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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc’s new Nexus One smartphone, which retails for $529 without a service plan, is built from components that cost about $174, according to a research report.
But analysts said the big gap between the components’ costs and the phone’s price tag did not necessarily mean the Internet giant was making a hefty profit, since the retail price includes expenses such as licensing fees and marketing costs.
“You can’t base margins off of costs alone,” said Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek, noting that a variety of expenses are not reflected in so-called teardown reports, which dissect an electronics device and take inventory of the various parts.
Google began selling the Nexus One, which is made by HTC Corp, on its website last week, its first foray into selling electronics devices directly to consumers. The retail price if $529, but if a buyer agrees to a two-year contract with Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA, the carrier will subsidize the phone and it costs only $179.
According to the teardown by research firm iSuppli, the cost of the Nexus One’s various components, including $30.50 for the 1Ghz Qualcomm Inc Snapdragon processor and $17.50 for the Synaptics Inc touchscreen, totals $174.16.
In a note to investors last week, Goldman Sachs analyst James Mitchell estimated that the Nexus One’s component costs were $300.
The bill of materials cited by iSuppli does not include other costs such as manufacturing, software and royalties — all of which are factored in when calculating gross profit margin on a product.
Charter Equity Research analyst Edward Snyder said smartphone vendors typically achieve gross margins around 30 percent.
He said the iSuppli report suggested Google would make a “decent” margin on the product, but added that it was impossible to know exactly how much.
Analysts also noted that the component costs are the costs borne by HTC to produce the phone, with Google then likely paying HTC a mark-up to buy and resell the phones.
The Nexus One, which competes with Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s Blackberry devices, is the first of a variety of smartphones that Google said were in the pipeline as the company seeks to expand its reach from the PC to the mobile world and ensure its online products and ads get prominent placement.
During an event unveiling the phone last week, Google Vice President of Engineering Andy Rubin said the company had an opportunity for an undisclosed margin selling the Nexus One.
Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; editing by John Wallace


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Will smart RFID tags take off in a big way? At least one company thinks so. Manhattan Associates Inc., Atlanta, recently announced its RFID in a Box initiative to promote easy adoption of smart tag technology. For example, some of these tags have input/output (I/O) capability enabling them to accumulate data as a remote sensor or act as a long-range RF-controlled actuator, in addition to serving as data memory. The package is designed for warehouse and stockroom applications and is thus more modest than consumer-oriented RFID. According to a recent AMR Research report on the intiative, RFID in a Box is designed as a pilot-sized system that includes a handful of items to get companies going on radio frequency identification:
• Manhattan-developed RFID middleware to collect data from readers
• Five readers and two antennas for each site
• 100,000 RFID tags
• Connectivity for five remote suppliers
• Assistance for installation, support and follow-up for a three-month project.
Manhattan has not yet set a price for the package, and details may change, but the company wants to be ready when companies begin to scramble to support retailers who are getting ready to make RFID demands.


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The coworking industry had a big year in 2017, and its momentum is carrying on into the new year.
In 2017, Fort Worth saw coworking space/coffee shop hybrid Craftwork Coffee Co. open a second location along Magnolia Avenue. Common Desk later opened in Crockett Row at West 7th. Then in 2018, The Shops at Clearfork will welcome We Work, a New York-based coworking company that will open its fourth North Texas location, which will have the capacity to hold 850 members. Craftwork, too, plans to open a third location in The Foundry District near West Seventh Street.
But as coworking grows in the city, three local players — Common Desk, Craftwork and Ensemble Coworking — are not looking to compete, but rather collaborate, hosting events together and referring prospective tenants to one another’s spaces. They held their first collaborative event in October, when the three participated in a coworking panel at Common Desk, moderated by TECH Fort Worth’s Hayden Blackburn. Craftwork CEO Riley Kiltz, Ensemble co-founder and chief connector Tamara Payne, and Common Desk co-founder and CEO Nick Clark discussed what coworking is, what makes each space different and where coworking is headed.
The three companies are hoping to host more events and have other coworking spaces get involved. According to Payne, this is just the beginning.
“If we approach this from a collaborative mindset, which is what coworking is all about, then we can actually better refer people to each other and, therefore, better serve small businesses and the entrepreneurial community in the Fort Worth area,” she says.
According to Common Desk marketing coordinator Megan Kaye Donahoe, part of the reason why coworking has grown is due to advancements in technology and the internet; thus, more people are able to learn skills remotely and work from home. According to employee engagement software company Officevibe, 40 percent of the workforce will be freelancers, temps, independent contractors or solopreneurs by 2020. Consequently, the need for space to work is also increasing.
However, despite the growth, Kiltz says Fort Worth’s market is “not necessarily saturated” — while several local companies may offer coworking, they collectively only represent a small footprint of the entrepreneurs and startups in the area.
“The freelance/remote workforce represents 20-30 percent of our labor force, so even with the influx of coworking spaces, there should be more demand than there is supply,” he says.
That’s why Craftwork, Ensemble and Common Desk are finding it better to work together and “lift up all of our brands for the cause of coworking,” Donahoe says. Another way they plan to collaborate is by referring potential members to one another if a space happens to not be a good fit.
Each space has its distinct characteristics when it comes to office design and employee culture, says Payne, who started Ensemble with co-founder and chief activator Dawn Shannon. Ensemble, for example, has a more “homey” feel. Craftwork, a smaller space, is designed with a minimalist vibe, and members tend to be “on the go” and like to “knock out their work and get in and out in an efficient manner,” Kiltz says. Common Desk, the largest of the three at 13,000 square feet, is designed with an industrial feel, while its culture offers a mix of independent workers and large, collaborative teams.
“It’s impossible for one brand and one space to meet every need that’s out there,” Donahoe says. “Every company is different, and every professional has a different set of needs and also just a different personality. Even though we would love to be able to host everyone and meet every single need, we know that’s not the reality.”
The other issue is awareness — some members of the community still don’t quite understand what coworking is, Kiltz says. Craftwork, Ensemble and Common Desk hope to better educate the community through networking and events, such as its coworking panel.
But what makes a coworking space desirable as a tenant? Will Churchill, who owns the building at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Henderson Street, where Craftwork is located, says it depends. Craftwork, in particular, works on Magnolia because it brings a balance of traffic — high traffic in early mornings through its coffee shop, low traffic in the day through its coworking space, and low traffic at night (therefore driving traffic toward other restaurants in the area). Coworking spaces also tend to bring in a younger clientele, Churchill says. According to Officevibe, 78 percent of coworkers are under the age of 40.
The key to a coworking space’s success, Kiltz says, is having great companies within the space.
“As an operator, you just have to set them up for success and let your members take it from there,” he says.
Craftwork, Ensemble and Common Desk are, after all, relatively new companies themselves. According to Kiltz, local businesses quite simply have that effect on one another.
“They’re all fighting for excellence, and they want Fort Worth to be something special, so when one of them succeeds, we're all able to celebrate,” Kiltz says. “That’s really special.”
By: Shilo Urban
By: Courtney Dabney


