text:
Local Kickers distributor apologize for ‘halal’ label
The Jakarta Post
The local distributor of Kickers footwear, PT Mahkota Petriedo, apologized for labeling its products as “halal” despite some being made with pig skin. The company claimed to have recalled its products from the market in November.
“We admitted that it was a mistake and we apologize. All products were recalled on Nov. 1 2012,” the company’s lawyer, Ikhsan Abdullah, said on Tuesday a...
- Sandiaga Uno to establish sharia tourism zone in Jakarta
- Obama, entourage arrive in Yogyakarta
- Dead woman found near elephant cage at Ragunan Zoo
- Govt should think twice about military aid for Philippines: Expert
- Myanmar journalists charged, held in jail for covering armed group
- Model Miranda Kerr turns in $8.1m in jewelry tied to Malaysia scandal
- Soekarno-Hatta expects 5m airline passengers over Idul Fitri
- Death toll in Marawi could rise 'significantly': Military
- Palace denies President and Vice President to get salary increases
- Hot air balloons cause blackout in Central Java


text:
OnePlus 8 Pro users in global markets have received a new OxygenOS update that has “inadvertently” disabled the Color Filter camera that was recently found to have “see-through” capabilities for some materials. The new software version, which appears as OxygenOS 10.5.9, comes days after the company disabled the Color Filter camera through an update specifically meant for the OnePlus 8 Pro users in China. In other news, British carmaker McLaren has confirmed that it's longer in partnership with OnePlus. Both companies had collaborated to launch special edition smartphones in the past.
The latest OxygenOS update that has been pushed to markets including the US and Europe has disabled the Color Filter camera. The changelog, as shared by XDA Developers, shows that the update temporarily removes the Photochrome filter. It also mentions that the feature would come back around June.
Earlier this month, OnePlus provided an HydrogenOS update for the OnePlus 8 Pro users in China to disable the fourth camera sensor as a result of criticism emerged due to its see-through capabilities. The company at that time mentioned through an official forum post that the update is only meant for Chinese users, and there are no plans to bring a similar change for its global users through an OxygenOS update.
However, OnePlus has now offered the identical change to its global users through the OxygenOS 10.5.9 update.
Re-enabling planned as well
In response to global users asking about disabling the Color Filter camera through the latest update, OnePlus said in its forums that the latest update “inadvertently went out to a limited number of devices” and the filter will be re-enabled in the next update. This means that until the next update, users won't be able to use the fourth camera on the OnePlus 8 Pro that was meant to enhance photos by adding lighting effects and filters.
So, things are clear. If you don't want to lose what OnePlus has provided through the Color Filter camera, you shouldn't install OxygenOS 10.5.9 on your OnePlus 8 Pro. But if you're concerned with how the additional camera can be used to provide you a little enhanced visibility for seeing through some objects, especially the ones that don't have infrared shielding, you can go ahead and download the latest update.
It is important to highlight that the OnePlus 8 Pro has not yet been made available for purchase in India. The phone was planned to go on sale starting May 29, but the company had to postpone its earlier schedule — perhaps due to the sudden suspension of the Oppo manufacturing plant in Greater Noida, after six workers tested COVID-19 positive.
No more McLaren devices?
Alongside providing the inadvertent update for the OnePlus 8 Pro devices in global markets, OnePlus is in the headlines for ending its partnership with McLaren. Some reports highlighted the development after noticing the disappearance of OnePlus's name from the McLaren's Partners page last week. However, the carmaker has now reportedly confirmed the development.
In a statement to Android Authority, McLaren said that the partnership with OnePlus has reached its “scheduled conclusion” — suggesting the end of McLaren edition OnePlus phones. “Since the start of this partnership in 2018, OnePlus has been a supportive, valued partner and we wish them well and hope to see them in the future,” the company said, as quoted by the Android-focussed blog.
Will OnePlus 8 series be able to take on iPhone SE (2020), Samsung Galaxy S20 in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

domain: news


text:
The UK’s energy system isn’t prepared for the growing number of consumers choosing to buy small scale energy technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs), according to a new report by think tank Green Alliance.
It warns that without change, just six electric cars charging in close proximity at peak time could overload the grid and disrupt the local power supply.
The report says that in California, smart EV charging infrastructure (where EV owners are encouraged to charge their vehicles off-peak) has been used to keep the lights on at peak times, and given that 40% of drivers would consider buying an EV, the UK should follow California’s lead.
Brian Tilley, head of policy development at E.ON, said: “A new energy world is emerging; more decentralised, more flexible. We’ve adapted our business and now we believe the way the system is governed needs to adapt too. That’s why we welcome this report from the Green Alliance and applaud them in not only asking the right question but also in coming up with answers that point us in the right direction.


text:
CNET and GameSpot have teamed up.
The "next-generation" game consoles are here -- but until their game library hits critical mass, the
Iris charges $10 per month for full system functionality, making it difficult to recommend over fee-free competitors like SmartThings, iSmartAlarm, or Insteon.
Pricing not available
Gil Amelio was a highly regarded tech executive. But his ouster as CEO paved the way for the return of Apple's prodigal son, Steve Jobs.
Struggling electronics retailer announces departure of two key executives while warning that its upcoming third-quarter results will be "significantly below" last year's.
Listening to users' demands, the video service launches a way to organize, flag, and moderate comments from one single page.
New CEO Don Mattrick is said to be holding an all-hands meeting Tuesday to address the executive shuffle and his vision for the company.
Dick Costolo outlines four objectives for 2014, two of which represent major deviations from the status quo.
Wall Street analysts are weighing in on yesterday's Apple's management shuffle. The consensus? Don't panic.
Amazon is rolling its Lovefilm Instant streaming service into its Prime free one-day delivery service, for £79 per year.
The new Jawbone Up is comfortable and durable, but limited support means this gadget won't make sense for many phone users.
AT&T's head honcho teases lower priced plans and different offers in the pre-paid arena.


text:
By Christian Zibreg on Jan 26, 2016
Barclays, a large British multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in London, has confirmed that it will be rolling out support for Apple Pay sometime in late March.
In an email dated January 12 and sent to customer Oli Foster-Burnell, a copy of which was shared on Twitter and obtained by Engadget, Barclays CEO of Personal and Corporate Banking Ashok Vaswani said they will launch Apple Pay “within the next 60 to 75 days”. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Jul 14, 2015
As promised, Apple Pay has officially launched today in the United Kingdom. While the service is accepted virtually anywhere there’s NFC, only cards issued by US, and now UK banks, can be added to Apple Pay for the time being.
According to Apple’s website, the contactless mobile payment solution is supported across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland via cards from American Express, First Direct, HSBC, Nationwide, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Ulster Bank.
According to The Telegraph, UK users can now pay with Apple Pay at more than 250,000 points of sale throughout the country, including Waitrose and London’s transportation networks. Read More


text:
MENA based companies BEL Group and Zenith Media, have produced and bought the world’s first Non-Fungible-Token (NFT) for the podcast, Maida, at an undisclosed amount. The 10-part podcast called Maida was minted on Opensea, the largest digital marketplace for crypto collectibles and NFT’s, as a collection of individual episodes. BEL Group now has full ownership.
A non-fungible-token (NFT), is a non-replaceable asset that resides in the blockchain of the cryptocurrency. Essentially becoming a unique digital signature backed by blockchain technology that proves full ownership.
Speaking for Zenith Media, Media Manager Sarah Kanaan says “Maida was a great success. But as the format is non-tangible and has been downloaded by thousands of people, we needed a modern way to claim full ownership of each audio episode. NFT was the perfect match.”
Maida is a branded podcast for Kiri cheese, which is part of the BEL Group. Launched in 2021, it has been a huge commercial success ranking #1 in the art and food podcast category across MENA and featured by Apple Podcasts as a ‘New and Noteworthy’
Next Broadcast Media (the specialized Middle East audio ad supplier) and SOWT Media (a MENA podcast producer), were behind turning the success of Maida into a digital NFT asset.
Creating non-fungible-tokens for audio content is gaining traction among music artists such as Kings of Leon and Grimes, but this is the first branded podcast NFT.
Ramsey Tesdell, CEO for SOWT Media, adds “Providing the episodes of the podcast as NFT’s allows us to explore the future of media and what digital artworks will represent. We’re happy to see Maida be the first podcast in the world to be minted as an NFT.”
“Audio is booming everywhere, particularly in the Middle East, much like NFT’s. As we continue to create more audio campaigns for MENA brands, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more non-fungible-tokens created out of them. The brand value is huge. They can use them for charitable causes or create special perks, experiences, or features for fans owning a token.” says Lemya Soltani, Partnerships Director at Next Broadcast Media.
While the first to do it for the branded podcast format, this latest move by BEL Group, is part of many leading businesses using Smart-contacts, Blockchain technology, and the NFT trend for business purposes.


text:
Swedish slots specialist Quickspin, part of the Playtech Group, has launched its latest player loyalty tool, Quickspin Challenges.
A customer retention tool available to operators, Challenges creates an additional level of game-play on top of Quickspin’s existing slot titles.
Engaging and immersive, Challenges is a mini-game displayed overlaid on each slot, with the extra level of game-play fuelled by the outcome of spins from the main game.
The player must aim to guide an in-play character through a maze to a final prize, enabling participants to unlock prizes as the path through the maze is generated.
Daniel Lindberg, CEO of Quickspin, said: “We are absolutely delighted to launch Quickspin Challenges. We’ve designed the retention tool to offer some extra excitement with our slots and hope that it will give our players the chance to enjoy playing them that extra bit more.
“Challenges will add another layer of entertainment on top of your usual gaming experience. Gamification is the future of our industry, and we’re proud to be at the forefront of this trend. Stay tuned for lots more exciting developments from us in 2019.”
Challenges has so far been launched on Quickspin titles Dwarfs Gone Wild and Goldilocks and will soon be available on all the developer’s games.
Founded in 2011, the company was acquired by Playtech in March 2016. The developer is licensed in multiple jurisdictions.


