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Here’s a rundown of new product releases and updates from companies offering services to ecommerce and omnichannel merchants. There are updates on same-day deliveries, customer intelligence tools, conversational commerce, financing for ecommerce businesses, payment options, and ecommerce tools for the holidays.
Got an ecommerce product release? Email email@example.com.
Product Releases: November 6
Craft Retailer Michaels launches MakerPlace, a marketplace. Michaels, a retailer of craft and creative supplies, has launched its online marketplace, MakerPlace by Michaels. According to Michaels, at launch MakerPlace sellers have listed hundreds of thousands of SKUs alongside classes and how-tos for beginners, hobbyists, and aspiring professionals. MakerPlace offers sellers Basic and Professional membership tiers, as well as multiple shipping options. The launch follows a three-month beta test.
Google releases SMB features to help merchants with the holiday season. Merchants on Google can now identify themselves with a small business attribute on Search and Google Maps. Small merchants using Merchant Center or Business Profile, including those using the Google and YouTube apps on Shopify, can add the attribute to their account. Google is also rolling out Product Studio to all Merchant Center Next users, including a scene generation feature, which uses a text-to-image generative AI model to place products into any creative setting.
Walmart Canada introduces buy-now pay-later payment option. Walmart Canada customers can now choose an interest-free buy-now, pay-later option powered by Klarna when shopping on Walmart.ca and through the Walmart Canada and Klarna mobile apps. Purchases can be split into four manageable, interest-free payments over six weeks. Orders between $50 and $4000 are eligible, with some restrictions.
Miva, Inc. releases update of its ecommerce platform. Miva, Inc., an ecommerce software and service provider for midsize and enterprise merchants, has released version 10.08 of its platform. The update includes version branching to manage changes without impacting previous work or live pages, security protection with decision manager support for CyberSource payments, additional API support, enhanced personally identifiable information security, and additions to coupons and payments.
UPS rolls out a hyperlocal delivery service. UPS has launched Hyperlocal to provide select customers with a fast, next-day delivery option within a metropolitan service area. The next-day delivery option will help UPS capture “profitable B2B and B2C volume.” According to a source, UPS can use its assets, such as Roadie, a crowdsourced delivery platform, and Ware2Go, where small to midsize businesses can find available warehouse space, to transform the local experience into same-day delivery.
Intuit QuickBooks introduces ecommerce management for product-based businesses. Intuit has announced the availability of ecommerce features for QuickBooks Online to help small businesses manage inventory across sales channels from a central platform. The features sync data and automate invoicing across sales channels, including Shopify, Amazon, and eBay, to QuickBooks Online. Identify top-performing products, get notified when inventory is low, and manage stock adjustments individually or in bulk. Track costs and leverage reports to understand profitability.
Oro adds AI capabilities to flagship OroCommerce platform for B2B. Oro, a B2B ecommerce provider, has launched two AI capabilities for its platform: product recommendations with rules-based automation and intelligent real-time customer segmentation. The release also includes a new product information engine, integrating generative AI capabilities with existing PIM assets and other product information — all to create and deliver original product content as needed.
Conversational commerce platform Connectly raises $7.85 million. Connectly, a developer of conversational commerce, has announced its $7.85 million Series A investment led by Volpe Capital, with participation from RX Ventures and Saurabh Gupta. Founded by industry veterans from Facebook, Google, Uber, and NASA and backed initially by Unusual Ventures, Connectly uses proprietary AI models to automate how businesses communicate with customers and sell their products.
TikTik announces integration for advertisers using Salesforce Marketing Cloud. TikTok has unveiled a lead generation integration for Salesforce Marketing Cloud. The no-code integration enables TikTok advertisers to transfer leads directly to Salesforce Marketing Cloud, a platform for companies to deliver personalized and relevant experiences across touchpoints with AI and first-party data. Leads captured on TikTok sync to Salesforce Marketing Cloud in real-time. Sales and marketing teams can instantly access leads in Salesforce Marketing Cloud for prompt follow-up and personalized engagement.
Viably secures $50 million for financing to Amazon sellers. Viably, a financing provider for ecommerce businesses, has announced the launch of Viably Wholesaler Accelerator, a tailored working capital product to help wholesalers fund and operate their business on Amazon. This product is powered by a $50 million debt financing facility from Viola Credit.
Amazon Business adds Affirm as its first buy now, pay later option at checkout. Amazon and Affirm announced an expanded partnership that makes Affirm the first pay-over-time option available at checkout on Amazon Business. Customers can split the total cost of eligible purchases and pay over time with Affirm without late or hidden fees. Small business owners will receive an instant credit decision and can select from customized pay-over-time options of three to 48 months.
HubSpot to acquire B2B intelligence provider Clearbit. HubSpot has agreed to acquire Clearbit, a B2B data provider. Per HubSpot, the acquisition of Clearbit will bring rich data into HubSpot’s system of record, from tracking website visits to monitoring a company’s news announcements. HubSpot can provide front-office teams comprehensive context about their customers and prospects to identify best-fit customers and purchase intent.


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STORES in Scunthorpe reported a successful year for shoppers looking to grab a bargain in the Boxing Day sales.
The annual sales started in most stores yesterday (Thursday, December 26) and customers took to the town to be the first to take advantage of them.
Sports Direct, on Scunthorpe High Street, confirmed it had a successful Boxing Day.
Store manager Craig McMillan said: "We were busier than last year and it was an improvement.
"We are normally busy on Boxing Day."
Another store which had a successful day of trading was Coe and Co jewellers, also on Scunthorpe High Street.
Owner Tony Coe said: "We were quite busy.
"We had a brilliant year.
"We are still doing strong and it is always busy in between Christmas and New Year."
Hundreds of shoppers were queuing outside Next on the Gallagher Retail Park in Scunthorpe, hours before the 6am opening time.

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DSW lays out plans to take down walls between in-store, online shopping experience
DSW Inc. still has room to grow both in the bricks-and-mortar world and online.
The Columbus-based discount shoe and accessory retailer Tuesday said it sees the potential for as many as 550 stores. That is 50 more shops than the chain, which is at 397 stores now, had capped itself at in the past.
CEO Michael McDonald, speaking on a Tuesday conference call for stock analysts, said the boost in store count potential is a reflection of the confidence in the business.
That 550 figure doesn’t include the potential growth of the company’s small-format stores. DSW opened two in the fourth quarter with as many as six more expected to be opened in 2014. These stores, at 10,000 square feet, are roughly half the size of a typical DSW shop.
Chief Merchandising Officer Debbie Ferree, on the call, said the smaller stores carry the same core products as a larger DSW, but have a fewer number of choices. The markets were studied for a year in advance of opening to determine the right mix of merchandise for the smaller footprint.
DSW (NYSE:DSW) also has high hopes for growing its online and in-store sales abilities. In the past few years, it has added two programs that take down the walls between in-store customers and online shoppers. The first allows customers get shoes online that are out-of-stock in the store, while a second program reverses that and allows website orders to be fulfilled at stores. Stores also can supply each other.
McDonald said the initiatives, which are generating an annualized $75 million, are the first steps toward a more proactive system that would put the company’s stock of more than 25,000 shoes and accessories in front of shoppers regardless of being in a store or online. That system will be built in the next three years.
To that end, the company assembled an eight-member team in charge of the project and has merged its store and online buying and planning operations.
“This is a business necessity and a competitive advantage,” McDonald said.
Like many retailers, DSW fought both harsh weather and a decline in shoppers in the fourth quarter, but still managed to post its fifth consecutive year of annual earnings growth. Fourth quarter and year-end results can be found here.
Dan Eaton covers retailing and restaurants for Columbus Business First.
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Michael Solomon, president and chief executive officer of Irwindale, Calif.-based Ready Pac Foods Inc., is retiring and will be succeeded by Phillip Theodore.
Solomon had both roles since 2008, after serving as chief operating officer. He joined Ready Pac in 2006.
Theodore, who recently joined the company as chief operating officer, will add the president and chief executive officer titles. He began his career in the retail supermarket business in the early 1980s with Wegmans.
Later he had executive and board positions with consumer packaged goods companies. Theodore has experience in private label and national brand distribution at retail.
The transition will take place by the end of May, said Tristan Simpson, director of marketing and corporate communications.
“I have decided that now since I have a strong senior executive on board to focus on the operations and financial aspects of the business, and one who complements an already strong management team,” Solomon said in a news release, "the time is right for me to retire from Ready Pac. I look forward to spending more time with my wife and two and a half year old son.”
He led Ready Pac through several years of record results, according to the release.
Solomon has been president of M. Solomon & Associates since 1985. His past positions included stints as president of Max Factor Cosmetics and Mann Theaters.
“This company has great employees, innovative products, and collaborative distribution partners and is well positioned for exciting growth,” Theodore said in the release.


