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LinkedIn aims to block hackers with two-factor login
Once the feature is enabled, users will get a code sent to them when logging in from a new device
IDG News Service - Add LinkedIn to the list of Internet companies trying to make themselves safer from cyberattacks by adding two-step authentication.
Users of the professional social-networking site now have the option to add two-step verification to their accounts, which is designed to add another layer to the sign-in process when logging in from a new or unknown device. With the feature enabled, users will be prompted to type a numeric code sent to their phone via SMS when logging in from an unrecognized computer or device for the first time.
Most Internet accounts that have become compromised are illegitimately accessed from a new computer or device, LinkedIn said Friday in a blog post. When enabled, the new feature makes it more difficult for unauthorized people to access users' accounts because both their password and mobile phone are needed to log in, LinkedIn said.
Two-step verification can be turned on using the site's settings page for users' security options. After the feature is enabled, the site will send the code upon sign-in once per device. A user will be notified via email each time his or her account is signed into using a new device.
The changes come one week after Twitter introduced two-factor authentication following a series of recent hacks targeting high-profile businesses on the blogging site. Security experts had long been calling for the company to make two-factor logins an option.
Last year, LinkedIn users were advised to change their passwords after it was reported that millions of "unsalted" hashed passwords had turned up on a Russian hacker website.
Apple, Facebook and Google are among other companies that also offer two-step authentication as an option for users.
But while two-factor login does add an extra layer of security, it is not a panacea, some security experts have said. With an email phishing attack, for instance, a hacker could fake a login page to ask for the code the user just received, it has been argued.
Aside from two-factor logins, Google on Thursday laid out several safe password tips for users to follow, though some of the advice was fairly basic. "Use a different password for each important service" and "make your password hard to guess," the company said.
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AIER’s Everyday Price jumped 3.0 percent in March after rising 1.3 percent in February and 1.0 percent in January. Over the first three months of 2022, the EPI is up at an annualized rate of 23.0 percent, the fifth fastest pace since the start of the EPI in 1987. From a year ago, the Everyday Price Index is up 11.4 percent, the highest since July 2008 and matching the fastest 12-month gain ever.
Price increases continue to be generally broad-based though somewhat less so than last month with 15 components showing gains, eight showing declines, and two unchanged in March versus 21 of the 24 components making a positive contribution in February. Motor fuel prices, which are often a significant driver of the monthly changes in the Everyday Price index because of the large weighting in the index and the volatility of the underlying commodity, rose 19.8 percent for the month (on a not-seasonally adjusted basis) and are up 48.2 percent from a year ago. That gain contributed 2.3 percentage points of the 3.0 percent increase for the month. Food at home was the second largest contributor in March, adding 37 basis points followed by a 22-basis-point contribution from household fuels and utilities. The remaining contributions were 4 basis points or less. Nearly every component has a 12-month gain with 19 showing a 12-month gain above two percent and 10 showing gains above five percent.
The Everyday Price Index including apparel, a broader measure that includes clothing and shoes, rose 2.8 percent in March after gaining 1.4 percent in February and 1.1 percent in January. Those results produce an annualized rate of 23.4 percent while over the past year, the Everyday Price Index including apparel is up 11.1 percent, the fastest pace on record. Apparel prices rose 0.8 percent on a not-seasonally-adjusted basis in March. Apparel prices tend to be volatile on a month-to-month basis. From a year ago, apparel prices are up 6.8 percent.
The Consumer Price Index, which includes everyday purchases as well as infrequently purchased, big-ticket items and contractually fixed items, rose 1.3 percent on a not-seasonally-adjusted basis in March. Over the past year, the Consumer Price Index is up 8.5 percent, the fastest pace since December 1981 but less than the 11.4 percent rise in the EPI.
The Consumer Price Index excluding food and energy rose 0.4 percent for the month (not seasonally adjusted) while the 12-month change came in at 6.5 percent, the fastest pace since August 1982. The 12-month change in the core CPI was just 1.3 percent in March 2021 and 2.4 percent in March 2020, before the pandemic.
After seasonal adjustment, the CPI rose 1.2 percent in March while the core increased 0.3 percent for the month, the slowest gain since September. Within the core, core goods prices were down 0.4 percent in March though they are still up 11.7 percent from a year ago.
Core services prices were up 0.6 percent for the month and are up 4.7 percent from a year ago. Among core services, gainers include owners’ equivalent rent (which accounts for 24.20 percent of the CPI, rose 0.4 percent for the month and 4.5 percent from a year ago), car and truck rentals (up 11.7 percent and 23.4 percent from a year ago), airfares (up 10.7 percent and 23.6 percent from a year ago), and other lodging away from home including hotels (up 3.7 percent for the month and 29.0 percent from a year ago).
Price pressures for many goods and services in the economy remain elevated due to shortages of supplies and materials, logistical and supply chain issues, and labor problems. Ongoing waves of new COVID-19 cases, geopolitical and global economic turmoil surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the start of a new Fed tightening cycle are sustaining a high level of uncertainty for the economic outlook. Caution is warranted.

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As the lingering recession puts “affordable luxury” restaurant brands into the “unaffordable” category for many budget-cutting consumers, such operators are being forced to spin the notion of value to reposition their products as indulgences to weather tough times.
Particularly in the once hotter-than-hot categories of gourmet coffee, frozen yogurt and upscale cupcakes, the playing field is rapidly shifting as consumers rethink how much they’re willing or able to pay for premium products they desire but don’t really need.
For some, like Starbucks Coffee , the approach has been to convince consumers that its premium coffee is affordable for every day. Others, like the Red Mango  frozen-yogurt chain, are promoting added value by focusing on the health benefits of its product. Meanwhile, Sprinkles  cupcakes has zeroed in on the continuing need to celebrate special occasions despite the pervasive gloom.
“There’s absolutely no doubt this economy has made consumers much more cautious about all expenditures; even the 99-cent burger is being questioned,” said Bob Goldin, executive vice president of market research and consulting firm Technomic Inc. in Chicago. “Operators are going to have to try selling value.”
Starbucks Coffee was once king of the affordable-luxury world, growing to a globally dominant 16,000-unit chain by convincing consumers they should treat themselves to a cup of coffee that costs around $4 or more.
After reporting a drop in profit of nearly 70 percent during its most recent quarter ended Dec. 28 and announcing plans to shutter more than 1,000 stores, officials with the company acknowledged that consumers are facing economic pressures that may be forcing them to break their latte habits.
Analysts note that Starbucks’ more-expensive Frappuccino products have been hit the hardest.
On March 3, Starbucks debuted $3.95 “breakfast pairings,” including popular breakfast items paired with a coffee, in an attempt to shatter the notion that the brand is a luxury many can’t afford anymore.
In addition, the menus in stores are changing to highlight $2 brewed coffees instead of the more expensive specialty drinks, and staff members are reportedly being trained to point out to price-skittish consumers that most drinks are priced under $3. Officials say more value strategies are in the pipeline for Starbucks.
Repositioning itself as an affordable option is “a first step in Starbucks taking back the definition of its image to consumers, an area where we believe the company has underexecuted over the past year,” wrote analyst Sharon Zackfia of William Blair & Co. LLC. “We believe Starbucks will begin to do more marketing in coming months, with the goal of enhancing the brand’s relevance in challenging times.”
David Morris, senior analyst with research firm Mintel International in Chicago, said there is “certainly room for affordable luxuries today, but it’s relative to positioning.”
Starbucks is more vulnerable than some brands in a recession because it’s so easy to trade down to less expensive coffee or for consumers to even make coffee at home, though analysts like Zackfia maintain that Starbucks’ customers are not trading down so much as simply visiting their coffeehouses less frequently.
Former Starbucks regulars like Dan Kim, founder, president and chief executive of the Red Mango USA frozen-yogurt chain, based in Los Angeles, knows all about trying to communicate the value of a premium brand beyond price. But even Kim admits that he skips his once-routine visits to Starbucks, instead buying less expensive coffee at 7-Eleven convenience stores.
Coffee, on the other hand, is something many consumers feel they need every day, and frozen yogurt is more of an occasional treat, he argued.
Both chains say the closures were the result of poor location choices, and both plan to continue growing, primarily outside the Los Angeles area, in cities less saturated with yogurt shops.
Around Los Angeles, however, several independent yogurt shops have failed, indicating that consumers’ passion for paying $5 to $8 for the frozen treat is waning.
Kim disagrees, saying sales trends remain strong at Red Mango’s 43 stores, though because the company franchises, he declined to give average unit volumes. About 40 Red Mango stores are scheduled to open in 2009, the same as the previous year, he said.
“We aren’t seeing people not buying because they think it’s too expensive,” Kim said.
Still, in part to build traffic, Red Mango earlier this month launched a loyalty program allowing frequent customers to earn points toward free yogurt.
Kim contends that part of Red Mango’s premium appeal is its healthful profile, including live-and-active cultures that can be beneficial for digestive health.
Perhaps best of all, he added, the chain sees little competition from less-expensive yogurt vendors.
Goldin at Technomic contended that there is a saturation point for cash-strapped consumers when the novelty of new products is gone and budget realities take over.
“Four-dollar cups of coffee and $5 cups of yogurt, those are things you give up,” he said.
Other affordable luxuries, such as gourmet cupcakes, are still enough of a novelty that the trend may still have life, though probably not for long, he predicted.
No one is more grateful for continuing interest in cupcakes than Charles and Candace Nelson, former investment bankers who, about four years ago, launched Sprinkles, now a five-unit chain of stores selling gourmet cupcakes in a changing daily line-up of flavors, such as ginger lemon, chocolate marshmallow or chai latte.
In addition to the original unit in Beverly Hills, where the line routinely is out the door, Sprinkles has units in the upscale markets of Newport Beach and Palo Alto, Calif., Dallas, and Scottsdale, Ariz. Stores are scheduled to open this year in Houston and possibly Chicago. All are corporate-owned. The Nelsons are the sole owners.
Charles Nelson said he envisions a global chain with one store in each of the top 30 markets in the United States, as well as international expansion.
Sprinkles cupcakes, each elegantly decorated with the brand’s signature candy dot, are priced at $3.25 each, or a dozen for $36.
Like Pinkberry and Red Mango, the brand has been fueled by celebrity endorsements and the gushing coverage by glossy magazines and television talk shows.
Sales and traffic counts so far this year have been flat, Charles Nelson said, but those results are very positive in today’s economy.
“Our belief is that people still have birthdays and special celebrations,” he said, “and we’re so grateful that people have spent their discretionary income with us.”
Other cupcake players are tinkering with the formula to offer added value.
Connie Barham, daughter-in-law of the founder of the 103-unit Hot Dog on a Stick  chain, launched CB’s Cupcakes last fall, just as the economy took a nosedive. Within just a few months, Barham has opened three locations in the Southern California towns of La Jolla, Temecula and Glendale.
CB’s Cupcakes are in mall or shopping center locations. Cupcake options range from $1.75 mini cupcakes to oversized muffin-style cupcakes for $3.50. The cupcakes are made-to-order, allowing guests to choose their cake flavor, icing and decorations.
The company also offers “cupcake parties,” either in stores or in homes, during which guests can frost and decorate their own cupcakes for one hour at $15 per person.
Barham said she is “almost breaking even” in one location and expects to make a profit within two or three months.
“Unfortunately, we pursued this right when the economy tanked, but I think if we can hold on, I think we can do it,” Barham said.
“I think people are cautious [about spending] but no one is saying it’s too expensive,” she added. “A cupcake is happy food. It’s comforting. They may not be buying larger ticket items, but they’ll still buy a cupcake.”