text:
The Federal Reserve finally appears poised to deliver the interest-rate increase U.S. corporations and the financial markets have been waiting for all year.
Ironically, though, doing the very thing so many voices have clamored for could eventually bring the central bank into sharp conflict with Donald J. Trump after the businessman takes office as the nation’s 45th president in January.
As Akin Oyedele noted in a Business Insider report, Trump’s plan for substantial spending to repair the nation’s infrastructure could cause inflation to rise more quickly than it otherwise would. If that occurs, the Fed’s response probably would be to increase the pace of interest-rate increases.
If it does, says Luke Bartholomew, a fixed-income investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, "there’s a good chance that Trump might view that as an attempt to undermine his plan, given how hostile he’s been towards the central bank. That could lead to a showdown between president and central bank, which financial markets would not take kindly," Bartholomew said in an interview with Business Insider.
After Friday’s jobs report — 178,000 new positions and an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent (even if people leaving the job market helped to push the rate down) — investors are more convinced than they have been all year that the central bank’s policy-making committee will approve at least a modest rate increase at its Dec. 13-14 meeting.
Reuters said the chances of a rate hike were put at 95 percent after the jobs report, based on the CME Group’s FedWatch tool. The Fed would be taking the step despite the way worker pay has languished in the years since the Great Recession ended.
"I think at 4.6 percent people have to question at what point are we going to see those wage increases," Heidi Learner, chief economist at Savills Studley in New York, told Reuters.
Average hourly earnings fell 0.1 percent in November after rising 0.4 percent the previous month, the Labor Department said in the jobs report.
Nonetheless, consumer confidence has been climbing. The Conference Board said last week that its Consumer Confidence Index for November rose to 107.1, its highest level since July 2007.
“Consumer confidence improved in November after a moderate decline in October, and is once again at pre-recession levels,” Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, said in a statement.
“A more favorable assessment of current conditions, coupled with a more optimistic short-term outlook, helped boost confidence. And while the majority of consumers were surveyed before the presidential election, it appears from the small sample of post-election responses that consumers’ optimism was not impacted by the outcome. With the holiday season upon us, a more confident consumer should be welcome news for retailers.”
Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont, told MarketWatch that there is a natural increase in optimism after an election.
“This campaign was so acrimonious that having the election over may have had people feeling better,” he said.
Consumers were certainly buying cars and trucks in November. Buoyed by sizable discounts, auto sales rose 3.7 percent for the month, to an annualized rate of 17.9 million. Autodata said trucks and sport utility vehicles were 59 percent of new-vehicle sales in November, up from 55 percent a year earlier.
Reuters said the results left the industry within reach of its annual sales record, which occurred in 2015.
“All economic indicators show significantly improved optimism about the U.S. economy, including consumer and business sentiment, which continue to drive a very healthy U.S. auto industry,” Mustafa Mohatarem, chief economist at General Motors, told Reuters. “We believe the U.S. auto industry is well positioned for sales to continue at or near record levels into 2017.”
Today we will see reports on factory orders for October and third-quarter productivity. On Wednesday the Fed will issue its report on consumer credit for October, and on Friday the University of Michigan will release its preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index for December.
Like the Conference Board’s index, the University of Michigan reading has been trending upward, and the fresh report will tell us more about how consumers are responding to Trump’s election victory.
As the Associated Press reported, the November jobs report shows that Trump is going to inherit the kind of economy that frustrated Barack Obama. Hiring is steady, and the jobless rate is low, but it’s declining, in part, because some of those who are out of work have given up and stopped looking for a job.
Trump’s administration will be challenged to extend the benefits of job growth to include many of those who feel left out.
"With the unemployment rate this low and wages rising, now is the real test of whether a stronger economy can bring people back into the job market," Jed Kolko, chief economist at job hunting website Indeed, told AP.


text:
Tax breaks approved for ex-Bloomington alderman’s downtown rehab plans
BLOOMINGTON (WEEK) - The Bloomington City Council has signed off on a deal offering tax breaks for a former alderman who wants to expand his downtown business and create space for two other retailers.
The council voted unanimously Monday night for an agreement in which local tax incentives would fund approximately 17% of Jamie Mathy’s project.
The former alderman and his wife plan to move their business, Red Raccoon Games, next door to the unoccupied Main Street Plaza and rent space for two other businesses, which must be new to the city for Mathy to receive the incentives.
Mathy would get back 50% of local sales taxes generated from his board game store, and all sales taxes from the two other stores that move there. Mathy would also receive all of the city’s portion of property taxes generated by the redeveloped property. The rebates will stop at $196,900, or after six years, whichever comes first.
Mathy’s name wasn’t mentioned during the council’s discussion, but Alderwoman Donna Boelen indicated she has some reservations about the deal.
“I’m not comfortable with the 100% rebate on a retail store for six years,” Boelen said. Still, she voted for package.
Mathy plans to invest $1.6 million for the project that aims to breathe new life in a building that has been vacant for about 14 years.
Copyright 2022 WEEK. All rights reserved.


text:
- September 8, 2022
- Posted by: Charles Yeboah Nixon
- Categories: Banking and Finance, Economics, Finance
The world economy saw an unusual combination of falling Gross Domestic Product (GDP) set against high and rising inflation in the second quarter of 2022 as supply-shocks and ongoing pandemic related disruptions blighted the recovery.
According to Fitch Ratings, falling activity and rapidly rising prices in the second quarter of 2022 highlight the risks of a stagflation environment emerging in the medium-term.
Real GDP fell in sequential quarter-on-quarter (q/q) terms in Quarter 2 2022 (2Q22) in the US, China, UK and Poland and is also estimated to have fallen quarter-on-quarter in Russia and India as highlighted in Fitch’s August “20/20 Vision” chart pack.
This reflected a variety of factors including pandemic lockdown restrictions in China, inventory dynamics related to earlier supply-chain disruptions in the US and the broader impact of supply-shocks and inflation pressure stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war.
While not all of the Fitch 20 countries have yet reported 2Q22 GDP outturns, it is highly likely that world GDP fell, given the weight of the US and China in the global GDP aggregate.
Global CPI inflation rose further in 2Q22 despite having started the quarter at already highly elevated levels – and monthly data show pressures continuing to intensify into 3Q22.
Inflation is not far from double-digits in the US and the eurozone; it recently breached 10% in the UK.
Fitch’s bi-monthly “20/20 Vision” chart pack covers the 20 major economies that are the focus of Fitch’s Economics team’s global macro analysis.
It plots five years of high frequency economic data for 20 variables, with consistent coverage across each country.


text:
AT&T Wireless reports surge in quarterly profit
Sun | Business
SEATTLE -- AT&T Wireless Inc. reported quarterly profits Wednesday that surged past analysts' expectations as the wireless telecommunications company added nearly half a million customers in the slowing market.
For the April-June quarter, the Redmond, Wash.-based company reported a profit of $222 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with $19 million, or 1 cent a share, for the year-ago period.
The company also announced revenue of $4.16 billion, up 6.3 percent from $3.91 billion last year. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call projected earnings of 4 cents a share on revenue of $4.05 billion.
Shares of AT&T Wireless closed down 9 cents to $7.80 a share in trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The earnings report, released after the market closed, sent shares up 45 cents, or 5.7 percent, in extended trading.
John McCabe, AT&T Wireless chief financial officer, credited the company's successful quarter to adding customers and managing expenses. In recent months, AT&T Wireless has been brokering deals with other carriers to reduce the costs it pays when customers travel outside AT&T Wireless' network and "roam" onto other carriers' networks.


text:
PARIS (Reuters) - French electrical gear maker Schneider Electric (SCHN.PA) confirmed on Monday it was in talks with potential buyers for its sensors unit CST, following a newspaper report saying it could reap up to $900 million from a deal.
According to French daily Les Echos, Schneider is in exclusive talks with funds Carlyle and PAI Partners over a sale in which it would retain a 30 percent stake in the unit.
“I can confirm that Schneider is in talks with potential buyers,” a company spokesman said, declining to give more details.
Nobody could immediately be reached for comment at Carlyle and PAI Partners.
Reporting by Natalie Huet and Matthieu Protard; Editing by Lionel Laurent


text:
After the Apple iPhone XS, XS Max and XR failed to make a mark in the market; Apple looks forward to taking the market in a swoop with its new upcoming iPhone 11 which brings back the much-loved features to reignite the interest of the customers.
The new iPhone 11 boasts of the triple camera coupled with flash, bezel-less display, and in-display fingerprint reader. It is expected that the company will come out with three different sizes just like the 2018 lineup. Additionally, Apple pencil support could also be added.
Next-gen iPhone is expected to arrive without the 3D touch feature which was a significant game-changer for the previous versions of the smartphone. Apple might also reduce the in-display notch to give its users a better screen to body ratio. Obviously, we can expect a better A13 SOC, with would improve the performance of the new flagship by leaps and bound and a faster LTE modem to enable seamless networking and hopefully improved battery life consumption.
In order to cut cost, Apple is considering to replace the face unlock feature (Rumor), which failed to impress its users, with the all-new in-display touch ID because no matter how good and optimized your face unlock is, there are undoubtedly times when it is more convenient to unlock your device with your fingerprint. While in-display touch ID sensors seem to be slow as compared to physical touch ID sensors, Apple claims to use Ultrasonic reader which is supposed to be as fast and accurate as the physical touch ID and also more secure.


text:
Berkshire Hathaway's year-to-date gains were misstated previously in this article. It has been updated.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK.A, +3.01% sold shares in International Business Machines Corp. IBM, +1.33% in the latest quarter and bought more stock in Apple Inc. AAPL, +0.62% while opening a new position in Bank of America Corp. BAC, +1.07% In a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Warren Buffett's investment firm disclosed that it sold about one-third of its IBM stake, more than 17 million shares, and purchased about 3.9 million Apple shares, which gives Berkshire more than 134 million shares of the iPhone maker in total. Berkshire bought 679 million shares in Bank of America while slightly cutting its stake in Wells Fargo & Co. Berkshire Hathaway stock has gained about 11.6% so far this year, while the S&P 500 index SPX, +1.32% has added 15.5%.
Have breaking news sent to your inbox. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Bulletin emails. Sign up here.