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Ever since Facebook bought WhatsApp, we all knew it was going to find a way to ruin the experience the app gives us. Though they haven’t done it as fast as we thought since up to now, we haven’t seen ads on the platform.
But that is not to say they haven’t already begun monetizing the app. Well, WhatsApp for Business. A pay-to-use tool for businesses to communicate with their clients over WhatsApp. Come 2020, Facebook wants to monetize the app all the way, by showing up ads on the platform.
WhatsApp Status Ads
Next year, you will be seeing advertisement interludes in between the Status updated by your contacts. Facebook made the announcement during a conference held recently in the Netherlands.
Though there was no announcement on the specific date, one thing is for certain. WhatsApp will not go through the entire 2020 without raking in big dollars to Facebook from advertisers. The ads will be more or less like what you see on Instagram Stories.
I know you’re disappointed but things could have gone a whole lot worse
I know it sucks to see ads interludes in between seeing …read more


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Moving away from cash and checks, for many of us, our money transactions have changed during the past 25 years.
Including topics that focus on money, gender, and geography, a recent paper reports what makes us more and less happy.
Looking at the the supply and demand sides of buffet economics, we see how restaurants and diners manage all-you-can-eat.
At home, at work, and politically, our baby names send a message that can nudge our behavior in a certain direction.
Comparing 1980 and now, we would see that many of us are older when we experience five of life’s key milestones.
More than money, our increased pet spending signals the changing relationship we have with our dogs and cats and even a chicken.


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Looking over the prow at the first quarter of 2014, it’s an excellent time to take stock of the year that was for the digital industry. When it came to all things data and analytics, 2013 saw a huge shift in public perception of what data privacy means as the Snowden revelations threw personal security and the governmental manipulation of data into the spotlight. We also celebrated the idea that the roles of CTO and CMO began converging in a big way, with technology budgets being shifted firmly into the media and marketing camp. And finally, Google took a swipe at brand marketers by making SEO that much harder, and paid search that much easier to invest in.
Ahead of yet another newsworthy year in analytics, TagMan looks back at 2013’s 13 data analytics highlights.


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Some cameras can't focus on QR codes
Some testers found that their cameras couldn't focus on QR codes. This has also been an issue on some test devices:
- Sony Xperia Tipo
- Huawei Ascend Y520
- Huawei Ascend Y330
All of these devices have fixed-focus cameras. The size and resolution of the screen being scanned, and the resolution of the camera's preview image, may also be relevant. Scanning a small, low-resolution screen using a low-resolution, fixed-focus camera seems to be the hardest case (e.g. scanning the HTC Wildfire S using the Sony Xperia Tipo).
@ernir reported that the testers' devices were able to scan QR codes when using the zxing app - we should investigate what it's doing differently.


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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) recently removed Kinect as a required accessory to its core Xbox One bundle, effectively backtracking on its previous insistence that the motion tracking device was an essential part of the experience of using the tech giant's latest video game console.
But the Fool's Steve Symington says in the following video that the move to finally promote the Kinect as an optional accessory isn't Microsoft's biggest blunder with the Xbox One so far. Instead, Steve says, Microsoft's most significant mistake was simply taking so long to do so.
The move makes sense considering that newly promoted Xbox head Phil Spencer recently insisted that gaming will be placed front and center for the Xbox One going forward. And the Xbox One's bread-and-butter hard-core gaming audience simply doesn't value the functionality of Kinect nearly as much as casual consumers do.
It didn't sit too well with gamers that Microsoft initially put gaming on the back burner in favor of promoting the $500 Xbox One bundle as a broader entertainment platform. Meanwhile, Sony (NYSE:SNE) opted from the very beginning to simply offer its competing Eye accessory as an add-on purchase, which meant the company could sell its PlayStation 4 for just $400. It should come as little surprise, then, that Sony has already sold an estimated 9 million PlayStation 4 consoles worldwide, compared to sales of just 5 million Microsoft Xbox One consoles.
To hear more from Steve about what impact Microsoft's decision could have for the future of its Xbox One console, please watch the full video below.


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The technology includes SimulTask software for 100% inline inspection and measurement of weight, fat, protein, moisture and contaminant detection.
Richard Hebel, product manager, fat analysis, Eagle, otherwise known as the ‘Guru of fat analysis’ told FoodProductionDaily the meat industry is fearful of the media right now because of recent exposés in the press and on TV and people are not eating as much red meat.
“Everything from mistreatment of animals to unsanitary conditions - almost all meat processors refuse to have any kind of media come into their plant and discuss things. Having any media exposure in a plant is now illegal in a number of US states,” he said.
“The meat industry is under a lot of economic duress.”
Hebel said for convenience we can think of the industry as two groups; the slaughter packer type operation, which harvest animals and sell the component meat; and the people that buy the meat, the processors.
“The processors add value to that meat in one way or another, we call them the ‘grinders’ because they buy the meat and grind it to certain specifications,” he added.
“What’s happening economically is the first group is facing an incredible squeeze, on the producer end animal prices are going up because of drought and disease and grain prices have gone through the roof, this has been going on for a few years.
Major margin squeeze
“At the same time, worldwide consumption of red meat is tailing off. So the price they get for components to sell is clamped as well. They are in a major margin squeeze.
“Both groups are trying to find ways to reduce cost. It’s a big deal right now at the processor end.”
Hebel added in the last two years, processors have become more interested in LCF (Least Cost Formulation) – a tool to keep meat costs in check.
For example, in packing a hamburger a processor will buy meat from different places, like spot buys, to make it at the least cost.
“It’s not that simple any more depending on the commodity price of beef – to mix and match and drive the least amount of cost in that blend,” said Hebel.
“That’s where the FA3 allows them to major 100% of their product flow for chemical lean – how lean is the meat, directly related to fat. Chemical lean is the way meat isbought and it is increasingly a much more precise method because before it relied on visual recognition.
“The accuracy of what you put in a package is how accurately you can measure your process. Traditionally in the meat industry they did this manually sampling meat from time to time during the day but this is a notoriously inaccurate process. FA3 looks at 100% of the meat that is passing through so processors know exactly what the blend is going to be.”
Hebel said this year, visitors to Interpack will see more technology regarding refrigeration, sanitation and discussions about environmental footprint and the amount of space machinery takes up.
Tall PRO XSDV
“The amount of space a machine takes up is expensive, factories are usually crowded but with the FA3 we directly address this by reducing the size of the system,” he said.
He added, the Eagle Fat Analysis Technology will be officially launched for the first time at the show and trials are currently on-going.
“We are waiting for regulatory approvals but we are due to complete those before the show,” he added.
“We haven’t accepted any orders yet but we will start accepting them at Interpack. We call it the Stage Gate product introduction process, where you pass certain criteria before product introduction to the next stage. The show is the roll out phase.
Other Eagle products on display will be the Tall PRO XSDV - a dual view x-ray system to detect and remove up to 50% smaller sized contaminants in rigid and glass containers and Eagle Pack 550 PRO, an x-ray inspection system designed for contaminant detection and quality measurements of large and varied size packages.
It features Material Discrimination Technology (MDX) which allows manufacturers to detect and remove contaminants such as glass shards, calcified bones and stones.
The company is exhibiting at Interpack, Dusseldorf, Germany (May 8-14) in Hall 13, Stand D12.


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In relation to global population growth, the metal packaging and coatings market continues to be a vital industry, particularly for food and beverage products. Impacted by the coronavirus pandemic this year, the global market will reach $112.4 billion in 2020, representing a fall of $4.8 billion compared to 2019, with the industrial segments hit especially hard. Positive growth will return in 2021, surpassing pre-COVID-19 levels, according to The Future of Metal Packaging and Coatings to 2025
, a new report from Smithers.
The in-depth examination of the sector found that in the pre-COVID-19 world, metal packaging demand had grown at a consistent rate, albeit at a lower level than all other packaging. Overall, metal packaging has seen an increase in demand, most notably in beverage cans. Smithers also found that food packaging is proving to be insulated from COVID-19 and will likely increase in volume everywhere, as people are forced to stay at home and will stock food and drink accordingly.
Impact of the coronavirus
Since the onset of the coronavirus, demand for different metal packaging formats is being impacted differently. Overall, a post-COVID tailwind will raise the 2020-2025 industry compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to 3.1% – almost twice that predicted in pre-pandemic forecasts. This will push worldwide value to $131.2 billion in 2025, at constant prices.
The lockdown in Europe and North America in H1 2020 caused a surge in demand for food cans of around 10%, as consumers stock up on tinned foodstuffs. There has also been a rise in demand for beverage cans as drinkers move away from bars and restaurants to socially distanced home consumption.
In contrast, disruption to international trade is impacting bulk metal containers, fabricated steel boxes, and shipping barrels and drums seriously with 80% of the 2020 demand drop confined to these formats.
Evolution by product type
To provide a more in-depth look, Smithers’ analysis divides the market into five segments -- cans (beverage, food, aerosol, and other cans), metal closures, industrial bulk containers, industrial drums and barrels, and other aluminium containers. The largest sector by value is cans, and in 2019 represented 56% of total value. With beverages accounting for 70% of this by volume, future developments – including for soft drinks, energy drinks and beer – is seeing can makers invest in adding capacity as they enter the 2020s.
Looking at this evolution by product type in Figure E.3, beverage cans is the largest product with 28% of the total metal packaging market value in 2019, and 50% of total cans, having grown $4 billion in value since 2015. Unit volume reached 365 billion cans in 2019 with an annual increase of 2.9%, worth an additional 10 billion or so cans per year. The COVID-19 impact is estimated to be minimal with $0.3 billion contraction followed by an estimated $7.4 billion growth between 2020 and 2025 when the market is estimated to be 446 billion beverage cans – an annual growth rate of 4.2% or an additional 16.5 billion cans per year.
Leading geographical markets
The region with extraordinary growth in metal packaging is developing Asia without Japan (Dev Asia-J), which grew $6.8 billion between 2015 and 2019; this is China and other Asia. The second region for growth was Western Europe with $2.1 billion. The COVID-19 effect is estimated to be greatest in North America and Western Europe with 63% or $3.0 billion of the estimated $4.8 billion COVID-19 contraction, as the pandemic has been worst in those regions. Post-COVID-19 forecast to 2025 estimates that Dev Asia-J should grow $8.5 billion, followed by North America with $3.2 billion, Western Europe with $2.1 billion and South and Central America with $2.0 billion growth. The underlying growth is forecast as 3.2% annually.
Metal packaging performs well in environmental terms due to recycling, but will continue to be examined for further lightweighting opportunities to help meet sustainability targets. Areas of focus for cans are wider use of lower weight can ends, and replacement of three-piece cans with two-piece constructions. In aerosols, weight savings are being enabled by the use of alloy slugs, and there is new interest in bag-on-valve designs for both single and dual-dispensing products.
In congested consumer applications, brands are working to make their packaging distinctive with enhanced decoration. To deliver this, conventional metal packaging print equipment is becoming more feature rich and supplemented by more inkjet installations. These changes allow for more variated and innovative designs, improved matte or glossy finishes, and tactile effects.
In response to pressure from legislators and public health lobbyists, there has been a move away from epoxy phenolic coatings in food cans. Despite the substance being cleared for the application by regulatory authorities in the US and EU, the eventual substitution will potentially extend into less mature economies over the next five years.