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|Seaports face challenging forecasts|
Shipping giant Vietnam Maritime Corporation (VIMC) last week held its first-half review meeting, with positive developments and potential challenges in the seaport segment being the key points discussed.
CEO Nguyen Canh Tinh told VIR, "Most seaports reported encouraging results, with some having higher business results compared to the same period last year – and some even surpassed the yearly targets."
According to VIMC's statistics, Cai Mep International Terminal (CMIT), and SP-SSA International Terminal (SSIT) have been making profits since late 2020. Between January and June, CMIT reported a six-month profit of $3.25 million, while SSIT made $5.39 million and witnessed a 96.75 per cent on-year rise in revenues.
Moreover, the former's container throughput rose 14.11 per cent, while the latter saw an on-year increase of 300 per cent in container throughput, surpassing the yearly target by nearly 14 per cent.
Located in the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port area of the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, CMIT has Denmark's APM Terminals as a foreign stakeholder, while SSIT is a joint venture between VIMC and SSA Marine. Meanwhile, SP-PSA – a joint venture between VIMC and Singapore-based PSA, also lying in the Cai Mep-Thi Vai area – handled nearly 2.5 million tonnes of goods during the six-month span, up nearly 33 per cent on-year, and meeting 62.66 per cent of the yearly target.
While SP-PSA failed to attract container throughput, its revenue ascended 25.3 per cent from the same period last year to $5.21 million and fulfilling 61.62 per cent of the yearly target.
In the north, Cai Lan International Container Terminals was estimated to handle 504 twenty-foot equivalent units of container throughput, up 1.36 per cent on-year. Its revenue rose 6.05 per cent to on-year to $6.65 million.
Located in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh, the facility is a joint venture seaport between VIMC and US-based Carrix, the parent company of SSA Marine.
The VIMC leader attributed the positive results to economic rapid recovery in countries, especially China, the EU, and the US, leading to growing demands for consumption of goods and materials.
Moreover, the dry cargo ship market in the first half saw improvements. The Baltic Dry Index hit 3,267 in mid-June, up nearly 3,000 on-year and reaching the highest level since 2016.
What is more, the global container vessel market continues to be bustling, while import-export turnover rose over 30 per cent on-year.
With business improvements of joint-venture seaports, VIMC reported the total volume of goods and commodities via its ports at 67.95 million tonnes during the first half, up 24.5 per cent on-year, and meeting 60 per cent of the yearly target.
Between January and June, Vietnam's total volume of goods through seaports in Vietnam in the first six months of 2021 was estimated at 363 million tonnes, up 7 per cent on-year. Container throughput strongly rose with over nine million tonnes, up 24 per cent, with seaports in the northern port city of Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau being among the biggest contributors.
Despite the improvements, joint-venture seaports and others are facing barriers to growth. VIMC admitted that the growth rate of seaports remains lower than regional peers. Saigon Port's container market share is just 1.8 per cent of the region; meanwhile, Haiphong port is yet to develop new services.
Among such seaports, SP-PSA is yet to attract container vessels in spite of strong growth of 39 per cent in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and many others in the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port area operate at full capacity, thus possibly making it hard to attract more goods.
Worse still, IT application at port operations remains slow, failing to meet new trends and lagging behind their rivals like Saigon Newport and Gemadept.
Industry insiders forecast that the shipping market in the second half of 2021 will continue to develop positively as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have raised their economic growth forecasts globally.
In addition, trade by means of the seas in 2021 is also forecast to undergo more positive growth than in the previous year, with containers projected to rise 6 per cent, dry commodities 4 per cent, and oil products at 7 per cent.
By Minh Anh
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Seaports face challenging forecasts have 880 words, post on vir.com.vn at July 30, 2021. This is cached page on Talk Vietnam. If you want remove this page, please contact us.


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The non-fungible tokens marketplace ftNFT plans to bring crypto and NFT enthusiasts together with its real-world NFT store in Dubai, Mall of Emirates. The store is a part of ftNFT’s expanded virtual ventures to get more artists and influencers on board with the digital currency.
SoftConstruct ftNFT is a premium NFT marketplace backed by SoftConstruct and a part of the Fastex Web3 ecosystem that supports USDT, BTC, ETH, DOGE, XRP, and BNB. It stands out because of its unique ftNFT Drop feature, a first-of-its-kind dropping feature that allows users to win rewards.
Vigen Badalyan, SoftConstruct’s co-founder, said, “SoftConstruct unveils ftNFT physical stores located in Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates — the city’s most iconic retail and entertainment destinations, welcoming over 130 million visitors yearly.”
The NFT store will allow people to interact and experience modern-age services in a whole new way. The store will host collections created by AKNEYE, Chiko & Roko, Amrita Sethi, and other potential NFT artists.
SoftConstruct ftNFT also offers services like customizing NFTs that may be experienced digitally or through the five senses and a 3D scanner to make avatars for virtual reality enthusiasts. A significant portion of the store will be devoted to making customers learn about Web3, NFTs, products, and services supplied on-site, with a Fast Desk to answer their queries.


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Microsoft and Kind will collaborate to provide city, county and state governments across the U.S. with a way to track and trace local legal marijuana market activity from “seed to sale.” The Los Angeles-based Kind offers a cannabis tracking and compliance platform called Agrisoft Seed to Sale. It will support the new government program by running that technology on Microsoft’s Azure Government cloud.
Kind’s technology is designed to monitor marijuana market activity to prevent the illegal trade of cannabis products along every part of the supply chain. The legal cannabis market in parts of the U.S. has grown rapidly over the past several years. Four states — Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington — have to date legalized the sale, possession and use of the product for medical and non-medical purposes.
Designed for ‘Strict Oversight and Regulations’
Kind founder and CEO David Dinenberg welcomed yesterday’s announcement by posting on Twitter and LinkedIn, “What a huge day for @kind_financial and the #Marijuana Industry! I am extremely humbled by this!”
Established in 2014, Kind Financial said its mission is “the establishment and growth of businesses in the emerging legalized cannabis industry.” According to its LinkedIn profile, the company launched because the recently legalized marijuana market lacked the traditional banking connections that enable other types of businesses to access loans, lines of credit, investments and other financial services.
“No one can predict the future of cannabis legalization, however, it is clear that legalized cannabis will always be subject to strict oversight and regulations similar to alcohol and tobacco,” Dinenberg said in a statement. He added that he was “delighted that Microsoft supports Kind’s mission to build the backbone for cannabis compliance.”
For its part, Microsoft is looking forward to working with Kind Financial to help U.S. government customers launch successful regulatory programs, Kimberly Nelson, Microsoft’s executive director of state and local government solutions, said in the statement.
Market To Hit $7.1B in 2016
While cannabis remains controlled at the national level as a Schedule 1 substance — meaning it is regarded as a drug with “a high potential for abuse” with “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” — a large number of states currently permit its use under different circumstances.
National legal sales of cannabis in the U.S. reached $5.7 billion in 2015 and are expected to rise to $7.1 billion this year, according to the latest “The State of Legal Marijuana Markets” report from ArcView Market Research. Released earlier this year, the report noted that states that have fully legalized marijuana have seen dramatic increases in revenues from taxes and license fees.
“Legal sales have been a boon for state coffers in markets like Colorado, where the state was expected to generate $135 million in cannabis taxes and licenses fees in 2015, a 77 percent increase over the $76 million the state raised in 2014,” according to the report’s executive summary. “In Washington, the first year of legal sales generated $70 million in tax revenues from sales of $257 million, a significant windfall even after product shortages and pricing instability plagued the program during its early months.”


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Once upon a time, there was a magical German engine that could produce excellent fuel economy with legal levels of emissions. Then, the second part turned out to be a big fat lie. Now, Volkswagen's formerly lauded TDI diesel lineup will disappear from the US for good.
Volkswagen will end the sale of its diesel vehicles in the US, Reuters reports, citing VW brand chief Herbert Diess. It was thought that VW might give it another go after the Dieselgate hullaballoo died down, but that's clearly not the case. Volkswagen confirmed that TDIs are not being sold for 2016 and 2017, but beyond that, the company could not expand upon Diess' comments.
The automaker hasn't sold a single 2.0-liter diesel in the US since 2015, when it issued a stop-sale on its diesel products after admitting to using illegal software to cheat emissions tests. TDI covered some 25 percent of the brand's US sales, and the company hopes to cover up that hole in its pocketbook with additional SUV and electric vehicle offerings.
Already, Volkswagen is making many moves to make up for the missing TDI lineup. It unveiled the three-row ID Concept that should become a production reality within five years.crossover at the , built specifically for US roads and US tastes. Earlier this year, it unveiled the all-electric
Volkswagen has its sights set much wider than the US alone. The Volkswagen Group, which includes automakers like Audi and Porsche, plans to introduce some 30 new electric models around the world by the end of the next decade. It will also sell 19 global SUV models by 2020, a large leap from the two global SUVs it currently hawks.
The automaker settled with disaffected 2.0-liter TDI owners for approximately $15 billion earlier this year, which includes vehicle buybacks and environmental remediation costs. It's expected to unveil a similar scheme for its 3.0-liter diesels, which contain unreported software that can allegedly affect emissions, as well.