text:
Norway and the A-ha moment that made electric cars the answer
The country fuelled by hydropower has fast become the world’s electric vehicle leader. "It still has some way to go, but the country looks on course to meet a government target – set in 2016, with full cross-party parliamentary support – of phasing out the sale of all new fossil-fuel based cars and light commercial vehicles by 2025." Jon Henley and Elisabeth Ulven, writing in the Guardian, report.
From The Guardian


text:
Xiaomi is back in Brazil, or nearly so. In fact DL, a company hitherto focused on the computer and tablet market. has entered into a partnership with Xiaomi and will represent the company in Brazil. DL's focus is on developing the Brazilian market as a whole, reaching new audiences, which goes far beyond Mi fans – who are already used to buying cheaper directly from China.
We were at the launch event, and in this video we will talk about the backstage of this return, the company's challenges, Brazil cost, gray market, local manufacturing and about the recently launched Xiaomi model store in São Paulo. Jacson Boeing (@jacsonboeing), who talks about the difficulty of developing the business locally having to face friendly fire, with sellers in the Free Market and Amazon Marketplace selling the smartphones much cheaper than on official channels.


text:
Start the conversation
Citigroup Ponders Reverse Stock Split; Goldman-led Group Makes Offer to USJ; GE Capital Finance Expects 2009 Profit; India Inflation at Two-Decade Low; Leading Indicators Drop; U.S. Throws Auto Parts Makers $5 Billion Lifeline; Microsoft Still Wants Yahoo; Cisco Buys Flip Video Maker
- Citigroup Inc. (C) floated the idea of a reverse stock split – ranging from 1-for-2 and 1-for-30, Reuters reported. Reverse splits are often used to pump up low share prices by reducing the number of outstanding shares. The split could take pace before June 30, 2010, Citigroup said.
- A group of investors led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GSC) offered 111.2 billion yen ($1.2 billion) to take over Japan’s USJ Co., which operates Universal Studios theme park in Japan, Bloomberg reported. The group’s offer is more than 23% of the stock’s Wednesday closing price in Tokyo. It would also increase Goldman’s stake in USJ to 61.2%.
- General Electric Co. (GE) said it expects its GE Capital finance unit to turn a profit in 2009, Reuters reported. The company also said that in the worst-case scenario, it still wouldn’t need to raise capital, Reuters reported.
- Investors are expecting India’s central bank to cut interest rates, as the emerging market’s inflation has slowed to at least a two-decade low. Wholesale prices rose 0.44% in the week to March 7 after gaining 2.43% the previous week. “Inflation will turn negative starting from April and will remain so until the end of 2009,” Tushar Poddar, an economist with Goldman Sachs Inc. in Mumbai, told Bloomberg. “We expect the Reserve Bank to ease liquidity” to support growth.
- The Conference Board’s index of leading indicators fell 0.4 percent in February, less than forecast, Bloomberg reported. The widely watched gauge of the economy’s direction over the next three to six months was forecast to drop 0.6 percent, according to projections of 60 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Four of the 10 indicators in the report subtracted from the index, led by a jump in weekly jobless claims.
- The Obama administration pledged up to $5 billion yesterday (Thursday) in U.S. Treasury aid to auto supply parts makers to avoid a collapse that would cripple the domestic industry, including federally funded General Motors Corp. (GM) and The program is designed to maintain a reliable network of parts to auto companies and ensure that suppliers get paid. Suppliers will get a guarantee that money owed them for products will be paid, regardless of what happens to car companies, Reuters reported.
- Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) chief executive Steve Ballmer raised the possibility of renewed merger talks with Yahoo Inc.(YHOO) yesterday (Thursday) and said he is holding out hopes for further talks, Reuters reported. "Unless I'm fooling myself, over time I would expect a there's a good opportunity for a deal," Ballmer said in response to a question from the moderator about the likelihood of such a partnership, at the McGraw-Hill (MHP) Media Summit in New York.
- Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), the world's largest maker of communications networking equipment will pay $590 million in stock to purchase all of privately held Pure Digital's Technologies Reuters reported. Pure Digital, whose pocket-sized Flip Video camcorders let people quickly make and share videos on the Web, has sold more than 2 million units in the United States so far, Cisco said. The deal comes as Cisco seeks to expand in the consumer market amid a slowdown in its traditional routers and switches business.


text:
Topic: Luxury Travel News
Following Grimmett’s departure, several senior executives will lead Travel Leader Group’s luxury brands. Here's what you need to know.
Several hotels, in Rhode Island, Mexico and Peru have added new culinary executives, while a resort in Florida appointed a new general manager.
Hendley has been with American Express for more than 20 years. Here's what you need to know.
Travel industry leaders have weighed in with criticism regarding Hilton’s decision to cut group commissions at its properties in the United States and Canada. Here’s what they had to say.
Bürgenstock, Two Roads Hospitality and South African Airways have added various management roles, while Andaz and St. Regis bolstered their culinary teams.
Slated to open in 2020, the Bulgari Hotel Paris will offer 76 rooms on Avenue George V in the heart of the Golden Triangle.
The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscane and Loews Ventana Canyon Resort have added to its sales teams, while Nobu House added three to its management team. Here's more.
The much buzzed-about Lodge at Feline Fields in Botswana has just introduced its new luxury mobile camp in Mababe Marshes and here's our report.
The former chairman and co-founder of Virtuoso, Jesse Upchurch, passed away on February 26 after a career in travel that spanned more than 50 years.
Marriott International will cut group commissions from 10 to 7 percent as of March 31. We want to know how you think the change will affect your business.


text:
While Research In Motion has steadily been losing top smartphone manufacturer claims in markets across the world, the BlackBerry remained the top smartphone in here in Canada perhaps due to our loyalty to the Canadian company. But desipte remaining on top, its market share has been sliding. Bloomberg now reports that the slide shows no signs of stopping and Research In Motion has at last been dethroned as the top Canadian smartphone manufacturer.
Data compiled by IDC and Bloomberg shows that RIM shipped 2.08 million BlackBerry devices last year in Canada. Apple, the new leader, shipped 2.85 million iPhones in the same period. While Canada accounts for only 7% of RIM’s revenues, the defeat is likely to be a psychological blow. “For RIM, in its home market, to lose that No. 1 position to iPhone is strategically important,” said Paul Taylor, a fund manager with BMO Harris Private Banking. “It does identify, even with a home-country bias, how consumers are responding to the greater functionality of the iPhone.”
It has been an ugly fall for RIM. In 2008, RIM sold nearly five BlackBerry devices for each iPhone Apple sold. By the end of 2010, that had shrunk to a 500,000 unit lead.
RIM’s hopes are now pinned on the upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system. New devices are not expected until the latter part of the year but RIM will showcase BlackBerry 10 at its upcoming BlackBerry World taking place from May 1st to 3rd in Orlando.
Read more: Bloomberg


text:
Decrypt’s Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub.
In 2021, crypto exchanges chose a new marketing battleground: professional sports. Binance, Coinbase, Crypto.com, and FTX all inked multiple sports sponsorship deals—but none of them went in quite as aggressively as FTX.
In the span of eight months, FTX signed deals with the Miami Heat (for stadium naming rights), Major League Baseball (official crypto exchange, including an FTX logo patch on every umpire's uniform), the Golden State Warriors (international rights), the Washington Wizards and Capitals (official crypto exchange and NFT partner), and giant esports team TSM (naming rights).
The Heat deal in particular raised eyebrows, especially after FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (known to all in cryptoland as SBF) declared on a panel at the Ethereal Virtual Summit last May that he could happily pay off the 19-year, $135 million commitment upfront if needed: "Without going into the details, it's been a pretty good year for us. To the point where, frankly, we don't need to rely on the other 18 years to have the funds for this."
So: is the sports marketing push working? SBF says it is—anecdotally, at least.
"Everyone we talk to who knows us a little bit, or a lot, or barely, or intimately, this is top of mind for them," he said on the first episode of Decrypt's gm podcast. "Clearly this has penetrated more than everything else we've done combined, in terms of people's perception of us. Not in terms of installs per dollar spent, though. So if that's what you're maximizing for, I don't necessarily want to vouch for it."
SBF acknowledges he doesn't have the data yet to prove that the marketing is directly leading to customer acquisition.
"If you measure it by something like downloads per dollar spent on advertising, it's not going to come out well, it's just not going to look good by that metric," he said. "That's not the metric that it's aiming to look good by. It's aiming to look good by a different metric. And what's the most compelling evidence that I can bring about the impact that it's had on our business? There are some statistics we have, but I think it was maybe a much more direct response: in the last five minutes, new evidence has been brought to my attention that this has had a really big impact. And that evidence is you deciding it was important to ask me about it."
Of course, if SBF thinks that sports marketing is working for his company, he must figure it's working for his competitors too. In November, Crypto.com spent an eye-popping $700 million to slap its name on an even more prominent NBA arena, the home of the L.A. Lakers. And Coinbase made a huge NBA play to be the “exclusive cryptocurrency platform partner” of the NBA and WNBA. Game on.
Listen and subscribe to the gm podcast wherever you get your podcasts.