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Don’t let your influencer be a rule-breaker on social media.
Rule-breakers: A recent ASA ruling has highlighted the widespread problem of celebrities and bloggers breaking the rules when it comes to promoting brands on social media. Complaints were made concerning a tweet posted about Alpro yoghurt by TV presenter AJ Odudu to her 25,000 followers that didn’t identify the tweet as a paid for commercial message or #ad.
The ASA found that Ms Odudu had a contract with Alpro to publish a number of social media posts over a period of time and concluded that since the ad was presented in a similar ‘voice’ to her other tweets it wasn’t clear to consumers that the tweet was in fact a marketing communication and not her own opinion. In addition, under the terms of the contract, Alpro were the sole owner of all copyright for material created throughout the promotion and therefore responsible for Ms Odudu’s social media messages and therefore liable for the breach. The outcome resulted in a lot of negative press for the Alpro brand.
CAP Code rules 2.1 and 2.4 specify that marketers must clearly mark advertorials or paid for marketing. However, a lot of brands don’t seem to be aware of the rules or care that they are breaking the rules. And things are getting tougher….the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) recently proved that they are willing lay down the law against advertisers who mislead consumers. They secured an undertaking from marketing agency Social Chain who were found to have run 19 campaigns that were not disclosed as advertising across Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts with a combined reach of 4m followers. The CMA also wrote to the 15 brands and 43 ‘social media personalities’ involved warning them that advertising that is not clearly labelled is a breach of consumer protection law and could result in a prosecution. Social Chain agreed undertakings to ensure all future advertising that it posts or arranges will be clearly labelled.
The problem is even greater in the United States where a single 140 character tweet can be worth tens of thousands of dollars to celebrities such as Justin Bieber or Kim Kardashian. An investigation by consumer non-profit organisation Truth in Advertising has found hundreds of instances where Kardashian family members had posted about brands such as Puma, Calvin Klein and Balmain to a combined audience of over 300m without disclosing they were paid for ads.
The Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection take a dim view of these activities stating that ‘consumers have the right to know if reviewers are providing their own opinions or paid sales pitches” and have issued consent orders to brands such as Warner Brothers and Sony which carry the force of law and can result in civil penalties.
The bottom line is that although it is not illegal to pay people to endorse products, the brands and media agencies involved need to make sure that the consumer knows when something is paid for otherwise they could be breaking the law.
So what can you do to avoid getting your brand into trouble? Here are our five top tips for brands when it comes to social media.
- If you pay for it, it’s an ad. Content that is controlled by the marketer (i.e. the brand or agency) rather than the ‘influencer’ and is provided in exchange for payment is an advert and must be labelled as such according to the CAP Code.
- Caution, even if it’s free. Someone reviewing an item given to them for free, and in return for nothing, is not formally covered by the CAP Code but the Competitions and Markets Authority believes that consumers need to know if an influencer has in effect been influenced whether it is by a financial or otherwise, so best to label it accordingly.
- Product placement also counts. So for instance if a chef is filming a YouTube cookery tutorial with a set of expensive pans they should let their viewers know if they have been paid to use them.
- Be literal. If you are providing content to an influencer – like Alpro did for AJ Odudu – then it is your responsibility to provide clear instructions on how paid-for content needs to be identified by the person posting it. The buck stops with the brand – not the influencer.
- Get trained. Update all of your marketing team’s training materials and internal policies to reflect that identifying paid for marketing communications is in fact the law and that it covers anything from tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram images, vlogs, blogs to online articles too.


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While LG was trademarking phones up to the LG G9 last year, Samsung is also doing the same thing now with the Galaxy A series. Right now, we’ve got the Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 on the market and there are 3 models to consider now.
Samsung has certified the Galaxy A6, Galaxy A8 and Galaxy A9 this week. We’re expecting them to keep the all aluminum approach, with unibody designs and midrange to high end specs. It’s very possible that in the future we’ll see such handsets borrowing from the Galaxy S6, maybe its glass back. Samsung may have tradermarked this brands for the sake of caution and may not intend to launch these models anytime soon.
Seeing how the Galaxy A7 was relatively recently launched, there’s no need for a new Galaxy A model just now. However, come September, we may see one or two new models at IFA 2015. 12 or 13 MP cameras and 2 GB of RAM should be on board, together with Lollipop and Super AMOLED screens.


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ANNOUNCEMENT 12 Aug 2015In August 2015, the government of India announced a change in import duties.
NUMBER OF INTERVENTIONS
On 12 August 2015, the Indian Ministry of Finance through Notification No. 45/2015 increased the import tariffs on several iron and steel bar products from 10% to 12.5% and on iron and steel flat-roll products from 7.5% to 10%. The measure has been widely reported as a move to protect domestic suppliers on account of the devaluation of its currency by China and resultant dumping of iron and steel products in India.
The tariff on these products was last increased in June 2015 (see related measure).


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Korean regulators on Thursday fined domestic mobile phone manufacturers and carriers 45.3 billion won (roughly $40.2 million) for price-fixing and consumer fraud. According to the Fair Trade Commission, the companies secretly agreed to inflate the prices of cell phones while advertising offers with considerable incentives. The companies’ actions apparently tricked consumers into thinking they were buying a new phone for a bargain. “Companies took advantage of the complicated price setting practice in the mobile telecommunications sector to trick consumers,” an FTC official said. The Korea Times reported that Samsung, LG, Pantech, SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus have all been find for their role in the scheme. In addition to the fine, the companies have been ordered to release information concerning the incentives they offered consumers, and they have been banned from offering such incentives in the future. SK Telecom was given the largest fine of 20.2 billion won, followed by Samsung with 14.2 billion won and KT at 5.1 billion won.
If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.


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- MoneyGram has announced a non-custodial wallet to simplify fund transfers between fiat and USDC, building upon its Stellar partnership
- This development marks MoneyGram’s entry into the crypto wallet space and builds upon its four-plus years in the sector
- The wallet includes KYC checks to ensure regulatory compliance
Global payments platform MoneyGram is set to launch a non-custodial wallet aimed at simplifying the movement of funds between fiat currency and USDC. MoneyGram’s move into the crypto space builds upon its partnership with the Stellar blockchain to power this new wallet and allows it to plant a firmer foot into the crypto world. The new wallet will be non-custodial but will have ‘know your customer’ checks to ensure it complies with financial regulations.
Four Years in the Game
MoneyGram has been working on blockchain-based remittance solutions for at least four years having initially teamed up with Ripple to trial international payments on crypto rails. Since then it has expanded hugely, teaming up with USDC and Stellar to bring its plans to fruition, which now includes a non-custodial wallet.
MoneyGram’s traditional money transfer service typically requires users to specify a destination for their funds, leaving them with limited options for holding funds in between transactions. This limitation stems from constraints within the global banking system. MoneyGram’s non-custodial wallet addresses this challenge by allowing users to deposit cash and hold it as USDC, giving them the flexibility to decide when to convert it into another currency.
Non-custodial Wallet Will Still Have KYC
Unlike many non-custodial wallets, which grant users full control over their funds, MoneyGram’s product will impose know your customer requirements and will only be compatible with other MoneyGram wallets. While this may limit its integration with the broader crypto ecosystem, it also shields MoneyGram from the regulatory uncertainties often associated with DeFi products.
Remittance companies like MoneyGram and Western Union have been known for their high fees, but MoneyGram has been actively working to reduce costs. The company claims that its average global consumer cost is around 3%, lower than the industry average of 6.3% reported by the World Bank. Digital transactions, the company says, tend to be under 1%, making it competitive with other crypto-powered remittance services like Mexico’s Bitso.
Initially, the non-custodial wallet will be available in countries with the capacity for digital KYC processes, which currently includes approximately 40 nations.


