, say British member of parliament. The high street of the future is in danger of becoming dominated by one big name, with little individuality and community. The report said: "Their loss will damage the UK socially, economically and environmentally."
Philip Hollobone, Conservative MP for Kettering and a member of the all-parliamentary Small Shops Group, says: "If nothing is done, British high streets face a catastrophe for independent retailers within 10 years. What the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) needs to decide is whether that is acceptable. The dominance of the supermarkets and the big retail chains is so overpowering that the independent wholesale operators are close to collapse. Property prices, business rates and expensive town centre parking are all factors that makes like life very difficult for independent retailers."
Supermarkets, however, dismiss MPs, small shops representatives, campaigners and farmers for failing to understand that their businesses give the consumer what they want. If moves were taken to tax supermarkets for car parks, they argue, it would ultimately hurt consumers. The apparent demise of local shops, supermarket chiefs say, has been overplayed. Small businesses may be going under, but medium-sized chains like Budgens, Londis and Spa have largely replaced them.
Tesco's director of public affairs Lucy Neville-Rolfe says: "We feel that the consumer would be the loser if the Government regulated supermarkets. There have been two investigations in recent years, and they found supermarkets acted in the consumers interests."
This apparent domination of the high street will have knock on effects for the whole community. The most vulnerable groups, like the elderly, the poor and others without transport, will be the hardest hit. Women, who make up the majority of small shop workers, will also suffer when their jobs disappear.
Moreover, minority communities are also in danger of losing out. Members of the population who are of the Jewish or Muslim faith rely on small shops, to purchase Kosher and Halal meet, which is an essential part of their religious observance. A survey by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) found that specialist stores are closing at a rate of 50 a week.
For them to stay afloat local shops have been forced to conform to peer pressure and transform into convenience stores open at all hours to remain competitive. According to NEF there has been a 59 per cent drop in the number of greengrocers between 1992 and 2001, a 40 per cent drop in butchers and the number of wholesalers are closing at a rate of approximately six a week. But with the advent of high street 'hyper-markets' the majors have sought to expand their convenience outlets, like Tesco Express, again at the expense of the small shopkeeper.
If one is imaginative, it is possible that independent retailers and shopkeepers can be saved. The Polish Government recently castigated hypermarket businesses - Tesco in particular - for doing nothing to stimulate the country's economy. They pointed out that by opening more stores firms like Tesco did not necessarily increase public spending. All that happened was that they just increased company profits. This month India refused to open up its markets to overseas supermarket businesses, preferring, instead, to protect its own shopkeepers.
But, with the US-owned supermarket group Asda set to open at least 25 new stores in Britain this year, the prospects for small retailers does not look good in the short term. The supermarkets are unsympathetic. They argue that it is a competitive market place and customers vote with their wallets. But the British parliamentary report points out that: "Strong concerns have been raised over whether consumers genuinely are the ultimate power in the retail sector. Accessibility limits all consumers in terms of the shops they can use. Immobile customers and those on low incomes are the most restricted in terms of choice."
Perhaps nothing can realistically be done to halt the terminal decline of the British corner shop. With the cost of living rising and the ever-increasing expansion of supermarkets, it appears, that unless the Government steps in, they will become a thing of the past. To recall the words of Britain's best-loved shopkeeper Arkwright from the sit-com Open All Hours "Sometimes I sit awake at night and I swear I can hear the sound of small businesses collapsing."


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The International Paper announced Tuesday that it has signed a deal to sell its 50% stake in the Russian company Ilim Group, Russia’s leading forest products company.
According to the company’s news release, International Paper plans to sell its ownership interest in Ilim Group to a joint venture partner for $484 million. The sale is subject to Russian regulatory approval, according to an international paper.
The International Paper first considered selling its first 50% stake in Ilim Group in March 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
International paper:This Memphis company has made huge investments in Russia. Now it could face a backlash.
Memphis real estate:Which regions will see the biggest price increases in 2022?
Since 2007, International Paper has operated a 50/50 joint venture with the Ilim Group, led by billionaire Zakhar Smushkin and his colleagues. International Paper spent about $650 million to acquire his 50% stake in the company.
International Paper and Ilim Group worked together to harvest Russian trees, process them into wood pulp, and export the products primarily to China.
A Yale University project identified more than 1,000 companies that have reduced their operations in Russia, including Memphis-based FedEx.
Omer Yusuf is responsible for banking operations for Ford Projects, FedEx, Tourism and The Commercial Appeal in Haywood County.you can contact him by e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org Or follow us on Twitter @OmerAYusuf.