text:
Mastercard Expands Bill Pay Exchange Partners
(RTTNews) - Mastercard (MA) said Sunday that it is working with several new partners, including ConEd, to roll out Mastercard Bill Pay Exchange. The consumers could pay their bills either with cards, real-time payments or from their bank account, and receive confirmation of payment all within their banking app or website.
Avidia Bank, Aliaswire Inc., OSG Billing Services and Transactis will be among the first to offer Bill Pay Exchange to their customers, Mastercard said in a statement.
Mastercard rolled out Bill Pay Exchange to make it easier for consumers to view, manage and pay telecom, utility, rent, credit card, mortgage and other personal bills without having to set up accounts with different billers, remember multiple passwords, and log in to multiple websites.
Billers will have the option to accept cards, real-time payments, or traditional bank account payments as they do on their own websites.
Mastercard noted that it will test the solution with eight other partners, including Best Digital Solutions, Inlet, Nordis Technologies, Papaya, Payrailz, Plastiq, RR Donnelley (RRD), and Synapse to make the solution available for consumers.
SHARE THIS POST
your MARKET VIEW
Your Personalized Market Center


text:
The holidays and retail shopping go together like hot chocolate and marshmallows. But recent trends have not been kind to retailers. We read about the impending death of retail channels nearly every day. We’re told that brick and mortars retail is in a steep decline, that consumers are buying everything online, and that wise investors and nostalgic shoppers alike should say goodbye to once-beloved retail institutions.
But is this the whole truth?
While it’s true that retail has been in general decline, some retailers have managed to buck the trend and grown stronger even as others are withering away. To understand the difference, we can compare two retail companies: the highly successful Walmart and the seemingly doomed Sears.
The Sears Model
For consumers today the decline of Sears may not seem surprising, but it’s important to remember how dominant Sears once was. Its status as a pioneer of mail-order retailing was as big a game changer in its day as Amazon.com has been in recent years.
Before there was Amazon.com, there was the Sears catalog. Founded as a mail-order watch company in the late 19th century, Sears, Roebuck and Company made its name with its swollen, jam-packed catalogs that advertised everything from underwear to entire house kits. Around the holidays, families across the country would circle items in its legendary “Wish Book.”
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Sears succeeded by embracing market transformations. The store became a fixture of the shopping malls that sprouted up throughout suburban America. The key to Sears’ early dominance was tenaciousness, innovation, and a willingness to carry everything from the appliances within a home to the home itself.
So the decline of Sears shouldn’t be seen as simply the fall of another retail chain, but as the fall of a company with incredible financial power and a history of tremendous innovation behind it. That being said, things have clearly changed. The Sears situation is getting so bad that some are wondering if this year will be Sears’ last holiday season.
Inability to Specialize
The decline began when Sears entered the financial services sector. While this expansion included the start of successful brands like Allstate and the Discover Card, it also destabilized the company’s foundations. These successful launches were also matched by failures such as the early online portal Prodigy.
Whereas previous Sears projects had been marked by commitment, in later years even successful projects were sold off or made public at the slightest sign of doubt. Even projects that formed the basis of Sears’ income weren’t safe. In spite of the company’s credit division forming a significant portion of its income, Sears sold Discover in 2002 due to a fear of regulation.
A Failure to Innovate
If the early Sears were around today it would be called a disruptor. The Sears Catalog became a mainstay of Americana that transformed the relationship between consumers and products. But as Sears became more dominant it began to lose its innovative edge. While it would be easy to blame this failure on the company being too conservative, a more likely cause was an unfocused innovation agenda.
Sears did launch an online store in 2000. However, while the store had a far larger selection than Amazon, Sears became complacent regarding prices. Thus, consumers who once flocked to the affordable retailer could not justify spending more money at Sears than more affordable online alternatives like Amazon.
In recent years Sears has focused on cash-saving measures such as reducing locations and cutting staff. While these may cut costs, they also damage brand ubiquity and the customer experience. And at this point the gradual accumulation of errors make it unlikely that mere cost-cutting will enable Sears to survive, let alone return to its former glory.
The Walmart Model
The decline of Sears might make it seem likely that Walmart is also facing collapse. However the discount retail giant continues to thrive, even as it competes with Amazon and an intimidating digital sector. To industry outsiders, Walmart confounds expectations. However, those that understand its business model are not surprised by its continued growth. In fact, Walmart entire strategy can be looked at as a recipe for financial success.
Staying on Task
From its humble beginnings Walmart focused on being a budget store. While the chain has been around for over 70 years and seen many changes, it has stayed true to that mission. By focusing on “everyday low prices,” Walmart has established a reliable market niche. The company’s particular genius can be found in its ability to scale to that model.
Walmart is also able to maintain lower prices than its competitors by taking advantage of both its ubiquity and dominance over supply chain management. Because of this, the growth of Walmart has only led to success upon success: the bigger Walmart gets, the cheaper it gets, and so its core benefit always remains front and center.
Progress, Not Change
While Walmart has maintained a singular focus, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t progressed. As the retail marketplace has changed, Walmart has continued to evolve, for example by continuing to invest in technology and e-commerce initiatives. What makes these investments successful is that Walmart continues to focus on providing low-priced products.
Sears and Walmart took two very different paths in a difficult market. Sears lost sight of its focus and valued change over consistent innovation, resulting in an anemic company that continues to face market difficulty. Walmart, however, was able to grow while staying true to its initial mission.
Ultimately, these contrasting examples suggest that surviving and thriving in today’s shifting marketplace requires, above all, a sense of consistency and a willingness to evolve without compromising a company’s core principles.


text:
AdPR Week is on the horizon at Grady College! As we enter our fourth annual celebration, we are excited to announce guest speakers and a fun social media campaign, #AdPRide, to develop a sense of community and engagement among students and alumni in Advertising and Public Relations.
On Wednesday, September 19th, top brands in Georgia will discuss opportunities and challenges amidst a changing landscape of corporate communications. This discussion will be moderated by Brad Taylor, recently retired VP of Sales and Marketing, National Accounts at Coca-Cola and founder of Taylor Built Brands.
Pictured above, clockwise:
Amy Harry, Director Omni-Channel Customer Service Strategy, Delta: Atlanta native and graduate of UGA’s Grady School of Journalism, Amy started her 22-year marketing career on the ad agency side in NYC and later Atlanta before transitioning to client side at Delta in 2002.
Her experience includes digital marketing and social media as well as brand management and traditional advertising for Delta, DuPont, CIBA Vision, marchFIRST, Austin Kelley and Rapp Collins. The foundation of direct marketing principles combined with her interest in emerging technology led to pioneering a number of innovation initiatives in digital marketing and social media. In 2018 Amy transitioned from leading Delta’s Brand Communications and Social Media Marketing and Analytics to the Reservations & Customer Care division leading the Omni-Channel strategy to transform the way Delta serves customers across social, digital messaging and phone channels.
Jeff Baker, VP Marketing and Advertising, Buffalo Wild Wings: Jeff Baker is Vice President, Marketing and Advertising at Buffalo Wild Wings. Jeff oversees strategy and execution of Buffalo Wild Wings’ national advertising including creative development and content across broadcast, digital, mobile, social, and in-restaurant channels. Jeff previously led advertising for Arby’s, also within Inspire Brands. Jeff led the launch of the We Have The Meats campaign that helped lead to all time high sales and multiple awards, including a 2018 Gold Effie for Sustained Success.
Prior to joining Arby’s, Jeff was Vice President, Account Director at 22squared, leading advertising efforts for brands such as Baskin-Robbins, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, Russell Athletic, Southeast Toyota, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Leigh Woisard, Senior VP Corporate Public Affairs, Cox Communications: Leigh Woisard is Senior Vice President of Public Affairs for Cox Communications. She is responsible for directing the company’s internal communications, media relations, product public relations, crisis communications and corporate social responsibility initiatives. In her role, Leigh also serves as chief communications counsel to Cox’s senior executives.
Leigh has been part of the Cox team for 18 years, starting her career in New England as manager of media relations. She later led employee communications, media relations and charitable giving as director of public relations in New England and as vice president of public affairs for Cox Virginia. During this role, she was instrumental in shaping the communications strategy for Cox’s Northern Virginia, Roanoke and Hampton Roads region.
Prior to joining Cox, Leigh worked in the political arena as press secretary for the Lt. Governor of Rhode Island and as deputy chief of staff for a U.S. Congressman. As a public relations account executive, she has managed public relations campaigns for clients such as Chili’s Grille & Bar, The New England Journal of Medicine and a division of Stanley Tools.
She is an active board member and volunteer for many non-profits and professional organizations including Women in Cable Telecommunications. She is a recipient of the Public Relations Society’s Silver Anvil Award, the industry’s most prestigious national honor. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and public relations from the University of Rhode Island and a master’s degree in communications management from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School.
Heather Bell, Director KO:OP, Coca-cola North America’s In-house Creative Agency: Heather leads KO:OP, Coca-Cola North America’s in-house creative agency. In her six years at The Coca-Cola Company, Heather was also responsible for having developed the global Fanta strategy and campaign that was executed in over 200 countries.
Prior to working at The Coca-Cola Company, Heather held roles at BBDO with increasing responsibility on the AT&T business. She traveled between Atlanta and New York managing everything from 400 retail ads per week to fully integrated campaigns to ultimately playing a leading role in AT&T’s brand relaunch, Rethink Possible.


text:
- NBC's "Today Show" and Discovery Channel's "Street Outlaws" debuted some real-time Facebook features that should help the social giant compete with Twitter.
- The "Today Show" debuted the first use of Facebook's Trending API with a trending hashtag screen, while "Street Outlaws" used the new Hashtag Counter to take votes for viewers' favorite street racing team, along with two other APIs, and Facebook is using the new features to tap into the real-time conversation on-site.
Because of Facebook's friend-to-friend design, it has been difficult for the social giant to monitor much public discourse on the site. The new features developed by Spredfast will help it compete with other platforms — particularly Twitter — that marketers have been more closely monitoring to get TV viewer feedback. With so much cross-over happening between screens, Facebook needs features like these to stay relevant.


text:
Switzerland yesterday contributed $2.5 million to a new partnership that will help developing countries market their biodiversity products abroad. The partnership, called the BioTrade Facilitation Programme (BTFP), will be carried out by UNCTAD and the International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO (ITC).
In announcing the contribution, Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs David Syz and UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero said in Geneva that the partnership - one of three partnerships launched by UNCTAD in Johannesburg last September at the World Summit on Sustainable Development - "will play a crucial role in making the concept of sustainable use of biodiversity an economic reality". (For background, see TAD/INF/PR48 of 22 August.)
Biodiversity - the millions of microbial, plant and animal species that inhabit the planet - is a crucial source of food, clothing, housing and medicines. It also comprises oils, dyes, resins and fibres and other substances used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, as well as timber, handicrafts, nuts and tropical fruits. Increased consumer demand for these products holds great potential for bio-businesses in developing countries, which could help support entire populations and at the same time provide an incentive to use that biodiversity sustainably.
BTFP works in part through matchmaking between enterprises, product and strategy development, certification and support of participation in trade fairs. In addition to UNCTAD and ITC, other major partners include the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (CBI) and the Dutch Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (SIPPO).