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Washington, D.C. – A new video game ad released by United We Dream Action encourages young Latino men to vote ahead of the midterm elections. The ad comes from research conducted specifically on young Latinos and gamers. The ad will run on YouTube from now until election day to men 18-35 in zip codes over 70% Latino/Hispanic using 2020 Census data.
Earlier this year United We Dream Action released research in collaboration with Harmony Labs on Latinx’s Media Consumption and Encounters with Immigration. One of the key findings from this research was that young Latino Males aged 18-35 are spending a huge portion of their time online engaging in gaming. From there, José Alonso Muñoz, UWDA’s Deputy Communications Director, conducted research on the question “How do gamers perceive and make judgements around belonging and community?” This research resulted in significant findings that were used in the development of this gamer ad.
José Alonso Muñoz, Deputy Communications Director of United We Dream Action, said:
“United We Dream Action is always looking at unique and innovative ways to reach out to young and Latino voters – who are often overlooked by standard voter engagement tactics. Through our research we found that gamers want to celebrate doing hard things with their friends. Quite simply, gamers are always up for the challenge.
I was inspired by my younger brothers who enjoy spending time online playing video games; two of whom are U.S. citizens and freshly voting age to do this research. I spent a significant amount doing language analysis on platforms used by gamers like Twitch, Discord, Stream and YouTube. In addition I analyzed video game websites and did a series of interviews with gamers all to understand how they interact with video games, how they interact with others who play video games, and how people who create and market these games communicate with players. We’re excited to see this ad come to life using this research. To successfully energize and mobilize more people to be voters we need creative solutions that meet people where they spend time, and it’s vital that more resources are invested taking on these unique approaches to voter engagement for young Latinos.”


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In the case of Bitcoin, miners run computer programs to verify the data that creates a complete transaction history of all Bitcoin. A technology known as the blockchain, which is used to create irreversible and traceable transactions, makes the process of verification possible. Once a miner has verified the data (which comes in a block, hence, blockchain), they are rewarded with some amount of digital currency, the same currency for which they were verifying the transaction history. So mining Bitcoin, for example, would earn you Bitcoin.
Coinbase had announced in late September that it is looking to quickly add new cryptocurrencies that meet its standards and meet local law compliance. The exchange recently started supporting Ethereum Classic, and now there’s talk that it could list Ripple as well. The exchange has justannounced that Coinbase Custody, its branch providing custodian service for institutional investors, is now adding support for Ripple (XRP).
If you do have this much money tied up in Bitcoin, though, you may want a more secure space to store it. If this is the case, Coinbase offers a Coinbase vault, which has time-delayed withdrawals (giving you 48 hours to cancel a withdrawal) and the option of multiple approvers, increasing security by ensuring that all withdrawals are approved by multiple people. They also offer a multisig vault, which is basically an even more involved and more secure vault, requiring multiple keys to unlock.
The Bitcoin Price live tile app is exactly what the name implies. Pin the app to your start screen to get up to date live updates of the current spot price of Bitcoin in United States Dollars USD. I created this app because I wanted this functionality on my own device and could not find an alternative app in the store. If you like this concept and would like to see more features and currencies added, please leave the suggestions in the store comments and I will make updates upon request. Thanks for using the app.
In April 2019, a UK corporate filing stated that Coinbase's non-U.S. revenue grew 20% to €153 million (U.S.$173 million) in 2018 resulting in a net profit of €6.6 million. Coinbase UK CEO Zeeshan Feroz said the company's non-U.S. operations accounted for nearly one-third of the company's overall revenue and Reuters estimated that the company's global revenue totaled "around $520 million" in 2018.
Coinbase recently announced that its customers in supported jurisdictions can send, receive, buy, and sell the USD Coin stablecoin (USDC) on its website and mobile applications. This marks Coinbase first entry into stablecoins, which have a fundamental difference as compared to other cryptocurrencies. A USDC is pegged to the price of a single US dollar (USD). Coinbase explains that one USDC is represented by one USD on the Ethereum blockchain.
CCN.com, also known as CCN Markets, is a news site reporting on U.S. Markets, Gaming & Sports. Op-eds and opinions should not be attributed to CCN Markets. Journalists on CCN Markets follow a strict ethical code that you can find here. You can contact us here. You can read more about us here. Find our journalists here. U.S. Office: New Jersey, USA. Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. Youtube.


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Mahindra Verito Electric could be priced around Rs 13.5 lakh
It wasn't a usual day at the Parliament as Union Minister Anant Geete arrived in a Mahindra Verito Electric to make a statement in favor of government's environmental friendly policies. Since Mahindra doesn't officially sell the electric version of the Verito sedan, this one should be a one off working prototype. Decked with flowers and a red beacon on the roof, the Mahindra electric Verito had a logo of National Electric Mobility Mission placed on the bonnet.
The objective of the National Electric Mobility Mission is to encourage production of both two-wheeler and four-wheeler electric vehicles and be a world leader of EVs by 2020 with a total sales target of 6 7 million units. The Union Minister stated that with the use of such alternate solutions, pollution caused by air and traffic can be brought down. Understandably, the cost of technology is high as the estimated price of the sedan is close to Rs 13.5 lakh. But efforts are underway to bring down the prices by localizing production of the imported batteries.
Mahindra has showcased the electric Verito also known as the e-Verito at multiple occasions including the 2014 Auto Expo. In terms of looks, it mostly looks like the standard version except for minor detailing in the form of badges and vinyls. Inside the cabin, we expect changes only on the instrumental cluster. The Mahindra electric Verito will be powered by an AC motor that makes 39PS of power and has a range of 100kms at full charge. Government's eco-friendly FAME policy offers incentives on the purchase of hybrids and electric cars.
Mahindra, known for its wide portfolio of diesel SUVs, got affected with the new SC ruling that stops registration of diesel SUVs in Delhi. The UV maker is already taking damage control measures with the launch of new-generation mFalcon engines that include a brand new 1.2-litre petrol engine. We believe that Mahindra electric Verito will be showcased at the 2016 Auto Expo and might also enter production next year.
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- Upcoming Audi Q3 bookings commence from Rs 2 lakh


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Middle-earth: Shadow of War won't be ready in time for its originally announced August release.
The game -- a follow-up to 2014's exceptionally well-received Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor -- will now be out on Oct. 10, 2017. The reason? Typical development stuff.
"Monolith is committed to delivering the highest quality experience," an update(Opens in a new tab) from Monolith Productions reads. "In order to do this, we have made the difficult decision to move our launch date to ensure that Middle-earth: Shadow of War will deliver on that promise."
The date shift is surprising given the recent reveal. Based on the current slate of announced releases, it certainly leaves Shadow of War in a spot where it's poised to face greater competition.
Even with more release announcements sure to come at E3 this month, the original Aug. 22 release would have given the game some breathing room. Destiny 2 is out on Sept. 8, but there wasn't much else for Shadow to compete with (that we know of).
The move to October means Monolith's sequel will face the stiffer competition of the prime holiday release months. We already know is coming on Oct. 17 -- one week later. It's also fair to speculate that Ubisoft's next Assassin's Creed game will surface in late October, just as it has traditionally.
There is, however, one possibility that could explain Shadow of War's bold move to the busy October timeframe: Microsoft's Xbox "Scorpio." We know the souped up console will be out at some point this fall, and -- as some have posited(Opens in a new tab) on social media -- the date change would make sense if the Mordor sequel is meant to be a Scorpio-enhanced launch title.
All will become clear (or clearer, at least) when E3 delivers its annual helping of game/platform announcements and release dates. Stay tuned -- the show's press conferences kick of on June 10.