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Live Seeds Vinyl – Record Store Day
16 February 2022
On the 15th Anniversary of Record Store Day on 23 April, a limited edition re-issue of ‘Live Seeds’ will be available for the first time on vinyl. You can get a copy from a participating indie record shop near you exclusively on Record Store Day 2022.
Originally released in 1993, the album has been remastered for vinyl and art directed by Mick Harvey. Taken from the ‘Henry’s Dream’ live tour, ‘Live Seeds’ is split across 2LPs, with unique etched 140g red double vinyl featuring ‘Tupelo’, ‘The Mercy Seat’ and ‘From Her To Eternity’.
For a list of stores visit here.


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Texas collectors came out to the first big show of 2009, focused on getting items signed by some local favorites.
Judging from foot traffic and sales at the annual Tristar Productions winter sports memorabilia show in Houston, the recession’s grip has yet to choke off the market for Roger Staubach autographs, Craig Biggio jerseys, Mickey Mantle baseball cards or Tony Romo signed photographs.
The show took place last weekend at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Jeff Rosenberg, president of the Houston company, said this year’s show continued the trend toward autographs and other memorabilia and away from sports cards that has characterized the collectibles industry in recent years.
"We face challenges with the Internet and the changing economy," Rosenberg said. "But the ability to bring in these athletes for autograph signings is the one thing you can’t replicate on the ‘net.
"It’s not just the autograph, it’s the experience of meeting the athlete."
Accordingly, the mix of merchandise on sale this week has changed. Whereas sales of single cards and boxes once dominated the Tristar show, this weekend’s exhibitors were equally divided between those selling cards, those selling autographed, jerseys, photos, helmets and other items and a growing block of dealers who specialize in displays and frames for memorabilia.
Howard Lau, whose two decades operating a sports collectibles retail store makes him one of the city’s longest-tenured dealers, divided his show inventory between card products and balls and photos for fans who came to the show without anything for their favorite athletes to autograph.
"But there are still card collectors, too," Lau said. "It’s not a dead hobby yet."
Dealer Brian Moray of Scottsdale, Ariz., reported healthy sales for individual cards from the 1960s and ’70s.
"Tristar shows generally cater to the autograph collector," Moray said. "Cards are secondary, but this show has worked out well for us."
Rosenberg said Staubach was the biggest autograph draw of the weekend.
Other current and former athletes who signed for fans included Biggio, Terry Bradshaw, Bruce Matthews, Jennie Finch, Tony Gwynn and Bruce Sutter.


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The campaign “Month of Croatian Tourism” starts tomorrow, a project of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Croatian Tourist Board, as part of which numerous tourist services and experiences will be available at a minimum of 35 percent cheaper prices.
All Croatian citizens, as well as foreign guests who will stay in Croatia during October, will be able to experience tourist services in all parts of Croatia at attractive prices, which will be available on the “Month of Croatian Tourism” portal.
“The excellent main part of the summer season is almost behind us, and numerous guests, more than 200 thousand of them, are still staying in Croatian destinations. Our goal during this autumn and winter period is to maintain positive trends and conclude the tourist year with the best possible result. I hereby invite numerous service providers in tourism, i.e. tourism entities to join the action, but also all travel lovers to take advantage of this opportunity and find the ideal destination or activity they want to experience during October, the month of Croatian tourism,” said Kristjan Staničić, director of the Croatian Tourist Board, adding that the basic idea of the project is to extend the tourist season by encouraging local and foreign tourist traffic in the post-season period.
Minister of Tourism and Sports, Nikolina Brnjac, added.
“When we look at the pre and post season results, we can already say that this year we have made a big move towards achieving our strategic goal of making Croatia a year-round tourist destination. The month of Croatian tourism, which we started at the beginning of my term first as a weekly event, and last year was extended to a month due to great interest, certainly contributed to these results.
During this period, local and foreign tourists are given the opportunity to discover all that Croatia has to offer that they may not have known about before, with special benefits and discounts, but also to make sure that our country is beautiful at all times.
Actions like this one and “Experience local. Explore rural Croatia”, we are additionally directing the interest of tourists towards Croatian continental cities and their offer, and I invite tourists, both local and foreign, to take advantage of the benefits offered to them, and all stakeholders who have not yet to join this campaign this year as well.”
Together with the project, a marketing campaign is launched, the aim of which is to provide additional information and encourage tourist entities to participate in the project, as well as the citizens themselves, who we invite to take advantage of this opportunity for travel and experiences at much more affordable prices.


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It seems that Niantic has started to take quite some action against third party software developers and their bots, by serving the former with cease and desist letters, and updating Pokemon Go to render the latter obsolete, for now at least.
Earlier this week, Mila432, a famous Pokemon Go reverse engineer who released an API that facilitates tracking websites and bot development, was the first one to be served with the cease and desist mail from Niantic.
While yes, maybe botting in Pokemon Go did get out of hand a bit, with some players using more than 50 accounts to bot at once (mostly for account selling purposes), threatening the developers might be somewhat too drastic.
Another useful resource for Pokemon Go players was PokeVision, which also seems to have been shut down because of the current events. Here’s an open letter sent to Niantic, by one of the creators of PokeVision, Yang Liu. For more details about the status of PokeVision, you should check out their Twitter account.
With this new updated version of Pokemon Go, it appears that Niantic has also targeted softwares like Nox, since many people couldn’t update their game app and were experiencing an error that the device isn’t compatible with the app, which allegedly can be bypassed by simply downloading the latest APK.
While we never encourage usage of third party software in any game, including Pokemon Go, it’s safe to say certain things kind of got out of hand. For instance, people have even gone to the length of developing tools for automatic Pokemon Trainer Club (PTC) account creation, which to me personally it seems like an overkill for the botting scene. I understand that a lot of people were happy with it, especially the ones selling accounts, since it required little to no effort to make decent amounts of money, but it also can speed up the process of anti-botting actions.
Now, we all know that there’s no better time to spread false rumors and fake “screenshots” other than during such events, so, of course, several people have started claiming they’ve got permanently banned from Pokemon Go for botting, or that they’ve received mails from Pokemon Go that they’re going to be refunded by Niantic for the purchase they made when they bought the account from other players, and such. While the possibility of actual permanent bans is quite real, I highly doubt any of the released screenshots share the same degree of authenticity.
What we know for sure, according to GitHub and reddit, is that bot developers are working around the clock to bypass the new Pokemon Go updates and make their bots functional once more, but we’ll see in which direction this will be going, as they have to fight both the virtual and real life obstacles.
Update: Niantic’s John Hanke confirmed that a ban wave is coming.
Update 2: Confirmation that players using third party software (bots) are getting their accounts flagged.
Regardless the side of botting you are on, this will be quite an interesting thing to see. I’m sure that third party software developers will always find new ways of bypassing the anti-botting mechanics Niantic adds, and at the same time, I’m sure that Niantic will always be increasing its security against such softwares, so it’ll be quite the fight.
Even if it seems that the fight is currently carried between developers of each side, it’s safe to say that a Pokemon Go permanent ban wave will be coming soon. Should that be the case, rest assured that we’ve got your back! Make sure you let us know if you experience such issues, by firing up a message to our contact form, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!