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AAA said it will be raising insurance rates for Tesla Model S and Model X owners, citing higher claim frequencies and costlier claims than vehicles in its same class. The non-profit service organization’s analysis would drive rates of Tesla drivers up 30% if acted upon.
The assessment came up when AAA looked into results of its own data which revealed higher claims per vehicle for Teslas relative to “comparable” vehicles. When AAA looked beyond its internal data from the Highway Loss Data Institute, the organization claims to have found the same trends.
It’s worth noting that AAA’s analysis takes into account multiple factors and is not solely based on the safety rating of the Model S and Model X including their active safety systems or Tesla Autopilot. AAA’s decision to raise premiums was primarily driven by the higher total number of insurance claims made and the value of each.
AAA’s findings is based on data obtained from the Highway Loss Data Institute which according to its website is an “independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses — deaths, injuries and property damage — from crashes on the nation’s roads.” The organization specializes in performing scientific research on vehicle insurance data and providing summarized results of the data – such as crash statistics and crash avoidance:
Vehicle research focuses on both crash avoidance and crashworthiness. Crash tests are central to crashworthiness research, and IIHS testing expanded with the opening of the Vehicle Research Center
In response to AAA’s finding, Tesla argues that its vehicles were put up against the wrong competitors. “This analysis is severely flawed and is not reflective of reality,” the Silicon Valley electric carmaker said to Automotive News. “Among other things, it compares Model S and X to cars that are not remotely peers, including even a Volvo station wagon.”
Tesla noted that “We expect Model X to receive the best score for any SUV ever tested.” While true, one most also consider the fact that bodywork on the aluminum-skinned Model S and Model X are generally more expensive to repair due to the relatively low supply of repair shops that are capable of performing the type of work. Tesla recently announced that it will expand its mobile repair service as the company aims to reduce customer wait times to less than a day.
AAA’s claim that Tesla owners should pay higher insurance premiums fly in the face of new insurance startups that are specifically advertising lower rates for Tesla drivers that use Autopilot. While the AAA data encompasses the broader set of Tesla drivers that includes vehicles equipped with Autopilot and those without Autopilot, the contrast is stark.
Tesla reiterated in its statement to Automotive News that the company is also working with leading insurers to integrate an insurance option into Tesla drivers’ MyTesla dashboard.
Regardless, the future will be based on autonomous driving. And in that future, accident rates, traffic related injury and death rates will drop. Insurance rates will inevitably follow.


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The spectacle of Christmas adverts and the surprise successes of 2018
Since the phenomenon of the Coca-Cola truck, advertisers around the world have been trying to emulate that success and now, some are getting very close. Account executive Katie Nelson discusses this year's festive favourites.
The growing significance of Christmas adverts
It’s frequently said that ‘the Coke advert has been on, it’s officially Christmas!’ – but the equivalent in recent years has been the release of the John Lewis advert, with the song from each year’s advert entering the charts and often bringing tears to the eyes of the nation.
With some retailers, it’s no surprise that millions of pounds – and I’m sure lots of blood, sweat and tears – are being piled into integrated campaigns with the sole objective to create a buzz and build anticipation for an advert.
Very often these adverts are more of a short film, but with many retailers relying on Christmas to keep overall yearly profits on the up, it really isn’t a surprise – John Lewis makes large portion of its yearly revenue in the festive season.
Retailers can even use their adverts to add to profits – remember John Lewis’ cuddly Monty the Penguin in 2014?
Despite a steep £95 price tag, it still sold out in mere hours.
The rise of the Christmas advert culture
Adverts were shown for the first time on British television in 1955.
While there were more adverts for toys around Christmas, nothing really kicked off in the early decades of TV advertising.
Coca-Cola’s ‘holidays are coming’ advert launched for the first time in 1995, being shown each year and firmly placing itself as ‘the beginning of Christmas’.
The elements of the John Lewis Christmas tradition began to fall into place in the late 00s.
The 2008 ad featured the first cover-version soundtrack with shop staff singing The Beatles’ From Me To You.
However, 2011 was the year that the anticipation for the John Lewis ad reared its head for the first time.
The ad featured an impatient child waiting for Christmas to come, with Slow Moving Millie’s cover of The Smiths’ Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want.
The narrative saw a heart-warming plot twist – the naughty child wasn’t impatient to receive presents, but to give them to his parents.
And so, the tear-jerker John Lewis ad tradition was born.
Since then, snowmen, Monty the Penguin, Moz the Monster and a lonely man on the moon have pulled at the heart strings of the nation.
But with this year’s John Lewis advert featuring Elton John – The Boy and the Piano – splitting the nation more than ever before, it’s left the door open for others to take the Christmas crown.
The big names
Discount supermarket chain Aldi has been growing rapidly, with a huge Christmas advert campaign being a top priority for the marketing team to help the company compete with ‘The Big Four’.
Last year, it stepped up to the plate with Kevin the Carrot, and a resounding success sees Kevin and his family return for a third consecutive year – complete with a range of toys to help Aldi’s profits.
Sainsbury’s’ The Big Night enlisted the help of The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey and has been voted the best ad of the year.
Showing the emotional rollercoaster that is the school nativity, a young girl starts singing quietly as her family members look on nervously.
As the scene explodes with colours and activity and other children dressed as various bits of Christmas paraphernalia, her voice and confidence shines through.
The advert plays on the emotion of any parent and the excitement of buzzing activity Christmas brings.
And if social media is anything to go by, Sainsbury’s has given us the star of Christmas 2018 – #PlugBoy.
Tesco opted to take the age-old debate around what food should be in a Christmas dinner and run with it.
Featuring various shots of family and friend groups declaring their love or hate of sprouts and Yorkshire puddings, no doubt this advert prompted the same discussion to take place in living rooms all around the UK.
Whether you’re a fan or a scrooge when it comes to Christmas ads, this year we’ve been treated to a plethora of brilliant ones.
But surprisingly, this year the top dogs aren’t those names that are usually on the tip of everyone’s Christmas tongue.
M&S has seen itself in the midst of the fancy little knickers scandal, whereas Poundland is back making headlines with its risqué elf activity for a second year in a row, dividing opinions once again.
The surprise stars
Iceland has arguably the most talked about advert this year with its offering actually being banned for television airing for being too political to adhere with UK Code of Broadcast Advertising guidelines.
No, it hasn’t taken the route of selling its frozen wares.
Following on from its promise to remove both plastic packaging and palm oil from its own label products, Iceland has continued to highlight the grim realities of palm oil production with a heart wrenching cartoon voiced by Emma Thompson.
Originally released by Greenpeace, the short film depicts young orangutan Rang-Tan, who is heartbroken seeing her home being destroyed by humans through deforestation.
Whether you believe it was a conscious decision to get the ad banned or not, this partnership with Greenpeace has been one of the most talked about adverts – for all the right reasons.
Twitter championed its own pseudo-celebrity – John Lewis.
His Twitter handle is @johnlewis and he receives more than 50,000 tweets every year meant for the retailer.
John, based in Virginia, USA, spends time replying to all the tweets inadvertently sent to him and directs the users to the correct handle, usually in a comical fashion.
So with all the usual hype around the release of the John Lewis advert, Twitter made its own – with the real John Lewis at its heart.
It’s a wonderful and personal touch to the real human man, and even adds in a tongue-in-cheek hint of realism with how John deciphers English words that aren’t frequently used by Americans.
And it’s not a social campaign without a hashtag – #NotARetailStore pays homage to the real John Lewis’s Twitter bio.
The last advert to see a viral response in 2018 [at the time of writing] is #LoveIsAGift, which racked up more than five million views after Phil Beastall from Gloucestershire uploaded his short film to Facebook.
It follows a man as he ticks off the days counting down to Christmas, until the big day when he sits listening to a cassette on an old Walkman.
It becomes clear that the tape is a message from his late mother, and that she left him a number of tapes to listen to each Christmas – this being the last one.
This advert proves it’s not just the size of the budget, it’s the narrative that is arguably more important.
Love is a Gift was made on a budget of just £50 and a whole host of emotion.
As many people prepare to get through the festive season without the loved ones they have lost, this advert – hailed as ‘the ad of the year’ – reminds us that love is a gift that lasts forever.
Speaking about the advert, Phil said that he hopes it reminds people to appreciate how lucky we are and to spend more time with the people they love.
And after all, isn’t that what the season is all about?