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Turkish grocery delivery app Getir to set up tech hub in India
Turkish ultra fast delivery giant Blok in July, is now looking to set up a technology hub in India. Blok was Getir’s first acquisition, and helped Getir accelerate its entry into Southern Europe. Getir recently raised $550 million in Series D funding which makes it a business that's valued at over $7.5 billion., which acquired instant grocery delivery company
Founded by Hunab Moreno, Vishal Verma and Varun Kapoor, Blok was a relatively new grocery delivery startup that launched its operations in February in Spain and Italy. With its acquisition, Getir gained not only footprints in these countries and a team of ~12, but also access to Indian talent through its technology team based in Bengaluru. Technology and Product for Blok, sat out of India.
Setting up a tech hub is not new for companies from all across the world. Perhaps this model has been executed most famously by Gojek that has their engineering all done out of Bengaluru whereas other companies often look to offshore some engineering post a certain degree of success. It’s likely that Getir is the first Turkish company to set up shop in India.
Varun Kapoor, Director of Engineering at Getir India is leading hiring efforts in India and has ambitious goals to create 300 jobs in the country by the end of the year.
He says, “India has a ton of fantastically talented engineers that have built equally fantastic technology that has scaled the world over. For Getir, it makes perfect sense to set up shop here to leverage the resource pool. With the scale of operations we intend to open here, Getir will have one of the largest tech hubs in India beating the likes of many other global unicorns.”
An unnamed member of the team in India adds, “Not many people have first-hand experience working with the Turks and when I tell my friends I work for a Turkish company, they all sit up and take notice! I’ve worked for both Indian and American companies before and I can truly say, hand on heart, that working for the Turks has been an incredible experience so far. They have the “warmth” of an Indian company and the analytical and executional excellence of a western company.”
Getir has had a very successful 2021 so far, with launches in nine European countries and over 1 million orders in the UK till date. It has also begun hiring aggressively and is preparing to launch operations in three cities in the US by the end of the year.
In addition to geographical expansion, Getir has also acquired a range of other companies in Turkey charting its path to become the next big super app and expand beyond groceries, food and water. Most recently, they integrated BiTaksi, the country's leading taxi rental company.
The icing on the cake is its recent partnership with Tottenham Hotspurs, which is sure to get it a few fans across the globe.
(Getir is aiming to be a decacorn very soon. Come on board and join us. Visit technology.getir.com for more information)


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Google Nexus One is due to land in the next few weeks in German or Europe and Vodafone will be the first to get the N1 on their network. A photo of four phones was leaked with one of them being listed as the Google Nexus One.
Google Nexus One phone is priced at €149.90 (see bottom right of the image above or see larger image below), which we assume is on a two year contract. Prices are for Vodafone in Germany.
The phone it’s self has a 5 megapixel camera, runs Android 2.1 and has been available in the US for about a week now. It is expected that Google will sell the Nexus One at www.google.com/phone rather than direct from carriers which is the more traditional way.
As of now there are no prices for SIM free versions although we expect that will be over the $500 mark. Also prices for the UK and other European countries are not known. We also do not know what subscription costs will be for the phone, but I am sure an official announcement will be out with in the next week or so.


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1 MIN. DE LECTURA
PANAMA CITY, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Consumer prices in Panama slipped in October for the second month in a row, dragged down by cheaper cell phone, alcohol, and gasoline prices, official data showed on Friday.
Compared with October 2014, prices fell by 0.4 percent, just below September's 0.5 percent dip. On a monthly basis, consumer prices slid 0.1 percent.
Reporting by Elida Moreno; Editing by Diane Craft


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International Scotch Day
WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL SCOTCH DAY?
International Scotch Day falls on 8th February every year. It’s a global celebration of Scotch whisky, and anyone (who’s over the legal drinking age in their country) can get involved by sharing their Scotch whisky drams, stories and messages using the hashtag #InternationalScotchDay.
For over five centuries, Scotch whisky has drawn people together and that rich history, heritage, and culture means that every bottle holds the promise of new experience and discovery for experts and newcomers alike…
2019’s International Scotch Day saw the launch of the Scotch Whisky Experience’s campaign ‘The Bottle I Never Opened’, inviting members of the global Scotch whisky community to share their stories of a special bottle from their collection – and why that bottle holds a special place in their heart.


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The Chancellor’s job support scheme announced yesterday is welcome and should provide some temporary relief for the automotive sector, which has been so badly hit by the pandemic, as too will new flexibilities on government loan schemes and tax deferrals. However, it is crucial that these initiatives are more than just a short-term lifeline and, like schemes elsewhere in Europe, they must support jobs for the duration of the pandemic and recovery – no matter how long this takes.
For the UK to remain a viable place for vehicle production, every automotive manufacturer needs to hold on to skilled, viable jobs, and government and business must do everything to improve competitiveness. It’s also crucial to keep a close eye on demand, as it remains to be seen how increasing restrictions on daily life will further impact the market, and in turn production, for the foreseeable future.
Business remains fragile as we head into a winter of uncertainty, and a 2021 recovery is immensely challenging and far from guaranteed. Indeed, UK car production declined -44.6% in August with just 51,039 units made as efforts to ramp up production stalled amid the coronavirus crisis, with weak demand in key overseas markets compounded by a significant fall in output for UK buyers.
Almost 85% of all cars built in Britain last month were destined for markets around the world, underlining the importance of this trade to the sector and UK economy. So far this year, UK car production is down -40.2%, representing a loss of 348,821 units worth more than £9.5 billion to manufacturers – losses that will be impossible to catch back.
On top of this incredibly challenging situation, the prospect of ‘no deal’ at the end of the Brexit transition period is fewer than 100 days away and we need urgent agreement of an ambitious free trade deal with our largest market to avoid the devastating shock of crippling tariffs.
So as we go into the last quarter of 2020, we are seeing the coalescence of a number of key issues which will determine the health – or otherwise – of our sector for many years to come. The stakes are getting ever higher which is why we need support not further expensive and competitiveness-threatening challenges. The industry is adept at overcoming obstacles but if these are too many and too high, no sector can survive.
Finally, next Tuesday 29 September I invite you to join SMMT Open Forum Digital: Funding and Support – the first in a new digital event series focussed on automotive and supply chain issues. The event will focus on what manufacturers of all sizes should be considering during these increasingly fluid times, and importantly what support is out there to help, be it through funding, insights or advice and guidance. Sign up here.


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Agency Celebrates Inclusion in the Gulf Coast 500 since 2008 and Ad Age’s Top US Agencies for 11 Consecutive Years
TAMPA, FL and DENVER, CO, July, 2013- Web marketing firm, Bayshore Solutions has been selected as one of the 2013 Gulf Coast 500 top companies in Florida by the Gulf Coast Business Review, and achieved inclusion in the 2013 Advertising Age Top US Agencies list. Bayshore Solutions will be published in the Business Observer’s 2013 edition of the Gulf Coast 500 and has achieved this list since 2008. 2013 marks the 11th consecutive year that Bayshore Solutions has been listed in the Advertising Age magazine survey of Top US Agencies, and is the only digital agency in Florida with this consistent achievement.
The Gulf Coast Business Review annually features a ranking of the top 500 companies located throughout the Gulf Coast of Florida as well as Gulf Coast’s fastest-growing companies and largest employers. The Gulf Coast Business Review is Florida’s weekly newspaper covering Companies, Trends, Law, and Entrepreneurs.
The Agency Report is Advertising Age’s yearly rankings and analysis of advertising and marketing service agencies. A national publication for over 80 years, Advertising Age is a trusted source on the important trends and news in the marketing, media and advertising industries.
“We are honored to again be recognized by Advertising Age and the Gulf Coast 500,” said President and CEO Kevin Hourigan. “Bayshore Solutions integrates technology and digital marketing services to ensure measurable results for clients. It is very nice to see the efforts that fuel our customers’ and thus our own growth honored by these premier organizations.””.
About Bayshore Solutions
Website Design Company, Bayshore Solutions offers award-winning capabilities in custom web design, digital marketing, e-commerce, search engine optimization and Internet application development. Founded in 1996, the website design company has delivered custom web applications to over 1,900 clients in 54 countries. Bayshore Solutions integrates technology and web marketing services to ensure measurable results for clients. For more information about website design and Internet marketing services visit http://www.BayshoreSolutions.com.


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Consumers using “eco-friendly” labels to inform their shopping habits are helping to block free trade. That’s according to a group of countries that have proposed changes to labelling rules, to be discussed at World Trade Organization talks in Hong Kong next week.
The countries have tabled more than 200 objections to so-called “non-tariff barriers” to trade (NTBs). They include a motion from Argentina to remove the triangle logo found on cans and bottles indicating that it is recyclable, and one from Thailand that objects to labelling products that contain more than 1 per cent genetically modified material.
Kenya wants to remove the labels that show whether a product contains recycled content. Thailand objects to what it sees as “excessive” safety testing on imported foods, such as compulsory testing for toxins in shellfish. And China objects to energy-efficiency standards now being imposed on hot-water boilers and air-conditioning units.
Eve Mitchell, head of the trade campaign at environmental group Friends of the Earth, wants the European Union to either reject these proposals or to promise that the EU will maintain its environmental regulations even if the proposals are accepted.
This seems unlikely to happen. In a letter to Friends of the Earth, EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson says he believes “very few” of the notifications have environmental implications. Stephen Adams from Mandelson’s office says objections to NTBs may be discussed by ministers when they meet in Hong Kong, but adds it is likely any decision will be postponed to future meetings....