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Brexit: exporting companies report disruption
A number of surveys of UK firms have found exporting businesses have experienced disruption, delays and increased costs. Millmead Optical Group gives OT an insight into the challenges
04 May 2021
The end of 2020 marked the end of the transition period following the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU), and the beginning of a new trade deal.
Since the new rules took effect, however, organisations representing businesses in the UK have highlighted a level of disruption facing companies exporting from the country.
A March YouGov survey of 2046 business ‘decision makers’ found that half said their company had faced disruption since the beginning of the year – with one in eight businesses saying they had experienced a “large amount” of disruption.
Concerns have also been noted by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), following a survey of more than 2900 UK exporters, which revealed the percentage of firms reporting decreased export sales had increased to 41% in the first quarter of the year – compared to 38% the previous quarter.
Reporting the results, the BCC found Brexit and COVID-19 were highlighted as the biggest causes of disruption: “Firms told of issues such as shipping delays, increased cost of transporting goods and extensive paperwork requirements, with many seeing the problems they were facing as structural in nature rather than short-term issues likely to alleviate as companies adjusted to the changes in the UK-EU trading relationship.”
Business representatives suggest the Government’s SME Brexit Support Fund has been a positive step to support importers and exporters, but highlight that more needs to be done, including finding solutions to reduce trade barriers, and establishing new agreements.
Brexit in optics: Millmead Optical Group
Offering an insight into the situation for optical suppliers, Millmead Optical Group’s, CEO Conway told OT: “Companies exporting have experienced significant bureaucratic complications since Brexit. This is mainly due to the lack of clarity from the UK government and EU on the paperwork requirements and certifications, resulting in long delays whilst couriers and border customs check goods.”
A further concern for exporting companies, Conway said, is “many couriers and freighters are charging significant excess charges to our customers in the EU who are receiving shipments from the UK. These are not insignificant costs and UK exporters are having to absorb much of these costs, which is in turn impacting their margins.”
“In the short term this situation is unlikely to improve,” he explained, adding however, “Fortunately, our exports to the rest of the world, such as Asia and North America, are still running smoothly.”
Never in my 21 years of working in the industry have I seen such huge increases in shipping/freight costs
The cost of shipping into the UK has also seen a “huge increase” Conway explained, adding, “Never in my 21 years of working in the industry have I seen such huge increases in shipping/freight costs.”
“The UK demand for imported goods has impacted the shipping capacity and this in turn has driven up prices,” he explained, suggesting this situation is unlikely to improve “until very late in to 2021.”
“The UK ports remain incredibly congested and many of the freighting firms do not want to send their trucks to UK ports to collect goods to bring into Europe, due to the new paperwork complications since Brexit.
“If the increased costs do not start to normalise in the coming months, then I expect to see these increased supply chain costs impacting the product pricing,” he highlighted.
Despite these challenges, Conway shared: “I am pleased to see the UK optical market has started to recover well as the lockdown has been unwinding.
“We are hopeful that some kind of normality will resume as the year progresses.”
Have you seen an impact resulting from the end of the Brexit transition period? Get in touch to share your thoughts by emailing our Newsdesk.


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Vitec’s RF Systems Names Hoeler VP of Sales and Marketing
The Vitec Group’s RF Systems division, part of The Vitec Group, has appointed Donald Hoeler VP of sales and marketing. In his new position, he oversees and manages all sales and marketing activities within RF Systems, which comprises leading microwave-technology companies Nucomm, Microwave Service Co., and RF Central.
“We are proud to have Donald on our team,” says Stephen Shpock, president of The Vitec Group RF Systems. “His more than 20 years of marketing and sales experience is sure to enhance our sales force and the level of exceptional service that we provide our customers.”
Prior to joining the Vitec Group RF Systems division, Hoeler worked eight years with K&L Microwave, a $60 million microwave and RF-filter company located in Salisbury, MD, where he held the positions of general manager and VP of sales and marketing. Previously, he was director of the Telecommunications Business Area/Military Programs Office for six years at Boeing Electron Dynamics Division (now L-3 ETI) in Torrance, CA, a manufacturer of commercial and military microwave equipment.
“Joining RF Systems is a terrific opportunity,” says Hoeler. “The broadcast marketplace is an exciting side of the RF-microwave industry as there are many technological changes taking place everyday. I am pleased to have a role in that evolution and to be part of a company that will be leading such advancements.”
Hoeler adds, “When we look at the transition into high-definition and IP connectivity, RF Systems’ thrust is to be on the front end of supplying the product and services that are going to help our customers continue to grow in their respective markets.”
Hoeler has a bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Georgia. He also holds certificates in advanced management and executive marketing from the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California at Los Angles (UCLA), respectively.


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Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014
Attorney General Kane concerned with spikes in consumer electricity bills this winter
Asks Pennsylvania consumers to send complaints and documentation promptly
HARRISBURG - Over the past few weeks, the Office of Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection and the independent Office of Consumer Advocate each have received hundreds of calls and complaints from consumers regarding unexpected and dramatic spikes in the cost of their electricity. Complaints suggest that in some circumstances consumer electricity costs increased as much as 300 percent in recent months. Many of the consumers affected appear to have recently switched to variable-rate pricing for their electricity.
Attorney General Kane is asking consumers to be proactive and quickly submit complaints about abnormal and extreme increases in electricity rates on recent utility bills. Complaints should be sent with documentation on contracts, billing, and marketing from energy generation suppliers.
"These spikes in the price of electricity are alarming and have put many consumers, especially the poor and elderly, in a dire situation," Attorney General Kane said. "It is my duty to protect consumers and act on their behalf. We are looking at these price increases and will be prepared to take action to protect affected consumers."
The Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection is working collaboratively with the independent Office of Consumer Advocate to learn whether consumers have been improperly overcharged for their electricity.
Many factors may contribute to increased electric prices, including increased usage during a particularly cold winter season and rate fluctuations. Attorney General Kane noted, however, that price gouging - increasing prices above any increased costs - during a state of emergency is prohibited in Pennsylvania. Governor Corbett declared a state of emergency on Feb. 5, 2014.
In order to be most effective in helping consumers, Attorney General Kane said consumers should file complaints with the Bureau of Consumer Protection and submit any of the following documentation: marketing materials, bills, contracts, terms and conditions, and sign-up/welcome letters. Documentation is required to fully understand whether consumers' rights have been violated and what action may be appropriate to address the spike in prices.
Instructions for submitting complaints are below. Attorney General Kane also encouraged consumers to call her Consumer Protection Helpline at 1-800-441-2555 or the Office of Consumer Advocate at 1-800-684-6560 with any additional questions or concerns.
# # #
File a complaint by email:
File a complaint by U.S. mail:
File a complaint by fax:
Media Contact: J.J. Abbott, firstname.lastname@example.org, 717-787-5211