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Ravens Home Playoff Game Is Good For Business
Fans Can Drop Off Letters In Purple Mailboxes
Baltimore Ravens fans will be chomping at the bit as thousands of playoff tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday, and local businesses said the game will be good for them, too.
Several thousand seats for the divisional playoff game on Jan. 15 will be available for purchase online or over the phone.
But that just scratches the surface of the playoff fever that's consuming fans who are gobbling up all things Ravens with the 2011 playoff logo.
Businesses specializing in Ravens gear said times like these can be like a second Christmas for their bottom line.
"If today was any indication, people are very excited about the home playoff game. This makes for a very good January," said Steve Spund of Greetings and Readings in Hunt Valley.
Restaurants around the downtown area said they hope to cash in on the traffic brought in by the additional home game. They said January is typically a slow month.
Ravens To Collect Fan Letters At Purple Mailboxes
Meanwhile, Ravens fans can now drop off letters to the team in purple mailboxes at several Giant Food stores in the state. The team kicked off the promotion Tuesday.
Letters in the "Baltimore Ravens Postal Service" boxes will be taken to the team's Owings Mills training facility every Wednesday that the team is in the playoffs and will be posted in the cafeteria.
The mailboxes will be at Giant Food stores in Baltimore, Cockeysville, Dundalk, Glen Burnie, Owings Mills, Pikesville, Severna Park, Timonium and Towson.


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Developer and publisher Ubisoft confirmed its participation in the upcoming E3 2016, the annual gaming event, with a post on its official Twitter page. The company revealed the date and time of its show at the E3 2016.
Ubisoft said that the E3 press conference event will be held on June 13, Monday, at 1 p.m. PT. But before the press conference, a pre-show event will be held at 12:30 p.m.
Reports noted that when compared with the previous year, Ubisoft is having an early press conference. In 2015, Ubisoft had started at 2:45 p.m.
Aisha Tyler, who had hosted last year's press event, will be returning to the Ubisoft podium this year too. Ubisoft teased her return in the image that was embedded with the tweet. Her name can be seen below the street sign, "Devs At Work," attached to the traffic lights.
EA and Bethesda would be hosting its conferences one day earlier, on June 12.
E3 2016 is scheduled to take place on June 12 to June 16 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.