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Although Apple has just released the most dramatic change in its iPhone product line in history and introduced the entirely new Watch, perhaps its most disruptive products this year are its intangible ones. During its WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) this summer, Apple showed off its most exciting efforts in improving its software platform by designing an entirely new and modern programming language, Swift, and giving iOS the ability to be the hub for your health statistics and smart home accessories. Pay, Apple’s new payment platform, however,may be the most intriguing service yet.
Every three weeks there seems to be news of new digital security breaches, such as the Home Depot’s recent hack-in, that expose the credit card numbers of hundreds of thousands of consumers. Worst of all, customers are often notified months after the actual theft of sensitive data, leaving cybercriminals large windows to commit fraud. Pay aims to fix this issue by allowing consumers to pay with their iPhones and establishing a system in which your private information isn’t even directly used to make purchases at the cash register. Instead, a 128-bit security code is generated and used instead of actual credit card numbers, forcing would-be hackers to jump through several more hoops without giving grief to users. Sealing this whole process is Touch ID, which is used to confirm all transactions. While it certainly is possible to crack this system, it is a hundred times more difficult to hack than all other existing payment methods.
Ever since Android devices became legitimately competitive with Apple’s products, software began trumping hardware when it came to distinguishing characteristics. Even though critics have slammed Apple’s hardware choices, Apple’s app ecosystem and rock-solid software platforms have remained practically free of criticisms. Should this trend continue, Apple’s software, such as Pay, will keep people buying iPhones.
How to type the in Pay: option-shift-k (This only works on Apple computers.)
Written by Raymond Cao’17


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A new Bitcoin investing guide has been launched by Lamboin, Inc, helping new investors to get key insight into the cryptocurrency. It offers step by step guidance on getting involved and making smarter decisions.
Canton, United States - December 18, 2017 /PressCable/ —
Lamboin, Inc has launched a new guide to buying and managing Bitcoin, so that new investors can find the best ways to get into the popular cryptocurrency. The guide provides step by step instructions to making the most out of investments, and can help people with valuable insights into the best time to buy and more.
More information can be found at: http://CryptoChangeYourLifeNow.com
Based in Michigan, Lamboin, Inc offers its free guide to help investors make safe and wise investments in Bitcoin. With the cryptocurrency making headline news in mainstream media, more people are wanting to get involved than ever before.
However, it’s important to think carefully before buying any Bitcoin, and this is where the step by step guide can help. It aims to demystify the process and help new investors to make smarter decisions about their approach to the cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin, which is the most popular and well known cryptocurrency on the market, was launched in 2009 sand has been growing in popularity ever since. Especially this year, it has exploded, going up in value at alarming rates.
It has become very popular among investors who are looking for a safe investment option after the huge financial crisis of 2008. It was during this time that the prices of stocks, gold and various other commodities plummeted.
Lamboin, Inc, is a financial company that offers assistance to customers about Bitcoin investments. It also showcase some tips and insider insights into where to buy from and how to manage the market, which is traditionally volatile.
The guide offers step by step instructions for new investors, which can be highly beneficial in what is a confusing market. Those beginning in cryptocurrency investments can understand how they can make around 1% every day on their initial investment on all working days.
The company also offers live conferencing to some of its members, with step by step guidance and assistance. During this process, members are walked through the entire setup process.
Full details can be found on the URL above, with additional information provided at: http://911ChangeYourLifeNow.com
Email: Send Email
Organization: Lamboin, Inc
Address: 43311 Joy Road - # 288, Canton, Michigan 48187, United States
For more information, please visit http://www.CryptoChangeYourLifeNow.com
Release ID: 279162


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Nigeria Launches First Ever Online Condolence Register
Nigeria’s first ever online condolence register, condolences.ng has been launched to help bereaved Nigerians create memorial pages for their lost, loved ones.
Users of the register will also be able to make funeral announcements and arrangements besides access to other useful information all for free. Users will also receive standard hard copies of condolence register from the online company within 24-48 hours depending on the location in Nigeria.
According to the founder and Chief Executive of the online company, Mr. Wole Temidire Aguda, the first ever condolence register will also assist in no small to foster data base for high motility rate in Nigeria which its record have been inadequate.
Aguda said users of the online condolence register will also benefit from high quality premium hard copies which can be customised to fit their requirements, noting that other resources such as poems, quotes and literature will also be made available to users for free.
“I believe that the ultimate value of knowledge must be domiciled along the needs of humanity. Technology and every human intention should be unreservedly be used to improve human lives and that is why www.condolences.ng was born,” he added.
He said for the premium packages there would also be a minimum of five phone calls to people within the bereaved family, provision of a hard copy of condolence register, management and administration of offline and online condolence register in the home of the deceased and if required, VIP transport of family members on important days such as wake-keep and funeral among other value added services that might come with cost.


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The California Supreme Court sided with Apple Store employees in a ruling yesterday, stating that unpaid mandatory bag or iPhone searches at the end of retail workers’ shifts are a violation of state law. The class-action suit in question represents over 12,000 workers employed at the company’s retail locations from mid-2009 onward.
Because Apple workers are not free to leave before completing such searches—which can take between five and 20 minutes each—and the primary beneficiary of this policy is Apple itself, the court ruled unanimously in favor of the workers. Given the size of the class as well as the breadth of time, Apple is looking at a potentially hefty sum it must fork over for unpaid time—though it was not within the Supreme Court’s purview to decide on those specifics.
Apple attempted a number of legal defenses to avert this scenario, including claiming that searches were actually in the interest of the employees. The company also claimed that employees had the option of just, well, not bringing a bag or iPhone to work. (Bags and iPhones are, you might remember, two categories of products sold at every Apple store.) The court saw Apple’s gambits as “farfetched and untenable,” according to the ruling.
The court balked most strongly at the idea that workers should merely leave their phones at home if they were unwilling to submit to unpaid searches. “The irony and inconsistency of Apple’s argument must be noted,” Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye wrote. “Its characterization of the iPhone as unnecessary for its own employees is directly at odds with its description of the iPhone as an ‘integrated and integral’ part of the lives of everyone else.” This is about as close as courts tend to get to telling a multinational corporation to go to hell.
These sorts of invasive and unpaid searches have been the subject of a few similar suits, the closest analog of which involves Amazon workers and has been circling the courts for a decade. Currently, it’s on the to-do list of the federal Supreme Court, which has not yet ruled on it. And much like that interminable case, even with this unambiguous nudge from California’s highest court, the battle is far from over for these Apple workers, Bloomberg Law notes, with this case headed back to the Ninth Circuit for another round of probing.


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"Froozer® is the most delicious delivery system of fruits and vegetables with no added sugar I’ve ever had" -- Tara Collingwood, Team Dietitian for the Orlando Magic NBA team and Nutrition Consultant for the University of Central Florida (UCF) Athletics.
Denver, CO (PRWEB) August 09, 2016
Froozer® CEO and Chairman of the Board, Des Hague, announced today that an all star cast of influential dietitians will head up the Froozer® Health and Wellness Council. Froozer® is a rapidly growing snack innovator of freshly harvested and flash-frozen fruits and vegetables. The Froozer® Health and Wellness Council includes Tara Collingwood, Team Dietitian for the Orlando Magic NBA team, Beth Miller, Director of Sports Nutrition with UCLA and Jessica LaRoche, Sports Nutritionist with US Speedskating.
"Froozer is working tirelessly to be the healthiest every day snack brand in America," said Hague before continuing, "we have a great line-up of products but we know that we must keep improving to stay ahead. Hence, we are proud to announce the formation of our Health and Wellness Council."
Collingwood said, "Froozer is not only a refreshing and convenient snack, but its nutritional value is fantastic." She continued, "Froozer is the most delicious delivery system of fruits and vegetables with no added sugar I’ve ever had! I love it for kids, athletes, people on a soft diet…..really anyone can enjoy Froozer."
In addition to being the Team Dietitian for the Orlando Magic NBA team, Collingwood is currently the Nutrition Consultant for the University of Central Florida (UCF) Athletics, as well as the “official nutritionist” for runDisney endurance events. Collingwood is the author of "Pregnancy Cooking & Nutrition for Dummies" (2012) and "Flat Belly Cookbook for Dummies" (2014). She is also a spokesperson and is quoted in a variety of media including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and websites, and is a past National Media Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She helps senior executives from Fortune 500 companies manage their energy in her role as a nutrition and movement coach at the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute. In addition, Collingwood was the co-host of Emotional Mojo, a national television show where she was the resident nutrition and health expert from 2013-2015. You can find her at http://www.dietdiva.net.
"I’m excited to join the Froozer Health and Wellness Council as they continue to innovate and provide quality, nutrient-rich products that are naturally delicious and nutritious," stated LaRoche. "This will be a great opportunity to contribute to an organization that is dedicated to fueling athletes with simple, whole ingredients in the most sustainable way possible," concluded LaRoche.
LaRoche, a Registered Dietitian and Board Certified Sports Dietitian, is excited to work as the sports nutritionist for the US Speed Skating National Team in Kearns, Utah. Jessica views nutrition as an integral part of performance and enjoys empowering athletes with the skills to succeed. LaRoche graduated with a Master’s Degree in Nutrition from the University of Utah in 2010. She has previously worked as a nutrition educator at a major regional hospital and as a supermarket dietitian at a family-owned grocery store in Utah.
Miller said, "Froozer is committed to producing great tasting products made only with top quality, natural ingredients, making it easy for me to recommend these products to athletes. I am looking forward to helping build their product line and give back to the community through the Froozer Fuels Funds while doing it,” concluded Miller.
Miller joined the UCLA Athletics staff as Director of Sports Nutrition in July 2015. She is responsible for planning, developing, implementing and managing all sports nutrition services provided to all Olympic sport student-athletes. Miller provides team nutrition education as well as medical and performance-based counseling to enhance the health and well-being of all athletes. Prior to UCLA, Miller worked within the Sports Nutrition department at Florida State University and the University of Tennessee. Miller received her Master’s in Exercise Science from Florida State and Bachelor’s in Dietetics at Tennessee Tech University, where she was a member of the Varsity Cross Country and Track teams.
"The council's charter is to ensure Froozer stays abreast of all nutrition trends and best practices, in addition to assisting with our innovation pipeline," Hague said.
About Froozer® - "simple ingredients. real nutrition."
Froozer® products, the official healthy frozen fruit & veggie snack partner of US Speed Skating, represent the pure goodness of freshly harvested fruits & veggies picked at the peak of their ripeness, flash-frozen whole and blended for optimal taste, nutrition and digestion. Natural fruits and veggies in all their glory, nothing added or subtracted, not even a drop of water. Available in three delicious flavors - STRAWBANANA BLISS, TROPICAL SUNSET and BLUE ALOHA - in 6-pack boxes. Look for Froozer® in your local grocery store freezer at select fine retail locations in the Denver Area, including WholeFoods and Alfalfa's, and various select retailers in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Oregon, Washington State, Rhode Island and Alaska, or place your order for a 48-count box at http://www.Froozer.com or http://www.amazon.com to have your Froozer® delivered directly to your home or office.
For more information: http://froozer.com/
Contact: Renate Siekmann, VP Marketing, Corporate Strategy and Communications, Froozer®
Connect with Froozer® on Facebook or Twitter


