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Above the weekend, as element of a preview in advance of this year’s GDC, Ubisoft uncovered a new cloud-based mostly technology it is producing. According to the Assassin’s Creed publisher, this new tech, named Scalar, will make it possible for its teams to create “even greater worlds” than what’s at this time achievable.
No, you read through that last sentence effectively. Ubisoft is threatening us with larger game titles, even as it releases game titles that are arguably much also big presently. And to that, I say: Ubisoft, quit and imagine about this. You should. I beg you.
Glance, I’m no Luddite. I like extravagant new know-how and program as significantly as the future human being. And from a complex standpoint Ubisoft’s new Scalar procedure seems interesting, as described by VentureBeat and GamesIndustry.biz. According to the publisher, the tech supports all platforms and can operate several parts of already-present Ubisoft video game engines—such as AI or physics systems—in the cloud, offloading the function across “a potentially unrestricted amount of equipment,” allowing for the organization to leverage in essence an “infinite volume of computing power.” It would also allow Ubisoft to update video games and include content to them without getting to thrust out specific platform patches.
Ubisoft explained a handful of unique methods for how this enormous increase in electric power could be applied in movie games, which include upcoming games staying capable to assist big numbers of on the internet players at a single time. Ubisoft also would like to create new sorts of video games that would be cost-free from possessing to depend on limited computing electricity, as is the circumstance for most video games right now.
“How do you reimagine what online games must be and what they could be in the long term, and then get started to create in direction of that to create new experiences?” stated Patrick Bach, managing director for Ubisoft Stockholm, in a push briefing. “Because in basic, online games are commonly an iteration of what it has accomplished ahead of. We want to split free of that and make anything huge.”
Hold out, hold up. Quit.
Ubisoft keeps chatting about developing games that are big, as if it hasn’t unveiled properly in excess of a dozen giant open up-earth online games that just take gamers months to distinct. Potentially Ubisoft does not think about all those games to be “big.” But if that is the circumstance, I’m genuinely frightened by no matter what Ubisoft will end up creating with this new Scalar tech. What does Ubisoft look at a large video game if Valhalla ain’t previously it?
Ubisoft suggests Scalar tech is not for streaming games to gamers, like Stadia or Amazon’s Luna, but is alternatively meant to be applied by devs. The strategy is to give teams a lot more flexibility when generating online games, making it possible for them to believe outside of what a one PS5 or


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There's pressure on the luxury sector, but Neiman Marcus says its shoppers are hanging in.
“We have seen no change in the mood of our customers,” Karen Katz, president and chief executive officer of Neiman Marcus Inc., told WWD on Wednesday. “They are learning to live with uncertainty, and we are learning to manage our business in the mood of uncertainty.”
Hermès is launching a Laundromat pop-up shop in NYC - dubbed Hermèsmatic - where customers can bring their old scarves to be dip-dyed by an expert. Get all the details on WWD.com. #wwdnews (📷: @donstahl)

domain: news


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Mexico's central bank held its benchmark interbank overnight rate steady at 3.0 percent, as expected, but cautioned that a "sustained depreciation of the national currency could represent and upside risk for inflation" although slack in the economy would offset some of that risk.
The Bank of Mexico, which cut its rate by 50 basis points in June, added that several years of evidence showed a low transfer of exchange rate movements to prices and its effect on inflation has tended to be transient.
Nevertheless, the central bank said the risks to inflation had risen since its previous meeting on Oct. 31. However, headline inflation is still expected to end the year around 4 percent and then drop further to around 3 percent by the middle of 2015.
Core inflation is expected to end this year at around 3 percent and fall below that level in 2015.
Mexico's headline inflation rate eased to 4.16 percent by mid-November from 4.3 percent in October while core inflation eased to 3.32 percent from 3.34 percent. The central bank targets inflation at 3.0 percent, plus/minus one percentage point.
Mexico's peso has been depreciating since early September, trading at at 14.3 to the U.S. dollar today, down almost 9 percent this year.
In addition to the risk to inflation, the central bank said the balance of risks to Mexico's economic activity had deteriorated, with private consumption not showing clear signs of recovery and the effects of government spending not fully materialized so there is slack in both the labor market and economy. However, exports continue to be favorable and investment has showed signs of recovery.
Mexico's Gross Domestic Product expanded by 0.5 percent in the third quarter from the second quarter for annual growth of 2.2 percent, up from 1.6 percent in the second quarter.
Last month the central bank lowered its 2014 growth forecast to 2.0-2.5 percent from the August forecast of 2.0-2.8 percent while the 2015 forecast was cut to 3.0-4.0 percent from 3.2-4.2 percent.
The Bank of Mexico issued the following statement: (translation by Google)
"The Governing Board of the Bank of Mexico has decided to maintain the 3.0 percent target for the overnight interbank interest rate to one day.
The global economy continues to show a weak but distinct behavior among major countries. In contrast, US economic activity has been consolidating its recovery, although the slowdown in other economies could moderate its dynamism. However, inflation and expectations have declined slightly, reflecting reductions in energy prices and so far there has been no upward pressure on wages. In this environment, the Fed has reiterated its plans to continue normalizing its monetary policy stance, emphasizing that specific moment that will increase its benchmark interest rate and the rate of subsequent increases will depend on the evolution of the economy. Production in the euro area and Japan has shown a slowdown, which is expected to central banks relax its monetary policy further.
For emerging economies, the decline in prices of raw materials, including oil, has exacerbated the downturn that has recently been observed in several of them. In sum, the balance of risks for the growth of the world economy has continued to deteriorate. It is anticipated that with the weak growth of the world economy, the fall in prices of basic and low inflation goods, the monetary stance in most advanced economies and some emerging will remain accommodative in subsequent quarters .
In recent weeks an overall depreciation of the currencies of both emerging and advanced against the US dollar, including the Mexican peso was recorded. This was mainly due to the expectation of a more restrictive monetary policy in the US, as well as the slowing global economy and the consequent fall in the terms of trade of many countries. In the case of Mexico, so far these movements have occurred in an orderly manner, with appropriate levels of operations and liquidity. The depreciation of most currencies of emerging countries has not yet been reflected in higher levels of interest rates market. However, taking into account the above elements, it can not be excluded that in future volatility in international financial markets intensifies.
Economic activity in Mexico showed a slower rate of growth during the third quarter. Although exports have continued to evolve favorably and private investment has shown signs of recovery, private consumption remains unregistered clear signs of recovery and the effects of government spending on economic activity is not fully materialize. Reflecting this, there are still slack conditions in the labor market and the economy in general, so that no generalized inflationary pressures from aggregate demand are anticipated. Taking into consideration the slowdown that have recently introduced the global economic activity and the country as well as recent social events in the latter, it is considered that the balance of risks to economic activity has deteriorated over the previous policy decision monetary.
After unanticipated increase in annual headline inflation in recent months, the trend has been maintained in accordance with expectations, decreasing from 4.30 percent in October to 4.16 percent in the first half of November. Meanwhile, annual core inflation remained around 3.30 percent. This decrease in inflation, the stability of their expectations for a medium- and long-term returns from surveys and reducing those extracted market information suggests that the process of pricing has not been contaminated by high inflation in recent months. Thus, it is estimated that annual headline inflation close around 4 percent in 2014, which in early 2015 was considerably reduced and remain around 3 percent from midyear. In this context, an increasing evolution of real interest rates in the short term in the following months, even if it is modified in that period, the target for the benchmark interest rate is expected. For core inflation is expected to end 2014 about 3 percent and in 2015 will be below that level. This forecast is based, among other factors, in the fading effect of tax changes that took effect at the beginning of 2014, the elimination of charges for domestic long distance telephone and lowest expected increase in gasoline prices from 2015. despite the evidence of several years that the transfer of exchange rate movements to prices is low and its effect on inflation tends to be transient, sustained depreciation of the national currency could represent an upside risk for inflation, although this risk is offset in part by the prevailing slack in the economy. On balance, it is estimated that risks to inflation increased from the previous decision.
Considering the above, the Governing Board has decided to maintain 3 percent target rate for overnight interbank interest under that estimates the monetary stance is consistent with the efficient convergence of inflation to the target 3 percent. Forward, will remain attentive to the performance of all the determinants of inflation and expectations for a medium- and long-term. In particular, monitor the evolution of the degree of slack in the economy before the expected recovery, including the effects that the implementation of structural reforms might have on aggregate supply and demand of the national economy and the monetary stance on Mexico versus the United States. All this in order to be able to achieve the goal of marked inflation."