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In this country, a day does not go past without another incident involving a gun and a dead person. While gun laws and restrictions are under discussion in almost every state as well as on the Federal level, the creativity and arguable stupidity of some gun enthusiasts astounds me. In two incidents that have come to light, retail store owners have gone above and beyond in their support of the right to carry firearms.
It first began in Utah, where a local yogurt shop offered a one dollar discount to anyone who brought in their concealed weapons permit when they come into the store. The owner believes in the second amendment, as do I, but he feels that gun owners are not being treated fairly and deserve a break. I wish when he was interviewed they actually asked the question of how they are being unfairly treated.
Not to be outdone by merely showing your right to carry permit, a pizza joint in Virginia Beach VA, saw the “show me yours” offer and raised it. He extended a 15% discount to anyone who comes in with a gun. Comes.In.With.A.Gun.
This offer has been a big hit, one guy even brought in an AK-47. A freakin’ assault rifle…into the pizza shop. Now just suppose that Aunt Lucy is walking across the street from the pizza shop and sees someone walking in carrying an AK-47. And just suppose she calls the police who respond to an armed robbery. And just suppose there is a case of mistaken sanity and shots get fired and someone, either the gun owner, a cop or an innocent bystander ends up another statistic. How is the 15% off sounding then?
If guns are supposed to make you feel safe, why am I so terrified thinking of a nation where everyone is allowed to carry them under their jackets? Yes, you have a right to own and in certain cases should be allowed to carry. I do not believe everyone should be allowed to carry a concealed firearm. Even now if you are a police officer, making a vehicle stop is a scary part of the job. Consider the added stress if you knew any, and maybe nearly every car you stopped potentially contained a firearm. Consider the number of times innocent bystanders would be injured or killed when an incident occurs in an enclosed space, and someone tries to fix things by pulling out a gun…and then five more people do the same.
Somehow if I’m in my local pizzeria having a nice slice, and I see someone walk in carrying a gun, I may feel many things; safe will not be one of them.


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'I welcome a dust-off' of NAFTA, says Bank of Canada's Stephen Poloz
Governor's speech on Canada's economic history makes case for free trade, open immigration, foreign investment
Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz said Tuesday there could be room to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement.
He was speaking after a speech in which he praised free trade, foreign investment, and immigration as cornerstones of the Canadian economy throughout history.
"There are things in NAFTA that are incomplete," said Poloz, responding to an audience question after the speech.
"Softwood lumber is not in NAFTA, the rules of origin are pretty complicated, and so on. So there may be things to be done to improve NAFTA, so I welcome a dust-off, if you like, of NAFTA in that basic sense."
- U.S. could take first steps to change NAFTA soon
- Bank of Canada watching Trump on trade
- Central banks conservative in different way from Trump
Although Poloz didn't explicitly refer to U.S. President Donald Trump's protectionist vows to renegotiate the free trade agreement, he argued in favour of NAFTA and free trade in his prepared remarks.
"Many Canadians resisted continental free trade, fearing job losses, the possible loss of our health care system, and a general loss of Canadian economic or even political sovereignty," said Poloz, according to the text of his speech, which is available online.
"None of these concerns have come to pass, although heightened competition did result in job losses in some sectors. But these losses were more than offset by gains in other areas, and consumers have continued to benefit from lower prices and increased purchasing power as most tariffs were eliminated."
Poloz argues against protectionism
In response to another audience question, Poloz argued that people may be losing sight of the benefits of free trade as protectionism gains political traction around the world.
"Certainly, I think that whenever there is a tendency towards protectionism, it's often the case that people just forget the benefits of openness. The fact that we have free trade agreements in place may mean you pay, say, 30 per cent less for a garment than you would if there wasn't a free trade agreement in place," said Poloz.
"But that was a long time ago, and it's just become part of your baseline, and you don't really think about it much. But if we were to reverse that tomorrow, it would be a huge impact on your well-being. Say you had to pay 20 per cent more for every article of clothing that you bought. Well, that would be a significant hit to your spending power."
"History tells us that [trade protectionism] is not a recipe for progress," said Poloz.
Openness and economic progress
In his speech, delivered to university students and alumni at Durham College in Poloz's hometown of Oshawa, Ont., the Bank of Canada governor argued that free trade, foreign investment and immigration all played critical roles in building Canada's economy throughout history.
"When trade barriers are falling, when people are coming to our shores and when investment is rising, Canadians prosper. We saw this before Confederation, in the early 1900s and after the Second World War," said Poloz.
"The flip side is that responding to tough economic times by turning inward rarely succeeds. We saw this after Confederation and during the Great Depression," he said.
"The bottom line of our history is that openness and economic progress go hand in hand."