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Opinion: The World Trade Organization just bared its toothless gums in ruling for China
A World Trade Organization panel ruled Tuesday the Trump administration violated international trade rules by trying to stop China’s blatant violations of international trade rules.
The ruling probably won’t make a whit of difference in the ongoing trade fight between the two countries, however, because the administration has undermined the WTO’s enforcement powers to such a degree the body won’t be able to impose any sanctions.
The outcome of the two-plus years spent in the dispute resolution process will only affirm the administration’s hostility toward the WTO. But it highlights the need to overhaul the body’s rules to make them relevant again, an effort that the United States could and should be leading.
There is more than a little irony when you dive into the details of the dispute. China, which was admitted to the WTO late in 2001, regularly draws accusations of being a trade cheat. Among other things, critics say China’s state-owned enterprises benefit from both subsidies and barriers to competition by foreign firms, and that foreign companies are forced to give up intellectual property by the Chinese partners they are required to take on. Oh and yes, state-backed hackers steal copious amounts of trade secrets.
The United States, meanwhile, has been one of the world’s foremost champions of a globalized system of rules that was supposed to end tit-for-tat tariff battles like the ones President Trump has waged with just about all of our trading partners.
Previous U.S. administrations have tried to pressure China to change its ways. When those efforts were unavailing, President Obama sought to assemble a trading bloc among Pacific nations that would raise competitive standards. President Trump abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership in favor of unilateral, blunt-force action in 2018, levying tariffs of 10% to 25% on a broad swath of Chinese goods and prompting China’s complaint to the WTO.
In particular, the WTO panel noted, the administration was seeking to end China’s “state-sanctioned theft and misappropriation of U.S. technology, intellectual property, and commercial secrets.” The point was to inflict enough pain on the Chinese economy that Beijing would finally amend its ways and compete fairly.
The tariffs helped bring China to the negotiating table, yielding a modest deal that called for increased Chinese purchases of U.S. exports (a commitment that China is not living up to, at least not yet) and better protection of U.S. intellectual property. That’s a promise China has made before; this time, however, it comes with enforcement mechanisms that could actually make a difference.
Even as it was negotiating a deal, however, China was also pursuing the WTO’s help in lifting the U.S. tariffs, which led to Tuesday’s ruling. While the U.S. had the right to impose tariffs to protect against intellectual property theft, the panel found, it couldn’t simply try to coerce China into submission. The tariffs had to fall on products and services related to the industries affected by China’s improper behavior. And the Trump administration failed to show “that there is a genuine relationship of ‘ends and means,’” the panel concluded.
You could practically hear U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer smack himself in the forehead. “Although the panel did not dispute the extensive evidence submitted by the United States of intellectual property theft by China,” Lighthizer said, “its decision shows that the WTO provides no remedy for such misconduct. The United States must be allowed to defend itself against unfair trade practices, and the Trump administration will not let China use the WTO to take advantage of American workers, businesses, farmers, and ranchers.”
Jeffrey Schott, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former trade negotiator for the U.S., is no fan of Trump’s tariffs. But he agreed with Lighthizer on that point, saying, “the WTO rules are inadequate to address the Chinese practices that distort trade and investment.”
The U.S. would have been within its rights to retaliate against China by using measures not governed by international trade rules — for example, by negotiating a multilateral free-trade deal that gives China’s trading partners more incentive to buy from other countries. “But because President Trump is so enamored with tariffs — and he believes his supporters will understand [them] … the U.S. response has focused primarily on tariff retaliations,” Schott said.
By the way, the U.S. also could have filed a complaint with the WTO challenging the tariffs China imposed on U.S. goods in retaliation, making the same argument about “ends and means” that China made. It did not.
Still, the U.S. was really in a no-lose position here. By blocking appointments to the WTO panel that hears appeals, the United States has ensured that it — or any other country facing sanctions by the WTO — merely has to appeal an adverse decision, where it will be stuck in limbo, Schott said.
As a result, countries are left to pound each other with tariffs and other protectionist policies just like the old days that the U.S., prior to Trump, had worked diligently to end.
The globalization of the economy and the rise of India and China as manufacturing powerhouses within the developing world has changed the playing field dramatically. But updating the WTO rules will require China and India to buy into them, and the path there is unclear.
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OAK BROOK, Ill., July 27 (UPI) -- For a healthier Happy Meal, McDonald's is providing a low-fat dairy option, a half-serving of apple slices and fewer french fries, the U.S. company says.
Jan Fields, president of McDonald's USA, says the menu changes, scheduled to appear in September in some locations and at all 14,000 McDonald's locations in early 2012, include the addition of more nutritionally balanced choices that are affordable, along with an increased focus on providing nutrition information.
"The commitments we're announcing today will guide the future evolution of our menu and marketing," Fields said in a statement.
McDonald's also pledged to:
-- raise nutrition awareness among children and parents through national marketing initiatives in 2012;
-- provide funding for grass-roots community nutrition awareness programs;
-- reduce added sugars, saturated fat and calories through varied portion sizes, reformulations and innovations by 2020; and
-- reduce sodium an average of 15 percent overall across its national menu of food choices by 2015.
McDonald's has already reduced sodium by 10 percent in the majority of its national chicken menu offerings, most recently Chicken McNuggets.


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Stratford, Ont. mayor Dan Mathieson said to see Sears Canada’s “demise across Canada is somewhat sad,” especially thinking of the 80 employees who will be losing their jobs as a result of the retailer’s closure in his town. The chain is closing down its operations and may be gone from Stratford as early as January.
Stratford was the location of Canada’s first retail Sears store, originally known as Simpsons-Sears, which opened in 1953.
“Sears was that identity that many families grew up with,” he added.
Sears Canada announced on Oct. 10 it will be closing all its remaining stores and has plans to liquidate all remaining inventory.
For those Sears employees losing their jobs when the Local store closes, there are hundreds of available jobs in Stratford, most of them full-time work, according to Mathieson.
“Supporting employees and the retail ecosystem in Stratford will be a priority in the weeks and months to come,” Joani Gerber, the CEO of investStratford, said in a News release.
Mathieson is hopeful that some people may be able to make the transition directly into new jobs.
“We’re going to step out there and try to help those individuals understand that there are opportunities, and there are people they can talk to to provide information,” Mathieson told CBC.
Source : cbc


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Low selling Subaru BRZ soldiers on for 2019, gets more expensive and special Series Gray trim level.
Did you really think Subaru and Toyota were going to upgrade an already low-selling specialty vehicle just because a dozen enthusiasts asked for one with more power (it’s a momentum vehicle, guys.) As per Subaru in an official press relase they dropped earlier yesterday ( Sept. 13, 2018) the Subaru BR-Z AKA the Toyota 86’s more expensive twin, gets even MORE expensive for 2019, there’s a special Gray series trim level optional, and did I mention power stays exactly the same at a neck-breaking 205 HP?
To be fair, a $200 price increase with the 2019 Subaru BRZ premium trim level’s MSRP of $25,795, isn’t even enough to keep up with inflation. Arguably, these BRZ’s got a tad cheaper.
Hidden within the press release in a downloadable PDF at the bottom was some special news, new for all models. The rear wheels now sport an opening arch fin, “to enhance aerodynamic stability.”
But the big news for 2019 is the availability of a Series Gray trim level based on the Limited. Only 250 will be made. You get special black-finish alloy wheels, the Performance Package with Brembo Brakes, SACHS performance shock absorbers, and exclusive exterior and interior trim. Not to mention the color, which isn’t anything like I’ve seen in the wild before. You’ll stand out, for sure.
I hate to break it to you, but the BRZ will soldier on for another year with the same boxer four that puts out an uninspiring 205 HP and 156 lb-ft. If you option for an automatic, you lose five HP and five lb-ft.
As mentioned, sales of both the BRZ and 86 are on a downward trend that sees no signs of slowing. With the car, in general, pushed to the wayside for crossovers, companies like Subaru and Toyota are revamping their lineups to push out crossovers over their car offerings. Tough luck if you think they’re going to pour precious R&D into further developing these niche vehicles.
Count us lucky we get a new BRZ for 2019, at all.


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Today we announced in a press release our record-breaking growth with our property inventory surpassing the 300,000 mark. On the heels of this growth, we’ve also launched a website redesign that makes it even easier for travelers to find and book the perfect vacation rental. Our Property Listings Expanded 76% in 12 Months, and we are so thrilled that more second home owners have begun making extra money from our services.
“We have a unique selection of properties offered in 179 countries worldwide, so whether a traveler is looking for a traditional beach villa, a castle, or even a private island, there are more than 300,000 vacation rentals to choose from,” said Eric Horndahl, FlipKey’s Vice President of Marketing. “We’re also excited to unveil our redesigned website featuring a brand new homepage with improved search functionality for a better vacation rental shopping experience across all devices.”
Travelers visiting our redesigned website will benefit from an upgraded vacation rental shopping experience with a much improved look and feel. The site enables travelers to more easily compare properties within a location and features larger photos of the rentals so travelers can better visualize their potential vacation rental. When travelers are ready to book, they can book securely through the website choosing from more than 100,000 online bookable properties.
We have also experienced a large surge in mobile traffic over the past year and has made major improvements for travelers accessing FlipKey via their mobile device.
See the new homepage now: www.flipkey.com.