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The owners of Bolete, a Salisbury Township-based restaurant that has won several national awards, recently opened its third concept, a New England-style clam and seafood shack in the Easton Public Market in Easton.
The venue, Silvershell Counter & Kitchen, takes the place of the Third & Ferry Fish Market space.
Chef Lee Chizmar and his wife, Erin Shea, operate the venue, whose menu includes lobster rolls, fried clams, steamers, oysters, and a variety of fresh fish and soups. Prices range from $5 to $22, Shea said.
“The basis is a classic New England clam shack,” Shea said.
Shea said she grew up in New England – near Silvershell Beach in Massachusetts – and relocated to the Lehigh Valley more than 10 years ago with her husband and business partner.
She said she and Chizmar also own Mister Lee’s Noodles, a venue inside the Easton market that sells Japanese noodle dishes.
“We know it’s a viable location,” Shea said.
Guests will also have some counter seats available in addition to nearby market seating.


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AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)– By late summer, when customers in the Denver metro area order items from online retailer Amazon, those products may be delivered quickly thanks to a massive fulfillment center under construction in Aurora.
CBS4 Reporter Jennifer Brice got a sneak peek inside the new facility on Friday.
The Amazon center is located on Smith Road, off Interstate 70. CBS4’s camera crew went inside the 1 million square foot fulfillment center.
It will mostly be home to larger items like sports gear and furniture says Paul Pace, a Regional Director of Operations for Amazon.
“Larger kitchenware, for example,” Pace says. “Or even outdoor ware or large hoses, shoves and rakes.”
As CBS4 toured the facility, construction crews prepped the ground for more concrete to be poured Saturday.
A total of 130 million pounds of concrete will be used to construct the building.
It will bring at least 1,000 full time jobs, including benefits from day one, according to Amazon spokesperson Ashley Robinson.
“That includes health, medical, dental insurance, 401k with a 50 percent match, performance based bonuses and stock options,” said Robinson.
Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan says having Amazon make a home in Aurora not only brings significant impact to the economy, but it has a ripple effect on business. He says the fulfillment facility will spur other kinds of development for the Front Range.
“It will also spur similar facilities,” Hogan says. “Other companies to say, ‘Hmm, Aurora, Denver metro area – maybe we need to be there too.’”
By late summer, as the building get closer to opening, Amazon will begin hiring. Amazon also has a “Career Choice Program” where they pre-paying up to 95 percent of tuition costs for associates who want to go back to school.


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Greensburg entrepreneurs jump into ABC's 'Shark Tank'
Trio creates cellhelmet iPhone case
Don't you just hate when you get a crack in your cellphone? Three friends from Greensburg have a solution, and they took it to the judges on ABC's "Shark Tank" in an episode that aired Friday night.
"It is one of my favorite shows, and it's very surreal standing in front of five people who you kind of admire because they are doing the same thing you are doing," said cellhelmet co-founder David Artuso.
Artuso, along with co-founders Mike Kane and Bryan McHenry, came up with the cellhelmet in their "quest for the most indestructible iPhone case."
A "Shark Tank" watch party was held at Rick's Sports Bar in Murrysville. Unfortunately, the show ended without any deals being made for the cellhelmet. But the guys were thankful to get national TV exposure for their product, and they attracted two local investors who will put the cellhelmet in 14 Pittsburgh-area wireless retail stores.
Kane said they spent five months "schmoozing" the show's producers with audition tapes before finally getting a call to be on "Shark Tank."
"I was actually getting married the Saturday before they had to be on the airplane. They left my wedding at 1 a.m. Saturday, had to be on a 5 a.m. flight Sunday," said McHenry.
The cellhelmet includes one year of accidental damage coverage. If a cellphone breaks while in a cellhelmet case, the company will repair or replace it for a $50 handling fee.


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STALLHOLDERS fear for their future — with work to demolish Farnworth Market set to begin by the end of this month.
In line with planning regulations, Bolton Council has given notice that it intends to demolish the canopy next to King Street between Monday, October 28, and Friday, November 22.
Trading will continue during the works — with businesses moved to the other two canopies.
The demolition is part of plans to develop new retail units on the site of the market.
But Steve Rawcliffe, aged 45, from Leyland, who has owned a fruit and vegetable stall in the market for 30 years, is worried the development could spell the end for his business.
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NEW YORK (REUTERS) - Apple on Monday became the first United States company to hit US$3 trillion (S$4.06 trillion) in market capitalisation, thanks to investor confidence that the iPhone maker will keep launching best-selling products as it explores new markets such as automated cars and the metaverse.
On the first day of trading in 2022, the company's shares hit a record of US$182.88 in mid-day trading.
The world's most valuable company is the first to reach the milestone as investors bet that consumers will continue to shell out top dollar for iPhones, MacBooks and services such as Apple TV and Apple Music.
"The linchpin to Apple's valuation re-rating remains its services business, which we believe is worth US$1.5 trillion in the eyes of (Wall Street)," Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives said. "Being the first company to join the US$3 trillion club is a 'flex-the-muscles moment' for (chief executive Tim) Cook and company."
Apple shared the US$2 trillion market value club with Microsoft, which is now worth about US$2.53 trillion. Alphabet and Amazon have market values above US$1 trillion.
The rapid embrace of technologies such as 5G, augmented reality/virtual reality and artificial intelligence has also helped these stocks become market darlings as investors moved towards cash-rich companies and away from businesses that have been more sensitive to economic growth.
Apple's quick adoption of 5G, a technology that has broad implications in the future, provided a big boost. It recently launched iPhone 13 in its second wave of phones with 5G technology.
In China, one of Apple's biggest markets, it continued to lead the smartphone market for the second straight month, beating rivals such as Vivo and Xiaomi, recent data from CounterPoint Research showed.
Apple's shares were last up 2.5 per cent at US$182.09. Meanwhile, the broader market was set to extend a recovery from the pandemic shock, led by Tesla and followed by Apple and Nvidia.


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In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, and Takeoff Anne Mezzenga and guest hosts David Ritter and Kristin Kohler Burrows of the A&M Consumer & Retail Group discuss:
-Uber announcing partnerships with both Albertsons and Costco sending the Fast Five team into a debate about what this means for the grocery delivery ecosystem and grocers moving away from Instacart
-Foxtrot’s ambitious expansion plans and some ideas on how they should consider differentiating themselves in their new markets, from deploying checkout-free tech to going all-in on Momofuku-led concepts.
-The nuance in the stream of recent cashier-less checkout headlines, including the latest two stores from AiFi at Morrisons and Loop Neighborhood Stores, and what retailers should be considering when exploring these initiatives.
-thredUP’s Resale-As-A-Service (RAAS) 360 commerce platform debuting with Madewell this week and A&M’s expert advice for retailers trying to figure out their own resale strategy.
-Bite Ninja blowing up Anne’s LinkedIn DM’s and also revolutionizing the QSR labor industry with a platform that allows gig workers to take orders remotely at the drive-thru.
The team also talked about Ulta opening in Target, increasing its one-stop-shop allure, and resulting in a poll of the most random collection of products the team has purchased in one trip to a big box store. Hint: It includes 50 lbs of crawfish, chocolate chips, and reading glasses. All that plus the Olympic squads Dave and Kristin wish they could join in Tokyo this week.
To learn more about the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, visit: http://www.alvarezandmarsal.com/industries/retail/retail
Kristin can be reached at: firstname.lastname@example.org
David can be reached at: email@example.com
To learn more about Takeoff, visit: http://www.takeoff.com/


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Jeff Staple Debuts Another 'Pigeon' Nike SB Dunk
It seems possible, as the Staple founder was spotted in a new colourway of the Swoosh colab at ComplexCon over the weekend. Taking on a 'Panda'-like look, the kicks feature black and white colour-blocking to go along with an icy rubber outsole and bold green hits to the embroidered branding on the heel and tongue. Should the kicks get a drop, they would follow the coveted 'Black Pigeon' release that touched down late last year.
It's worth keeping in mind, however, that the design may just be an unreleased sample: the pigeon-adorned design is nearly identical to one of the pairs Staple himself showcased on social media back in February.