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Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) success in its consumer business needs no introduction. Consumers around the world have been enjoying “iPhones,” “iPads,” Macs, and “Apple Watches.” However, there is something else that could provide further growth for the company and the AAPL stock price: the enterprise business.
AAPL Stock: Expanding into the Enterprise Market
Apple has long eyed the fruitful enterprise business. However, success in the consumer business does not guarantee success in the enterprise market. How did Apple approach this situation? It partnered with International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM).
In July of last year, Apple and IBM announced an exclusive partnership to build industry-specific apps. (Source: “Apple and IBM Forge Global Partnership to Transform Enterprise Mobility,” Apple Inc., July 15, 2014.) The partnership is a great move for Apple because having industry-specific apps will increase the adoption of “iOS” in the enterprise market. Moreover, Apple could benefit from IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities. By having IBM as a partner, Apple could also use IBM’s channel to market the apps to corporations.
Under the partnership, Apple and IBM together would create more than 100 industry-specific enterprise apps developed exclusively for the iPhone and iPad (at the time the Apple Watch hasn’t been launched yet). IBM’s cloud services, including device management, security, analytics, and mobile integration, would be optimized for iOS. The target industries include retail, healthcare, banking, travel and transportation, telecommunications, and insurance.
Since the announcement of the Apple-IBM partnership, the companies have made solid progress. In December 2014, they launched the first 10 industry-specific apps for iOS. These include the “Retention” app for the insurance industry, the “Expert Tech” app for telecommunication companies, and the “Case Advice” app for governments and law enforcement, just to name a few.
In April of 2015, Apple and IBM introduced eight additional apps, including four for the healthcare industry that help nurses and nurse practitioners better manage patients. In July 2015, the companies brought out another 10 enterprise apps, this time aimed at the mortgage industry, business travelers, and workers in the field. Note that this time there were two apps that were available on the Apple Watch.
The enterprise move seems to have worked. Last December, United Airlines announced that it would give an “iPhone 6 Plus” to each of its 23,000 flight attendants. This December, the company announced that it would buy another 6,000 iPhone 6 Plus phones for its customer service employees. (Source: “United Airlines to ‘Mobilize’ Airport Customer Service Representatives with Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus,” United Continental Holdings Inc., December 2, 2015.)
In October’s earnings call, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, said the company estimated “enterprise markets accounted for about $25.0 billion in annual Apple revenue in the last 12 months, up 40% over the prior year and they represent a major growth vector for the future.” (Source: “Apple’s CEO Tim Cook on Q4 2015 Results – Earnings Call Transcript,” Seeking Alpha, October 27, 2015.)
To further infiltrate the enterprise business, Apple decided to make its “Swift” programming language open source. This way, developers can use it to write programs not just for iOS devices, but also for servers and cloud applications. (Source: “Apple Releases Swift as Open Source,” Apple Inc., December 3, 2015.)
The Bottom Line on AAPL Stock
Some investors have doubted Apple’s growth potential in its device business despite the tremendous year-over-year increases in iPhone sales. Apple bears should take note that other than the consumers, large corporations also represent a big market for Apple’s products and services. With strong growth in Apple’s enterprise business, AAPL’s stock price could climb higher.


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Google blogged about its action today. Basically, these fraudsters are using products named “Google Money” to scam people.
In addition to legal action, Google continues to take other steps to help prevent consumers from being deceived, including removing scammy URLs and disabling AdWord accounts. But, the real prevention is education for online users. Stay away from tag lines like “Use Google to Make 1000s of Dollars!” or “Easy Cash with Google: You Could be Making up to $978 a Day Working from Home!” Also, just because they use Google’s name or logo, doesn’t mean they are endorsed or legit. For more tips from Google on how to spot a scam online check out this earlier post.
To check whether an offering is a scam or not, Google’s business and advertising programs websites are a good place to start. Google has also spotlighted several names to be wary of: Google Adwork, Google ATM, Google Biz Kit, Google Cash, Earn Google Cash Kit, Google Fortune, Google Marketing Kit, Google Profits, The Home Business Kit for Google, Google StartUp Kit, and Google Works.
The problem here is that Google has such a strong brand, that people trust it. And they appear to be suspending common sense when they see its name associated with products. But just like you’d be hesitant to give a stranger on the street your ATM card and pin, you should do the same online — even if the stranger calls itself Google.
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Looking for a cheap Amazon (AMZN) Kindle Fire as a back-to-school gift? Well, don’t: Amazon says that it has completely sold out of the first-generation Kindle Fire as it prepares to launch the next-generation Kindle Fire sometime this fall. Although Amazon isn’t releasing any specific numbers for how many Kindle Fires have been sold, the company says that the tablet has been its best-selling product since its release last fall. The Kindle Fire made it fashionable to launch seven-inch Android tablets that sell in the $200 range after its release, culminating in Google’s (GOOG) popular Nexus 7 that launched this summer. Amazon’s full press release follows below.
In just 9 months, Kindle Fire captures 22% of U.S. tablet sales
10 of the top 10 best-selling items on Amazon since Kindle Fire launched are Kindle devices and content
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug. 30, 2012– (NASDAQ:AMZN)—Less than one year ago, Amazon introduced Kindle Fire—combining 15 years of innovation into a single, fully-integrated, end-to-end service for customers. Kindle Fire quickly became the most successful product launch in the history of Amazon.com, earning over 10,000 5-star customer reviews, and is the #1 best-selling product across the millions of items available onAmazon since its introduction 48 weeks ago. Today, Amazon announced that Kindle Fire is sold out, and that in just nine months, Kindle Fire has captured 22% of tablet sales in the U.S.
“We’re grateful to the millions of customers who have made Kindle Fire the most successful product launch in the history of Amazon,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “This has been a big year for digital products on Amazon—all of the top 10 sellers on Amazon.com since Kindle Fire launched just less than a year ago are digital products. Kindle Fire is sold out, but we have an exciting roadmap ahead—we will continue to offer our customers the best hardware, the best prices, the best customer service, the best cross-platform interoperability, and the best content ecosystem.”
Kindle Fire offers customers a vast selection of digital content—over 22 million movies, TV shows, apps, games, books, magazines and more—in one seamless, end-to-end experience, making it easy for customers to browse, discover and purchase. Since Kindle Fire launched last September, all of the top 10 products on Amazon—across all products—are digital products.