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City of Miami’s Mayor Francis X. Suarez, Anthony Pompliano, Anthony Scaramucci, and others among the featured speakers scheduled to appear at the three-day conference.
MIAMI, FL, March 29, 2023 – Miami NFT Week has finalized its speaker lineup with marquee presentations from Francis X. Suarez, Mayor of Miami, Anthony Scaramucci, Founder and Co-managing Partner at SkyBridge Capital, and one of the most influential names in Web3, Anthony Pompliano – entrepreneur, technology investor, and host of The Pomp Podcast.
These speakers join a list of illustrious guests and individuals, including:
- Co-founder of Ape-In Productions and singer-songwriter, Timbaland
- Entrepreneur, two-time NBA All-Star and investor, Baron Davis
- The Miami Ape Co-Founder, Laura Rodriguez
- Mastercard Senior Vice President, Stefany Bello
- Metablox and Octalysis Founder, Yu-kai Chou
- OneOf Co-Founder and CEO, Lin Dai
- Decentral Founder and Ethereum Co-Founder, Anthony Di Iorio
- Artisant Co-Founder, Leila Ismailova
- Web3 Advisor and Creator, Swan Sit
Miami NFT Week is focused on offering thought-provoking and educational discussions to address worldwide challenges and solutions within the Web3 space. Topics such as regulation, the future of Web3, NFT projects and their utility, the Latin American Web3 landscape, music, and more, led by industry leaders are expected to set the scene for the event.
“We are thrilled to offer compelling stories from highly anticipated speakers at the conference this year,” said Miami NFT Week Co-Founder Ted Lucas. “Miami NFT Week is, at its core, about opening the space to diverse newcomers and natives. The event is focused on offering highly anticipated conversation within all topics pertaining to Web3 and the evolution of the industry.”
In addition to the impressive speaker list, Miami NFT Week continues to gather anticipation for the event with noteworthy sponsors, such as:
- Mastercard® – who is leading the event’s four LatAm Spanish-speaking panels
- Alpha IO – a woman-led Web3 company that has developed an interactive game specifically for Miami NFT Week called The Crypto Bro’s Game
- Jarritos – the official soft drink sponsor for all exclusive activities over the course of the weekend
- Cloud Yachts – who will be hosting VIP Minting Party on Sunday
- IV on Command – the official wellness partner of Miami NFT Week
With these exceptional sponsors, the event continues to implement its core mission as being Web3’s most diverse and accessible event in the industry.
To learn more, visit https://miaminftweek.com/.
ABOUT MIAMI NFT WEEK:
Miami NFT Week is one of the largest Web3 gatherings on the U.S. East Coast – featuring a global network of key industry founders, influencers and political leaders in the broader blockchain space – that builds bridges by way of blockchain and diverse communities.


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Eye-catching Ultra Gold flavor announced for the popular Monster Ultra
One of the most widely available, zero sugar and low-calorie energy drinks out there right now is Monster Ultra, which is also one of our top tasting energy drinks on the market. Monster has done a great job at expanding the product’s menu and has quite the variety to choose from, including our favorites Ultra Violet, Ultra Fiesta, and the original Zero Ultra.
Monster has revealed this month it has yet another tasty addition on the way for its popular Monster Ultra energy drink, featuring an excellent, eye-catching gold color scheme. The upcoming product that is said to be launching shortly is Monster Ultra Gold, which is a pineapple flavor, featuring the beverage’s signature zero sugar and 150mg of caffeine.


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Nintendo has finally announced a release window for Animal Crossing 3DS. While there's still no global release information, the game will arrive in Japan this Fall. The news came from the recent Nintendo Direct broadcast hosted by company president Satoru Iwata.
In other Nintendo Direct news, the company will be honoring Kirby's 20th year of existence with an anniversary campaign, at least in Japan. Celebrations will include the Japanese release of 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure on the 3DS eShop (which was already released in North America and Europe), as well as Kirby Club Nintendo prizes and memorial versions of classic Kirby games for Wii starting this summer.
Nintendo of America already confirmed via Twitter that a special 20th anniversary Wii collection of past Kirby games is on the way for the States. No word yet on if this is coming to Europe as well.


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Since its launch, the Android One aims to provide increased accessibility, improved battery life, usability, and security. Now the Google technology has been brought back to life by the latest Xiaomi Mi A1
The XIaomi Mi A1 is the first Android One device built by Xiaomi. (Image: News18)Google and its program partner Xiaomi today announced the Android One launch with Xiaomi Mi A1 in India. As per Google, the phone is an example of what Android One represents: a collaboration between Google and its partners to deliver a software experience designed by Google. Since its launch, the Android One aims to provide increased accessibility, improved battery life, usability, and security. During the launch, Jon Gold, Director, Partner Programs, Google, said, “As phone manufacturers continue to innovate by delivering high-quality devices at accessible price points, keeping the inside of one’s phone innovative, fresh and secure is critical to a great experience. We’re extending our commitment to Android One by working with more partners to build phones that run a software experience designed by Google.”All Android One phones are powered by a Google designed software that aims to deliver an experience that is:● Simple: All Android One phones consistently run a pure Android experience with a clean design and a small set of preinstalled apps.
● Smart: Google claims to embed its latest technology into Android One phones. For example, all Android One devices will be optimized for the Google Assistant. Google Photos will also be the default gallery for Android One phones to help users avoid running out of space, by providing free and unlimited storage of photos and videos.● Secure: With multiple layers of protection, Android One phones receive regular security updates to keep security in check. Devices also stay secure with Google Play Protect: built-in malware protection that keeps phones clean, fast and high-performing.● Fresh: Android One devices will receive timely upgrades to the latest Android OS. Users of the new Mi A1 will receive an upgrade to Android Oreo before the end of the year and next year they will also be one of the first to receive an upgrade to Android P.Xiaomi Mi A1 has been launched in India at a price of Rs 14,999 and boasts of a dual camera setup as a first by Xiaomi in India. The Mi A1 is the first Android One smartphone made by Xiaomi, meaning that the MI A1 will carry an Android OS instead if Xiaomi's own MIUI. Here is a first look at the new Xioami smartphone.


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Trailer Attack: 10th December 2018 – Ace doom contest go overcooked
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne will feature new quest rank, monsters, locales, moves, and equipment! You’ll also get a full new story that continues from the ending of Monster Hunter: World. This expansion will be the size of previously G or Ultimate entries in the series.
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Young king, will you be brave enough to step into the labyrinth, fight and rid the world of an ancient evil? New quests and more await in Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom’s “The Lair of the Lost Lord” DLC, available on December 13th on PS4 and PC!
Accolades trailer is here for Darksiders III.
Neo ATLAS 1469
Coming to stores on Nintendo Switch April 9, 2019. In Neo ATLAS 1469, the only map you need is the one YOU create! This epic tale of exploration and discovery puts you at the helm of a 15th century European trade company that’s against the ropes. Your mission is to map out undiscovered lands, discover the riches and secrets they hide, and reveal the true face of the world!
Bethesda Softworks has released a new video to celebrate DOOM turning 25.
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
A veteran of the Belkan War and Operation Battle-Axe, the MiG-31 Foxhound was designed to sniff out and intercept it’s enemies.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
Take the fight to a whole new level. Operation Absolute Zero introduces an all-new Specialist, Zero, as well as Hijacked to Blackout, and much more.
JCB Pioneer: Mars
Official trailer for JCB Pioneer: Mars launching on Nintendo Switch on 24th December 2018 in Europe and 3rd January 2019 in USA.
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Independent developer Fatshark today announced that the Back to Ubersreik DLC is now available on Steam for the multimillion selling hit game Warhammer: Vermintide 2.
Via the Kinda Funny Games Showcase last weekend, Quebec-based indie game studio Chainsawesome Games has announced that their neon-lit cross-platform multiplayer game Aftercharge releases on January 10, 2019!
GOD EATER 3
The fate of humanity rests in your hands. Break your chains, forge your destiny and rise above a world of desolation. Watch the new story trailer of GOD EATER 3, coming on February 8, 2019 on PS4 and PC!
Something Free-zing Is Coming To Overcooked! 2…
Pipe Push Paradise
Indie publisher Digerati is delighted to announce unique puzzle game Pipe Push Paradise will be arriving this winter for Nintendo Switch. The game will be available to download for Nintendo Switch from 24 December and will launch with a 20% discount for a limited time.
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong
Developer Hugecalf Studios and publisher Curve Digital’s comical construction puzzler When Ski Lifts Go Wrong has a brand new trailer showcasing new content coming to the game’s full commercial release on PC and Nintendo Switch in early 2019. Currently in Steam Early Access, When Ski Lifts Go Wrong’s new content will bring the game’s total level count to over 100, including new summer environments and new vehicles such as the motorbike and bicycle, additional music, new achievements, Steam trading cards and bug fixes. No matter the climate, realistic physics means realistic disasters!
Gather your friends and join the illustrious Space Fleet in this fast-paced party game! Can you deal with unrelenting disaster and hold your ship together long enough to destroy the enemy invaders? Repair systems, extinguish fires, arm the torpedoes, avoid deadly solar flares, destroy your friends and clone them back again; it’s all in the life of a Catastronaut!
You’ve played and love those other physics games and now you’re over those darn birds and want something with a new perspective? The Staries are being invaded and need your help! Use the Bizango Cannon to blast the bad guys and their structures in a new dimension of challenge and excitement!
Marvel Contest of Champions
Witness the arrival of the Sentinel of the Spaceways.


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Some of the iPhone's biggest fans - tech bloggers, mostly - had a lot to say about the new iPhone's shortcomings after Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled it at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.
Despite the much-desired addition of faster 3G network capabilities, GPS and a $200 price cut, astute iPhone watchers zeroed in on several improvements that they expected but did not get, such as a better camera, multimedia messaging and greater storage capacity.
These folks make some valid points. The iPhone 3G's two-megapixel camera is unchanged from the previous model. Most other smart phones give you at least three megapixels. Others had hoped for a front-facing video camera, which would turn the iPhone into a videophone via Apple's iChat software.
Apple also failed to add the ability to cut and paste, an inexplicable omission given the relative simplicity of the function.
Other complaints include weak Bluetooth support, the lack of a landscape-oriented keyboard, no Adobe Flash in the Safari Web browser (which renders many Web sites all but useless) and the failure to boost storage in the high-end model to 32 gigabytes.
As an Apple watcher, I was impressed by the announcements, but in the case of the iPhone I view developments from a strategic perspective, not that of a user. (I don't yet own an iPhone - gasp!)
From a strategic perspective, Apple is doing a lot of things right to increase sales and market share. Apple focused on those features that it determined would sell the most iPhones: a faster network, lower prices and an abundance of cool software.
I suspect that Apple spent less effort trying to please existing owners precisely because they already had bought an iPhone. Satisfying existing iPhone customers was not the priority this time around.
Instead, Apple concentrated on changes aimed at increasing iPhone sales as rapidly as possible.
That iPhone availability will extend to 70 countries this summer is not a coincidence.
The cynical voice inside my head also wonders if Apple held back on some improvements intentionally to save them for the next version of the iPhone. Most of those who bought the first version of the iPhone might not be ready to upgrade now but probably will be next year when Jobs introduces iPhone 3.0.
If Apple rectifies most of the issues that irk current iPhone owners in next year's model, all will be forgiven. And Apple will sell even more iPhones.
Read David Zeiler's blog at baltimoresun.com/apple.