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Call them “swipe fees,” “checkout fees,” or “surcharges,” consumers may have to deal with a new expense at the register if they pay with a credit card, thanks to a $7.25 billion settlement reached Friday.
This Valentine’s Day: Don’t Break Small Business Hearts
Electronic Payments Coalition
Press Releases / Statements
Does law hurt or help banks, consumers?
Small business opinion: Swipe fee changes doing little to help merchants
Retailers, gas stations pocketing money intended for consumers


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Global technology consulting firm Capgemini has become a major Ryder Cup sponsor in a six-year deal, starting this year as a worldwide supplier, and upgrading to a worldwide partner from the 2023 event…
UK screening and testing company Cignpost Diagnostics will provide Covid -19 travel testing for the 2020 Ryder Cup Europe travelling party from the UK under a new supplier deal
Bermuda-based offshore bank Butterfield has entered into a partnership with the Bermuda Tourism Authority to become the title sponsor of the PGA Tour's annual FedExCup event held at Port Royal Golf Course…
The PGA of America has named Tito’s Handmade Vodka as the official vodka of the Ryder Cup, which will be held on September 21-26 at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin.
Employment platform Velocity Global has become the ‘Official Global Workforce Solutions Platform’ of the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions.
Logistics software company Slync.io’s agreement to become title sponsor of the Dubai Desert Classic is understood to run for five years, from 2022 to 2026.
Digital inventory management company Horizm has entered the golf market by agreeing a deal with PGA Tour and European Tour player, Matt Fitzpatrick. The Englishman, currently ranked world No
The European Tour has named logistics technology provider Slync.io as the new title sponsor of the Dubai Desert Classic, replacing watch brand Omega in the role
The PGA Tour has announced a five-year marketing partnership with Tito’s Handmade Vodka, which has been designated the official vodka of the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions.
Korean luxury car brand Genesis will pay more than the previous incumbent, investment brand abrdn, as the new title sponsor of the Scottish Open in a deal announced last week
The new strategic alliance between the PGA Tour and European Tour will see three co-sanctioned tournaments on the 2021-22 schedule with one of the events, the Scottish Open, boasting a new title sponsor
Golf manufacturer TaylorMade has agreed a three-year sponsorship deal with the PGA of Australia as it seeks to build on the pandemic-inspired participation boom for the sport
Sustainable business consultancy Acciona has been named as the title sponsor of the European Tour’s Spanish Open golf tournament.
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) has extended its long-term association with video game developer Electronic Arts (EA)
New luxury gin brand Old Tom Gin 1821 has been named as an official supplier and licensee of the 2023 Ryder Cup, scheduled to be hosted in Italy
The PGA Tour has named global systems integrator World Wide Technology the title sponsor of its annual tournament at El Camaleón Golf Club at Mayakoba on Mexico’s Riviera Maya in a multiyear deal through 20…
The PGA Tour and American brewing company Anheuser-Busch have extended their longstanding marketing relationship through 2024, in a deal which continues Michelob Ultra and O'Doul’s positions as the official b…


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Ep. 1101: Where we learn to archive Video
It's only been half a day since Clint Eastwood bombed the RNC Convention, but the ridiculous amount of "viral memes" online are already making it feel stale. We have no choice but to show you a few picks, and we'll also have a live taste test of ThinkGeek's bacon and Sriracha-flavored lollipops.
Today we've got ThinkGeek Battle Mugs, undercover cops Catfishing your house party, and a weekend story of a wedding proposal gone sour.
Peter Ha, Tech Editor for The Daily, stops by for a chat about next week's Apple event, the infamous Apple blacklist, the 2011 Razzie nominations, and a new condom from Planned Parenthood that tracks its users!
We asked CNN technology writer Mark Milian to come into the studio today to wrap up the last show of the year, and he surprises us with Peter Ha from The Daily in tow! Our two favorite guests join us for a discussion about the tech trends of 2011 ("hacking," privacy, mobile OS wars, Tumblr, and Reddit), and we'll also take a look at Mark's new book, Letters to Steve: Inside the E-Mail Inbox of Apple's Steve Jobs.
In a wide-ranging interview at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg talks about the company's stock performance, its effect on employee morale, and the company's strategy to monetize mobile.
CNET Webware's Rafe Needleman explores the sponsored giveaways at the TechCrunch50 conference. Don't get your hopes up: TechCrunch50 is no D6.
Rafe talks with one of Klout's early venture funders, Shervin Pishevar, and TechCrunch writer Josh Constine.
More than 50 companies will officially launch their new products at TechCrunch50 this year in San Francisco. CNET's Kara Tsuboi stops by the first day of the event and finds everyone from actor Ashton Kutcher to developers building online banking platforms for kids.
With 50 companies on stage, even the companies that didn't qualify for stage time get attention at the TechCrunch50 event. Webware's Rafe Needleman explores the Demo Pit, where the runners-up pitch to the passers-by.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco that the company does 1 billion queries a day in search. Zuckerberg goes on to say there's a big opportunity and company has a team of engineers working on it.


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Vietnamese SMEs are using e commerce to export products at reasonable costs
2018 is considered a golden time for e commerce in Vietnam as a majority of consumers have become familiar to online shopping
More money has been injected into the e-commerce market, while leading e-commerce firms have expanded.
Vietnam is proving difficult terrain for e commerce players as they keep burning money to grab a slice of the lucrative market which results in mounting losses and for some ...
The emergence of e-commerce websites such as Lazada, Tiki, Shopee, Sendo, and Adayroi has led to online shopping becoming popular among Vietnamese customers over recent years, in particular young customers ...
Payments for e commerce transactions must be made via banks or authorised payment intermediary services according to the draft of the amended Law on Tax Management
Vietnam has surpassed Thailand and Malaysia to lead Southeast Asia in terms of e commerce growth with an annual expansion of more than 30 percent bringing big opportunities for logistics ...
The e-commerce market has taken off in Việt Nam thanks to booming internet usage and smartphone ownership, along with massive investments from key retail players, local media reported.
Foreign retail e commerce businesses operating under the marketplace mode are increasingly dominating Vietnamese businesses in the market
Vietnamese small-and medium-sized enterprises SMEs are focusing more and more on international trade via e commerce.
Viet Nam e-commerce, although small, is among the fastest growing globally, according to a report released by Kantar Worldpanel, a global expert in
VCN- The Taxation Department of HCM City has issued a plan to strengthen the management of taxes on business activities in the field of electronic commerce.
VCN- The above information was announced at a conference on changes in trade, customs and tax policies in Vietnam on 16th May 2017.
European firms are upbeat about a deal that will cut thousands of tariffs from late 2017.
Rising supplies from the southern harvest have weakened Vietnam's rice export prices slightly


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I’ve long maintained that the “winner” in the “battle” for payments will be the conventional banking system, rather than one of the new “wallet” or “payment service providers”. This view is driven by the advances being made by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) which is owned by a consortium of banks.
First there was the Immediate Payment System (IMPS) which allows you to make instant inter-bank transfers. While technology is great, evangelism and product management on the banks’ part has been lacking, thanks to which it has failed to take off. In the meantime NPCI has come up with an even superior protocol called Universal Payment Interface (UPI), which should launch commercially later this year.
There is hope that banks do a better job of managing this (there are positive signs of that), and if they do that, a lot of the payment systems providers might have to either partner with banks (the BookMyShow wallet is already powered by RBL (the artist formerly known as Ratnakar Bank Limited) ).
In the meantime, banks have started encroaching on FinTech territory elsewhere. One of the big promises of FinTech (and one I’ve participated in, consulting with two companies in the space) has been to ease the loans process, by cutting through the tedious procedures banks have to offer, and making it a much more hassle-free process for borrowers.
A risk in this business, of course, has been that if banks set their eye on this business, they can eat up the upstarts by doing the same thing cheaper – banks, after all, have access to far cheaper capital, and what is required is a procedural overhaul. The promise in the FinTech business is that banks are large slow-moving creatures, and it will take time for them to change their processes.
Two recent pieces of news, however, suggest that large banks may be coming at FinTech far sooner than we expected. And both these pieces of news have to do with India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI).
One popular method for FinTech to grow has been to finance sellers on e-commerce platforms, using non-traditional data such as rating on the platforms, sales through the platform, etc. And SBI entered this in January this year, forming a partnership with Snapdeal (one of India’s largest e-commerce stores).
Snapdeal, India’s largest online marketplace, today announced an exclusive partnership with State Bank of India to further strengthen its ecosystem for its sellers. With this association, Snapdeal sellers will be able to get approval on loans from financers solely on the basis of a unique credit scoring model. There will be no requirement of any financial statements and collaterals.
Sellers on the marketplace can apply for loans online and get immediate sanction, thereby enabling “loans at the click of a button”. This innovative product moves away from traditional lending based on financial statements like balance sheet and income tax returns. Instead, it uses proprietary platform data and surrogate information from public domain to assess the seller’s credit worthiness for sanctioning of loan.
Another popular method to expand FinTech has been to lend to customers of e-commerce stores. And in a newly announced partnership, SBI is there again, this time financing purchases on the Flipkart platform.
State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank, announced a series of digital initiatives on Friday, including a first of its kind partnership with e-commerce giant Flipkart, to offer bank customers a pre-approved EMI facility to purchase products on the retailer’s website.
The bank, which celebrates its 61st anniversary (State Bank Day) on July 1, said the objective was to provide finance to credit worthy individuals, and not just credit card holders. The EMI facility will be available in tenures of six, nine and 12 months.
Just last evening, I was telling someone that there’s no hurry to get into FinTech since it will take a decade for the industry to mature, so it’s not a problem if one enters late. However, looking at the above moves by SBI, it seems the banks are coming faster!