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Frankfurt: German high-end carmaker BMW has admitted to authorities that it built software that misleads regulatory emissions tests into some models, potentially staining the auto giant's clean image, Der Spiegel magazine reported Friday.
BMW "admitted to the (vehicle licensing authority) KBA that it built software that manipulates the exhaust system into two models" from its flagship 7-series and mid-range 5-series, the magazine wrote.
Around 11,000 of the latest diesel models, supposed to meet the latest European Union "Euro 6" emissions standards introduced in late 2015, were affected in Germany alone, it added.
BMW is checking whether the software was built into cars for export.
A BMW spokesman told Spiegel that the software had mistakenly been loaded into the engine control systems of vehicles fitted with six-cylinder engines, whose exhaust system "does not function optimally" in conjunction with the programme.
"We do not consider the software to be a 'defeat device'," he added.
So-called "defeat devices" are deliberately designed to make cars appear less polluting in laboratory tests than in real on-road driving.
Volkswagen -- parent company of BMW competitor Audi -- admitted in 2015 to building such software into 11 million vehicles around the world, and has since paid over 20 billion euros in fines, buybacks and compensation.
Unlike Volkswagen, BMW has so far managed to uphold a reputation for emissions honesty.
After the KBA recently found no issues with a 3-series car that environmental activists had suggested might include a defeat device, development chief Klaus Froehlich stated baldly that "vehicles from the BMW group were not manipulated."
"Our diesel engines are clean. The public, politicians and above all our customers and employees can count on that," he added at the time.


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Prince’s smell of success for Macy’s
On or around the 7th of July (7/7/07), the same day his perfume “3121” gets its unveiling at Macy’s in Minneapolis, Prince will be in store to launch the perfume and maybe giving out make-up tips. He will be performing that evening at the Target Centre. The first single from Planet Earth, currently available as a download with mobile phone company Verizon, will be a re-worked version of Guitar originally released back in February on 3121.com.
Read other articles tagged: General


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Try the businesses making headlines after hours.
Nordstrom — Shares jumped 7% after the retailer surpassed earnings expectations and raised its full-year outlook. Nordstrom CEO Erik Nordstrom stated the corporate has skilled a surge in demand from consumers refreshing their closets for “long-awaited occasions.”
Urban Outfitters — Shares initially dropped 1.7% after the retailer reported an earnings miss. Urban Outfitters’ CEO stated rising prices offset revenues. The corporate earned 33 cents per share on revenues of $1.05 billion, based on FactSet. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had been anticipating earnings of 42 cents per share on revenues of $1.068 billion.
Intuit — Shares popped 3% after the monetary software program firm topped earnings expectations. Intuit reported revenues of $5.6 billion, as in contrast with consensus estimates of $5.514 billion from Refinitiv.