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This year’s Lata Expo will take place online for the second year, the Latin American Travel Association has confirmed.
The trade show will now take place from 11-15 October in a similar format to last year, with event timings suited to both UK and Latin American time zones.
Next year’s show is scheduled to return as a live event. It will be held at London’s Battersea Evolution from 13-15 June.
Lata chief executive Danny Callaghan said: “We understand the importance of Lata Expo and the role it plays in facilitating trade between European travel trade operators and Latin American suppliers, many of whom are Lata members, and so we wanted to be able to provide exhibitors and buyers with the guarantee that the event will go ahead.
“The added degree of certainty that deciding to make it a virtual event brings allows us to plan accordingly and this, coupled with key learnings from last year’s event, will hopefully allow us to emulate the successes of Lata Expo 2020.
“We are at a critical moment for the Latin American travel industry, and we hope that this decision will give our members confidence that Lata will deliver its flagship trade show.”


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TOKYO -- China-based startup WeRide is launching its first commercial autonomous taxi in Guangzhou and Anqing from July, taking advantage of the country's access to data to try and match similar efforts by U.S. groups such as Google and Uber.
Since last year the self-driving startup has already been carrying out test runs of taxi services with partners including Guangzhou Automobile Group. It currently has about 50 autonomous vehicles driving around the country and is now expanding its operations.
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Salesforce.com is hoping to give its user experience a jolt with a new, more modern design for its marquee Sales Cloud service with the announcement of Salesforce Lightning on Tuesday. At its Dreamforce
Does advertising really work? It's the question that marketers couldn't clearly answer for a long time, but the wonders of online measurement and tracking have finally delivered answers. In the days of traditional
Twitter announced on Thursday that it is renaming the Twitter Publisher Network to the Twitter Audience Platform and adding the ability for marketers to drive tweet engagements and video views with the service.
If you need just one more reminder that digital is transforming every business vertical out there, look no further than this infographic from OpenTable. The San Francisco-based company is celebrating the fact that
After an incendiary New York Times article has the Internet buzzing about what sound like unrealistic expectations and harsh conditions at Amazon, its CEO is responding by saying the characterization isn't accurate and
LAS VEGAS - SAP's cloud-based human resources software suite SuccessFactors plans to do away with its oft-complained about Platinum Support plan, replacing it with a different care plan that costs the same but
Users of Vancouver-based HootSuite Inc.'s social media dashboard will now be able to manage Instagram accounts with the cloud software ... but there's a catch. Instagram might be about sharing the moment with your


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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Among the stocks that could see active trade in Friday’s session are Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc., Deckers Outdoor Corp. and Expedia Inc.
The pace of a busy earnings week slows, but there are more than a few companies on deck including a trio of blue chips — Procter & Gamble Co.
Merck & Co.
and Chevron Corp.
— that merit investor scrutiny. Friday’s roster of notables includes Ford Motor Co.
International Paper Co.
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp.
and Flir Systems Inc.
said Philip Pead was terminated as chairman of the electronic health-care records company on Wednesday, but it didn’t specify a reason for the move. His departure ensued as the board “engaged in extensive deliberations” about the company’s leadership, according to Chicago-based Allscripts. Three other directors resigned, and Bill Davis will be leaving as chief financial officer in May. The moves came to light as Allscripts reported first-quarter financial results.
is growing more aggressive in its global expansion plans. As the Seattle-based retailer reported results for the second quarter ended March 1 late Thursday, management said store openings during the fiscal year will total 1,000, up from the 800 previously planned. “With coffee cost pressures easing in the second half of the year and momentum building from investments in our growth initiatives, we are well positioned to deliver on our aggressive targets,” CFO Troy Alstead said in a statement. Starbucks also tweaked higher its full-year forecast to reflect expectations for a profit a range of $1.81 to $1.84 a share, as opposed to $1.78 to $1.82 a share previously.
Along with reporting results for the first quarter, Deckers Outdoor
revised lower its 2012 outlook. The Goleta, Calif.-based retailer, citing in part weaker projections for its international wholesale business, now sees earnings per share dropping about 9% to 10% from 2011, down from a prior forecast that had called for profit to be about flat for the year. In addition, Deckers said it anticipates generating 2012 sales growth of about 14%, down from about 15% previously.
Also late Thursday, Skyworks Solutions Inc.
projected sequential growth in revenue and profit as the Woburn, Mass.-based semiconductor producer reported results for the second quarter ended March 30. The company pointed to better business in high-performance analog applications as well as growth in the high-end wireless market. Accordingly, Skyworks forecast for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 an adjusted profit of 44 cents a share as well as revenue of $383 million. These compare with adjusted earnings of 42 cents a share and revenue of $364.7 million for the second quarter, both of which exceeded management’s expectations.
Tessco Technologies Inc.
warned that it would lose a portion of its business with the Hunt Valley, Md.-based wireless products company’s largest customer. What Tessco called a “low-margin third-party logistics relationship” with the customer, which it didn’t identify by name, would be phased out completely during the third quarter of fiscal 2013. In light of this as well as prospects for ongoing revenue and profit growth in its core customer segments, Tessco said it anticipates showing a profit of $1.80 to $2.15 a share for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013. This would compare to $2.03 a share in profit that the company expects to post for fiscal 2012, final results for which will be reported May 2. Also Thursday, Tessco said its board approved a 20% increase in the company’s quarterly dividend on common stock, to 18 cents a share. It’s payable May 23 to stockholders of record on May 9.
Along with reporting results for the third quarter ended March 31, Fusion-io Inc.
forecast fourth-quarter revenue would be “essentially flat sequentially,” putting the Salt Lake City-based technology company’s projected full-year revenue growth at about 75%. Fusion-io also estimated an adjusted operating margin of 3% to 5% for the current quarter, narrower than the 7.6% seen in the third quarter.
Along with reporting first-quarter results, Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc.
raised its 2012 financial outlook. The Deerfield, Ill.-based company pegged full-year profit, excluding gains and charges, to be in a range of 77 cents to 87 cents a share, which would be up from a comparable profit of 60 cents a share for 2011. The updated projection is based on management’s forecast that growth in net sales will be generated at a “high-single-digit” percentage rate.
The board of Seagate Technology PLC
approved an additional stock-buyback authorization of $2.5 billion, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company said. This brings Seagate’s total authorization for repurchases to about $3.5 billion. The manufacturer of hard disk drives said it would fund repurchases through a combination of cash on hand and future cash flow from operations as well as “potential alternative sources.”
Thursday earnings recap
reported a first-quarter net loss of $3.3 million, or 2 cents a share, a reversal from the profit of $52 million, or 37 cents a share, that the Bellevue, Wash.-based online travel company earned in the same period last year. Quarterly revenue reached $816.5 million from the prior year’s $727.8 million. On an adjusted basis, earnings for the latest quarter would have been $36.9 million, or 26 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had forecast Expedia would earn 15 cents a share on revenue of $792.3 million, on average.
reported first-quarter earnings of $130 million, or 28 cents a share, down from $201 million, or 44 cents, earned in the year-earlier period, as the Seattle-based company issued a typically conservative quarterly forecast late Thursday. Revenue for the latest quarter reached $13.18 billion. As derived by FactSet, the consensus forecast of analysts had been for Amazon to generate a quarterly profit of 6 cents a share and revenue of $12.9 billion. Read more on Amazon.


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Europe best selling cars ranking updated at the end of the first half 2017 with the market leader losing over 10% but keeping a wide advantage on the followers, with two models fighting for the second place.
Thailand vehicles market ended the first half with a double-digit recovery, in line with observers expectations despite concerns about strong bath. After a fast start, Toyota reported deep lost both in May and June. Ford is shining thanks to new Ranger performance.
Thailand best selling cars ranking in the 2017 is dominated by the last generation of the locally made Isuzu D-Max, able to create a wide gap over the former leader, the Toyota Hilux. Third place taken by the other pick-up, the Ford Ranger.
Thailand best selling cars 2016 ranking was dominated by two models, fighting all the year for the final leadership and separated by few units. The leader was again the Toyota Hilux and the rival the Isuzu D-Max.