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Telkom launches the new Freed@ portal to bridge the digital divide between businesses and consumers. The portal allows businesses to create and share content. Consumers get rewarded for engaging with the content.
The Telkom Freed@ portal offers consumers digital currency, T-Coins, for engaging with the content put up by businesses. These T-Coins can be redeemed as Telkom data and airtime, and entries into a weekly R5000 cash-draw competition.
Businesses are able to market on the Freed@ platform by paying to put up content such as image and video adverts and surveys that help them gain insights into their consumers and sell to them directly. The portal pushes consumers to the business’s websites where they can make purchases.
Telkom Freed@ will be zero-rated for Telkom mobile users allowing businesses to market to Telkom users at no data cost while rewarding them for engaging. The app will also be available to other network carriers.
Additionally, consumers will be able to use a basic text based chat platform for messaging and engage with educational content.
“Telkom has always been behind products and services that ensure greater access and opportunity to all South Africans. Freed@ is a platform that will ensure underserved consumers are not left behind by the digital economy by giving them affordable access to goods and services through this digital platform,” says Lunga Siyo, CEO of Telkom Business and Yellow Pages.
Data affordability has created a gap between consumers and businesses. Consumers who cannot afford to browse online for goods and services due to the high volumes of data consumption online platforms and digital adverts take up, are left behind in an ever-digitising economy.
Businesses also lose customers because data is such a high barrier to entry for goods and services offered online.
Telkom Freed@ bridges this divide by zero-rating the platform and rewarding the consumer for engaging while businesses are able to advertise direct to consumers. This takes Telkom’s mission to leave no man behind to the next level.


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Remember all the hubbub about Rainbow Six: Siege not receiving a sequel and story campaigns being dead for the franchise? Well, it seems at least half of that may be untrue. According to notable industry insider Nibel, Ubisoft does indeed have a development team hard at work on the next Rainbow Six title. If rumors are true, it will not be the typical adventure for Team Rainbow, however. Reportedly, the next entry is Rainbow Six Quarantine, a co-op PVE shooter that Ubisoft plans to reveal during its E3 2019 press conference.
Nibel shared this bit of information on Twitter, following a tease of it by Kotaku’s Jason Schreier on the Splitscreen podcast. It was this episode of the Kotaku podcast that also unveiled brief details concerning another Ubisoft surprise, codenamed Orpheus. See Nibel’s post about the Rainbow Six rumor below:
Update: Rainbow Six Quarantine is a co-op PVE shooter that will be announced at Ubisoft’s E3 2019
— Nibel (@Nibellion) June 7, 2019
At present, this is all the information available. That the supposed Rainbow Six Quarantine will depart from Siege’s PVP formula and focus on PVE is pretty intriguing, especially since Ubisoft intends to transition Siege into the next generation of consoles. How will these two titles co-exist, exactly? Fans may find out in the coming days.
In addition to potential news concerning Orpheus and Quarantine, Ubisoft reportedly has another surprise up its sleeve in the form of a Story Creator Mode for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. After months of speculation about a London-set Watch Dogs, the publisher will also officially unveil Watch Dogs Legion at E3.
While not every game scheduled to appear on Ubisoft’s E3 stage has been leaked, fans can be sure of the titles that won’t be in attendance. For one, Skull & Bones will be absent from the show. The same is also true of the highly-anticipated Beyond Good and Evil 2.
Ubisoft Rumored to Reveal PVE Shooter Rainbow Six Quarantine at E3
Ubisoft will host its E3 2019 presentation on Monday, June 10th at 1pm PST.
[Source: Nibellion on Twitter via Eurogamer]


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U.S.-based BrightTag has caught SiteTagger, its British foe.
Germany launched another privacy investigation against Facebook today, after attempts to get the social network to alter its facial recognition technology failed.
[Update: it appears Google has already released an updated, less buggy version of the Google+ app onto the iTunes App Store.]
If you thought Facebook knew a lot about you before, wait until it recognizes your face.
Imagine a technology that can read and “understand” any block of text. That’s what Swedish startup Saplo does. It’s a sort of “Pandora for text” whose ultimate aim is to filter articles, tweets, ads or any other types of text based on your preferences. It can also group together similar text items, find related ones and even judge whether the text expresses positive or negative sentiments.
Image tagging startup Stipple announced today that it has scored $2 million in seed funding, just three months after its launch in August.
Just weeks after Facebook announced its new location check-in feature dubbed Facebook Places, several companies have emerged claiming themselves as the first to leverage the features new set of user data. While each company is using the new service slightly differently, it’s not surprising that they want to tap into Facebook’s growing user base.
With Facebook’s announcement of a check-in feature dubbed Facebook Places, we’re all wondering how it will affect location-based services like Foursquare. So I went ahead and asked founder and chief executive Dennis Crowley.
Uppy Media is one of 65 companies chosen by VentureBeat to launch at the DEMO Spring 2010 event taking place this week. These companies do pay a fee to present, but our coverage of them remains objective.


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Australia will not sign a revised international telecommunications treaty, as it has the potential to fundamentally change the way the internet operates, according to the Minister for Broadband, Communications, and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy.
- How AMEX is using data and creative to tap into customer contexts
- Mobile Mentor and iProximity join forces on beacon technology
- 5 lessons in brand culture from Gelato Messina
- New board builds AANA's brand marketing expertise
- 10 mind-blowing Oculus Rift experiments that reveal VR's practical potential


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Railway police of Jinan and Zhengzhou jointly cracked a case involving 320,000 fake facial masks
It was learned on March 3rd that railway police of Zhengzhou and Jinan cracked a large case of producing and selling fake and shoddy facial masks, with 18 suspects manufacturing and selling counterfeit and inferior products seized and 1 chased online on February 25th. In this case, over 320,000 fake Piao’an medical facial masks were seized. 4 hideouts for producing fake products and 10 hideouts for selling fake medical protective products were destroyed.
On February 5th, the railway police of Zhengzhou received a tipoff from the public that a number of fake and substandard Piao’an medical disposable facial masks were found during luggage check-in.
Railway police of Zhengzhou then promptly took measures to crack down on epidemic-related crimes and seized 300,000 medical disposable facial masks labeled Piao’an brand. It was evidenced that those facial masks were counterfeit products. Railway police of Zhengzhou detained those facial masks in accordance with the law.
It was investigated that Sheng, an employee in Henan purchased those facial masks from Zhang in Shandong via Wechat Moments. After receiving the facial masks, Sheng found them substandard and returned them to Zhang after negotiation.
On February 11th, the railway police of Jinan arrested Zhang in Shandong according to the clues provided by railway police of Zhengzhou. It was investigated that Zhang bought the facial masks from Lu at the price of 0.3 yuan each and sold them at the price of 0.8 each. Railway police of Jinan took prompt actions and arrested Lu on February 14th. From February 18th to 22nd, a total of 14 suspects were caught for selling fake and shoddy facial masks.
According to the suspects implicated in the case, those fake facial masks were bought from Henan. As of February 24th, all the 18 suspects implicated in the case were caught.


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This tax season, H&R Block has a bold new marketing strategy to reverse the downward trend in store traffic. Its strategy is to give its tax preparation services away for free. For 30 days ending on February 15, all the early-bird filers will get their taxes done for free.
Well, not exactly "all." The free tax preparation is only for customers filing the 1040EZ federal form, which only covers approximately 16 percent of H&R Block's customers. The basic tax form is not an option for customers with slightly more complicated finances, such as customers who claim dependents, who make over $100,000 per year, are 65 or older, have income adjustments from things like alimony or tuition, or customers who itemize their deductions. Also excluded from the promotion are state income tax filings, which are required in 43 of the 50 states.
The flaw in this strategy is obvious: they're making big promises to prospects in advertising that they know they won't keep. As H&R Block Retail Tax President Phil Mazzini said to analysts recently, "our ability to monetize this program means a minimal impact on our net average charge." The problem is that their customers will get to the store and feel they've been lied to. Yet, unlike the sneaky fees the company has made its living on in the past, such as the sky-high annualized interest rates that were paid on instant cash refund anticipation loans, this lie will be much more obvious. Amy McAnarney, H&R Block's senior vice-president for tax operations, is correct when she says that "'free' can be a very powerful word."
Every marketer knows that it certainly can be. "Free" jumps off the page and people remember it. Unfortunately, they will also remember when something was supposed to be free and wasn't. According to McAnarney, this promotion "was received very well" last year when it was tested in the Miami, New Orleans, and Atlanta markets.
Truly knowing that would require a second year of testing. However, I think the shoddy tactic of dangling the word "free" to get people in the door and then pulling a fast one on them has actually been tested enough. A marketing failure in the making, H&R Block is about to learn just how powerful "free" can be.
This post also appeared on Talent Zoo's Beneath the Brand blog.


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- Filed Under
A Blue Ash-based private equity real estate investment firm has added a western Michigan shopping center to one of its portfolios.
Viking Partners LLC said Wednesday it bought Rivertown Center in Grandville, Mich., and the center is the ninth asset in Viking's Fund II. The name of the seller and terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Viking Partners said the 13-year-old property located outside of Grand Rapids has 60,876 square feet of retail space, of which more than 17,000 ...