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Ohio online sports betting launch set for more than a dozen operators on go-live date
Ohio regulators have set 12:01 am local time, Jan. 1, 2023 as the universal launch for both in-person and online sportsbooks.
Among the books set to start taking bets shortly after midnight Jan. 1 include FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM and Caesars. The four companies have more than 80% of the nation’s sports betting market share by handle and are expected to have similarly large shares in Ohio, despite the proliferation of wagering options.
PointsBet, BetRivers and Barstool sportsbook are also set to go live Jan. 1. Like the aforementioned quartet, these national brands are already live in Ohio neighbors Michigan, Indiana and Pennsylvania.
Hard Rock International, which operates a casino in Cincinnati, is also set to go live with its eponymous sportsbook in the state. Cleveland-based Jack Entertainment, which also manages properties in the state, is set to go live with its self-branded betJACK mobile sportsbook.
Tipico, Betfred and bet365, major international operators that have had smaller scopes in the US, could also go live early next month. All three are partnered with professional sports teams for mobile licenses in the state.
Other potential brands set to go live on or near the launch date include betPARX and SuperBook.
Ohio’s 2021 sports betting law permits up to 25 mobile operators, several of which plan to go live in Ohio but have not yet launched in any state.
That includes Betr, the Jake Paul-baked microbetting start-up. Ohio is one of the first states where the book has earned a license.
The coming Fanatics sportsbook is also targeting a launch in Ohio next year. The sports betting arm of the massive sporting goods retailer, Fanatics’ sportsbook is expected to be a significant player in the space.
Underdog Fantasy is also set to launch its first-ever sportsbook, likely beginning with the Buckeye State. Other upstart companies including Out the Gate and MVGBet, the Ohio-targeted sports betting arm of Delaware North’s Gamewise sports betting platform, are also set to go live later next year.
Exchange wagering platform Prophet Exchange has also applied for an Ohio gaming license. The platform allows users to buy and sell sports bets in a manner like stocks. These offerings are common in Europe but have only just started going live in the US this year.
Along with online sportsbooks, most Ohio’s casino and hybrid race track “racinos” are preparing to open retail books. Several are expected to start taking bets shortly after midnight Jan. 1.
Multiple Ohio stadiums are also set to open retail sportsbooks in the coming months. Ohio will join Illinois, Arizona, Maryland and Washington D.C. among jurisdictions that permit in-stadium betting options.
Along with the mobile platforms, casino and in-stadium sportsbooks, Ohio permits wagering kiosks at certain grocery stores and other businesses. Combined, Ohio will have one of the most expansive arrays of betting options of any of the more than 30 jurisdictions with at leat one form of legal wagering.


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Last month, we reported that the Samsung Galaxy S3 was HOT. Unfortunately, we weren’t talking about phone sales just yet. We were talking about the SGS3 owner from Ireland that posted images online of his charred, burnt SGS3. He claimed that his Samsung Galaxy S3 had gotten so hot, it literally melted. Samsung took immediate action, looking into the claim.
According to the investigation results from Fire Investigations UK, whom Samsung contracted to look into the situation, the Galaxy S3 did not spontaneously melt or burst into flames. The heat build-up and explosion were most likely due to an external power source. The damage pattern reveals that the phone was most likely placed in a microwave oven.
The original user that complained about his phone spontaneously combusting has since retracted his statement. Apparently, the damage to the phone was caused by another person says “dillo2k10″. In fact, he admits that there is no fault with the device itself and that the “stupid mistake” was an attempt to dry the phone out after it had gotten wet.
So, it wasn’t faulty equipment nor was it Aliens according to the official report. You can safely continue to use your Galaxy S3 without worry. The next time your phone gets wet, try using rice, and not the microwave.
Like this post? Share it!
lol what a moron
Put the phone in a ziploc bag with rice, leave it there for a week!
He says that it wasn’t on purpose, but for a guy that can sign up on a forum and post comments he didn’t know that putting a phone in a microwave and running it would fuck up his phone… I call bullshit!
We (the Techie/Geeky/Gadget loving people) already suspected it was a bunch of BS, especially when the SGS3 breakdown was unveiled and the schematics shows that nothing is in that area to create any kind of electrical over heating. It had to be a man made stunt to make the device manufacturer look bad. Shame on people who try to get something for nothing when it is clearly their own fault ~ their actions not only hurt themselves in the long run, but also honest consumers with limited time frames to buy a good phone. That person who instigated this worldwide mess should make a public statement apologizing to everyone he caused distress to.
The sgs3 do have some overheating issues atleast on my s3… Now when I have been surfing the web for about 10 minutes the phone runs at 47 c…


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Provident's Scheme of Arrangement has been approved in court. The court hearing was on 30 July 2021 and the decision has now been given. The Scheme was proposed because Provident could not afford to carry on paying full refunds to customers winning affordability complaints. The Financial Ombudsman was upholding 75% of complaints against Provident who often did not make proper affordability … [Read more...]
Articles about Provident
Provident Financial Group (PFG) specialises in bad credit lending in the UK. Founded in 1880, Provident is Britain's largest doorstep lender.
It also owns the Satsuma payday lending brand, the Vanquis credit card brand and the Moneybarn car finance brand.
UPDATE - the Scheme has now been approved by the court. See Provident Scheme – 4 million people can now claim a refund for how to make a claim and what will happen in the Scheme. Provident Financial Group (PFG proposed a Scheme of Arrangement to reduce the refunds it has to pay to customers given unaffordable loans through its Provident Personal Credit (PPC) subsidiary. There are … [Read more...]
On 10 May 2021, Provident Financial Group (PFG) announced that it was closing its home credit operation, also known as doorstep lending. Doorstep lending has been at the heart of Provident's business for most of its 140-year history. Agents would visit customers at home, giving loans and collecting weekly repayments. Now Provident says: In light of the changing industry and regulatory … [Read more...]
UPDATE On 4 August 2021 the Scheme was approved in court. See Provident Scheme – 4 million people can now claim a refund to find out how it will work and how to make a claim. This article gives the background to the Scheme and what happened before voting started. In March 2021 Provident Financial Group (PFG) proposed a Scheme of Arrangement to reduce the refunds it has to pay to … [Read more...]
Provident is proposing a Scheme of Arrangement to limit the refunds it has to pay to customers making affordability complaints about provident doorstep lending and Satsuma payday loans. UPDATE the Scheme was approved in August 2021. See Provident's Refund Scheme for how it works and how a customer can make a claim The £50m the company is putting up to pay refunds is not nearly enough to pay … [Read more...]
On 3 March 2021, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) published two sets of statistics. quarterly data for October-December 2020 summarises the types of complaints FOS has received. half-year data shows which firms had the most complaints in July-December 2020 and how often FOS upheld the customers' cases. Caroline Wayman, the FOS CEO says: "Excluding PPI, new complaints are up by … [Read more...]
In administration, customers with complaints at the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) have them returned to the administrators to resolve. The same happens in a Scheme of Arrangement which has been proposed by Amigo in December 2020 and by Provident in March - there FOS complaints are returned to the Scheme to be determined. FOS said in January 2021 it had about 13,000 open Amigo cases and about 500 … [Read more...]
The Financial Ombudsman (FOS)'s latest quarterly statistics, published on 25 August 2020, highlighted a rise in the number of complaints received about some types of high cost credit. In the period April-June 2020, new complaints about home credit rose by 77% to 1,166. UPDATE in the second half of 2020, FOS was sent over 10,000 new Provident complaints! Provident is the major lender in the home … [Read more...]
The judgment in the Kerrigan & others v Elevate Credit International Ltd was published on 5 August 2020. Elevate Credit International was a large UK payday lender, trading as Sunny. Kerrigan and the other eleven claimants were Sunny customers who had made affordability complaints to Sunny through a claims company. The claims company brought the case and selected six claimants; Sunny … [Read more...]
Non Standard Finance (NSF) made a surprise bid for the much larger Provident Financial Group (PFG) in February 2019. The bid was eventually withdrawn by NSF in June 2019. Every debt adviser will be familiar with "the Provvy" but it's interesting to take a look at the two companies and their respective brands - they cover most sorts of high cost, bad credit lending in the UK. NSF's … [Read more...]


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Snap Inc. launches accelerator program to invest in media start-ups
Snap Inc. will dole out $150,000 investments to various media start-ups this fall as part of an accelerator program it announced Wednesday called Yellow.
For the first cohort of the program, which starts in September and goes for three months, the company is seeking start-ups that “have a vision for what mobile storytelling can be.”
In exchange for an undisclosed amount of equity, those who make the cut will receive the $150,000 investment, as well as office space in Los Angeles’ Venice neighborhood, where Snap is based; mentorship; access to Snap-facilitated networking events; and the opportunity to distribute their content on Snap’s platform, Snapchat.
Snap will accept 10 applicants in its first cohort, a company representative said. That would suggest an initial upfront investment of $1.5 million. The representative would not specify exactly how big an equity stake Snap would take from each start-up, but said that the size would be in line with Y-Combinator’s figures.
Y-Combinator, Silicon Valley’s most famous tech incubator, invests $120,000 for a 7% equity stake and has helped launch companies such as Airbnb, Dropbox and Twitch.
Tech incubators have long existed to provide funding and support for up-and-coming start-ups in exchange for an equity stake. But a growing number of established firms have in recent years launched their own incubators to help build companies that could eventually benefit their own businesses.
Coca-Cola, Oracle and Microsoft are among the companies that have their own start-up accelerator programs.
Applications for the first cohort of Snap’s accelerator program close July 8.