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Adult video producer Vivid Entertainment has announced plans to bring a channel to the UK-bound Google TV platform.
The porn purveyor is boasting that it's the first TV-based app that'll make sexually explicit content available through Google TV, which has struggled to offer in-demand content since its launch.
Google responded with a statement indicating that it'll allow the app to be a part of the platform and will rely on the parental controls to keep adult content away from children.
Stand-alone internet-TV channel
A Vivid spokesman said that all of its top content will be available for the channel (including XXX parodies and educational videos) and the company hopes to expand to more connected TV platforms soon.
Vivid co-chairman Steven Hirsch says: "[Google TV] "is a central part of our making Vivid available everywhere concept, which gives fans unified access to our content through their personal computers, mobile devices, tablets, television sets and DVD players."
"We spent more than a year developing a code base for a robust, stand-alone Internet-TV channel with a friendly interface for the consumer that can be used with the current Google TV technology and other Internet protocol presentation methods now in development."
Google embracing porn?
Google responded with a statement to the LA Times Technology blog opening the door for more adult entertainment saying it'll put parents in charge of deciding what is and isn't visible.
"We will respect the parental controls of devices connected to Google TV," the statement read.
"So if you have controls set up through your set-top box or through a V-Chip, those controls will continue to work for TV content shown through Google TV.
"Users will also be able to implement Safe Search on the Google TV browser (Chrome), and the Safe Search setting will extend to Internet content shown in Google TV search results.
"In addition, users will have the ability to lock out access to the browser on Google TV through a 4-digit PIN code for access control."
Could porn save Google TV from obscurity? Apple of course has a no-sex policy akin to a monastery so there's definitely an opening for Google to offer in-demand content from adult TV providers.
Via: LA TImes


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Don't fix it...See Forward To The Past
The rise in the Canadian dollar in recent years has helped Canada maintain stable growth and inflation as commodity prices rose sharply, Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge said on Friday.
Dodge made no comment on the most recent spurt in the Canadian currency or on the economic outlook but extolled the virtues of a floating exchange rate, which he says can help absorb shocks without costing jobs and output.
"In recent years, the demand for and the prices of Canadian commodity exports have been rising sharply. This has helped to create an economic boom, and investment flows into Canada have increased. Our floating dollar has appreciated sharply and thus has forced some necessary adjustments," he said.
Canada converted to a floating exchange rate in the 1950s, but until about 10 years ago the Bank of Canada occasionally intervened by buying and selling dollars to smooth out sharp fluctuations.
Officials were right to cease their interventions in 1998, Dodge said, adding he has seen no exceptional circumstances since that have warranted a change in policy.
"There's absolutely no thought on our part of reversing that decision and markets I think are pretty sophisticated, pretty deep and do a pretty good job," Dodge said in response to a question from conference delegates.
Dodge conceded that the loonie's 35 per cent appreciation against the U.S. dollar since 2003 has been hard for businesses, particularly manufacturers whose exports into the United States have risen in price and hence become less competitive.
"Yes it's very tough for the manufacturers here in this city of Montreal right now. Strong global competition and an exchange rate that has appreciated very substantially but they are making those adjustments."
Earlier this week, Dodge told two separate parliamentary committees that it would be wrong to rein in the loonie because its recent rise to above 90 cents (U.S.) reflects the fundamental strength of the Canadian economy and is not due to speculation.
Returning to the theme Friday, he said the loonie's strength has helped the Canadian economy adjust to the boom in Canada's commodities producing sector as a result of sky-high global demand and prices for commodities such as oil and minerals.
Citing another example, Dodge said having a flexible exchange rate helped Canada through the 1997 Asian crisis, explaining that the loonie's sharp decline helped absorb some of the shock felt by the commodities sector when global prices plunged.


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Agriculture has always played a central role in Japan. The cultivation of rice, in particular, has had a lasting impact on Japan’s society and is still important to the population’s nutrition today. In order to secure, increase and streamline our own production, more and more new technologies are now coming into focus.
Until now, Japan has been heavily dependent on foreign exports when it comes to food. The country produces about 40 percent of the food it consumes itself. About 12 percent of the country’s area is under cultivation, which is cultivated by over a million farms.
Agriculture and Web 3.0
Like so many industries in Japan, they are hard hit by the aging population. Without young talent and innovation, Japan’s agricultural industry faces a bleak future. Therefore, more and more start-ups are appearing in the country, which will introduce new technologies in agriculture with innovative ideas.
One of the most unusual projects has existed since March 2022 and is called Metagri-Labo. The goal of Metagri is to connect agriculture and blockchain technology to economically revitalize disadvantaged regions.
According to Metagri, a network will be created by 2024 that will allow farmers to bring their goods more directly and more profitably to end consumers via blockchain. The project also includes so-called NFT (non-fungible tokens), which have been the subject of controversial discussions in recent years, especially in digital art.
Together with the Shimada Watermelon Farm in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, Metagri released a limited edition NFT collection of twenty watermelon images. The special feature: with the purchase of one of the NFTs, the buyer not only received the right to own one of the images, but also received a real Shimada melon.
There are already Metagri NFT collections for tomatoes, grapes and rice, and a set for lemons will follow soon to support the island of Nakajima with Shikoku. In addition, Metagri maintains a digital farm in the Metaverse, where project members can meet and exchange ideas.
Whether from space or on the ground – agriculture is evolving
The Compass system, which was developed by the startup Tenchijin Inc. from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, focuses on new cultivation areas. Compass collects satellite data and evaluates it using big data methods to evaluate land areas for optimal rice production.
Compass aims to enable agriculture worldwide to identify locations with good conditions for growing high-quality rice. Changes in ecosystems as a result of climate change can also be recognized in order to respond in good time with adapted cultivation methods. According to the founder of Tenchijin, the system should even take into account socio-economic factors of the observed land area.
In Nagano Prefecture, on the other hand, work is being done practically with the automation of agricultural processes. The startup Emi Lab based there is developing a robot for spraying pesticides.
The cube-shaped robot moves on four wheels, can be controlled remotely and, thanks to its design, efficiently reaches all parts of the plants to be treated. The robot can carry around 100 liters of pesticides with it. There is not much left for the farmers themselves to do: They only have to give the robot a route, which it then follows via GPS.
Emi Lab is currently producing the robots to order, and a copy costs two million yen (around 14,400 euros). The company hopes that farmers will share their experiences with the machines to make them more popular. Drones as agricultural tools are also becoming more and more popular in Japan. They can e.g. used for fertilizer.
Whether the new technologies will be sufficient to make Japan’s agriculture future-proof in the long term remains to be seen. During the pandemic, the demand for jobs in agriculture increased and more young people moved from the city to the country. However, it is uncertain whether this development will continue after the end of the pandemic.