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The legacy of the Bugatti Veyron is about to reach new heights with only eight left with the company to sell, meaning the model will go down in the history books as an icon..
Bugatti established its name as a manufacturer of beautiful fast cars. The Veyron which is one of the fastest cars ever designed is at the end of its lifecycle as only eight cars are left with Bugatti to sell. It has been a decade since the first Veyron was manufactured in 2005. The Veyron was named after Pierre Veyron – winner of the 1939 24 hours of Le Mans. Bugatti initially sold 300 units of the legendary car and then another 150 units were sold after the Grand Sport Edition was launched in 2008, holding the crest of the world’s fastest posh car production.
The Bugatti Veyron comes under the elite league with the high price tag attached to it. The vehicle has an enormous 8.0-litre engine with 16-cylinders uncommonly placed in a W contour. It’s preposterous how the supercar can touch 100 km/hr in just 2.46 seconds. In fact, the Veyron was the first car in history to break the 400 km/hr speed barrier. The regular old version of the car could blow up to 407 km/hr and the racy Super Sport version can touch 415 km/hr. The basic version of the car yields 987 BHP and 1250 Nm of torque, while the Super Sport iteration has an output of 1184 BHP and a torque of 1500 Nm!
The brand which is now under German automobile manufacturing group Volkswagen is looking forward to its next supercar, touted to be called Chiron. It is heard that the beast will have an 18-cylinder engine with a power crop of a massive 1500 BHP and superior performance than its predecessor. So people have a lot to foresee whether the upcoming car lives up to the speed expected from a new Bugatti. The Bugatti Chiron is likely to be a hybrid like the recently launched Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1 and Porsche 918.


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Cargill announced that it has opened a Culinary Experience Hub in its research and development site (R&D) in Vilvoorde, Belgium. Customers from across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region can visit the hub to learn and co-create new ingredients and recipes alongside Cargill’s food experts.
The facility features a bakery pilot plant, a regional frying center and a culinary tasting area with capabilities for dairy, beverage, bakery, convenience foods and culinary applications.
Vilvoorde is one of Cargill’s first culinary experience centers, the company said. The center specializes in R&D for new food ingredients and recipes. It has a professional chef who works with customers to either adapt existing products to evolving consumer demands or to develop new products from scratch.
“Imagine you’re a Cargill customer trying to identify the best ingredients for consumers. You could hear about an ingredient’s specifications and functionality and perhaps sample a prototype, or you could come to Cargill in Vilvoorde to co-create and taste a freshly prepared plate of food products like the consumer would at home or in a restaurant,” André van der Wulp, Cargill R&D leader in EMEA, said.
The Culinary Experience Hub houses a team of culinary experts and chefs who collaborate with customers to develop on-the-spot innovative solutions that specifically address the challenges and demands of consumers, van der Wulp noted. “Our quality products, combined with a dash of culinary creativity, help us and our customers come up with new, on-trend food solutions that don’t compromise on taste, quality and affordability.”
The Vilvoorde Culinary Experience Hub is located in Cargill’s European R&D Center, the company’s primary R&D center serving the EMEA region. It is closely linked to a network of innovation centers that provide R&D, applications and technical service support to customers around the world, which places the company in close contact with evolving trends in local markets, allowing customers to tailor products to local market tastes. The center in Vilvoorde employs more than 150 scientists and technologists.


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Hello, bienvenidos, welcome to Fusion.net.
Ford announced on Wednesday that it will debut the second generation self-driving Fusion Hybrid at next month’s CES conference, and the vehicle it’s touting comes equipped with a load of new technology to push the company along toward its goal of selling an autonomous vehicle by 2021.
Ford is refreshing the look of the Ford Fusion sedan into a more aggressive, “sporty” look – which is fitting considering the company is bringing back the Fusion Sport, which is 325 hp closer to the Fusion ST we all want.
The Ford Fusion is the European mid-sizer we demanded, with a snout borrowed from a more expensive car. What do you need to know before you buy a Ford Fusion? Don’t worry, we’ll tell you everything right here in the Ultimate Buyer’s Guide.
This last couple of years have not been all that good for Lincoln..err… the Lincoln Motor Company as they are now encouraging everyone to call it.
Taking the next step in its Blueprint for Mobility, Ford today – in conjunction with the University of Michigan and State Farm® – revealed a Ford Fusion Hybrid automated research vehicle that will be used to make progress on future automated driving and other advanced technologies.
September 16, 2013 (Newport Beach, CA) — The turnaround in auto sales is well underway at Ford Motor Company. The Fusion is going nuclear, with sales expecting to exceed 300,000 in 2013. This is definitely a hot product with explosive growth. But, from a buyer’s perspective this often comes with a sense that personal…
My job can be pretty awesome. Today was one of those really special days. I visited the Air Force Research Laboratory's Shiva Star. It is the Air Force’s largest pulsed power system. Shiva Star will store nearly 10 million joules of energy (equal to 5 pounds of TNT). It produces a pulse of 120,000 volts and 10 million…
Jalopnik's own Travis Okulski drove the new Ford Fusion Hybrid in New York. He claimed to want to "Make tender but gentle love to it." At the same time Travis was figuratively zipping his pants back up, I was heading out to Santa Monica for sloppy seconds.
The 2013 Ford Fusion is one of the finest looking affordable sedans we have seen in years. With styling that can be considered Aston Martin-esque, it's something totally different from what the this sector of the car market has seen before.
Ford kicked off its 2013 Ford Fusion press conference in Detroit by referring to the midsized-sedan market as a "battleground." Sleepiest battleground ever, you say? Perhaps not if Ford brings out an ST version (hinted in a quick image flashed on the Huge Press Conference Screen).
Taking a page from Ragu, Ford is giving buyers of the 2013 Ford Fusion more choices than they can probably comprehend. Five different powerplants (three gas, hybrid, plugin-hybrid), two transmissions, and FWD/AWD options. They call it the "power of choice" and we agree it makes Ford the most "pro-choice" automaker.
You've seen the ghostly outline of the 2013 Ford Fusion, now behold two clearer angles of the next generation of the blue oval brand's mid-size sedan ahead of its impending Detroit Auto Show debut. Malibu what?
A day or so before we're expected to see the 2013 Ford Fusion in the flesh at the Detroit Motor Show, the big blue oval-festooned automaker accidentally dropped this live shot of the mid-size sedan.
A Japanese battery supplier contact tells us that the Ford Fusion and Escape hybrids will almost certainly have production issues because of Japan's devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami, but Ford says it has no reports of any shortages.
How does a car salesman walk onto "The Late Show With David Letterman" and sell the irascible host a new Ford Fusion in a few seconds? We asked Manhattan Ford salesman Ahmed Younes, who did just that last month.
Wards has once again named its ten best engines. Surprise-surprise things are getting smaller. Diesels and four-cylinders are well represented, many a-turbocharger, hybrids, some V6's and only one, lonely V8 engine and that's Korean. Let's take a closer look.


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In the first six months of 2021, there was $590 million in ransomware-related activity, which exceeds the value of $416 million reported for the entirety of 2020 according to the S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Constant economic pressure coupled with the ever-increasing volume of data online have created an environment that’s ripe for attacks, leaving businesses and consumers vulnerable to attacks and theft.
What are ransomware attacks?
Ransomware is a subset of malicious software, AKA malware, that either threatens to publish or block access to data or a computer system. It often takes the form of a cyberattack where criminals take over an organization’s computer network. Once they’ve assumed control, the hackers demand a ransom to restore access to the illicitly encrypted data.
Additionally, ransomware attacks and data breaches are now becoming more closely linked, with sensitive data including employees’ personal information, HR records, and more being filtered out and distributed during or after the attack. In fact, Experian has found that 7 of 10 data breaches involve ransomware.
The negative impact of ransomware attacks
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, the average ransom demand in 2021 was $5.3 million, a 518% increase from the 2020 average.
Experian’s latest Data Breach Response Guide found that businesses were hit with ransomware attacks every 11 seconds in 2021. These attacks also take up to 20% longer to begin breach notifications, leaving businesses even more vulnerable.
In addition to the monetary loss and the time spent responding to and recovering from the attack, businesses also stand to suffer reputational damage, because consumer sentiment is that companies are responsible for protecting data. Having a plan in place makes a sizeable impact though, with 90% of consumers being more forgiving of companies that had a response plan in place prior to a breach.
How to protect against ransomware attacks
Experian’s 2022 Future of Fraud Forecast predicts that ransomware will be a significant fraud threat for companies as fraudsters will look for a sizeable ransom to cede control and potentially steal data from the hacked company.
Preparing for the possibility of an attack includes training your staff to spot the signs of a phishing attempt, having a response plan in place, and leveraging partner solutions.
To learn more about how Experian helps businesses protect against the fallout of a ransomware attack, visit us, and be sure to read about our other Future of Fraud predictions about cryptocurrency and Buy Now, Pay Later fraud.