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Timely Timeline Reminder
In the past 30 days, I heard and saw much that reminded me why so many IL readers tell me they love working in logistics. My travels included 30 site visits and two industry conferences. Here’s part of my timeline:
At an early morning meeting, I spoke with one visionary who is forging public-private partnerships to transform a regional hub into a truly global logistics center offering road, rail, air, and sea transport, and logistics solutions and capacity. It should be a model for public-private partnerships elsewhere.
Later that day, I had a spirited (in both senses) discussion on pending government regulations. My conversational combatant was a senior executive at a large trucking company who supported more regulation. My position? Anything discouraging drivers ultimately limits capacity. We both agreed that safety comes first. Unresolved was how small carriers and owner-operators can have a level playing field, and how drivers’ independent spirit would react to increasing government control.
The talent gap was the topic of discussion with a vice president of a transport company. His challenge? Forty percent of his workforce will soon retire. Working with local politicos, and reaching down into high schools, will solve part of that, but not all. The gray hair gap in our industry is here, and it is scary.
Speaking of gray hair, one seasoned pro told me how he came back from retirement, and now calls on shippers at Amazon and Google. He says, “Those kids buy differently than we did back then. They may lack practical experience, but they are buying more strategically.” Generational, I wondered? “Definitely,” he replied.
On generational differences, the wide-eyed wonderment of college kids expressing excitement about a future in supply chain was on display at both logistics conferences. It was also encouraging to see shippers, carriers, and IT companies dedicating time and resources to recruit veterans. I even heard of one company that is recruiting and training military air traffic controllers as train dispatchers.
I saw a practical demonstration of how drones are tracking assets in real time; in this case, power units in a large yard. I was introduced to the phrase “Last 100 Feet,” jokingly meant to replace Last Mile.
I met with an industry newcomer who is investing billions to build a global company. His goal is to provide a vast array of solutions that match the future needs of global business. Is his vision of your future logistics needs clearer than most? Read IL’s interview with him, then you can make the call.
One logistics luminary described helping Russia craft a tariff system when its economy opened up. He has tapped his next-gen daughter to help his company build next-gen transport technology enabling shippers to solve ever-evolving challenges.
My timeline may not read like a Facebook page, but it was a timely reminder of why so many of us are challenged, yet inspired, by working in logistics.


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SK hynix has reported 1.59 trillion won in operating profit in the first quarter, up 50.2 percent from a year earlier, on stronger margins for key products and cost-cutting. It beat the market consensus of 1.4 trillion won. Its first-quarter operating profit was the second-largest in its history, following a record 1.67 trillion won a quarter earlier. SK hynix posted 1.29 trillion won in net profit, up 61.5 percent from a year ago, it said Thursday. Sales came in at 4.82 trillion won, up 29 percent from a year earlier.
Spreadtrum Communications has announced that its quad-core mobile chipset, the SC7730ST, and its dual-core mobile chipset, the SC7727S, have been adopted by Samsung Electronics in a series of tablets and smartphones. The SC7730ST is now shipping in Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 3 V tablets, which are 7-inch models available with WCDMA (SM-T116 series) and Wi-Fi ( SM-T113 series) features. These tablets, designed with Spreadtrum’s 1.3GHz quad-core processor, feature a 7-inch WSVGA display, a 2MP camera, 8GB internal memory and 1GB RAM, a 32GB MicroSD slot and extended battery life of up to eight hours on video playback.
Amazon Web Service (AWS), the world’s leading cloud service provider, showed confidence that Korea’s conservative public organizations and financial institutions will adopt its cloud service. “It is quite possible that the nation’s public organizations and financial institutions will introduce AWS cloud services once we can handle their issues related to regulations and compliances,” AWS Korea’s managing director Doug Yeum said during a press conference in Seoul, Monday.
Ever since reaching a sales zenith in 2013, Samsung smartphones have been facing an increasing challenge from their Chinese counterparts, losing ground to Chinese brands such as Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi in the mainland market in 2014 and also suffering strong competition from Chinese rivals in international markets, according to the Shanghai-based China Business News (CBN).
Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it expects the sales of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge phones to breach the 70-million mark. “The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are drawing positive responses. I have no doubt that they will be the biggest-sellers in the Galaxy series ever,” an executive said ahead of his participation in a weekly meeting with presidents of Samsung affiliates at the company’s Seocho headquarters in southern Seoul, Wednesday. Asked about sales estimation, he said, “We expect 70 million plus.”
Semiconductor capital spending by Samsung Electronics is expected to reach an all-time high of US$15 billion in 2015, making the company’s capex the world’s highest in the semiconductor industry for the sixth straight year since 2010, according to an estimate of Digitimes Research. Meanwhile, SK Hynix’s capex is expected to stay flat at US$5.1 billion in 2015 as compared to the previous year. Samsung’s capex for system ICs in 2015 will reach US$4 billion compared to US$2.9 billion in the previous year, mainly to finance the commencement of its Line-17 fab in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province and a continued build-up of its 14nm production capacity at its plant in Austin, Texas.
Buoyed by a market-beating first-quarter performance, Samsung appeared to regain much of its confidence with its mobile chief appealing to customer loyalty for its latest Galaxy 6 and Edge smartphones on the eve of the start of global sales. “Sales of the S6 depend on the intensity of your support,” co-CEO Shin Jong-kyun said at a news conference to launch the device in Korea, Thursday.
Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision and South Korea’s SK C&C, a subsidiary of SK Group, will establish a joint venture to provide information technology services in mainland China. Hon Hai said that the joint venture will first provide information technology services to Hon Hai’s plants in mainland China and offer integrated security systems to other companies in mainland China. According to Hon Hai, the joint venture, which will be formally launched in May 2015, will also explore information technology business opportunities in medical and financial sectors.
Korea’s telecom authorities are being increasingly pressurized to allocate the 700-megahertz (MHz) frequency for greater use by local telecom carriers to help them grab the lion’s share in the heated competition for next-generation wireless technologies. Analysts and even government officials have agreed that the 700MHz bandwidth will generate greater economic value when it is used for mobile carriers instead of terrestrial broadcasters, and should be allocated for telecom industry, an expert said.
At an event today in Singapore, Samsung revealed launch dates for the new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge phones across Asia. The launches happen on eight dates throughout this month – starting with the global debut on April 10 – and cover much of the continent. We can add to that two other known dates – mainland China on April 10 and Hong Kong on April 20. The new model has been met with with largely favorable reviews but still faces a huge challenge in Asia with the iPhone 6 cornering the high-end market and new brands like Xiaomi undercutting Samsung on price.
Qualcomm’s next-generation application processor (AP), the Snapdragon 820, is expected to outsource to Samsung Electronics using a 14nm node, which the Korea-based foundry house has demonstrated as a proven process as showcased by the performance and power consumption of its14nm EXynos 7420 CPU developed in house, according to Digitimes Research.
NEW DELHI: It looks like Samsung is working on a new version of its Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 tablet that supports iris recognition. California (US)-based Stanford Research Institute (SRI), has issued a press informing that it has exclusively licensed its Iris on the Move (IOM) technologies to Samsung for use in Samsung mobile products. Additionally SRI has inked a supply agreement to start production and sales of the IOM technology-embedded Samsung mobile products for enterprise and business to business (b2b) applications.
Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) on March 26 announced cooperation with SK C&C, a South Korea-based IT service provider, to establish a joint venture for tapping the China’s IT service market. The joint venture will start operations in May 2015. Foxconn in June 2014 invested NT$10.8 billion (US$342 million) for a 4.9% stake in SK C&C. The joint venture will initially apply IT services to automated production lines at Foxconn’s factories in China, creating a model of integrating IT services with industrial automation for China-based manufacturers.
Samsung Electronics will lead the world’s top-10 smartphone vendor rankings in 2015, followed by Apple, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Huawei, Xiaomi Technology, Microsoft, TCL Communication Technology, Coolpad and Oppo, according to Digitimes Research. Samsung and Apple will ship over 330 million and 230 million smartphones, respectively in 2015, while Lenovo will ramp up its shipments to 84 million units following the completion of its acquisition of Motorola Mobility.
NEW DELHI: Samsung seems to be taking a leaf from rival Xiaomi’s book. The South Korean manufacturer reportedly has plans to sell its smartphones online-only, a strategy made popular by Xiaomi. According to a report by Korea Times newspaper, Samsung plans to sell its smartphones via leading e-commerce websites in India, Vietnam and China. Citing supply chain sources, the report says that Samsung aims to save on sales costs through its new online-only plan. Moreover, this means that Samsung will be able to sell its products cheaper to the consumers.
Qualcomm, which is believed to have lost processor orders for the Galaxy S6 series smartphones from Samsung Electronics, is vying for orders for the upcoming Galaxy Note 5, according to industry sources. The recently-introduced Galaxy S6 flagship smartphones are powered by Samsung-designed Exynos processors, and did not come with two versions as what the previous-generation Galaxy S4 has, the sources said.
Microsoft’s Office apps will be pre-installed in some Samsung tablets running Google’s Android system, extending an agreement to put some Microsoft apps on the new Samsung Galaxy S6 phone. The move is the latest in Microsoft’s efforts to get its cloud-enabled software into the hands of as many customers as possible, regardless of platform or device. Microsoft said Samsung will pre-install Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Skype and its note-taking and cloud storage apps on certain tablets in the first half of this year.
Fans of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge will not have to wait much longer as the next generation flagships will finally be launched in about a week from now come April 2. It comes as no surprise as both smartphones were revealed only last month at the Samsung Unpacked in Barcelona. The flagships will see a complete redesign of Samsung’s premium Galaxy smartphone look which now incorporates a slim body made aerospace-grade aluminium alloy and glass surface on the front and rear.
Daum Kakao, the public-listed firm responsible for one of Korea’s largest web portal in Daum and chat app KakaoTalk, has acquired 100 percent of K Cube Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm that backs primarily Korean companies along with a few Asia-Pacific ones. Daum Kakao will add another US$15 million into K Cube’s kitty to launch a new early stage fund, and in the process, K Cube will become the acquirer’s corporate investment arm.
Netmarble’s new mobile game “Raven with Naver” is leading major mobile application stores here, shedding new light on market success through a publishing platform other than Kakao Game. The nation’s leading mobile game provider said Raven, a mobile action role-playing game, has been ranked on the top perch in the top-grossing charts of both Google’s Play and Apple’s Appstore since March 17, five days after its release. The game ended the months-long lead of mobile strategy game “Clash of Clans,” developed and published by the Finnish game company Supercell.