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Unlike others enlarged in death beyond what they were in life, Steve Jobs deserves all the accolades.
Yes, he really was a visionary, marketing genius, and the greatest business leader of our time.
But in one specific area of business performance, Jobs record was much more inconsistent, debateable and even schizophrenic: the practice of public relations.
On the one hand, Jobs’ mastery of product publicity and promotion stood in a class by itself -- unmatched by any other business marketer. But on the other, the Apple king’s legendary penchant for secrecy and holding information close – particularly relative to his own health -- resulted in an often frosty relationship with the media, frequently characterized by the kind of double speak and obfuscation that would have made the Kremlin crow.
Here's how it breaks down:
As a dispenser of product publicity, Steve Jobs was the best.
No other company or CEO in history could command the attention that Jobs and Apple did when introducing a new product. Indeed, most companies announcing new products have to beg journalists to cover or even arrange pre-introduction “exclusives” with favored reporters to ensure that somebody at least will report on their new market entry.
Apple product introductions – from MacBook to iPhone, from iPod to iPpad – were “happenings.” Packing the hall with Apple employees and supporters, the crowds cheered the CEO’s every word, and the media took notice every time.
Even when Apple announced “interim product enhancements,” such as this week’s introduction of the iPhone 4S by Jobs’ successor Tim Cook, satellite media trucks obediently flocked to Cupertino to beam the news around the world.
Steve Jobs created a product publicity nirvana for his company.
So, too, when faced with product crisis, Steve Jobs excelled.
In the fall of 2007, when Apple reduced the price of its iPhone by $200 after only two months on the market, the company’s loyalists who snapped up the phone at inception screamed bloody murder.
It took Steve Jobs exactly one day to admit the error of his ways, apologize in an open letter to early purchasers, and announce that anyone who bought the iPhone early would receive a $100 discount on any future Apple purchase.
The founder’s instant “iPology” was hailed throughout the world, Apple once again basked in the glow of positive publicity, and Steve Jobs, in the best spirit of positive public relations, had turned lemons into lemonade.
Compare Jobs’ seamless crisis response to the fumferring apology by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings this past August, when customers left in droves after the company suddenly, stupidly raised its rates and split its services. Netflix stock has suffered a 40% decline since its CEO’s ham-handed attempt to save the day.
The point: Steve Jobs had an unrivalled “feel” for customer relations.
Where Jobs and Apple fell down in terms of public relations, were in the areas of “openness” and “disclosure.”
Under Jobs, Apple was among the most closed-mouthed companies, providing information on what it wanted, when it wanted, with little regard for the public’s or investors’ “need-to-know.” This was particularly the case with the CEO’s health.
It was Jobs, himself, who famously told the world about his pancreatic cancer in a commencement address at Stanford University in 2005. In that riveting speech, the Apple founder talked frankly about facing death and how he was now “fine” as a result of surgery.
And thereafter, Apple went “dark” in terms of its CEO’s health. The company steadfastly refused to provide updates, respond to rumors, or update the public on Jobs’ health.
Why, you may ask – as Jobs did – should the health of an individual be anyone else’s business? The answer, of course, was that because Steve Jobs was so critical to his public company, the state of his health was “material” information that shareholders had to have to make intelligent decisions about buying, selling or holding Apple stock.
In the summer of 2008, for example, when rumors circulated on the net that Jobs was dying, Apple fudged the truth about its CEO’s condition. In one fabled “off-the-record” interview with The New York Times, Jobs, himself, denied his cancer had returned and excoriated a reporter for raising the issue.
In the winter of 2010 as Jobs got sicker, Apple at first announced its CEO suffered from a “hormone imbalance,” and then, after skeptical journalists wouldn’t go away, the company reluctantly corrected the record that Jobs’ health problems were, in fact, “more complex” than originally reported and that the CEO would be going on leave.
One TV reporter was outraged that, as he put it, “All along, sources inside Apple have reassured me that Jobs was firmly in charge, executing his responsibilities and performing his role as CEO.”
In point of fact, Apple’s public relations handling of its CEO’s fragile health was arrogant, dismissive, and not at all exemplary of how a public company should communicate material facts with the shareholders who“own” it.
This past August, Steve Jobs finally acknowledged that he could no longer function as Apple CEO. In the two months since his departure, the company has continued to prosper and prepare itself for yesterday’s sad news.
As a consequence, the death of its iconic founder won’t materially impact Apple’s fortunes. Had Jobs not walked away when he did and allowed others inside Apple to assume leadership, the company’s fate would have been far worse.
Once again, Steve Jobs’ public relations timing was impeccable.
Fraser P. Seitel has been a communications consultant, commentator, author and teacher for 40 years. He teaches public relations at NYU and is the author of the Prentice- Hall textbook "The Practice of Public Relations," now in its eleventh edition, and co-author of "Idea Wise."


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Uber Technologies Inc is pulling a heavily criticized feature from its app that allowed it to track riders for up to five minutes after a trip, its security chief told Reuters, as the ride-services company tries to fix its poor reputation for customer privacy.
The change, which restores users’ ability to share location data only while using the app, is expected to be announced on Tuesday and rolled out to Apple Inc iPhone users starting this week. It comes as Uber tries to recover from a series of crises culminating in the ouster of Chief Executive Travis Kalanick and other top executives.
Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of travel-booking company Expedia Inc is set to become Uber’s new chief executive, sources have told Reuters.
The location-tracking update is unrelated to executive changes, said Joe Sullivan, Uber’s chief security officer, in an interview with Reuters. Sullivan and his team of about 500 have been working to beef up customer privacy at Uber since he joined in 2015.
“We’ve been building through the turmoil and challenges because we already had our mandate,” said Sullivan, who is a member of the executive leadership team that has been co-running Uber since Kalanick left in June.
An update to the app made last November eliminated the option for users to limit data gathering to only when the app is in use, instead forcing them to choose between letting Uber always collect location data or never collect it.
Uber said it needed permission to always gather data in order to track riders for five minutes after a trip was completed, which the company believed could help in ensuring customers’ physical safety. The option to never track required riders to manually enter pickup and drop-off addresses.
But the changes were met with swift criticism by some users and privacy advocates who called them a breach of user trust by a company already under fire for how it collects and uses customers’ data. Uber said it never actually began post-trip tracking for iPhone users and suspended it for Android users.
Sullivan said Uber made a mistake by asking for more information from users without making clear what value Uber would offer in return. If Uber decides that tracking a rider’s location for five minutes is valuable in the future, it will seek to explain what the value is and allow customers to opt in to the setting, he said.
Sullivan said Uber was committed to privacy but had previously suffered “a lack of expertise” in the area.
The change comes two weeks after Uber settled a U.S. Federal Trade Commission complaint that the company failed to protect the personal information of drivers and passengers and was deceptive about its efforts to prevent snooping by its employees.
Uber agreed to conduct an audit every two years for the next 20 years to ensure compliance with FTC requirements.
The location-tracking changes will initially only be available to iPhone users, but Uber intends to bring parity to Android devices, Sullivan said.
The changes are part of a series of updates expected in the coming year to improve privacy, security and transparency at Uber, Sullivan said.


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T-Mobile sees opportunity in card processing for small businesses with a new product that has same-day access to funds
As electronic and mobile payments continue to gain steam, the fintech space is attracting more interest from outside players.
T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS, +1.42% is the latest to join the fray, announcing Tuesday that it has launched a new mobile point-of-sale product for small merchants in partnership with Total System Services Inc. TSS, +0.95% a financial-technology veteran. The carrier is following in the footsteps of peers Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, +0.92% and AT&T Inc. T, +0.03% , both of which have merchant-services offerings with partners.
T-Mobile may be teaming up with an established player, but it wasn’t circumspect about its intent to take on incumbents more generally. “T-Mobile is putting Square and Clover on notice,” the company said in the press release for its new GoPoint product.
Square Inc. SQ, +0.70% and Clover, a unit of First Data Corp. FDC, +2.26% , have succeeded in helping small businesses accept credit-card payments through sleek point-of-sale systems. The companies argue that they’re leveling the playing field for smaller merchants, who were underserved by traditional financial-solutions players that enabled credit acceptance for their bigger rivals.
Mike Katz, the executive vice president of T-Mobile for Business, sees more room for disruption. “It’s fair to say that things have gotten better, but getting better isn’t good enough,” he told MarketWatch. In particular, he sees room for more transparency around funding and terms. T-Mobile’s GoPoint offers free same-day access to funds and doesn’t have software fees.
“The one attractive differentiator I see is T-Mobile’s offer of free same-day funding, which providers like Square charge for,” said Jordan McKee, research director at 451 Research. Still, he said the company is a late arrival to a “crowded market.”
T-Mobile for Business offers wireless plans, internet connectivity, and internet-of-things services to enterprise customers. The unit has a sales force that will market the GoPoint product and allow merchants to try it out in their stores before committing to a purchase. While GoPoint is aimed at smaller businesses, Philip McHugh, Total System Services’ president of merchant solutions, said the product is designed to work with some of the company’s other payments products for more sizable enterprises.
T-Mobile, which began selling the devices last week, said that demand so far as been “very, very high.” Shares closed up 1.4% in Tuesday trading, while Total System Services shares gained 1%.


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The ability to unlock your smartphone may be beneficial to some people who want to switch carriers and take their device with them. But what would happen if your phone was being illegally unlocked, without your permission, using malware on AT&T's computers? Well, if you're AT&T, those actions have resulted in a lawsuit against the offending parties.
AT&T has filed suit against three people who formally worked for the company, along with a business that paid the employees to install malware on AT&T's computers that allowed them to unlock thousands of phones without consent of AT&T or the customer. Marc Sapatin, Nguyen Lam and Kyra Evans were all served this week with the suit papers, as well as Prashan Vira, who owns the company Swift Unlocks. AT&T alleges that the four conspirators were involved in the illegal operation in 2013 when the three employees were working at an AT&T call center in Washington.
AT&T says in the filing documents that by unlocking all of these devices, the employees have cost AT&T a ton of money from the disabling of pre-installed software.
"Unlocking" a phone disables certain software pre-installed by the phone manufacturers, which is designed to limit the activation of the phones exclusively to AT&T's network. Once a phone is unlocked, it can be used on multiple carrier systems rather than exclusively with AT&T.
The software is vital to AT&T's business because it allows AT&T to subsidize the cost of the phone to consumers while protecting AT&T's investment in the phones through term contracts. The software also protects AT&T's goodwill with respect to phones that carry AT&T's brand, because some of the phones' functionality may not work as effectively on non-AT&T networks.
Whether or not you believe that unlocking a phone disables a phone's functionality, the fact of the matter is Evans was paid $20,000 and Sapatin paid over $10,000 for the unlocking of the devices by Swift Unlocks. AT&T did not accuse Lam of receiving money but did accuse the employee of installing the malware to the workstations. Lam was fired by AT&T. Evans and Sapatin both quit.
AT&T clarified that the individuals involved in this did not access customer information not did their actions impact customers other than having their phones unlocked.
We're seeking damages and injunctive relief from several people who engaged in a scheme a couple of years ago to illegally unlock wireless telephones used on our network. It's important to note that this did not involve any improper access of customer information, or any adverse effect on our customers.
The accused parties will have 21 days to respond to the summons issued this week, with AT&T demanding a jury trial.


text: rampant, unchecked consumerism made the planet uninhabitable. So how do they promote the film? You got it, they launch a new line of plastic WALL-E robots developed in partnership with Thinkway Toys which no child could possibly live without. Ultimate WALL-E will list for $190 when launched sometime this summer and feature 10 motors, a remote control, and plenty of sensors to avoid obstacles, respond to touch, and feel the mocking satire of its own existence. The bot will be joined by a $25 iDance WALL-E (think i-Species) and a $40 WowWee FlyTech Tinker Bell when they make their May 29th debut in San Mateo at the Maker Faire.