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Shoppers enter a building housing a Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. store in New York.
Mark Kauzlarich | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond spiked more than 17% in extended trading on Wednesday after the company announced Mark Tritton would become its new president and CEO effective Nov. 4.
Tritton will join Bed Bath & Beyond from Target, where he most recently acted as executive vice president and chief merchandising officer. He was instrumental in making shopping at Target seamless for customers whether they were in-store or purchasing items online.
He also led many of Target’s recent store revamps, such as introducing private-label products and helped the company secure…


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Maddy Ewing is a transportation analyst with the Pembina Institute.
It’s that time of year again, even if it’s a year unlike any other: Black Friday sales have begun, launching the holiday shopping season. Shoppers may be seeking to limit physical contact, but they’re still looking to get a bargain, prepare for the gift-giving season and help keep businesses afloat. So, while Canadians are taking precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19 by shopping online, e-commerce sales – which were already on the rise before the pandemic – are now skyrocketing.
In the first three quarters of the year, Canada Post reported parcel volumes increased by 24.5 per cent. That number will likely soar now: According to FedEx Express Canada, 35 per cent of Canadians who have never done holiday shopping online plan to do so this year.
But as the vast systems of e-commerce and shipping kick into high gear to allow millions of deliveries to be made on time, and as more Canadians develop online shopping habits, we should also be thinking about the choices we’re making as consumers when we click the checkout button, and how they affect the environment.
It is increasingly being taken for granted that, once we click “buy” on a new pair of sneakers, they should arrive at our door quickly. But we’re not thinking nearly as much about the environmental impact of that delivery – specifically, how far it had to go and how quickly it had to get there.
In Canada, transportation-related emissions represent about 25 per cent of all emissions, and delivery vans doing that final run between the depot and your home – often called the “last mile” – are particularly emissions-heavy. In the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, for example, last-mile vans each produce an estimated 24 to 53 kg of carbon emissions a day. When calculated over a year, this is equivalent to the output of three passenger vehicles.
To improve air quality and reduce their carbon footprint, delivery services, freight companies and retailers have started to identify various ways they can reduce emissions, such as adopting electric vehicles, piloting cargo bikes, using off-peak hours to avoid congestion and leveraging artificial intelligence to improve efficiency. The Urban Delivery Solutions Initiative, a new business coalition that aims to tackle urban freight emissions, has early involvement from Canada Post, UPS, Purolator and Fresh City Farms, for instance.
Done right, online shopping can have a lower carbon footprint than brick-and-mortar stores, since it doesn’t require travel by individual cars. However, this benefit can be eroded when consumers opt for fast delivery options, especially same-day or next-day options. In these cases, businesses and delivery companies are given too tight a timeline in which to ensure that each truck leaves full and on the most efficient route, which can also force a shift to higher-emitting modes of transport, such as air. In order to keep up with the surge in rushed delivery, UPS had to add 11 planes to its U.S. fleet last year. Before buying, we should assess whether we need that item urgently.
Multiple orders placed with the same company can also cause problems. Consumers should try to keep items in their basket until they have a full order, and thereby consolidate these shipments into a single order so that delivery vans don’t have to make several trips and wasteful packaging can be reduced.
Some companies are promoting such consolidated deliveries by offering discounts. Amazon, for instance, has incentive programs to encourage consumers to subscribe for monthly delivery of essential items.
After all, Canadians want climate action. Many consumers – 49 per cent, according to PwC Canada’s 2020 Consumer Insights Survey – expect businesses to be accountable for their environmental impact. If that’s important, we should let businesses know that with our actions.
Businesses can draw on a multitude of affordable solutions to reduce the environmental impact of deliveries. Some are already in place or are being tested. These include switching to cargo electric-assist bikes (the Roncesvalles Business Improvement Area in Toronto and Send It Courier ran a recent pilot, for instance) or electric vehicles (Purolator is testing this option in Toronto and Montreal, for example). Companies can offer a “green shipping” option, or they could simply make the lowest-carbon option the default. Different levels of government are also looking at policies that would support these kinds of initiatives.
With industry partners innovating and governments looking to accelerate emission reductions, there is an enormous opportunity within the urban-delivery sector to have an impact. Canadian consumers are powerful drivers of change. By educating ourselves on the environmental consequences of different delivery methods and choices, we can be more mindful when making selections going forward and help bend the curve on carbon emissions while shopping online.
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How inflation affects The Crypto Market
Having written on the subject of inflation and its effects previously, I would like to add some perspectives on how inflation affects the crypto currency market. Inflation basically is the rise of consumer goods and service price resulting in the devaluation of a currency. In the previous report the causatives and effects were outlined and won’t go over them here again. The crypto industry has a pillage of challenges right from its conception, which appears to be ever-rising, from security hacks, heavy taxation to intense regulatory scrutiny from government and regulatory agencies just to mention a few and now it is battling inflationary pressures.
Looking into the effects inflation has on these digital assets, two effects stand out; fall in crypto assets demand and need for hedging. First it is observed that in the midst of the growing clamor of inflation the global crypto market suffered a massive 35% shrink in market cap from $2.58 trillion to $1.68 trillion between nov.2021 to April 2022 . This is attributed to decrease in buying power which triggered a survival instinct and fall in consumer spending. Users are left to choose to spend “wisely” on survival than spending on luxury items like digital assets. With digital assets now becoming “luxury items”, new and existing demand for these assets have sharply fallen. Another factor contributing to the falling demand is the rising debt figures as many convert their cryptocurrency into fiats to pay for their debts.
The second aspect triggered by this rising inflation is the search for a safety for cryptocurrencies. While the demand for crypto assets fell due to selloffs, the assets also plunged in value with many suffering double-digits losses. This has awakened investors’ concern to find measures to shield their crypto assets investments and other fiat-based investments from the effects of inflation. this has caused many asking if bitcoin can be a hedge against inflation.
Can crypto be a hedge against inflation? With gold losing the trust of investors as a store of value, cryptocurrencies especially bitcoin is been studied as an inflation hedge. With rarity built into the supply of bitcoin, it has earned the name “digital gold”  linking it to been a hedge for money by investors just as gold was. But how well does it hold against inflation? The bitcoin chart over the years shows an upward explosive growth but on a short term, the situation isn’t exactly the same. The huge volatility characteristics of bitcoin price which resulted in a 40% price dip between October 2021-April 2022  surely hurts investors’ funds only revealing that it is fundamentally affected by inflation, thus pointing that on a long term, bitcoin passes as an inflation resistant asset.
Another class of inflation resistant cryptocurrencies is the stablecoins. Stablecoins are vital innovations to the crypto space having provided hedge against the volatility of crypto assets. There are four categories of these and have gained an increasing demand. The total supply for these coins has increased to 181billion as of March 2022 . While the bitcoin market was experiencing a decline the total stablecoins market has was moving in the other direction at 40%  increase, inferring that it was gaining market dominance and revealing investors preference of stablecoins over other digital assets. The coins leading the pack include USDT, followed by USDC, BUSD, TerraUSD and DAI.
Having looked into these inflationary data released and the inflationary pressures, it only points that the worst may not be over yet market is expected to tank while inflation is been checked and the market would definitely require some time return to bullish ways. But until then, investors can hedge their assets using bitcoin on long term basis if they can stomach the falling prices or use the stablecoins for the short-term or combination of both depending on their strategy.
1. Crypto Market Cap and DeFi Market Cap Charts — TradingView
2. The Motley Fool- Is Bitcoin a Good Inflation Hedge? https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/01/01/is-bitcoin-a-good-inflation-hedge/
3. Bitcoin price today, BTC to USD live, marketcap and chart | CoinMarketCap
4. The Block - Stablecoins Archives
5. Stablecoin market cap 2017-2022 | Statista


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An unpatched vulnerability in the Google Admin application for Android can allow rogue applications to steal credentials that could be used to access Google for Work acccounts.
Google has released another patch for the Stagefright vulnerability after a security firm said the first one didn't fix it.
Three “high risk” vulnerabilities in SAP Mobile could give attackers access to encrypted information stored in mobile devices, security firm Onapsis reported Wednesday.
The developing world is increasingly using mobile banking apps to move money, but new research shows those apps are often poorly coded and pose security risks.
Responding to an accusatory blog post, BlackBerry has again denied that its embedded operating system caused the potentially dangerous vulnerability recently demonstrated in Chrysler Jeep Cherokees.
Many smart phone manufacturers preload remote support tools on their Android devices in an insecure way, providing a method for hackers to take control of the devices through rogue apps or even SMS messages.
Google, Samsung and LG will start to issue monthly security patches for Android devices, taking a cue from the PC industry after critical vulnerabilities put hundreds of millions of smartphone users at risk.
A malicious application or Web page could be used to crash Android devices, in some cases persistently, due to a vulnerability in a multimedia processing component.
The vast majority of Android phones can be hacked by sending them a specially crafted multimedia message (MMS), a security researcher has found.
Data stolen from Hacking Team continues to yield information about the company's infiltration techniques. The latest find is a fake Android news app, which was used to install its flagship surveillance tool.
It's become common practice to use virtual private networks for extra privacy and security in this era of mass surveillance, but a study published this week suggests such networks may not be as safe as they're commonly made out to be.
Apple released patches for several exploits that could allow maliciously crafted applications to destroy apps that already exist on devices, access their data or hijack their traffic, but a large number of iOS devices are still vulnerable.
The developers of a mobile app called Prized that secretly mined cryptocurrencies on people's mobile phones have settled with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission after being accused of deceptive trade practices.
A critical vulnerability is affecting 600 million Samsung devices including the company’s new flagship device, the S6.
Security remains a big concern for businesses considering cloud storage, but Dropbox hopes to further calm their fears by integrating its service with enterprise mobile management products.
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