text:
Singer AP Dhillon needs no introduction as his popularity has skyrocketed in recent times. The singer has built a loyal fan base through his catchy and groovy Punjabi songs which now dominate every party, celebration and even Instagram reels. His songs have topped the charts not only in India but also in Canada and the UK. Cashing in on his popularity, an LED display board at a petrol pump was seen displaying the lyrics of one of his songs, to attract customers.
An Instagram user called WakeUpSingh shared the video and informed that the clip was captured at Bharat Petro Point in Jalandhar, Punjab. The text insert on the video reads, ''POV: Indian petrol stations are on a different level of marketing.'' The post also featured other pictures of the location.
Watch the video here:
The clip opens to show an LED display board flashing lyrics from AP Dhillon's popular song called 'Excuses' but with a twist. ''Kehndi hundi si, tank full karade,'' reads the message on the display board.
Instagram users were amused by the video and couldn't keep calm. Many others praised the marketing strategy deployed by the petrol pump. Others filled the comment section with laugh and heart emojis.
Last year, the song 'Excuses' sparked a trend called 'Kehndi Hundi Si' online. The phrase roughly translates to "she used to say." Several brands also hopped on to the trend and churned out some hilarious memes on their social media handles. Zomato, Mother Dairy, Dunzo, IndiGo, and Swiggy were some of the brands that participated in the trend.


text:
Samsung, LG to unveil next-gen flagship handsets at MWC 2016
At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, a number of Android-handset manufacturers -- including South Korean bigwigs Samsung and LG -- are expected to unveil the next-generation versions of their flagship devices.
Two of the most awaited Android-powered smartphones set to grab the spotlight at the MWC event this year include Samsung’s new Galaxy flagship handsets -- Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge -- and LG’s newest G5 flagship smartphone.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge handsets will mark a notable improvement over their current-generation Galaxy S6 counterparts. The new smartphones will boast a faster processor; more RAM; significantly improved ‘Dual Pixel’ 12-megapixel camera sensor camera; and support for microSD cards.
In addition, the new Galaxy handsets will also come with an ‘Always On’ display; and very high resistance to dust and water, including submersion.
The LG G5 smartphone, meanwhile, is expected to stand out from the other Android-powered handsets largely due to the introduction of a ‘Magic Slot’ which will apparently support the plug-in of expansion devices.
Moreover, another distinguishing feature of the G5 will be a secondary rear camera -- together with the standard lens -- capable of supporting 135 degree wide angle photos. The G5 will also come with a low-power ‘Always On’ display, to show the time and select notifications.
For those who love fashion, summer is a season that...Read More
In a scene that seems more cinematic than plausible...Read More
President Emmanuel Macron arrived earlier this week...Read More


text:
The NFL picks and chooses their battles, and have now decided to wage war on silly quarterbacks who decide to wear non-sanctioned hats after NFL games.
Silly, silly, Alex Smith.
Deadspin reports it will cost the 49ers quarterback thousands if he dare don a San Francisco Giants hat after a game as he has been known to do.
The NFL served Smith with a fine of $15,000 when he decided to wear the hat after Sunday's victory. Smith later explained the odd punishment, via a SF Gate report.
The crime? Smith said he was fined for wearing non-NFL-sponsored gear of a competing league, a no-no for players in the 90 minutes after a game.
“So it’s weird,” Smith said. “I could wear a Polo shirt after the game and they’re not going to fine me.”
As Deadspin reminds us, the hat is meant to be a lucky charm, and has been worn by Smith since last year.
Yet, the league has waited these many months to pounce on a player wearing a baseball cap to a football function. For shame, Smith.
If you fear for the quarterback's wallet, rest assured the fine has been rescinded, but he will suffer an actual fine of $15,000 if he wears the hat after a game again.
San Francisco fans better hope that hat really isn't good luck, because that is a great way to invite bad juju to what could be a historic season.
If you are wondering why it took so long to catch up to the nefarious hat-wearing ways of Smith, Barry Petchesky of Deadspin has some ideas.
It could be the league's new apparel supplier Nike throwing its weight around, but a more likely answer is that the NFL's branding watchdog is only occasionally paying attention.
I agree that it's a matter of some personnel barely catching wind of this and being alerted that it was a concern.
I certainly hope the NFL cleans up this rampant mess. We wouldn't want people to stop watching the NFL—all because Smith just had to wear his baseball cap.
I'm glad to see the quaint NFL stick up for itself, because this is totally not a ridiculous burrito with a side of lame sauce.
Follow me on Twitter because I am so lonely.


text:
Tally launches 2.0 version of UK Faster Payments-linked app
Tally, the banking app offering a currency equivalent to milligrams of gold, has launched the second version of its app which is connected to the UK Faster Payments (FP) network for UK current accounts.
Initially known as Lionsgold, Tally is a stable coin which is linked to the physical commodity, gold. This means it is not a cryptocurrency, because it’s linked to a tangible rather than a digital asset.
Tally is a “reserve banking platform and physical asset currency that operates with the fiat currency fractional-reserve banking system”.
The system keeps customers’ savings on its own platform, and says it gives consumers “full ownership and control of their money” because the physical gold attributing value to it is held outside the banking system.
“We wanted to deliver an accountable asset-based money for the mainstream public to use with confidence as an alternative to debt-based government-issued fiat currency,” says co-founder and CEO Cameron Parry.
“Tally is money designed to hold its value over time rather than being devalued by inflation, and to be protected from bank lending and systemic risk,” he adds.
One Tally equals one milligram of gold which is stored in a “secure vault” in Switzerland according to the challenger bank. British sterling and euros can be converted into the Tally currency at the global spot price and customers can spend it through a Mastercard-powered debit card.
Read more: Glint Pay administrators: Customer money is safe but frozen
It costs users a monthly fee of 0.1% of the average monthly holding to use Tally. The fintech says the charge covers storage, security, insurance and operational costs.
Initially launching its beta app in June 2019, the fintech has now completely redesigned the user experience (UX) interface, including the addition of face and touch ID integration.
Now connected to the UK FP network, users’ money can be directly transferred to and from Tally accounts and UK GBP accounts in real-time. Features such as savings ‘safes’, statements and the opportunity to ‘gift gold’ are “all in the product road-map,” according to the fintech.
Currently, the gold price is at a three-week high.
Read next: Freetrade takes on Europe, starting with the Netherlands and Ireland


text:
This past week was certainly a roller coaster week for the CME spot butter trade, with each day offsetting the work done in the day that preceded it.
Taking action now might let you sleep a little better if that fateful letter ever arrives.
In the last four trading sessions of the CME spot trade there seems to be as much confusion about which way butter should go.
All of the excitement in Friday’s trade failed to follow through on Monday.
The hope for substantially better milk prices this year has dimmed, but yet there is hope seasonality will allow for better prices during the second half of the year. Ultimately, supply and demand will dictate milk prices.
The positive movement in the spot session sent Class III markets soaring.
Class III markets were largely subdued through Monday’s session with only the May, June and July markets finishing lower.
Trump could fix this with one call.
The CME spot cheese trade in the past 9 months can be defined as big runs and volatility.
Employee management is less about the employee and more about the management.


text:
Food technology startup CloudChef has launched ‘recipe record and playback technology’ which it says recreates dishes from any chefs allowing consumers to enjoy their favourite dishes and recipes from anywhere in the world, home-delivered. A video demonstration captured how CloudChef accomplishes this. In blind taste tests, Michelin-starred chefs could not detect the difference between their dishes and those created by CloudChef.
CloudChef was founded by Nikhil Abraham, Atish Aloor, and Mohit Shah, graduates from the engineering school, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay whose mission is to build the ‘Spotify for food’. This new wave of food innovation envisions chefs as creators and allows them to monetize their creations just like musicians do today without the constraints of brick and mortar.
“We are very passionate about giving consumers access to their favourite foods from anywhere in the world,” says CloudChef CEO Nikhil Abraham. “Our model is mutually beneficial to both recipe owners and consumers, and we are very happy to see our technology helping advance this vision.”
How CloudChef Works
Chefs come into a CloudChef kitchen and prepare their recipes once. Sensors monitor the cooking process non-intrusively and synthesize the recipe into a machine-readable file. This codifies the intuition of a chef and makes the recipe robust to ingredient and location variability. The recipes can be recreated in any CloudChef-enabled kitchen in the world in a ‘co-botic’ fashion where all cooking intelligence is software-automated. Common kitchen tasks can be completed without specialized training, opening up the possibility to bring even more people - regardless of training - into the restaurant workforce. Each step of bringing a recipe to life - from sourcing ingredients, preparation, heating, and even factoring in things like elevation or humidity - are automatically adjusted and adapted for perfectly accurate recreations. Food operators are guided through tasks which they execute without context, all while CloudChef’s software takes care of all the cooking intelligence.
“It was an eye-opening moment when I saw that CloudChef was able to replicate my recipes better than highly trained chefs,” said Chef Srijith Girija Gopinath (Ettan and former Taj Campton Place), whose recipes are on the CloudChef platform. “With CloudChef, I can bring my recipes to a larger audience without having to open additional brick-and-mortar restaurants, knowing they are perfectly recreated and prepared to my standards.”
CloudChef has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from celebrity chefs, including Tom Colicchio and Roy Yamaguchi, as well as technology titans like early Facebook investor Anand Rajaraman and former Stripe COO Claire Hughes Johnson.