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2022 was somehow both a very big, successful year for Xbox and Game Pass and also one that it felt as if the gaming giant was starting to lose some steam.
Sure, the Xbox Series S has quietly become one of the biggest success stories of the next generation—easy to find and cheaper than the PS5 or Series X—but Microsoft also struggled to release anything big in 2022. As a result, while Game Pass got some hot new titles, it felt less valuable than in 2021. And all of this happened while Microsoft fought off regulators and governments in its continued attempt to consume Activision Blizzard. It was definitely an odd year for Xbox and Game Pass.
A Quiet Year For Big Exclusives
Overall, 2022 had fewer big, AAA blockbusters than years prior. This is likely down to a few different reasons, including how hard these games are to make, how risky they are to invest in, and the ongoing pandemic and its lingering effects on the world. But even through all this, we got some exclusive games from Sony and Nintendo like God of War Ragnarök, Kirby And The Forgotten Land, Horizon: Forbidden West, and two different Pokémon titles.
Meanwhile, Microsoft seemed unable to ship their own similarly big exclusives in 2022. Starfield and Redfall were delayed until 2023, so it was basically just Obsidian’s Pentiment, Ghostwire Tokyo via Microsoft-owned Bethesda, and a few third-party games published via Xbox Games Studios. One of those games—Ghostwire Tokyo—is a PS5 console exclusive that isn’t on Game Pass or Xbox. And calling Pentiment a “big exclusive” is being generous, even if it’s a really cool game.
Some console warriors will argue that Xbox doesn’t need big games, but Microsoft seems to disagree with that assessment. It’s spent the last few years buying up numerous big and small studios around the world so that now Microsoft and Xbox own over 20 different game developers. And let’s not forget that Xbox is trying to buy up Activision Blizzard, too. They ain’t buying all these companies for their nice bathrooms. It’s clear that Microsoft and Phil Spencer want (and need) more games to feed to the ever-hungry Game Pass machine.
And this year, that service, which lets users pay a monthly fee to access a ton of games, felt a bit less valuable without a couple of big Xbox-only tentpole releases like a new Gears or Forza title. That’s not to say Game Pass sucked in 2022, it just felt a bit less valuable when compared to 2021 and its plethora of big Xbox exclusives and first-party releases. I mean, High On Life is currently one of the most popular games on the service. This is nice for developer Squanch Games, but a sign Microsoft and its studios were mostly absent in 2022. Hopefully, all these various game studios under the Xbox umbrella can start releasing more games in 2023 and beyond.
But, Game Pass Still Had A Good Year
Even without its own big games, Game Pass had a solid 2022. And it’s proof that Xbox’s Netflix-like service can continue to thrive even when Microsoft isn’t able to feed Game Pass itself. In 2022, a ton of games launched day one on the service including Sniper Elite 5, The Anacrusis, Tunic, Total War: Warhammer 3, Loot River, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, Nobody Saves The World, Power Wash Simulator, Slime Rancher 2, High On Life, Two Point Campus and MLB The Show 22. And that’s only part of the list.
On top of all that, Game Pass continued to add back catalog titles from Bethesda and other publishers to its massive library. There were entire periods of 2022 where, outside of mobile games like Marvel Snap, all I was playing was Game Pass stuff on my PC or Xbox. That’s impressive and truly shows how much the service has expanded and improved in the last few years.
It’s clear, more so than ever this year, that the future of Xbox is one built on top of Game Pass and its success. This is a service that people adore and Microsoft isn’t slowing down on ensuring it has content. The new Xbox dashboard redesign appears to be heavily dedicated to Game Pass, and Microsoft continues to make it easier to play Game Pass via the cloud on non-Xbox devices, like TVs and phones. But if you still want an Xbox, Microsoft has a product for you…
The Xbox Series S Is Microsoft’s Secret Weapon
Of all the next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series S is the weakest in terms of raw power. It can’t push out 4K/120hz visuals and struggles with ray-tracing effects. But it is cheaper than a Series X and usually far easier to find. Just a few months ago I walked into a Target and bought one without planning ahead for weeks. And as inflation continues to be a thing, the $300 Series S will only look more and more attractive to people gaming on a budget or parents looking to buy their kids a new console this holiday season without breaking the bank.
Unsurprisingly, the Series S has sold very, very well since its launch. Last year it outsold the PS5, Switch and Xbox Series X. And with its current temporary holiday price drop to $250, it will likely top the charts again. If you combine the Series S with a subscription to Game Pass you end up with one of the best deals in gaming right now.
But the Series S could also be a problem for devs as it adds yet one more console to worry about and optimize for. If the smaller, weaker Xbox does continue to explode in popularity, it could make it harder for some studios to create next-gen games that can also play properly on it. Still, for now, it’s a wonderful little machine that comes around at the perfect time.
The Activision Blizzard Deal
2022 started off with a bang, as it was announced in January that Microsoft was planning to buy up Activision Blizzard King for nearly $70 billion. This of course followed a very no-good, terrible year for Activision after it became public just how much of a toxic hellhole it was and how people, mostly women, were treated like shit and harrassed while at the company. It seems that Microsoft swooped in and took advantage of all this bad press and began the process of buying up the beleaguered company behind Call of Duty, Candy Crush, and World of Warcraft.
But it’s not been a smooth ride since the deal was announced. Instead, multiple countries, regulatory bodies, governments, and others have pushed back against the deal with lawsuits, investigations, and reports. Microsoft says this deal will lead to more competition and will expand the game industry. Sony and others don’t seem to agree. I personally can’t imagine how one company owning more and more of the video game industry is a good thing, considering it gives one corp more power and dominance over the marketplace.
Regardless of how you feel about the buyout, it’s yet another example of Microsoft looking to both bolster its back catalog and secure the rights to future big games in an effort to continue growing Game Pass. I wouldn’t be surprised if King’s lucrative mobile games start getting big Game Pass deals, too, as Microsoft pushes into that part of the industry.
The Future Of Xbox And Game Pass
As we approach 2023, Xbox is in a good but weird place. Game Pass continues to be a big win for the company, the Xbox Series S is selling like hotcakes, and it has a lineup of 2023-2024 games that (if they actually ship on time and don’t get delayed) could lead to some bangers in Xbox’s future.
But Microsoft also finds itself fighting the FTC, Sony, and others as it attempts to consume more of the industry. And its work towards creating an easy-to-access Netflix of games has led to a future where people may just skip buying an Xbox and instead play the next Halo or Forza on their TV or phone via streaming. This ultimately makes the company money, sure, but also means its namesake—the Xbox—becomes less and less relevant moving forward.
One day, will we see a future where you ask a kid what an Xbox is and they go “That service that lets you play all the games on your TV for $20 a month?” Maybe. And while that might be a weird future, it won’t be a bad one for Xbox or Microsoft if it can pull it off, regulators, and game preservation be damned.


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English Premier League club West Ham United has entered into a partnership with football nutrition specialist Soccer Supplement.
Under the deal, the brand will become West Ham’s Official Supplements Partner.
The exact duration of the agreement was not disclosed, but Soccer Supplement’s commercial director Mark Britton said the deal would run for the “next few seasons”.
Soccer Supplement launched in 2017 and currently works with over 100 clubs in more than 30 countries. Its products are designed exclusively for football.
Also as part of the agreement, Soccer Supplement will be giving away two tickets to West Ham’s opening match of the 2019-20 season against Manchester City on Saturday.