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Consumers Cut Debt In Third Quarter
Consumers continued to reduce their credit card debts into October, according to a new report by the Federal Reserve Board. The fall marks the seventh straight drop in consumer debt.
Among the notable changes in October's report were the enhanced borrowing available to companies and consumers and an overall improved economic outlook.
However, despite the increased willingness to lend on behalf of issuers, the report saw a fall in the demand for credit from July through September, according to The Wall Street Journal. Lending conditions today remain tighter than before the economic downturn.
"Americans are borrowing less and paying off more debt than in the recent past," Donghoon Lee, senior economist at the New York Fed, told the Journal. "This change, which we continue to study carefully, can be a result of both tightening credit standards and voluntary changes in saving behavior."
Total consumer debt dropped 0.9 percent in the third quarter and was down 7.4 percent - from a peak in 2008 - to $11.6 trillion, the news source says. With mortgages and home equity removed, consumer debt fell by another 0.3 percent.


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There is bad news for the Ferraris, the Lamborghinis, the BMWs and the Audis. The government on Thursday hiked customs duty on imported cars that cost over $40,000 (₹ 22 lakh) from 75% to 100%, which will substantially increase the prices of these cars.
Super bikes and yachts are other toys of the uber rich that have attracted the finance minister's attention.
'There is an affluent class in India that consumes imported luxury goods such as high end motor vehicles, motorcycles, yachts and similar vehicles,' finance minister P Chidambaram said in his budget speech.
'I am sure they will not mind paying a little more. Hence I propose to increase the duty on such motor vehicles from 75% to 100%, on motorcycles with engine capacity of 800cc or more from 60% to 75% and on yachts and similar vessels from 10% to 25%.'
The move has come as a bolt from the blue for the industry, as the sales of luxury cars were already reeling under a slowdown.
'Increase in custom duty for imported cars is surprising,' said Michael Perschke, head, Audi India.
'It will severely impact the auto industry and its growth. We will have to evaluate the impact of this hike on our prices, and have no choice but pass on the increase to the customer.'
'There will definitely be an impact on overall numbers but there is a positive side to it as manufacturers would now think even more about manufacturing the cars locally,' felt Wilfried Aulbur, managing partner, Roland Berger India and a former MD at Mercedes Benz India.


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The stock price dip that followed Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone premiere event this week appeared to be a manifestation of investor disappointment in the Cupertino-based company’s latest products. However, at least one prominent analyst and fund manager is bucking the trend when it comes to having faith in Apple’s ability to continue making innovative products.
Gabelli Asset Management fund manager Barbara Marcin recently told CNBC that she believes Apple will unveil a “wow” product within the next year or so and that it may be something wearable. “The company has a culture of innovation, and I think we see that with the new releases, and I think we’re going to see exciting new products,” she added.
Marcin noted that Apple likely hasn’t released this “wow” product yet because, “they want to get it right.” She also observed that it is hard to predict how consumers will use a wearable device product since, “Until you use something, you don’t really know how you’re going to use it.”


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On the panel “From Farm to Plate: Financing Change, Changing Finance”, William Foote, Founder and CEO of Root Capital called farmer producer organizations the “Jedi Knights” of getting finance and credit to rural farmers.
With 500M smallholder farmers living on subsistence farming and vulnerable each year that they might not grow enough food to eat or sell to support their families, improving agriculture value chains for these farmers, including improving access to financing, is essential. I personally feel very close to this issue as I worked for 4 years in Southern Africa helping other organization better facilitate market development and improve agriculture value chain competitiveness.
William Foote estimated that potential smallholder farmer market is between $100-250B, but then questioned how much of this is realizable demand. The key to accessing this market is through the organizations that farmers aggregate into, whether they are cooperatives, associations, buying groups or another form.
Where’s the Money?
The first major theme that emerged from the panel was the lack of access to finance by farmers and their organizations as one of the largest missing pieces in the value chain. Finance needs span across the value chain, from farmers needing credit to purchase seeds, fertilizer and inputs to input providers needing working capital to smooth out their cash flows to agriculture businesses needing for capital expenditures.
A key point I agreed with was that the current financial institutions need to play a larger role in providing finance, however there was a lack of proper incentives and competition driving them to invest more in the agriculture sector.
One major impact of providing this financing smooth’s out their cash flow and reduces their incentive to side sell their products to other buyers in times when they need instant cash, therefore lowering default risk of the farmers.
Money Isn’t Everything
Another key theme that seems to running across multiple sessions this year was raised by Dana Boggess , Program Officer for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Although increasing the role return seeking investment needs to increase to improve sustainability, there is still a substantial need for grants. These grants are needed to help buy down the risk for current financial institutions to explore new areas.
Rick Peyser, the Director of Social Advocacy and Supply Chain Community Outreach at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters pointed out a very key point that improving the financing problem was only one part of the problem.
Their company survived their coffee farmers and studied what areas they were most struggling with. They learned that for between 3-8 months of the year, there farmers were food insecure. This led them to expand their interactions to work with the farmers at the household level and promote diversification in their crops to non-cash crops. They also started helping them access improved health and educations services.
Trust and Certification
Trust, or the lack thereof across the sector was another major theme. Gary Milsted, the head of procurement commodities for ZoneEUR for Nestle spoke about how they currently buy ~10% of all the coffee in the world and there was an increasing pressure on them to increase transparency and ensure quality and fairness within their supply chain. Nestle is working to ensure all their coffee is 4C compliant, which is a certification validating sustainability of their coffee.
Another innovative approach to increasing transparency and sustainability in the sector that was spoken about was through the use of technology to gather direct information from farmers. One example given was asking farmers to use their mobile phones to provide user information in exchange for free market prices or soccer scores. David Griswold from Sustainable Harvest was in the audience and their organization was called out as being one of these innovative organizations.
The only major drawback of the session was it was overly focused on coffee and only a few small comments touched on how non-cash crops can differ significantly. But overall, I felt the panel spanned a great range of topics along the value chain in a depth few panels I’ve ever been to in my life have reached.
David Damberger is a current Skoll Skollar at Oxford Said Business School. Previously, David was an African Director of Engineers Without Borders Canada and built their Agriculture Value Chains program. David is also a co-founder of the online ethical shopping market, Ethical Ocean, and the fairly traded ice hockey puck initiative called ‘RUBR’.


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We’re very lucky in Europe, as there are now nearly 40 electric vehicles to choose from. With changing attitudes to air pollution and climate change, allied to various government deadlines (a ban on new gas car sales from 2030 in the UK is expected imminently), next year looks set to be big for the European electric car market.
Peugeot e-2008 Stories November 17, 2020
Peugeot e-2008 Stories June 20, 2019
Peugeot is ramping up its electrification efforts with another multi-powertrain vehicle that can be configured with an all-electric powertrain: the e-2008 electric SUV. expand full story


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Cool rider. Following the success of her capsule collections with AG Jeans, Alexa Chung returns as the new face of the brand, fronting their AW 16 campaign shot at the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn. Pyjama-style button-ups meet relaxed denim for the brand’s seasonal offering – consider your weekend in the city wardrobe sorted.
Fashion / On Set
Bradley Veragten brings outerwear from the garden to the pages of our ‘Resilience’ issue
All-terrain now includes the runway and your morning coffee route.
Fashion / Fashion News
Coach brings the Coach Tabby Tour to Sydney
The Tabby is being celebrated in Sydney with the Coach Tabby Tour, a pop-up that celebrates individual expression opening on March 22, and runs for two weeks at The Eveleigh Paint Shop, Carriageworks.
Fashion / Fashion Feature
The most memorable moments from Jeremy Scott’s Moschino
We reflect upon some of Scott’s most memorable moments from his legacy at Moschino.


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For somewhere in the ballpark of six figures, you can fly like the King. Or pretend to. One of Elvis Presley's private planes, presumably used to jet the late heartthrob to shows across the country, is up for bid in an online auction until July 27, with a likely sale price in the six figures. But you'll likely need more cash if you actually want to get the plane in the air. As CNN reports, "there's no engine, the cockpit's a mess and the velvet seats have lost their plush." The Telegraph describes it as a "heap of rusty metal" in a "decrepit state." It's no wonder: The current owner purchased the plane for $430,000 at an auction only last year, but it had previously sat unused for 35 years on a runway in Roswell, NM.
There it remains, looking no better and still without an engine and some cockpit components. The 1962 Lockheed Jetstar has a few things going for it, though. It comes with documents certifying Elvis' onetime ownership and "an immaculate safety manual," per the Telegraph. There's also the potential to turn a profit, as the auction house that sold the plane in 2017 predicted it could be worth millions when restored. Adding to the allure is the fact that the plane is the only one owned by Elvis that is not housed at his Graceland estate. According to Barrons, Elvis' other two planes, the Lisa Marie and Hound Dog II, sold jointly for $15 million in 2015, and Graceland subsequently announced a "permanent" agreement to keep the jets in Memphis. (Read more Elvis Presley stories.)