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The move is part of the retailer's efforts to reduce emissions across its freight transport.
"We are looking forward to the new vehicle and are very proud to be able to contribute our experience to the entire REWE Group project," said Eric Berendonk, technical manager of REWE Logistics Region West. "This is another step in our forward-looking corporate policy," he added.
The Hyundai Xcient Fuel Cell truck is part of a company project on alternative drives in its delivery fleet.
According to REWE, the new truck alone can save around 58,000 kilograms of CO2 per year compared to a conventional diesel truck.
Features Of The Truck
The vehicle has a permissible total weight of 27 tonnes, 18 Euro pallet spaces and a range of around 400 kilometres, REWE added.
It features a cold room and can be used like a conventional truck as well as for delivering products that require refrigeration or deep freezing.
The H2 truck is refuelled with green hydrogen and is therefore 100% emission-free on the road, the retailer said.
The truck consumes around eight kilograms of hydrogen per 100 kilometres and refuelling takes place at the nearby H2 filling stations.
The truck has a capacity of 32 kilograms of hydrogen and takes about 11 minutes to refill.
REWE is conducting various tests on alternative forms of fuel this year and the results from these pilots will form the basis for future fleet procurement decisions.


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Facebook launching virtual payment system â€˜Creditsâ€™ in India on July 1
Facebook has planned to introduce Facebook Credits, an international
payment method for developers, from July 1 2011 in India. The virtual currency will be rolled out in 13 countries in Asia and Latin America.
“We’re also excited to announce that we now support payouts to developers in all countries globally (excluding a few government-embargoed countries). To do this, we’ve developed a new pay out process for developers in countries where we haven't previously supported payouts through banks or PayPal. For developers in these countries, we may request some additional documentation to enable them to be paid through their local bank account,” the company has said.


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It’s clear the Disney franchise has decided to take over the world in a jovial way. There’s Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Paris, and soon Shanghai will have a Disneyland of its own. But the latest Disney creation, Disney Laos, has even Disney itself scratching its head, because the park has nothing to do with Disney at all.
The newest amusement park to the Disney Clan plans to include “cartoon character
parks,” a water park and other cheerful recreations. The only problem is Disney literally has nothing to do with it. In fact, Disney Laos is not a certified Disney property at all, but rather an unaffiliated project currently under construction.
So how did a group of Lao entrepreneurs finagle this? Mostly, it’s just a group of people who have a hazy understanding of global intellectual property law.
Somjith Aliyaphaphone, one of the theme park’s investors, told The Global Post, “If it’s called ‘Disney Laos,’ then that should be permitted. But Disneyland? That would be copyright infringement. We think that’s the case, anyways.”
Despite the current concerns over potential legal action, Disney Laos has already broken
ground in Thakhek and hopes to open within the next seven to 10 years, which leaves plenty of time for lawsuits and a Toy Story 6 ride.
Disney, on the other hand, has no plans to open up shop in Laos at the time. The company’s perfectly fine with its Mount Phousi and organic rice farm adventure.
Tom is a travel writer, part-time hitchhiker, and he’s currently trying to imitate Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? but with more sunscreen and jorts.


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Dell is focusing on the client end of its end-to-end strategy with the launch of the updated Dell Wyse PocketCloud, which includes a "family of personal cloud apps" to deliver file sharing and remote desktop...
Daily tech news and analysis channel partners need to know now, including IDC's PC forecast, Nutanix's results, Blackberry's payout and more
Check out which articles grabbed the most attention this week
What's been happening this week on Channelnomics?
Distributors to play key part in Citrix's cloud efforts


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Dutch Company Launches New File Sharing Site24 Feb, 2003 By: Hive News
Dutch Internet services company PGR BV has launched The Honest Thief, a new file sharing service based in the Netherlands.
In a joint effort with a consortium of legal experts, The Honest Thief is beta testing new business software to be licensed to file-sharing providers, anticipating a rollout in the second quarter. The company Web site went public Feb. 21 at thehonestthief.com, making the company the first Dutch company to take advantage of a March 2002 Dutch appeals court ruling that paved the way for the Netherlands to become the world's first legal haven for file sharing companies.
On, 2002 judges from the Gerechtshof in Amsterdam, An appeals court, ruled last March 28 that users of Kazaa are illegally infringing upon copyrights, though Kazaa itself is not, because a device cannot own a copyright or choose to legally or illegally download a file.
According to Nielsen/NetRatings, 13 million Americans and 6.4 million people in Europe visited Kazaa's Web site last October. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) claims 99 percent of all music files exchanged on the net are illegal and that last May there were about 500 million files available for copying at any one time.
"Call it file sharing or shoplifting, here in Holland we call it good business," said Pieter Plass, founder of The Honest Thief. "We Dutch are a free-thinking people and we've never been the type to legislate morality. With our file sharing service and our new software, we hope The Honest Thief will become to file sharing what the Swiss are to banking."
Based in the Netherlands, PGR BV is a young company primarily focused on Internet management services.


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Far from being the puff of smoke that many expected, Cloud technology has gone from cutting-edge tech to a vital part of the modern IT infrastructure. Now is the time to get up to speed with all the latest trends in the world of cloud for the year ahead – join UKFast and leading industry experts as we explore the latest shifts in cloud innovation as Cloud UK Live takes London by storm!
Moving south for winter from its Manchester home to our fair capital, Cloud UK Live is returning on Thursday 16th February, and we’re thrilled to announce the major industry names that will be sharing their expertise, insights and experiences at the event.
These titans of tech, cloud colossi, and digital deities will be coming together in one supergroup to share some serious knowledge to get you ahead for the coming year. This tech hall-of-fame includes Alison Vincent, CTO of Cisco, James Akrigg, Head of Technology for Partners at Microsoft, Ed Hoppit of VMware fame, James Read hailing from Red Hat and our very own Dr. Chris Folkerd, who will be discussing UKFast’s cloud infrastructure as well as setting the scene for the next steps for cloud and 2017 predictions.
If all that wasn’t enough, our keynote speaker is David Rowan, Editor of Wired UK. He’s an expert on consumer behaviour, the digital era, social commerce and media, and he’ll be discussing the changing of the digital landscape to close the event.
These industry gurus will be sharing their combined expertise on everything cloud-related, from the future of the digital landscape, to the Internet of Things and cloud automation; everything you need to know to thrive in the cloud. Getting up to speed on these topics will show you how cloud can help you to become more efficient, safe and better at making decisions within your business, and really set you ahead in the cloud.