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NEW DELHI: Luxury cars are set to get dramatically cheaper. Not just the ones from Europe, but also from Japan and South Korea. Over the next few years the government is expected to slash customs duty on vehicles shipped from EU countries, which includes Germany, as well as Japan and South Korea, countries with whom India has free trade agreements (FTAs).
European car makers will get a head start as the government, beginning 2017, has offered to lower the customs duty to 30% on cars under the proposed trade & investment agreement with the EU. Japanese and Korean car makers are also expected to get the same benefit with a lag of a year or two, although a final decision on the issue is still awaited, sources in the government said.
Currently, cars with a landed cost of over $40,000 (around Rs 22 lakh) face 100% customs levy, and those below that pay 60% import duty. In case of EU, there is also a move to allow the import of at least 2.5 lakh cars at 10% duty between 2017 and 2021. (So the Mini Cooper's price could be halved.) Anything above the quota will come at 30% levy.
Customs duty reduction to 30% will mean that the total duty incidence, including local levies, would fall to around 80% from 174% currently, which includes countervailing duty, special additional duty and cesses and surcharges. So, for a car with a landed price of around Rs 25 lakh, which currently costs Rs 69 lakh will then come for Rs 45 lakh — a reduction of almost 35%, provided local levies stay at current levels.
Although the duty concessions would be available to all cars, industry players expect imports to be limited largely to the luxury segment, where lower volumes do not justify local manufacturing. Which is why global giants import luxury cars as completely-built units (CBUs).
Despite a common duty structure, Korean and Japanese carmakers may not gain as much as the Europeans as they are more in the mid-market segment than in the top-end, said industry players. Already, companies such as Honda
, which was importing the CR-V as a CBU from Japan, have now started assembling it locally. Lamborghini
India head Pavan Shetty said the duty reduction will give a big boost to demand for luxury cars. "It will surely expand the market, by at least double. By 2017, the per capita income as well as the domestic economy
will expand from the current levels, and the infrastructure will also be better. The timing of the duty reduction will thus be perfect to give a fillip to sales," he said.
While the government was initially unwilling to accept the demand, there is now a growing view that other countries and trading blocs with which India has a FTA should be given a level-playing field.
Earlier, top commerce department officials had said that EU or others who sign trade agreements later would gain more. But that argument seems to have been junked. "Japan is the largest investor in the Indian automobile sector. It will be difficult for us to deny them the benefit," said a source, who did not wish to be identified.
After all, trade agreements are subjected to periodic reviews and South Korea and Japan have already written to the government seeking that the auto duty structure under the comprehensive trade agreements be brought at par with EU. Domestic carmakers
, however, fear that the move to ease import duty will impact local manufacturing. But government officials said that the auto industry cannot be given an indefinite protection by maintaining high tariff walls.


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Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has called for a greater collaboration between African countries to advance tourism on the continent, and ensure a better market for African products to the rest of the world. She made the call during the Africa Travel Indaba 2022 while delivering her keynote address. The indaba has returned after a two-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic and ended on Wednesday.
Over 539 buyers from across the globe descended on Durban. They were exposed to hundreds of tourism businesses and products from across Africa, including many from small businesses, which also had the opportunity to showcase their products to a wider international audience. Sisulu said that the indaba was a springboard that could boost the continent’s tourism sector’s recovery from the pandemic.
“We are here because we have a collective responsibility to achieve even greater levels of recovery,” she said.“The tourism sector has been among the hardest hit, yet (it) has led to economic recovery and brought us together again. “We are here because we have a collective responsibility to reignite the African continent’s tourism growth and economy. As a sector, we are here to cement our partnerships and collaborations, (and) it can only be to our benefit that we are a sector committed to sharing ideas and knowledge, in a bid to ensure that we advance our tourism sector recovery plan,” the minister said.
The Sustainability Village, which creates market access for SMMEs, was also present at the indaba. It gives SMMEs a platform to showcase their products. South African Tourism acting CEO Themba Khumalo said that the platform was a glimpse into the unique goods that were produced by the country’s small business sector. Entrepreneur Gugu Bhengu, who is the founder of Gugu Mobile, was one of the small business owners who displayed her products at the conference.
Her company manufactures products such as lampshades, placemats and shoes. Speaking at the event, she said that she was proud of the training that her company had provided to six entrepreneurs from various communities. “We teach them how to produce marketable products and make sure they can earn a living for themselves and their families,” she said. Sisulu said she was confident that many mutually-beneficial business deals be agreed upon following the indaba.


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InnoPhase, a fabless semiconductor company specializing in extreme low power wireless IoT solutions, announces the availability of a qualified Amazon Web Services (AWS) Internet of Things (IoT) Core solution for ultra-low power Wi-Fi cloud connectivity. In addition, it unveils a demonstration Smart Home Skill for Amazon Alexa targeted at home automation product designs. The solutions utilize the award-winning Talaria TWO™ multiprotocol wireless modules, offering the industry’s lowest power Wi-Fi solution and BLE5 for provisioning and diagnostics. The platform combines wireless connectivity, an integrated microcontroller, and advanced security elements for edge-of-network IoT devices that require low power consumption and a direct-to-cloud connection such as smart locks, doorbells, security sensors, leak detection sensors, and others.
The pre-packaged Talaria TWO kits are tuned and optimized and include hardware, complete software packages, and reference design files making it simple for manufacturers to add AWS services and Alexa Skills to their products. For instance, InnoPhase’s newest Sensor-to-Cloud solution includes everything needed for expedited development of a cloud-connected sensor, such as Device Provisioning over BLE, pre-integrated AWS connectivity, and flexible settings to extend battery life. Future solutions will address a wide range of products for smart home, smart industrial, smart commercial, and smart health applications.
“Cloud-connectivity has become an integral part of all IoT edge devices and our Talaria TWO solutions make connecting to AWS quick and easy,” said Greg Winner, Vice President and General Manager, IoT Business Unit, InnoPhase. “Plus, the exceptionally low power Wi-Fi allows these edge devices to be untethered from power outlets and network cables ushering in the development of a whole new category of innovative products and services.”
Wireless data transfer has historically been a major power-consuming portion of connected IoT designs. InnoPhase’s unique, programmable, digital polar radio architecture, significantly reduces the current consumption of Wi-Fi radios making battery-based IoT products last more than two years.
The Talaria TWO modules and associated development kits are available through our network of worldwide distribution partners.


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Laptops with desktop CPUs, plus a Steam-friendly living room PC from this boutique gaming company.
Pricing not available
Normally $349, this budget system goes from laptop to tablet and back again with an easy magnetic connector.
At Microsoft's Windows 10 launch event, the company carries over its Cortana digital assistant from the phone to tablets and PCs.
At a Microsoft press event in Redmond, Wash., Microsoft's Joe Belfiore shows apps like Office, PowerPoint, Music and Maps running across multiple screens.
The world's biggest chipmaker ended 2014 on solid footing thanks in part to its reinvigorated PC business. However, Intel's mobile division remains a huge drag.
Streaming videos and games to your TV, the Forge TV also plays games from your PC and works with a controller or a lap-desk keyboard and mouse. We give it a go in Vegas.
The chipmaker takes the wraps off its fifth-generation Core processors for desktops and high-performance laptops.
Add an access point or extra hard drive with these new mix-and-match add-on boxes.
Far Cry 4 borrows a lot from the last game, but it adds enough excitement, fresh ideas and a brilliant new landscape to warrant the return trip.
While it will likely suffice for Assassin's Creed core fans, Unity stumbles throughout and never really finds its footing. Where last year's Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag saw the franchise reach new heights, Unity is somewhat of a sidestep that only shines sporadically.


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The federal government has approved e-commerce policy and finalized its plan to inaugurate the first-ever virtual e-commerce university.
Senator Aon Abbas, the Special Assistant to Prime Minister on e-Commerce while addressing a seminar on Wednesday said, “Prime Minister Imran Khan, under his vision of promoting the digital economy, will inaugurate an e-commerce web portal in February.”
The seminar was arranged by the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP).
The session was attended by the former and existing officials of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, senior government officials, traders, exporters, importers, presidents of different markets.
The Senator told the meeting that the federal cabinet had given the approval of the first-ever e-commerce policy framework. He said that e-commerce would help increase exports and strengthen the digital economy and become the big source of employment in the country. The SAPM added that one of its kind e-commerce virtual universities will also be established in Pakistan which will start working in July, this year.
Read more: Pakistan to soon have its first e-commerce university
He said that as per rough estimate, the value of the domestic e-commerce industry has gone up to $4 billion and cross-border this kind of trade came to Rs 60 billion during the last year. The senator told the session that about 1.1 to 1.2 million freelancers are working in the country, adding around $1.5 billion to the national economy. He said that the government would focus on improving postal services, value-chain, track and trace, and banking systems.
He added, “Prime Minister Imran Khan envisions a system which ensures smooth transportation of shipment and products when an e-Commerce entrepreneur or a consumer is sitting at home.”
The government is taking strong measures to remove hurdles and problems in the way of the smooth functioning of e-commerce and internet businesses.