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Bennett Springs bottle shop workers use pallet of beer to trap three would-be thieves in cool room
Bottle shop workers used a pallet of beer to barricade three would-be thieves in their cool room on Friday night.
CCTV shows three men walking into a Bennett Springs drive thru bottle shop just after 8pm, making a beeline for the cool room.
But staff recognised them and blocked their way out, phoning police once the trio was trapped inside.
The men started to panic and, looking for a way out, charged at the door.
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Eventually they were able to knock the door off its hinges, pushing it out of their way.
They started throwing bottles and cartons of beer at staff before leaving with nothing.
Thirsty Camel general manager Niall Burke said staff were “fighting back at the bully.”
“Staff are all high fiving each other and saying well done ... they didn't get away with anything ... they ran out of here scared.
“It's normally when they leave the staff are left scared.”
The store’s owners told 7NEWS they were at ‘breaking point.’
Friday’s attempted robbery is the third in the past five weeks with Mr Burke saying thieves took $700 to $1000 worth of goods each time.
The latest lot of would-be robbers smashed between 10 or 20 cartons trying to get out of the room and the store will have to absorb the cost.
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NYS Entity Status
NYS Filing Date
APRIL 15, 2013
NYS DOS ID#
NYS Entity Type
DOMESTIC BUSINESS CORPORATION
2013 - EG WIRELESS NY INC.
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New Delhi, Apr 28 (PTI) Beverages giant Coca-Cola Company today said its President for India and Southwest Asia Business Unit Venkatesh Kini has quit after leading the operations for over three years and T Krishnakumar will replace him.
Kini, who has chosen to return to the US to pursue other opportunities outside the Coca-Cola system, will remain with the company till July-end to ensure a smooth transition for his successor, Coca-Cola Company said in a statement. He had worked with the company for 19 years.
Krishnakumar is currently CEO and South West Asia Regional Director of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), the bottling arm of the company. Subsequently, Vamsi Mohan, Region Director for Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia of Bottling Investments Group (BIG), will replace Krishnakumar as South West Asia Regional Director for Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, it added. The company further said Christina Ruggiero will be the new CEO of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd. She will report to Mohan. She is currently chief procurement officer for the Coca- Cola System in North America, and president and CEO for Bottlers Sales & Services LLC. The appointments in senior leadership in the Indian and South West Asia Business Unit of Coca-Cola and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages will take effect from May 1, the statement added.
On the changes, Coca-Cola President Asia Pacific Group John Murphy said the firm is designing a new operating model to support its next stage of transformation. "Key components of this new operating model are a revitalised organisational capability and better system alignment to ensure optimum execution multiplies our marketing plans and investment," he added. Similarly, BIG President Irial Finan said: "...we believe that the revitalised system leadership structure that we announce today will enable us to continue consolidating India as one of the most important growth engines for The Coca-Cola Company globally." He said India is the sixth-largest market for Coca-Cola in terms of volume and still has tremendous growth potential. The company and its partners operate nearly 60 factories in India employing 25,000 people directly and its products are sold through over 2.6 million retailers. PTI SVK KRH RKL ARD


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Cupertino based tech giant Apple did not have a great experience with the sales of its iPhone XR. Despite the sluggish sales the company is all set to introduce a triple-camera iPhone in 2019. It will also be introducing a lower priced LED model according to a new report by a leading daily. Apple did not have a pleasant experience in terms of the sales of the current iPhone XR LED model and the new news has clearly indicated that Apple is still interested in bringing up the mid-to-high range line up.
Like most of the other manufacturers, Apple is also experiencing a slowdown in the smartphone market as the consumers are upgrade their smartphones less often. The tech giant has currently many dual-camera smartphone models but other manufacturers including Huawei and LG already have their devices with at least three. Even south Korean giant Samsung released its mid-range model, the Galaxy A7 that has a triple rear camera set up.
By adding a third camera, Apple will offer a more consumer friendly photohgrapy features like telephoto close-ups and improved bokeh blurred backgrounds. A third camera iPhone was reported earlier as well but a report from a leading daily has said that Apple is not necessarily interested in building another budget oriented XR device. Yet the next model has been in development since months and will be too difficult and expensive to switch gears. By 2020, the company is planning to build all of its iPhones with OLED displays that will offer superior contrast and color reproduction.
This year it has been noticed that the iPhones are less competitive due to the other competitive devices in the market from the companies like Huawei and others. Other giants are also producing equally competitive and technically sound devices. With that point it will be interesting to see what Apple has planned in terms of the growing competition.
Photo Credits: Macworld


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The number of approved suppliers who sell printers to the federal government is being reduced from 12 to three, according to several people familiar with the initiative who argue the move is “bad business” for taxpayers and limits competition.
Shared Services Canada is aiming to cut back the number of companies that are able to sell printers, photocopiers and printing services to the federal government in a bid to increase order size and lower prices.
However, opponents of the plan say reducing competition in the space will lead to increased prices and slower service.
The federal government currently posts requirements for its printing and photocopying needs to a public website where as many as 12 companies can bid on the purchase and compete for a contract.
The federal government is the largest purchaser of printing and photocopying services in the country, accounting for an estimated $60 million in spending annually.
“We believe this is moving towards an oligopoly-type environment,” said Sam Yoshida, senior vice-president and general manager of the imaging systems group at Canon Canada Inc. “We think it’s bad business for the federal government, bad business for taxpayers. It’s basically limiting competition, from our standpoint. We think this whole process is an anti-competitive process.”
Shared Services Canada said it changed the procurement policy to better streamline federal purchases and negotiate stronger deals with suppliers. By limiting the number of companies, Shared Services could negotiate better rates for technology by buying in bulk for multiple departments and agencies.
The department said it believes the process it’s taken to implement the new initiative is fair and transparent and in the best interest of Canadians.
“The process to buy printing devices and managed print services for the Government of Canada is open, transparent, fair and competitive,” said Monika Mazur, a spokeswoman for Shared Services.
“The process began with extensive industry engagement from July 2015 until March 2016,” she said. “Through the process, SSC pre-qualified the top-five respondents based on a set of criteria that included proven skills and experience in implementing and providing printing products and managed print services across Canada.”
Mazur said Shared Services plans to award contracts to three vendors in the coming weeks, which will allow federal departments to purchase printers, photocopiers and print services from one of three pre-approved vendors.
Yoshida from Canon isn’t alone in his objection to the new purchasing initiative.
Sharp Electronics of Canada is also questioning why the field for potential sellers is thinning out, and questioned the method through which Shared Services is selecting the top vendors.
“We were being locked out of this process on an ongoing basis because of the mandatory requirements that Shared Services was putting in place,” said Hugh Ralph, director of direct sales with Sharp. “They had to do with the size and scale of your current existing business in Canada.”
In order to qualify as a seller, Shared Services now requires prospective sellers to have more than 45,000 commercial printers and photocopiers already in use in companies across Canada. Ralph said the requirement immediately narrowed the field down from 12 suppliers to two, although Shared Services said it is hoping to qualify a total of three bidders. In order to meet that number, the department needs to find three companies that can satisfy its demands.
When other potential suppliers asked how they can qualify under the strict quota, Ralph said they were told to partner with other sellers and submit a joint application to the government.
Canon and Sharp said a partnership would create a series of competitive problems between two companies that have traditionally found themselves bidding against one another for work.
The change in Shared Services’ procurement policy could also be the death knell for hundreds of smaller dealers who have been contracted by big multi-national companies like Canon and Sharp to sell, service and deliver their products in smaller towns and cities.
“Canada is a huge country and we have a direct presence in 10 or 12 locations, but all of the other cities and markets are covered by authorized dealers who help us install, service and market the products in those markets,” said Canon’s Yoshida. “These dealers will lose that business overnight.”
Shared Services Canada, created in 2011, was initially tasked with streamlining the government’s technology needs in a bid to simplify federal information systems and reduce costs. But it’s experienced a number of issues with core projects falling behind schedule and running over budget.


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Apsalar, an app ROI platform that helps mobile marketers drive growth, has announced that it has been named to the Pinterest Marketing Partners program.
Under the agreement, we’re told that Apsalar will be able to measure and attribute app installs and remarketing events driven by Pinterest.
Widely known as “the world’s catalog of ideas,” Pinterest enables users to discover new products, plan purchases and connect with brands in “uniquely enriching ways.”
The popular platform attracts more than 150 million unique users around the world every month.
The company says that by joining the Pinterest Marketing Partners program, Apsalar has further expanded its extensive measurement footprint, which includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google, and 1,000+ network and traffic source integrations.
“We’re proud to be among the first mobile app measurement partners for this highly influential property,” said Michael Oiknine, Apsalar Cofounder and CEO. “Advertisers are looking for lean-forward media opportunities to engage users deeply, and we look forward to helping our clients understand the business value of their Pinterest programs.”


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Boston Dynamics’ flagship Atlas humanoid robot picks up and places heavy automotive struts with ease in new footage.
In this latest demonstration of Atlas’ capabilities, the robot uses only its on-board sensors to detect the objects before using its grippers to pick up the struts from storage and insert them into a nearby flow cart. The footage also gives us a glimpse of the action from Atlas’ perspective.
Atlas — which Boston Dynamics describes as the “world’s most dynamic humanoid robot” — made its public debut in July 2013 and has been iterated upon over the years. The footage of Atlas handling automotive struts is the latest in a series of demonstrations, with previous footage showing Atlas running a.nd performing parkour.
Related: Robot hand exceptionally ‘human-like’ thanks to new 3D printing technique
Last year, the company released the first footage of Atlas using grippers to handle objects and deliver them to a human companion. Atlas also navigated elevated platforms by running and jumping, and even performed a backflip.
While handling struts isn’t as visually spectacular as these previous efforts, it demonstrates one of the most plausible real-world deployments of humanoid robots; working in factory and warehouse environments.
Since Boston Dynamics debuted Atlas more than 10 years ago, other companies including Tesla and Figure have launched their own humanoid robots designed to be deployed in industrial settings.
Tesla teased its Optimus Gen-2 robot in December 2023 by showing it walking, doing squats and handling delicate objects like eggs. In January, Figure also released promotional footage of its Figure 01 machine making coffee — having been trained using just 10 hours of footage. This latter footage was significant because it purported to show the robot using artificial intelligence (AI) to learn by watching humans perform certain tasks.
Boston Dynamics chief strategy officer Marc Theermann shared the Atlas video on LinkedIn and quipped that the team “considered making coffee or picking up an egg,” but instead decided to focus on “real world manipulation challenges.”