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August 27, 2009 | by Andrew Kameka
Hey, Android users, why so cheap?
Mobile advertising firm AdMob has published a new report showing that iPhone users are twice as likely to purchase apps as their Android-using counterparts. The report finds that despite relatively similar habits of downloading a total number of apps each month, iPhone users were twice as likely to open their checkbooks for the stuff they really want.
So why don’t Android users pay for apps more often? Cheapness? Since the most popular apps in the Android Market are free and dwarfed similar paid products (even some that may be superior), that’s an easy assumption to make. But I don’t really think Android users are cheap. Sure, there are plenty of cheapskates, but that’s more of a human issue than a platform issue. Besides, we’ve seen complaints from plenty of non-U.S. Android users who would gladly pay for the chance to get certain apps — or paid apps at all in some countries.
So what’s the real reason for the discrepancy? My guess is that it boils down to numbers – there are more iPhone users, more apps, and more time on the market to be established. The iPhone platform has a much bigger pool of users, meaning it probably draws from a more statistically diverse pool of people willing to spend money on apps. More potential buyers leads to more apps. Thus, there are thousands of more apps to choose from, so iPhone users see more apps that they deem worth a buck or two. Even with the Android Market’s indirect preview policy, there are far less apps out there to entice people to loosen their purse strings.
- AdMob says Android users download about 9 apps per month with a ratio of 1 paid to 8 free. On the other hand, iPhone users report 10 apps with 2.6 paid.
- Only 19% Android users buy an app each month; 50% iPhone users buy at least one paid app a month.
- The estimated number of Android users is 3 million compared to 26.4 million iPhone users and 18.6 million iPod Touch users.


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The purpose of the asset tracking system is to improve workflows, reduce inventory loss, and introduce process optimisation to improve overall operational efficiency and productivity.
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) company, IMS Evolve, has announced a strategic partnership with Current, powered by GE, the digital engine for intelligent environments, to deliver IoT solutions to the food retail sector.
Enterprises around the globe have been adopting Internet of Things (IoT) products to improve organisational efficiency, enhance communications, and to gain insight into system performance. IoT devices have become commonplace in enterprises from all industries.
Radiall, an industry provider of interconnect design, development and manufacturing, is thrilled to announce that they joined the NGMN Alliance as its newest partner.
A new study from Cradlepoint, a global specialist in cloud-delivered LTE and 5G-ready wireless network edge solutions, reveals that businesses expect 5G to be a major part of their technology roadmap. However, they have a long way to go before they are ready to implement a solution.
5G, using 3GPP standardised wireless technology, has been commercially deployed by 15 mobile network operators worldwide, according to 5G Americas, the industry trade association and voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas and TeleGeography (GlobalComms Database). There will be an additional 47 launches of 5G technology expected before the end of 2019 for a total of more than 62 live 5G [...]
CEVA, Inc., the licensor of signal processing platforms and artificial intelligence processors for smarter, connected devices, and Nurlink Technology, Inc., a fabless IC design company specialising in cellular IoT wireless communications, announced the successful completion of the first over-the-air (OTA) call on China Telecom‘s NB-IoT network using the Nurlink NK6010 NB-IoT [...]
Ericsson has been selected by GCI, Alaska’s telecommunications company, to build the USA’s northernmost 5G network in Anchorage, Alaska. This is scheduled to launch in 2020, and marks Ericsson’s 22nd publicly announced 5G contract.
The retail industry is still facing challenges with network downtime, according to a new study from Cradlepoint, a provider of cloud-delivered LTE and 5G Ready wireless network edge solutions. Despite struggling to provide reliable network connectivity, artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are considered the priority IT focuses over the next five years.
Much has been said about Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The term is cited in many papers and conferences as one of the revolutionary resources of the industry today, but is this technology really so recent, asks Ivano Jose Cunha, director of Research and Development at Brazil’s Link Electronics?
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Commercial electric vehicle company EKA, a subsidiary of Pinnacle Industries,
unveiled its first E9 electric bus on Saturday. Sudhir Mehta, chairman of EKA and Pinnacle
Industries said the company was talking to investors to raise Rs 500 crore for the bus project.
Pinnacle Industries got approval to launch electric vehicle manufacturing under the production linked incentive scheme and pledged to invest Rs 2 billion to establish an electric vehicle
manufacturing unit. Pinnacle has also received approval under the EV component manufacturing
scheme of the government’s PLI policy
Publication: Daily Array


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'Real Housewives of New York' Star Dorinda Medley Banking on 'Not Well, Bitch'
'RHONY' Star DorindaHow's My Slogan Doing?Damn Well, Bitch!
7/22/2017 12:10 AM PT
'Real Housewives of New York' star Dorinda Medley knows bitchin' deals when she sees one -- her "Not Well, Bitch" line of products could soon land at a major department store.
Dorinda's rep at Talent Resources tells TMZ ... the slogan caught fire after she screamed it at "Sex and the City" writer, Candace Bushnell, this season. Since then, Dorinda filed docs to trademark the slogan and started selling coffee mugs, tote bags, t-shirts and towels with the phrase.
We're told business is boomin' -- Dorinda's sold more than 700 items and banked more than $100k a month after launching the line. Business is so good ... Dorinda's now in talks with 2 major department stores.


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The business of streaming is only getting bigger.
A report released by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a vocal music industry group, claims streaming music revenue in the U.S. surpassed revenue from downloads for the first time. The milestone was shared in the RIAA’s 2015 year-end sales report, as the Wrap notes, and marks the industry’s fifth year of consecutive revenue growth.
Broadly, streaming music is making the industry a ton of money, and nearly one-third of all streaming revenue appears to come from the sort of ad-supported models often criticized by some music industry professionals. But not everyone benefits from the streaming boom. Major corporations and indie musicians alike have challenged the efficacy of streaming, although others have championed it.
The RIAA says streaming — counting subscriptions and ad-based services — made up 34.3 percent of the U.S. music industry’s recorded revenue last year, followed by downloads, at a close 34 percent, and physical music revenues (e.g: CDs, vinyl) at 28.8 percent.
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