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Hyundai Motor America has unveiled an innovative payment system, Hyundai Pay, aimed at simplifying the lives of vehicle owners, according to The Fintech Times.
This groundbreaking system allows customers to effortlessly make payments through their vehicle’s touchscreen, capitalizing on securely stored credit card information. Developed in collaboration with Parkopedia, the initial service offered by Hyundai Pay is centered around parking payments, granting U.S. drivers the convenience of locating, reserving, and paying for parking at over 6,000 locations, all from within their vehicles.
The debut of Hyundai Pay will be featured in the 2024 Hyundai Kona, with plans to expand this seamless payment system to nine additional Hyundai models in the near future. This strategic move aligns perfectly with Hyundai’s dedication to enhancing digital ownership experiences and streamlining the driving process for its customers.
Hyundai Pay transforms the in-vehicle experience by facilitating payments for various services directly through the vehicle’s touchscreen and Bluelink connected car system. The primary objectives are to enhance convenience, elevate the driving experience, and ensure the utmost security of payments by utilizing tokenization to safeguard sensitive card account details.
The partnership between Hyundai and Parkopedia aims to address the pervasive parking challenges faced by drivers. Parkopedia’s 2023 Global Driver Survey revealed
that an astonishing 94 percent of U.S. drivers encounter difficulties when seeking parking spaces. Hans Puvogel, Chief Operating Officer at Parkopedia, emphasized the high interest shown by U.S. Hyundai drivers in accessing parking information and services via their vehicles. He stated, «We are proud to be the first in-car commerce service to launch on the future-proof Hyundai Pay platform, which shows significant faith in the auto-grade quality of our services from one of the leading automakers. We look forward to additional models and vehicle services going live in the future.»
Hyundai Pay is seamlessly accessible through Hyundai’s Bluelink connected car services app, offering a connected experience for drivers whether they are at home or on the move. This groundbreaking system empowers drivers to effortlessly view, book, and access past parking sessions, effectively mitigating the stress associated with parking searches.
Olabisi Boyle, Vice President of Product Planning and Mobility Strategy at Hyundai Motor North America, commented on the innovation, saying, «Hyundai Pay is the latest example of our continuous advancements in smart mobility and software-defined vehicles. With Hyundai Pay’s scalable e-commerce
platform, we can elevate customer convenience and extend their digital reach by making everyday needs—like finding and paying for parking—easier, swifter, and safer via our connected-car, integrated-cockpit, and secure-transaction technology.»
For those eager to take advantage of Hyundai Pay, it is currently available on select Hyundai models. To access this revolutionary payment system, users will need the MyHyundai mobile app and an active Bluelink subscription agreement. Hyundai Pay promises to redefine the driving experience, offering a glimpse into the future of automotive convenience and connectivity.


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According to Kaspersky Lab, the volume of spam e-mails in 2015 decreased to 55.28% of overall e-mail traffic. The slump can be attributed to the increasing popularity of legal advertising platforms on social networks, and coupon clipping services.
Among other trends identified in the Kaspersky Lab spam report are the following. Over three quarters (79%) of all emails sent were less than 2kb, which shows a steady decrease in email size for spam campaigns over the past few years. Financial institutions such as banks, payment systems and online shops were attacked most often with phishing emails (34.33%, a rise of 5.59%).
In 2015, cybercriminals continued to send out fake emails from mobile devices and notifications from mobile apps containing malware or advertising messages. New tactics included fraudsters spreading malware in the form of .apk (Android executive files) and .jar (ZIP archives containing a programme in Java). In addition, cybercriminals masked a mobile encryption Trojan behind a file containing updates for Flash Player. After launching, the malware encrypted images, documents and video files stored on the device with users receiving a message telling them to pay a fee in order to decrypt the files.
“The increased use of mobile devices in our everyday life to exchange messages and data, as well as access and control bank accounts, has also resulted in increased exploitation opportunities for cybercriminals. Mobile malware and fraudulent spam is becoming more popular and efforts to dupe victims are becoming more sophisticated year on year, with the emergence of apps that can be used by cybercriminals both directly (for sending out spam, including malicious spam) and indirectly (via phishing emails). Mobile device users therefore need to be on their guard and remain vigilant, as cybercriminal activities in this area are only likely to increase, along with our reliance on devices”, warns Daria Loseva, Spam Analysis Expert at Kaspersky Lab.
The US remained the biggest source of spam (15.2%), with second place taken by Russia (6.15%) and China making way for Vietnam in third spot (6.12%). Germany was the biggest victim with 19.06% of spam attacks – a 9.84% increase on 2014, followed by Brazil at 7.64% which posted a 4.09% increase and moved up from sixth place in 2014. Russia moved up to third place from eighth, an increase of 3.06% to 6.03% of all spam attacks in 2015.
Hot spam topics of the year:
Although the Olympic games in Brazil has yet to take place, fraudsters have already started to exploit the event, sending emails announcing false lottery wins and asking the recipient to fill in a form with their personal details. In these attacks, emails with pdf attachments, pictures and other graphical elements were designed to fool the spam filters.
“Nigerian” fraud used the Ukrainian political situation, the Syrian civil war, the election in Nigeria and the earthquake in Nepal to exploit the kindness and empathy of recipients with believable email content. These emails contained content calling for material support for a person in need.
Samsung unfolds the future
At the #Unpacked launch, Samsung delivered the world’s first foldable phone from a major brand. ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK tried it out.
Everything that could be known about the new Samsung Galaxy S10 range, launched on Wednesday in San Francisco, seems to have been known before the event.
Most predictions were spot-on, including those in Gadget (see our preview here), thanks to a series of leaks so large, they competed with the hole an iceberg made in the Titanic.
The big surprise was that there was a big surprise. While it was widely expected that Samsung would announce a foldable phone, few predicted what would emerge from that announcement. About the only thing that was guessed right was the name: Galaxy Fold.
The real surprise was the versatility of the foldable phone, and the fact that units were available at the launch. During the Johannesburg event, at which the San Francisco launch was streamed live, small groups of media took turns to enter a private Fold viewing area where photos were banned, personal phones had to be handed in, and the Fold could be tried out under close supervision.
The first impression is of a compact smartphone with a relatively small screen on the front – it measures 4.6-inches – and a second layer of phone at the back. With a click of a button, the phone folds out to reveal a 7.3-inch inside screen – the equivalent of a mini tablet.
The fold itself is based on a sophisticated hinge design that probably took more engineering than the foldable display. The result is a large screen with no visible seam.
The device introduces the concept of “app continuity”, which means an app can be opened on the front and, in mid-use, if the handset is folded open, continue on the inside from where the user left off on the front. The difference is that the app will the have far more space for viewing or other activity.
Click here to read about the app experience on the inside of the Fold.
Password managers don’t protect you from hackers
Using a password manager to protect yourself online? Research reveals serious weaknesses…
Top password manager products have fundamental flaws that expose the data they are designed to protect, rendering them no more secure than saving passwords in a text file, according to a new study by researchers at Independent Security Evaluators (ISE).
“100 percent of the products that ISE analyzed failed to provide the security to safeguard a user’s passwords as advertised,” says ISE CEO Stephen Bono. “Although password managers provide some utility for storing login/passwords and limit password reuse, these applications are a vulnerable target for the mass collection of this data through malicious hacking campaigns.”
In the new report titled “Under the Hood of Secrets Management,” ISE researchers revealed serious weaknesses with top password managers: 1Password, Dashlane, KeePass and LastPass. ISE examined the underlying functionality of these products on Windows 10 to understand how users’ secrets are stored even when the password manager is locked. More than 60 million individuals 93,000 businesses worldwide rely on password managers. Click here for a copy of the report.
Password managers are marketed as a solution to eliminate the security risks of storing passwords or secrets for applications and browsers in plain text documents. Having previously examined these and other password managers, ISE researchers expected an improved level of security standards preventing malicious credential extraction. Instead ISE found just the opposite.
Click here to read the findings from the report.