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A nationwide jelly bean shortage is hitting a Pittsburgh favorite.
Sarris Candies says it won't sell jelly beans at all for the Easter season as ingredients like pectin and starch become harder to find.
Two of the key ingredients used to make the jelly beans come from Ukraine, where there is currently a war going on with Russia.
Owner Bill Sarris tells the Big K Morning Show it's a pretty big hit to their Easter sales.
“We’re talking a couple hundred thousand pound of jelly beans, so that’s a lot of people that are going to have a little empty space in their Easter basket this year,” said Sarris
He says they tried to offer a different jelly bean last year, but customers were outraged.
“Our customers just went crazy, just weren’t happy, I mean it was the repercussions some not having our original jelly bean,” said Sarris.
Other companies like Just Born, the creator of Peeps, says they will not sell jelly beans this year either.


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Time challenge: how law firms can keep up with new business demands
Legal professionals are too busy to win new business, despite the average case value being almost £4,000, according to a new industry report.
A new industry report has surveyed 250 senior decision makers within UK law firms of all disciplines and revealed that 93 per cent of firms struggle to handle new inquiries due to lack of time and resource.
Compared with five years ago, the findings also state that 82 per cent of firms report an increase in inquiry volumes, 69 per cent of firms say it’s harder to generate new leads and 81 per cent spend more on marketing – despite only 49 per cent having an in-house marketing director or manager.
Fewer than 1 per cent of firms have enough people and processes in place to ensure they rarely miss a new inquiry. This just demonstrates that the biggest threat to growth is a lack of time. With many staff on furlough, layoffs likely and vast commercial pressures, firms simply can’t afford to miss out on new business leads.
84 per cent of firms report that more of these calls are happening out of hours than they were five years ago and 38 per cent of all legal calls are new leads. Encouragingly, 97 per cent of firms would try new technology to drive more inquiries.
Pull quote: ‘Now legal firms have many more channels of promotion than a decade ago….and sustaining growth is tough for the future…’
Nowadays, legal marketing is industry in its own right and firms have access to many more channels of promotion than they did a decade ago. Digital is a bigger, busier medium and unsurprisingly, 80 per cent of attorneys use social media for professional purposes.
However, it’s often argued that the sector is oversaturated and as a result, firms are having to put a lot more effort and creativity into generating new business. Sustaining growth is tough, and for an industry that has traditionally relied on word of mouth and referrals, ensuring new marketing channels deliver is a challenge.
38 per cent of law firms’ new leads turn into new clients or cases – many of which originate via the phone or company websites, so improving inquiry handling is an easy place to start. With the right outsourced technology in place and simple improvements to call handling, out of hours cover and live chat, firms can start to see a positive impact on marketing ROI – generating greater returns on each dollar spent, without any real impact on their in-house resource.
A copy of the report can be downloaded here.


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There has been a 20% year-on-year increase in scam reports during the last three months of 2019.
Among some of the more widespread scams are links to DVLA services that don’t exist, and messages about fake vehicle excise duty (VED) refunds, among other things that look “too good to be true”, the agency said.
“These websites and messages are designed to trick people into believing they can access services that simply don’t exist, such as removing penalty points from driving licences,” said DVLA CISO David Pope.
“All our tax refunds are generated automatically after a motorist has told us they have sold, scrapped or transferred their vehicle to someone else so we don’t ask for anyone to get in touch with us to claim their refund.
“We want to protect the public and if something seems too good to be true, then it almost certainly is. The only trusted source of DVLA information is Gov.uk,” said Pope.
“It’s also important to remember never to share images on social media that contain personal information, such as your driving licence and vehicle documents,” he added.
Those behind the scams have likely acquired details of their marks on dark web markets, where UK driver and vehicle documents can be found for sale. Anybody who thinks that they have been targeted, can contact the police via Action Fraud either by phone or through email.
A spokesperson for Action Fraud said that such scams often ticked up in the first couple of months of the year. This is because people are more likely to be under stress as they sort out their finances for the year ahead, and therefore can be more inclined to make mistakes or overlook something suspicious that they might more usually spot.
“Taking a couple of minutes to familiarise yourself with a few simple online safety tips can be significant in protecting yourself from becoming a victim of online fraud,” said an Action Fraud spokesperson.
“You should always be cautious when sharing personal information online and avoid being scammed by only using Gov.uk for government services online, such as the DVLA. If you believe you have been a victim of fraud, please report it to us,” they said.
The annual cost of fraud to the UK currently sits at well over £190bn, the problem is rapidly increasing, against both businesses and consumers.


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Stockholm, February 23, 2021 - Internet Vikings, a European global cloud hosting provider from Europe, has announced the launch of a cloud hosting platform in Singapore.
SoftSwiss Game Aggregator statistics further highlight that cryptocurrency is currently actively used by the whole world, with increasing interest in Canada, Russia, and Latin America.
Flexepin has jumped from the starting gates by signing on and launching with Ladbrokes and bet365 & inking deals w/ CrownBet & Betway Group.
1Click Games are proud to announce that it has received an approval and granted the GLI-19 compliance certificate by BMM Testlabs.
1Click Games has announced the launch of new online gaming site for FML, leading gaming operator in the Bahamas since 1999.
Trustly invites you to stand N7-261 to witness the latest payment technologies that are revolutionising iGaming.
Deal provides the Czech Republic’s market-leading lottery operator with a full turnkey sports betting solution.
Mediatech Solutions has reinforced its portfolio of games with the addition of the Virtual Sports offering from leading provider Global Bet.
Metric Gaming today announced a commercial agreement w/ Amaya for the provision of Metric’s pre-game, live and SuperLive golf pricing feeds.
In the Malaysia Warrior Bout main event, Malaysia’s own Ev “E.T.” Ting defeated the Philippines’ Eric “The Natural” Kelly by submission.


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With latest Android Kitkat 4.4 update available in the market, all the companies are trying to come up with the update. Micromax is one of the companies who are trying to bring the latest android version in lower segment. And this is the reason why the furnished Indian company has released the devices like Canvas Fire, Canvas gold and many more. With latest Kitkat android version, one can have smart contact list for which one don’t have to scroll down as he can easily find the contacts according to the priority numbers.
And now with just a phrase, “OK Google” one can launch voice searches. Even apart from that one can carry their important documents with integrated Google docs. These are the advantages which one has while using latest android kitkat 4.4 out of the box. [Continue reading]


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By Tim Krohn
Free Press Staff Writer
MANKATO — For the past year, the Greater Mankato Convention & Visitors Bureau has been working with a consultant to define the area’s strengths in attracting visitors and developing a brand, marketing vison and fresh logo.
The new logo of a multi-colored, stylized bicycle with a “Mankato Now Playing” tagline, is “the persona of being adventurous and active yet casual and relaxed, culturally engaging and most importantly welcoming and friendly,” said Anna Thill, CVB president.
The CVB also is launching its new organizational name of Visit Mankato with the new brand. The name change has been in the works for two years, but the board decided the best time to release the name was with the brand rollout.
Board Chairman JO Bailey said, “There has been an ongoing national trend of tourism organizations straying away from the ‘Convention & Visitors Bureau’ title as it is losing relevancy and increasingly not understood by tourists.”
Outside of convention and tournament goers, target audiences will include those looking for a wellness getaway, sports fan getaway, and/or a cultural getaway. “This new brand certainly gives us a license for fun. We are excited to finally share it and start measuring the difference it makes,” Thill said.
The CVB worked with consultant, Bill Baker of Total Destination Marketing to determine the refreshed brand. Baker spent time interviewing locals, hosting community forums, conducting surveys and speaking with non-locals who work with the community to determine the essence of the community’s strengths as a leisure destination. He also conducted a competitive analysis of Greater Mankato’s biggest competitors where tourism is concerned.
He determined that the essence of Greater Mankato is trails, culture and sports. Mankato has a competitive edge because it is well rounded with opportunities to be active and it can offer robust cultural and sporting activities, Thill said.
A new website will be launched in June and a brand launch video has been produced and will be made live on Visit Mankato’s YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/GreaterMankato).