text:
Once a nice little hustle for Amazon’s e-commerce business, AWS has grown over the years to become a behemoth with a $ 27 billion execution rate, a figure that continues to grow at 45 percent per year. That’s a very successful business by any measure, but as I listened to AWS executives last week at their AWS: Invent conference in Las Vegas, I didn’t hear from a group that would be content to sit still and let growth do the talking. If only. Instead, I heard one who wants to master every area of business computing.
Whether it was hardware like the new Inferentia chip and Outposts, the new local or blockchain servers, and a base station service for satellites, if AWS saw the opportunity, they weren’t giving an inch to anyone.
Last year, AWS announced 1,400 amazing new features, and they were said to be on track to beat this year. They get a lot of credit for not falling asleep on their laurels and continuing to innovate as a much smaller company, even when they own a slice of the market.
The inflation feature probably can’t last forever, but for now at least they show no signs of slowing down, as the announcements hit a furious pace once again. While they will tell you that every decision they make is about meeting customer needs, it is clear that some of these announcements were also about responding to competitive pressure.
Chase the competitors harder
In the past, AWS kept criticism of competitors to a minimum, perhaps giving Oracle a small blow, but this year they seemed to increase. In their presentations, AWS CEO Andy Jassy and Amazon CTO Werner Vogels continually lashed out at Oracle, a competitor in the database market but hardly a major threat as a cloud company in this moment.
However, they adapted to the Oracle market with a new system in the mainframe called Outposts, which allows AWS customers to operate in the cloud and in the cloud using a single AWS dashboard or one from VMware if customers they prefer it. That’s the kind of cloud vision that Larry Ellison may have presented, but Jassy didn’t necessarily see that he was chasing Oracle or anyone else. “I don’t see Outposts as a shot through the bow of anybody. If you look at what we are doing, you are very informed by the customers,” he told reporters at a press conference last week.
However, AWS did not reserve its criticism for Oracle alone. It also targeted Microsoft, attacked Microsoft SQL Server, and also announced Amazon FSx for Windows File Server, a tool specifically designed to move Microsoft files to the AWS cloud.
Google also did not skimp on launching Inferentia and Elastic Inference, prompting Google to realize that AWS was not going to cede the AI market to Google’s TPU infrastructure. All these tools and much more were more than a response to customer demand, they were about notifying the competition in all aspects of business computing.
Upward growth trajectory.
The cloud market continues to grow at a dramatic rate, and as a market leader, AWS has been able to leverage its dominance in the market to this point. Jassy, echoing Google’s Diane Greene and Oracle’s Larry Ellison, says that the industry as a whole is still very early on cloud adoption, which means there is still a lot of market left to capture.
“I think we are in the early stages of corporate and public sector adoption in the US. Outside of the US, I would say we are 12-36 months behind. So there are a lot of major companies that are just starting to plan their cloud approach, “said Jassy.
Patrick Moorhead, Founder and Principal Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, says AWS has been using its market position to keep expanding in different areas. “AWS has the scale right now to do a lot of things that others can’t, especially the smaller players like Google Cloud Platform and Oracle Cloud. They are trying to make a point with the thousands of new products and features they introduce. This serves as a long-term disincentive for other players, and I think it will result in a shakeup, “he told TechCrunch.
When it comes to the frenetic pace of innovation, Moorhead believes it cannot last forever. “For me, the question is when will we get to a point where 95% of the needs are met and the innovation rate is not required.” Every market, literally every market, reaches a point where this happens, so not it is a question of if, but when, “he said.
Certainly, areas like the AWS ground station announcement showed that AWS was willing to expand beyond the conventional boundaries of business computing and into outer space to help businesses process satellite data. This ability to think beyond traditional uses of cloud computing resources shows a level of creativity that suggests there may be other untapped markets for AWS that we have not yet imagined.
As AWS moves to more areas of the enterprise computing stack, whether on premises or in the cloud, they are showing their desire to dominate all aspects of the world of enterprise computing. Last week they showed that there is no area in which they are willing to surrender to anyone.


text:
Wirecard Uses Blockchain to Bring Mobile Payments to Supply Chain
We commonly think of mobile payments as being a B2C proposition; something strictly between businesses offering goods and services and consumers paying for them. We sometimes don’t consider that businesses are consumers too, and so, there’s the whole B2B sector to think about. Wirecard recently tipped us off about its new blockchain-based service that would add a new payments option to supply chain operations.
Wirecard’s new tools provide what amounts to a high-end global network for supply chain purchases, between the businesses that sell supplies and those that consume supplies to produce finished goods. The system is designed to link merchants and producers directly, connecting all business processes directly through “smart contracts,” which have a direct connection to blockchain operations. That keeps the risk of fraud to a minimum and helps smooth out overall operations.
Such an effort should prove useful; there are still large portions of the world where such transactions—and the data therein—are carried out over paper transactions, like fax machines and mailed or shipped documents.
Wirecard AG’s CEO, Markus Braun, noted “We see great potential in the digitization of payment processes worldwide. Today we can use our years of experience, for example in payment processing within the travel and mobility industry, in which fast transactions to various stakeholders play a major role in bringing this process via blockchain technology to completely new markets – which already have a great demand today. With our worldwide presence, we are in the unique position to meet this need.”
It would be one thing if this just sped up supply chain operations. One good thing, certainly, but just one thing. This not only speeds up operations, it also makes these operations more secure, which helps build reliability throughout the supply chain. It is, effectively, a digital payments system for supply chain operations, and since that can likely be at least somewhat exercised via mobile devices, it’s a mobile payments system of sorts for B2B supply chain operations.
It’s good to see mobile payments branching out into other fields, and this should be the kind of thing that helps simplify and flatten out supply chain operations. Smoother supply chain operations mean fewer delays and smoother cash flow patterns, which is better for everyone involved.


text:
Woody Creek Distillers’ potato vodka grabs attention at competition
The Aspen Times
The spuds growing in Woody Creek are capturing attention.
The Woody Creek Colorado 100 percent Potato Vodka made by Woody Creek Distillers of Basalt grabbed a double gold medal at a top spirits competition this spring. It set the gold standard for best vodka and also grabbed the equivalent of the best in show award for being the best of all the spirits in the competition.
Woody Creek’s vodka took top honors at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition on March 21-22. Operating partner Mark Kleckner said the 2½-year-old distillery has won regional craft competitions, but it didn’t expect to win an international competition so soon — and certainly not the double gold at the San Francisco competition.
“It’s like the Grammy or Oscar for booze,” Kleckner said.
The distillery grows its own potatoes on Woody Creek ranchland owned or rented by Pat and Mary Scanlan, the other owners of the company. The high-altitude spuds are also grown on land the distillery leases from the Pitkin County Open Space and Trails program adjacent to the old Emma schoolhouse.
The approach that Kleckner and his team take once the potatoes reach the distillery is simple but effective. They use the alpine potatoes, local spring water and yeast to create the vodka. The potatoes are washed and mashed. The mash goes through a special separation process and is distilled only once to produce 80-proof vodka. Kleckner shuns the flavored vodkas and those made with mass-produced ethanol. He calls his company’s offering “real vodka.” Winning the San Francisco competition helps the small company’s credibility.
“It just helps us across the board,” Kleckner said. “It’s a completely blind taste test. The people on the tasting panel are the who’s who in the spirits industry.”
Since opening in late 2012, Woody Creek Distillers has been growing “as fast as we’re capable,” Kleckner said. They have been careful not make promises they cannot keep. They refuse to expand distribution if they cannot keep the area supplied.
They only produce vodka during the potato harvest, so roughly Labor Day to early November. They anticipate using 1.5 million pounds of locally grown potatoes in 2015.
They are distributing to 14 states right now. The next big push will be to expand into Texas and Louisiana. Texas is a “monster market” so Kleckner has been careful not to leap before plenty of planning. They have added two additional fermenters and one addition mash tank, doubling their capacity of spirits production in Basalt. They also make gin and whiskey.
Kleckner said his staff is looking forward to the Aspen Food and Wine Classic in June to introduce themselves to a broader audience. “Two years ago it was our coming out party,” he said.
Support Local Journalism
Support Local Journalism
Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.
Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.
Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.