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The clock is ticking and the days are counting down to NVIDIA's highly anticipated GeForce 11 series of graphics cards based on the Turing architecture and expected to debut later in the summer. AMD however is not standing still and is preparing its own sets of weapons for the new GPU war. In fact, it already has working 7nm Vega GPUs running its labs right now.
The red team's next generation Vega 20 GPU built on TSMC's cutting edge 7nm process technology is set to begin sampling later this year and we've already gotten a taste of what it can do thanks to a 3DMark benchmark leak just a couple of days ago. The new GPU has been leaked in the latest LLVM and clang compiler patches alongside a brand new GPU we've never heard of before, called Vega 12.
AI Instructions Confirmed for AMD's 7nm Vega 20
The patch has revealed that unlike its predecessors, Vega 20 will feature support for intrinsic AI and deep learning instructions. We reported on Vega 20 in as early as January of 2017. We had viability into AMD's plans to introduce a high performance Vega chip based on the 7nm process for quite a while. Confirmation of such a project, however, did not come until exactly a year later at this year's CES.
Vega 20 (GFX906)
fdot2, sdot2, udot2.
AMD's Vega 20 GPU Specs & the Mysterious Vega 12
According to all the information available to date, Vega 20 builds on Vega 10 in several key aspects. Vega 20 is designed to deliver 8 times the double precision compute performance. It also features double the memory interface width and it features support for up to 4 HBM2 stacks.
This allows it to be equipped with up to 32GB of HBM2 vRAM, and have access to a whopping 1TB/s of bandwidth. In fact, the leaked Vega 20 GPU that we spotted last week on 3DMark's benchmarking database confirms a 32GB memory capacity and more than a terabyte per second of memory bandwidth.
Unlike Vega 20, very little is known about Vega 12 (GFX904) other than the fact that it exists. Some speculate that it's replacing Polaris at the entry level, but that's pure conjecture at this point.
AMD Polaris 10, Vega 10 and Vega 20 GPUs
|GPU||Polaris 10||Vega 10||Vega 20|
|Graphics Card||RX 480, 470||Vega FE, 64, 56||TBA|
|Transistors In Billions||5.7||12||TBA|
|Stream Processors||up to 2304||Up to 4096||TBA
|Performance||5.8 TFLOPS||Up to 13 TFLOPS||20 TFLOPS
|TDP||150W||Up to 290W||TBA|
|Memory||8GB GDDR5||Up to 16GB HBM2||Up to 32GB HBM2|
|950 MHz||1250 MHz
|Bandwidth||256 GB/s||484 GB/s||1.28 Terabyte/s


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Counterfeiting, e-commerce, Chinese consumers importance, even if it is generally relatively spared by recessions, the luxury market must adapt to a profoundly changing economy if it does not want to lose its exceptional status.
2018 proved to be a relatively challenging year for China. Growth slowed to 6.6% and is expected to decline further in 2019 (6.2%, according to Coface forecasts). As a result, 59% of the 1500 Chinese companies that participated in Coface’s survey believe the economy will not improve in 2019, the worst since 2003...
Stagflation becoming a reality, exports are a key-source of revenues for economy, especially in the automotive sector. Exporters are flexible; government support is vital for exporters to gain new market shares.
After two years of improvement, insolvencies are on the rise and this trend should continue in 2019 (forecast of +0.8%). This uptrend mainly affects micro-enterprises with revenues of less than EUR 500,000.


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More than a year after Americans were told that inflation would be "transitory," several prominent economists now warn that persistently rising prices could be here to stay for a while.
"The history of developed countries since 1970 is very discouraging about the prospects of bringing down 8 percent inflation," tweeted Larry Summers, the Barack Obama advisor who was one of several economists to correctly warn that the American Rescue Plan's spending surge would trigger inflation. If anything, Summers wrote, the current belief that interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve will curtail rising prices while slowing the economy might be overly optimistic.
Summers outlined his argument in more detail in an op-ed published Monday by The Washington Post. While the Fed has raised interest rates several times in recent months, Summers says it is "simply not plausible" to think that rates have risen high enough to bring inflation back down to the central bank's target rate of 2 percent.
The argument against more aggressive action is that sharply rising interest rates could trigger a bad recession, but Summers thinks that worry misses the point. Unless inflation is controlled—even at the expense of a bad recession, as was required in the early 1980s to stop the inflationary spiral of the late 1970s—"workers will not see meaningful increases in their purchasing power."
As usual, the root cause of the inflation crisis is an overly loose monetary policy. When there are more dollars chasing the same number of goods, prices will rise.
And there is a lot of excess money in the system right now, as the Harvard economist (and another former Obama advisor) Jason Furman pointed out on Twitter last week. Furman noted that pandemic-era stimulus efforts resulted in bulging household savings rates and that much of those savings have yet to be spent.
Households saved about $2.2T during the initial pandemic and pandemic stimulus. Have spent out $0.7T of that maintaining consumption in the face of flat/declining real incomes. Still leaves about $1.5T--which could easily last a year. pic.twitter.com/zbBarTrgd5
— Jason Furman (@jasonfurman) October 28, 2022
Furman believes the economy is headed for a period of "stagflation," which he describes as an "ongoing hard landing" in which unemployment rises and inflation falls, but not to the Fed's desired levels.
Inflation ramped up during the spring and summer of 2021, as America exited the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, officials at the Federal Reserve and within the Biden administration claimed the rising prices were a "transitory" phenomenon caused by the pandemic and various supply chain problems. That was "probably the worst inflation call in the history of the Federal Reserve," according to Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor for Allianz, a German-based firm that is one of the world's largest insurance companies.
Months later, as prices continued to rise, the Biden administration switched gears to blame Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. While it's true that the war in Ukraine has helped nudge fuel and food prices higher, the true driver of inflation is monetary policy rather than short-term shocks to supply chains. If the money supply had been kept in check, consumers would have offset higher gas prices, for example, by cutting back on purchases elsewhere and inflation would have been contained.
It wasn't. And whether it can be contained now remains an open question.
A Deutsche Bank report published last week looked at periods where developed economies saw inflation above 8 percent—as is happening now in the United States and Europe. Historically, it takes around two years for inflation to fall below 6 percent "before settling at about that level for five years after the initial spike," the Financial Post notes.
Citing a report from Oxford Economics, a forecasting firm, the Financial Post warns that "painfully tight monetary policy might be required for central banks to bring inflation all the way back to target. Public support for such a policy appears limited."
That brings us back around to the dilemma highlighted by Summers. The sure way to bring inflation down quickly is to experience a bad recession, which of course comes with its own plentiful downsides.
"The idea that the economy has overheated, and thus monetary policy needs to be restrictive, is at last widely accepted even by acolytes of 'team transitory,'" Summers wrote Monday in the Post, casting some shade at those who misled Americans about inflation a year ago.
Don't expect things to look a lot better a year from now.
Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.


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San Francisco-based PR measurement software AirPR announced that it has raised $4 million in its Series A funding round.
The funding was led by Mohr Davidow Ventures, with participation from Crosslink Capital, Correlation Ventures, and a handful of strategic angel investors. AirPR says it will use the funding to continue to hire software engineers as well as key sales and marketing positions.
AirPR launched its “Analyst” platform in October last year. The software tracks all the times a brand gets mentioned across various digital media channels, including news articles, blogs, forums and social media. The added value for the platform is its purported ability to tie media mentions to a dollar figure, which it does by tracking user activity from media to purchase, as well as linking spikes in media mentions to sales.
The platform stirred a fair bit of controversy with its claim of putting a dollar value on PR activity, which of course isn’t something a lot of PR folks are in favor of doing. While the platform is really good at tracking all the buzz surrounding a brand and measuring the efforts of a big PR push, it isn’t as solid when it comes to assigning dollar amounts to things like crisis management or event marketing. Although it has been marketed to the CMO as a way to quantify the efforts of the communications team, it’s actually more suited to PR practitioners themselves, enabling them to monitor a brand’s reputation across different forms of media and analyze the messaging that resonates the most with reporters.
Motion sensing technology firm LeapMotion and the New York Stock Exchange are among AirPR’s early customers. Check out our evaluation of the Analyst platform here.
In addition to Analyst, AirPR is also behind the Marketplace platform, which serves as a matchmaking service for tech companies looking for small PR firms and independents to represent them.


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News hotlines: 08111813019, 08025868561
Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) and the investment opportunities in ICT that the far-reaching initiative looks set to usher in will be explored in a detailed report by Oxford Business Group (OBG), produced in partnership with the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).
Titled “Nigeria Digital Transformation: COVID-19 Response Report”, the study will provide in-depth analysis of the industry’s development during the pandemic and prospects for future growth in an easy-to-navigate and accessible format, focusing on key data and infographics.
The report will look in detail at several topical issues related to Nigeria’s ICT sector, ranging from internet penetration rates, digitalisation and fintech’s potential to cybersecurity and the emergence of industry 4.0 technologies.
It will consider how the country can build on the increase in online activity witnessed earlier in the pandemic and make ICT a key driver of non-oil growth as part of a broader bid to diversify the economy. Here, the report will examine the challenges that the industry faces, which include a need to boost capacity to facilitate affordable connectivity in the hinterlands and landlocked areas, address network congestion and reduce cybercrime.
Commenting at the partnership signing, Olusola Teniola, ATCON former President and Nigeria National Coordinator for the Alliance for Affordable Internet, said the day when affordable internet services would be accessible nationwide was drawing closer.
“The target of 2% of monthly GNI for 1GB of data is within reach,” he said. “The Nigeria National Broadband Plan for 2020-2025 is now in place and the Broadband Implementation Steering Committee is looking at ways of providing low-income populations with solutions.”
Karine Loehman, OBG’s Managing Director for Africa, added that with a concrete digital strategy in place, Nigeria was now well positioned to boost inflows for ICT expansion.
“The pandemic has acted as a catalyst for digital development across many markets, including Nigeria,” she said. “With Lagos already making a name for itself as a destination for tech investment and efforts to expand the non-oil sector of the economy gaining pace, the future for Nigeria’s ICT industry looks promising.”
“Nigeria Digital Transformation: COVID-19 Response Report” will form part of a series of tailored reports which OBG is currently producing with its partners, alongside other highly relevant, go-to research tools, including a range of country-specific Covid-19 Economic Impact Assessment articles and interviews.