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When Jack Abraham sat down to talk retail at Signifyd’s FLOW San Francisco, you knew you were going to get some interesting stories about the evolution of eBay, the early days of omnichannel and the founding story of digitally native darling Hims.
And he delivered. But more than that, through engaging storytelling, Abraham left attendees at Signifyd’s most recent FLOW event with an itemized list of how to succeed, not only in business but in the rapidly changing and highly competitive world of ecommerce.
Abraham founded Milo.com out of college as a ground-breaking online/in-store hybrid product search engine. It later became the foundation for eBay Local, a division he ran at age 24. He went on to leave eBay and launch start-up studio Atomic, birthplace of $1 billion men’s health retailer Hims. And he recently touched on the keys to launching and maintaining ecommerce success.
“If you take things that people are already doing, but they’re suffering through the process — there are a lot of steps, there is a lot of work that has to be done — and you can somehow reduce that to one or two steps, that is a recipe for innovation,” Abraham told 50-plus ecommerce execs gathered in the penthouse of The Battery in San Francisco.
It was the sort of advice that resonated with FLOW attendees, including representatives of Allbirds, Boardriders, Tophatter, Rothy’s, Build.com, Metallica, Purity Cosmetics and others. They gathered for an evening of drinks, dinner, networking and serious talk about the challenges and potential of retail in a time of upheaval.
It was also a night to recognize two FLOW award winners — home networking company eero and digital agency Blue Acorn iCi. Both were honored for their dedication to providing stellar customer experiences.
Find the pain and fix it
Abraham’s fireside chat with Signifyd Senior Vice President of Marketing and Alliances Indy Guha was peppered with insights, like the advice to find the pain and ease it. Clearly, it was part of the inspiration for Hims, but Abraham’s observation extends to the wider world of retail.
Think about shopping online or buying through an omnichannel process and consider all the places where things could be made easier for customers, where the customer experience could be improved. Fixing those things is a differentiator, a competitive advantage.
Abraham didn’t present his wisdom as a list, but as he traced his progression as entrepreneur, investor and mentor, the lessons Abraham learned were clear enough. And what better resource to offer them, then Abraham, who started working as a programmer at his father’s business when he was 13 years old. He went on to the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School, which he left in 2008 to start a company funded with an innovation prize from Wharton.
The company, by the way, was Milo, a digital site that cataloged the vast inventories of countless retailers to help online shoppers locate the products they wanted in brick-and-mortar stores. The company was ultimately purchased by eBay, where Abraham went on to lead eBay Local. He next founded Atomic, which has launched more than a dozen and a half companies, including Hims.
So yeah, Abraham is probably someone you might want to listen to. Which leads us to the six lessons that spilled out during his conversation at FLOW San Francisco.
Opportunities ride waves
Before starting Milo, Abraham was struck by how the internet (still relatively new in its commercial form) was changing things. It was a wave — a big one.
“Some of the biggest opportunities ride waves,” he told the FLOW crowd. The internet was changing expectations, particularly among consumers.”They’re going to want to buy it now,” he said. “They’re going to want instant gratification.” And so, why not give consumers a way to find what it is they want — right now?
Look for what has worked
So, you have an innovative idea. You want to change the way things are done. Now what?
“Some of the best businesses have a chicken-and-the-egg problem that is really difficult to solve at first,” he said. “It’s really difficult to get started.”
So, Abraham suggested, look at what has worked for others before. Find examples of successful businesses that you can learn from. And while Abraham was speaking specifically about starting a company, the same applies to making changes within a company — by, say, improving the customer experience a retailer provides or finding ways to cut costs or boost revenue.
When noodling with the Milo idea, Abraham studied travel aggregator Kayak. Kayak crawled travel sites and pulled together fares and rates for air travel and hotels. It brought everything together, so consumers didn’t need to have 15 browser tabs open to comparison shop. One would do. And the industry recognized the genius in what Kayak was doing.
“Study history,” Abraham said, “and what happened before.”
Be in the hero-making business
Milo had tons of data for all kinds of retailers. Eventually, many of those retailers came calling. Sure, they were curious about what Milo was up to, but they also liked what they were seeing. Milo was a channel. The site was leading to increased sales. When retail representatives would reach out, Milo would explain that they were providing backlinks and they’d demonstrate how they were driving sales. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?
“We would make that person a hero,” Abraham said. And by doing so, Milo would create advocates within retail organizations.
Behave like a startup
Abraham stressed the importance of being nimble and fleet. Hewing to tradition can be a recipe for disaster. Abraham said he’s seen many companies follow the path of having an idea, working to raise the money to support the idea, taking the time to build the idea and then taking the idea to market. It can take years, rendering an idea irrelevant or redundant. Instead, he said, begin pushing the product right away. Get buy-in. Or discover the market isn’t there.
“If you do that process, you can build something great, that people love,” he said.
It’s basically the start-up idea of start small, iterate, learn from failure and iterate again. But the notion isn’t restricted to new, up-and-coming companies. Large legacy retailers can practice the same nimble innovation. When eBay bought Milo, Abraham knew a lot was changing. eBay was more mature. It had more developed policies and processes.
“The culture of a startup — move fast and break things, grow quickly. I loved that. Once you become addicted to that, you become really addicted,” he said. “So at eBay, I thought, ‘What if I start starting things up again?’ At a big company, you can do that.”
Sometimes, it takes creativity. For one project that then-CEO John Donahoe handed Abraham, Abraham recruited a half-dozen people and flew them to Australia, where eBay had a location. “Ebay had an office in Sydney. I always wanted to go,” he said. “We got this great Airbnb and transformed it into an office.”
The startup feel was back.
Never stop thinking and watch the horizon
When Abraham left eBay to start Atomic, he had 250 ideas for new businesses. His challenge was narrowing it down to the best 10. The thing is, the next new thing is always out there — not necessarily waiting to be discovered, but waiting to be created.
“One of the big things that is going to continue in the world,” Abraham said, “is things that are happening in person, there will be a digital version.”
That was part of the inspiration for Hims, an Atomic company that he co-founded with Andrew Dudum. Again, find the pain and then find a way to make it go away.
Don’t avoid the contrarian view. Sure, digital advertising is taking over the world. Google AdWords, social shopping on Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. But Hims does a large portion of its advertising on traditional channels — television, radio, print and billboards, Abraham said. The difference in the supply and demand realities of digital and offline means that traditional media isn’t subject to the same upward cost pressures that digital advertising auctions bring.
“I actually think it’s a sustainable competitive advantage that not a lot of people have figured out,” Abraham said.
It’s still about the customer
A retailer can never lose sight of the customer, no matter the strategic initiatives it is focused on.
“The short answer,” Abraham said, “is find customers, keep them happy, check in with them, build affinity with them, so they really love you and are very happy.”
The long answer is, well, longer. Building customer loyalty is hard. Hims, for instance, had to find the right price point for its products. It looked for health aids that consumers would want to use repeatedly and over extended periods of time. It worked hard at customer support and iterated.
“You have to hire and train really good customer support staff and arm them with technology to make sure they’re doing a good job,” he said. Beyond that, he added, you need to consider how you can “use technology to help customers in a really meaningful way.” Abraham cited the example of sophisticated, artificial-intelligence-based customer support solutions that use chatbots and human intervention to get customers what they need.
Getting customers what they need, of course, is a relentless focus of everyone who was in the FLOW audience. FLOW goers work constantly on finding new and better ways to make buying experiences more efficient, effective and enjoyable. After spending an evening with Atomic’s Jack Abraham it’s a good bet that they are better prepared to do just that.
Photos by Colson Griffith Photography


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UN: Health Activists Ask UNICEF to Dump McDonald's
An international coalition of public-health professionals and activists has asked the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to stop "lending its good name and endorsement to McDonald's" and cancel its participation with the fast-food giant in 'World Children's Day' on November 20.
The request, which came in the form of a letter sent Wednesday to UNICEF's executive director, Carol Bellamy, charged that McDonald's "is a global leader in the marketing of junk food that is creating soaring rates of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes, and that is disrupting traditional ways of food preparation in families and cultures."
"It is truly a challenge to see how this partnership with McDonald's is consistent with UNICEF's claim to promote 'good nutrition' to the world's children," according to the letter, which was signed by some 75 public-health and consumer advocates, including Jill Claybrook, the head of Public Citizen, several board members of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Michael Jacobsen, executive director of the Center for
Science in Public Interest.
UNICEF and McDonald's announced on July 19, 'World Children's Day' to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) and UNICEF programs in a dozen countries. RMHC has awarded more than US$320 million in grants for children's health over the past two decades, including $5 million to UNICEF last year for the agency's maternal and neonatal tetanus programs in 57 countries.
McDonald's Chairman, Jack Greenberg, met with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has strongly encouraged such "public-private partnerships" to support children and other global initiatives.
On November 20--the anniversary of the U.N. adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989--McDonald's 30,000 restaurants in 121 countries are supposed to organize activities and promotions designed to raise money and public support for local children's organizations, as well as RMHC and UNICEF operations.
Among examples cited by McDonald's will be the distribution in October of 20 million traditional orange "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" collection boxes for U.S. children who go door-to-door on Halloween. In China, the two sponsors will run the country's first-ever online concert, access to which will be given away to customers who buy a Big Mac on November 20. A portion of the sales will go to UNICEF.
But the letter, which was organized by Portland Oregon-based Commercial Alert, argues that the U.N. agency, whose main purpose is to promote children's health and well-being, should not be seen as endorsing McDonalds' operations.
"McDonald's," according to the letter, "is responsible for multi-million dollar ad campaigns that prod children to nag, whine and throw tantrums so that their parents will consent to buy them junk food."
"It is not the proper role of UNICEF to endorse or serve as enabler for corporate activities of this kind," the letter declares.
The fast-food restaurant chain, the world's largest by far, serves some 46 million people daily around the world. Its "golden arches" are one of the world's most recognized commercial logos.
Speaking about the fundraising event on Thursday, McDonald's spokesperson Lisa Howard said that the company's only objective is to help children, citing 50 years of giving back to communities and working with numerous organizations in support of families and children everywhere.
Howard also added that Commercial Alert's criticism of the unhealthiness of McDonald's food was unfounded.
"We provide a full menu of choice and variety, and serve wholesome and nutritious options--chicken, bread, potatoes, beef, salad, milk, juice and other basic foods that come from many of the same trusted suppliers that stock grocery store shelves and home pantries. Unfortunately this group is absolutely ignorant about our principles, and our long-standing commitment to the health and well-being of children," she said.
Telephone requests by OneWorld for comment by UNICEF were not returned.
- 101 Alliance for a Corporate-Free UN