text:
In terms of cruise destinations, Australia and New Zealand account for only about 6 percent of the global itinerary, and Southeast Asia even less, according to CLIA, a trade association of international cruise lines. Yet these less-sailed regions encompass some of the most breathtaking ports in the world, making the Australasia region — with its treasure-house of natural sights and cultural landmarks — well worth a distant voyage.
The main cruising season in Australia runs from September to April, summertime in the Southern Hemisphere. Passengers from the West often arrive a few days early, not only to combat jet lag but also to enjoy Australia’s cities, animal parks, beaches and wineries before hitting the high seas. From Australia a variety of cruise ships sail to the Great Barrier Reef, Tasmania and Australia’s other ports; cross the South Pacific to explore New Zealand and smaller islands; or fan out toward Bali, Papua New Guinea and Singapore.
These days, as the cruise industry in Australia booms, major international cruise lines are increasing their presence. Carnival Cruise Line added the 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend out of Sydney to its Australia-based fleet late last year, and Royal Caribbean is placing the 3,114-passenger Explorer of the Seas in the mix for the 2015–2016 season. Celebrity Cruises positioned two of its ships — the 2,852-passenger Celebrity Solstice and the 1,814-passenger Celebrity Century — in the Southern Hemisphere, with departures from Sydney and Fremantle in Australia and from Auckland in New Zealand. Holland America Line now bases two of its 15 ships in Sydney during the southern summer season. Later this year, its 1,918-passenger ms Noordam makes a 14-day journey from Sydney to Auckland, departing Oct. 25 and taking in Melbourne, Tasmania, Milford Sound, Christchurch and Wellington; while its 1,440-passenger ms Volendam visits the Great Barrier Reef on its way from Sydney to Singapore during a 17-night cruise departing Nov. 21.
Princess Cruises, well known for its circumnavigations of the Australian continent, bases three of its ships in Australia: the Sun Princess, the Sea Princess and the Dawn Princess. The 1,950-passenger Dawn Princess offers many 13-day cruises to New Zealand from its Melbourne home port, and the 1,950-passenger Sun Princess has scheduled a seven-day Brisbane roundtrip departing Aug. 30 this year with stops at the Australia Zoo and the Great Barrier Reef, an ideal introduction to the best of the sea life and wildlife in Australia.
British-owned and -styled P&O Cruises, which has carried tourists to and from Australia since the 1930s, operates five ships sailing out of eight Australian harbors to 28 ports in Australia, 27 in the South Pacific, 10 in New Zealand and 25 in Southeast Asia. P&O operates in the region year-round, offering more than 140 southern Pacific cruises annually, with voyages to such exotic locations as Kangaroo Island and Papua New Guinea. Their ships hold 1,260 to 1,624 passengers, most of them exuberant Aussies.
Several small luxury ships also call on Australia and New Zealand, including the 450-passenger Seabourn Odyssey, which offers a 17-day Auckland-to-Sydney voyage departing Jan. 27, 2016. This itinerary takes passengers to Wellington, Christchurch and the Milford Sound in New Zealand before crossing to Australia, where it calls on two ports in Tasmania. Crystal Cruises’ 960-passenger Crystal Symphony, an especially elegant vessel, is scheduled to make a 15-night Auckland-to-Melbourne run in December 2016 that calls on Doubtful Sound, three times larger than nearby Milford Sound. The Crystal cruise also spends three days in Sydney and two in Melbourne.
Many of these same ships serving Australia also cruise the waters of Southeast Asia, where the regional market for cruises is growing rapidly, too. To avoid the hottest weather and monsoon rains, the majority of cruise passengers sail November through March. The main cruising route stretches between Hong Kong and Singapore, with shopping stops and shore excursions in Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Among premium cruise lines that ply the waters of Southeast Asia is Regent Seven Seas. The 708-passenger Seven Seas Voyager makes a 33-night voyage from Singapore to Hong Kong starting Jan. 18, 2016, calling on ports in Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam and, for three days, Myanmar. Another luxury line, Oceania Cruises, sails a similar route. Its 16-day “Pagodas and Palaces” cruise aboard the 684-passenger Insignia, with upcoming departures on Oct. 10 this year and Jan. 8, 2016, is highlighted by a visit to the towering limestone islands of Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay, an impressive UNESCO World Heritage site. Silversea Cruises departs Nov. 22 this year on a nine-day cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore aboard the 388-passenger Silver Shadow which also includes an extended look at Vietnam, including two days in Ha Long Bay. Azamara Club Cruises, yet another high-end operator, sails the same Southeast Asian seas from January to April on 10- to 14-day voyages focusing either on Vietnam or Indonesia. The 686-passenger Azamara Quest also offers some cruises in Australian waters.
One of the prime attractions in Southeast Asia is river cruising, particularly on the Mekong River which flows through Vietnam and Cambodia. Viking River Cruises, best known for its luxury European river cruises, has dedicated its 60-passenger Viking Mekong, launched in 2014, to servicing 15-day cruise tours that run from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) January through October. After visiting the magnificent temple ruins at Siem Reap, including Angkor Wat, visitors take an eight-day cruise on the Mekong to Ho Chi Minh City.
Adventurous travelers seeking even more out-of-the-way places to cruise in Southeast Asia and Australia are well-served by Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic. The company’s 106-passenger Orion cruises the Kimberly Coast of Northwest Australia as well as the Spice Islands, Borneo, Sri Lanka, Bali and Papua New Guinea. Lindblad’s 14-day expeditions on the Mekong River aboard the 48-passenger Jahan sail a Siem Reap–Ho Chi Minh City route through Vietnam and Cambodia with five departures January through March in 2016.
Particularly for first-time travelers to the far side of the Pacific, a luxury or expedition cruise makes travel through unfamiliar regions easy. The landscapes are exotic, the sights arresting and the cultures fascinating, creating a remarkably different cruise setting from what voyagers experience on the Atlantic side of the world.
Château Élan Winery & Resort reopened in Braselton, Georgia, following a $25 million comprehensive renovation. The first major refurbishment since the resort’s inception in the mid-1980s pays homage to the estate's 16th-century charm, while taking the property into the future. Now, the resort offers 251 brand-new guestrooms and 24 suites, four new food and beverage venues, an immersive spa, pool terrace and new lobby. The winery likewise received a facelift.
Looking for a truly unique travel experience and considering a new vehicle? The Volvo Overseas Delivery Program is the perfect solution to create your own adventure of a lifetime. Volvo allows you to custom order your new automobile tailored to fit your needs and desires. They will fly you to Sweden to pick up your Volvo so you can drive and explore Scandinavia and Europe on your terms for up to two weeks.
Scoring a free upgrade on a flight is a dream come true for any traveler, but getting to an upgrade can be an arduous journey, often requiring dozens of flights racking up miles or partaking in bidding wars to nab open business-class seats.
oneworld is an alliance of 13 world-leading airlines committed to providing the highest level of service and connecting you to more than 1,100 destinations around the world.
Boeing’s new CEO will prioritize bringing the company’s troubled 737 MAX to service for 2020.
Travel to the Philippines for an exclusive island getaway worthy of the title of true luxury.
The city took its name from Athena, goddess of wisdom, strategy and war, and protector of the city. The financial, political and administrative center of the country and an all-powerful city-state in antiquity, Athens is a major center of culture. A visit to the first-ever museum dedicated to Byzantium, a stroll around the National Garden and a trip to the Olympeion archaeological site will take you back through time.
Get in a round of golf and a luxurious spa treatment on your next visit to Malaysia.


text:
Just like Tesla has its Supercharger network, its competitor Rivian has its own exclusive Adventure Network.
According to shareholder letters, the automaker plans to allow charging of electric vehicles of other brands in the second half of the year. Why did the company decide to take this step?
It's possible to enable NACS charging within the Rivian app. There's a few sites in California, Michigan, Canada & Texas showing up. They have live stats & it seems possible to start charging though it errors out. Results in a CC hold from Rivian labeled as Tesla @RivianTrackr pic.twitter.com/bTzTY4AsBL— Adam (@adamUCF) February 19, 2024
Rivian Will Qualify For Subsidies
The competing Superchargers, which are also gradually opening up to electric vehicles of other brands, currently offer 12,000 charging points in the United States.
Compared to this, Rivian’s network with its 400 charging points at 67 locations is minimal, but its contribution to the public charging infrastructure still makes sense.
Rivian is not doing this just to please electric vehicle owners of competing brands, but it will also help its own ambitions in building a charging network which is improving.
The US government has allocated $7.5 billion to fund projects to build charging infrastructure. However, these subsidies cannot be used to build chargers that are exclusive to vehicles of one brand. Rivian’s goal is to build hundreds more charging hubs with thousands of charging points.
If it did not open its network, it would not qualify for these grant programs.
According to Rivian, the new dispenser is still under development, but here's what I've managed to gather so far:— Rivian Adventure Network Tracker (@RANtracker) February 21, 2024
- Credit card readers will be mounted to the side of the chargers
- The cable mount will now be on the side instead of the front
- Connector is still CCS pic.twitter.com/I7T9uutq2a
“Opening our network will allow other customers to benefit from our reliable charging solution, allow Rivian to leverage the fixed costs associated with each charging location, and allow Rivian to apply for government grants associated with expanding domestically manufactured fast chargers across the country,” the company said.
Sufficient charging stations are key to the expansion of electromobility
Most of today’s electric vehicle owners charge at home. Better public charging infrastructure will be essential to support the next wave of electric vehicle buyers, those who park on the street and cannot charge using home wallboxes. Surveys consistently show that charging anxiety is still one of the main reasons preventing motorists from switching from fossil fuels to electric mobility.


text:
The rise in international direct-to-consumer (D2C) purchases in the last six months has been led by Millennial demographics, with reduced access to stores during the pandemic prompting over half (52%) of 25-34 year olds to buy direct from international online
From online retail to working from home, the pandemic has accelerated underlying trends in the way we live, shop and work. However, it has also brought into sharp focus missed real-world experiences that can’t be replicated in the digital realm,
Despite lockdown restrictions easing across much of the UK, new research reveals the nation’s demand for subscriptions continues to grow, reaching a value of £395 million – up 23% in the past year.
Premium wine brand Tempus Two has launched its first ever French wine to the UK market; Provençal style Fleur Rosé.
Clarks, the international shoemaker and footwear retailer, has partnered with leading performance marketing engine Wunderkind (formerly BounceX), to enhance its digital targeting and personalisation strategies, resulting in improved customer engagement and increased digital revenues.
LeadingBuy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) provider Zip has partnered with Manchester-based ISAWITFIRST, as the online retailer continues to ramp up growth.
Over 100 Central England Co-op stores are now offering eco-friendly home deliveries in under one hour.
One of Scotland’s leading e-commerce agencies has closed Q1 ahead of forecast after continuing to experience rapid growth.Hudson, which is headquartered in Glasgow and has a presence in both Manchester and Copenhagen, finished the period 10% ahead of its projected
Original research of over 2,000 UK shoppers in Pricer’s latest ‘Pricer UK Consumer Insight Report 2021’ showed that two thirds (65%) would be more likely to buy a product in-store when they can easily and clearly access information about the
Lenta, one of the largest multi-format retail chains in Russia, today announces that its indirect subsidiary Lenta LLC has completed the acquisition of Billa Russia supermarket business.
Camellia, the global agriculture group, announces the purchase of an 80% stake in Bardsley England for £15.7m. Camellia will also make a loan to Bardsley of £9.3m.
NEOM, the fast-growing wellbeing brand that offers a unique range of innovative products to help customers sleep better, stress less, boost mood, and improve energy through its digital-first omnichannel strategy in the UK and internationally, is pleased to announce
A new Starbucks® Drive Thru store will open on Sproughton Road in Ipswich on Friday 30 July, creating 10 new jobs.
British technology firm Reveal has introduced new AI that brings facial recognition to body worn cameras for the first time.
Famed for its unrivalled range of traditional toys, games and magical experiences, Hamleys has announced its arrival on the gaming scene with a major new state-of-the-art console, PC and gaming accessories department in its legendary Regent Street store in London.
Aldi is set to introduce fully recyclable sandwich packaging as part of a trial with its supplier Greencore.
In its latest channel forecasts for the food-to-go sector, IGD – providers of foresight and insight for the food and consumer goods industry – predicts that the channel will be worth £15.6bn at the end of 2021, which is 82.5%
The UK’s leading innovator in barista quality, machine crafted coffee, Costa Coffee, has announced that it will be trialling a new line of coffee machines across selected locations in Bristol this Summer.
Asda has added more than 50 new product lines to its popular refill zone at its flagship sustainability store in Middleton, Leeds.
EQUANS, (the new name for ENGIE’s services-led activity), has reached a major milestone through its rapid electric vehicle charging network partnership with Morrisons. In total, the partnership has now enabled customers to save 2,000 tonnes of carbon and has dispensed
Companies of today are faced with three main challenges: reacting to the digital shift of consumer shopping habits, retaining an environmental consciousness in keeping with current trends and maintaining profit and growth levels. Kite Packaging has released a range of
Mermaid Gin, based on the Isle of Wight, has just launched its first-ever RTD – a blend of its signature award-winning gin paired with Indian light tonic.
The official sunglasses partner for this year’s Love Island show has launched a new range that will help the singletons continue to mingle in style, even when the sun goes down.
Named after co-founder Amber Glassman’s brother, whose young life was tragically taken due to a severe case of bacterial meningitis, Bryan Anthonys was founded in 2015 on the verifiable truth of life’s fragility — we only have one life and
There are no end of challenges facing the modern business owner. As well as turning a profit, they have to deal with filing taxes, handling recruitment, managing stock, launching marketing campaigns and a wide range of other considerations.


text:
Travis Scott’s 2nd Annual Astroworld Festival went down this past weekend in Houston! The star-studded lineup included Migos, Megan Thee Stallion, Tay Keith, and a surprise appearance from Kanye West.
Kanye was spotted rocking the unreleased Yeezy Foam Runner on stage at the festival. Yeezy 2020 collection is looking great. Hopefully, we will get an official release date sooner than later.
Even though, they look very croc’ish are you still buying them?? @djjazzyt13 let’s tweet about it!


text:
This article is more than 1 year old
PCIe 7.0 pegged to arrive in 2025 with speeds of 512 GBps
Although PCIe 5.0 is just coming to market, here's what we can expect in the years ahead
Early details of the specifications for PCIe 7.0 are out, and it's expected to deliver data rates of up to 512 GBps bi-directionally for data-intensive applications such as 800G Ethernet.
The announcement from the The Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group (PCI SIG) was made to coincide with its Developers Conference 2022, held at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California this week. It also marks the 30th anniversary of the PCI-SIG itself.
While the completed specifications for PCIe 6.0 were only released this January, PCIe 7.0 looks to double the bandwidth of the high-speed interconnect yet again from a raw bit rate of 64 GTps to 128 GTps, and bi-directional speeds of up to 512 GBps in a x16 configuration.
Those looking forward to the extra bandwidth should be aware that the PCI-SIG technical workgroups have only just begun development work on the specifications, which are not set to be completed and released to members until 2025.
Meanwhile, the first shipping products compatible with the PCIe 6.0 specs are not expected until later this year, and PCIe 5.0 devices only really started to come to market during 2021.
- Intel offers 'server on a card' reference design for network security
- Nvidia brings liquid cooling to A100 PCIe GPU cards for 'greener' datacenters
- Samsung unveils 512GB DRAM CXL module in E3.S form factor
- Intel updates ATX PSU specs, eyes PCIe 5.0 horizon
Few processor chips from the likes of Intel and AMD even support PCIe 5.0 I/O lanes at this stage, let alone PCIe 6.0.
Some of Intel's Alder Lake CPUs have PCIe 5.0, while the Sapphire Rapids versions of its Xeon server chips are expected to have it later this year. AMD's Epyc server chips still have PCIe 4.0, and are not expected to have PCIe 5.0 until versions based on the next-generation Zen 4 cores are available.
However, the PCI-SIG is planning for the future, and PCIe 7.0 is being developed for the requirements of data-intensive applications such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, which may call for high-speed plug-in accelerators, plus 800G Ethernet adapters and hyperscale datacenters.
PCI-SIG president Al Yanes said that the forthcoming specifications continued the PCI-SIG's 30-year commitment to "push the boundaries."
"As PCIe technology continues to evolve to meet the high bandwidth demands, our workgroups' focus will be on channel parameters and reach and improving power efficiency," he said.
Of the few details PCI-SIG has so far disclosed, PCIe 7.0 is set to feature PAM4 (Pulse Amplitude Modulation with 4 levels) signalling, which was introduced for PCIe 6.0. It is also expected to delivery greater power efficiency, and maintaining backwards compatibility with all previous generations of PCIe technology is the top priority. ®


text:
This past week at Mobile ID World we explored the importance of the end user experience in mCommerce. This was part of our month long focus on the next generation of payments enabled by strong authentication technologies, including biometrics.
mCommerce has been an hot topic in mobile ID for a long time now, recently reaching an ignition point with the release of the Samsung Galaxy S5 and its fingerprint sensor PayPal capabilities. This week the Korean OEM announced that biometrics aren’t going to stop with its current flagship mobile device. According to Samsung senior vice president Rhee In-jong, the possibility of iris biometrics on smartphones is still being explored by the company.
Sticking with Samsung news, at this weeks FIDO Alliance Plenary Meeting, Authentify, Inc announced that it will now support fingerprint biometrics, throwing its support behind the Galaxy S5. As a provider of phone-based, out-of-band authentication and a sponsor level supporter of the FIDO Alliance, Authentify will be supporting the biometric smartphone with the release of Authentify xFA platform version 3.5.
Speaking of the FIDO Alliance, the consortium announced another major global payment organization as a board member: Visa, Inc. The company now sits on the board alongside MasterCard, Discover and PayPal, committing to collaborate in developing FIDO’s universal specifications.
Two reports this week focus on adoption factors in mobile commerce. A report from Research and Markets names cost as one of these factors, mentioning that despite the firm’s projected massive growth of the mobile biometrics market, it will be essential for low priced options to be available to compete with alternatives.
Meanwhile, Deloitte made an announcement that despite the urging of financial institutions, customers are reluctant to bank from their phones. The primary reason behind this reluctance is concern about security, with many untrusting of WiFi and others scared of what might happen in the event of a lost smartphone containing financial information.
Finally, Fingerprint Cards AB (FPC) made two announcements this week, first that it has fully acquired Anacatum Design, and second: that it has launched a new home-button touch sensor for Windows and Android. The FPC1150 is the second touch sensor released by FPC in as many months, a speed that is being attributed directly to working with Anacatum, a Swedish technology licensing and ASIC developing company based out of Linkoping.
Stay posted with Mobile ID World next week as we wrap up mCommerce Month and take a look at biometric airport security in a webinar with our sister site findBIOMETRICS. Be sure to follow us on Twitter to keep the discussion going.


text:
Burberry hopes to capitalise on Pinterest’s 100 million monthly users, as it focuses on personalisation and its online influence to push its beauty products.
Facebook is looking to put a stop to ad blocking with new technology that will stop ad blocking software identifying what content is an ad and what is not.
Live your brand, think tirelessly about customers and do not compromise your expectations – that is the advice of Arnd Pickhardt, the man behind the pivotal Lidl Surprises campaign and winner of Marketing Week’s ‘Visionary Marketer of the Year’ award 2016. Here he shares his advice for achieving effective marketing and customer insight.
Marketers should view their relationships with consumers as a “collaboration”, said global brand marketing manager Janine Hearn-Odell.
The outgoing group brand and reputation director explains why it’s crucial for marketers to avoid the “pet projects” of senior leaders and keep their eyes on the prize.
Tom Fishburne is founder of Marketoon Studios. Follow his work at marketoonist.com or on Twitter @tomfishburne See more of the Marketoonist here
Britvic is using its “highly relevant” marketing strategy to maintain the momentum of its core brands, while expanding its portfolio to move into new growth areas.


text:
The 2012 NBA All-Star game rosters come out at 7 p.m. In the meantime, you can took a look at the jerseys the All-Stars will be wearing on the court in Orlando on Feb. 26.
Here are the jerseys via SB Nation.com:
The Adidas press release on the uniforms states:
The 2012 NBA All-Star uniforms were designed by adidas and inspired by the 20th anniversary of the memorable 1992 NBA All-Star game which was also held in Orlando. Inspired by the Sunshine State and the fun atmosphere of NBA All-Star weekend, adidas NBA All-Star basketball shoes feature bright orange coloring to pay homage to Orlando's Orange County and the state's famous oranges.
The All-Star jerseys feature oversized East and West All-Star block lettering that was inspired by 1992 jerseys. The jackets and jerseys feature dip-dyed hardwood heather pattern inspired by the floor of the Orlando Arena where the game was held. The tonal blue and red, and three stripes silver and gold accent coloring on the jerseys and short sides will make the uniforms stand out on court. The woven NBA All-Star shorts are inspired by board shorts and also feature a sublimated mesh pattern for high performance and breathability. (via Adidas)
For more coverage of the NBA All-Star game, stay tuned to our storystream.


text:
Food packaging specialist PFF Group is set for expansion following the acquisition of Sedgefield-based Sirap UK.
Established in 1999, Alpha Converting specialises in the design and manufacture of converting equipment. Offering machines such as spooling and slitting machines, the company are highly regarded by a wide range of printing and packaging companies worldwide.
ORBIS® Corporation, an international manufacturer of sustainable reusable packaging and an expert in supply chain optimization, is launching a new foldable container (FLC) for use in the European market.
Fresh food packaging manufacturer, LINPAC, has successfully demonstrated it is meeting the national customer service standard as set out by the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) by retaining its ICS ServiceMark accreditation.
Annandale Distillery asked Springetts to create a brand and look for two expressions of a new make spirit (NMS) – Rascally Liquor.
M&H Plastics has recently packaged ASDA’s new range of own brand shampoos on behalf of Potter & Moore.