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Gaming appears to be most popular app genre for Apple's iPad, according to a recent survey by Nielsen.
While findings revealed that 32 per cent of iPad owners rather surprisingly claimed they were yet to download any Apps, 62 per cent of those who had revealed they're tried games.
In total, 38 per cent of the iPad owners surveyed online had downloaded games, making it the top paid App category.
However, only 400 iPad owners were questioned in total, as part of an online survey covering 5000 owners of tablet devices - also including Kindles and smartphones.
Game companies are fast taking advantage of the iPad's seven million worldwide sales to date, with yesterday seeing Zynga release a new version of Facebook titan Farmville for the iPad.
Like the earlier iPhone version, the title is free to play, microtransaction-funded and runs in a client independent of Facebook (though nonetheless requires an account).
"The iPad is a spectacular gaming device, and the new FarmVille app leverages its larger touch screen interface and enhanced graphics," said Zynga's president of studios Steven Chiang. "FarmVille on the iPhone was an instant hit and now we are giving people another Apple device to play on."
Meanwhile, Rovio studios have immediately leapt to the top of both the iPhone and iPad App Store charts with a new Hallowe'en-themed version of the ubiquitous Angry Birds.
Nielsen's iPad user survey also found that the audience was 65 per cent and 63 per cent under 35 years of age. 39 percent of those surveyed earned more than $80,000 per year.


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LVMH sells to Vodafone for £3bn
LVMHA (NYSE:LVMH) has agreed to sell its cosmetics business to Voda, a major global cosmetics and personal care retailer.LVMHA’s deal includes the purchase of Vodacom’s consumer brands, including Lancome, Vodak and Burt’s Bees, for £1.7bn.
Vodavacom will retain its brands including Vodapro, Voda and Vemix.
The deal includes a commitment to develop new products, including a range of premium skin care products, with the goal of delivering “a sustainable future for our brand and our customers”.
The UK’s biggest cosmetics and beauty brand, which has been a key investor in LVMHE, said it hoped the deal would help its businesses grow globally.LVHM Chief Executive Andrew Taylor said: “LVMHE has been an exceptional place to work, and I’m proud of our commitment to our customers, our staff and our staff’s work.
This agreement will help us to better deliver our products, improve our global reach and increase profitability.”
This acquisition will allow us to deliver an exciting new generation of products that will deliver the level of value and care that our customers expect.”LVMHM said the sale will help strengthen its position in the consumer cosmetics market, where it competes with the likes of Estée Lauder, Urban Decay, Dior, L’Oréal, Guerlain and other well-known brands.
The company said it would retain its existing corporate structures, including its retail, wholesale and sales offices, and its international operations.LVC said it valued its brands and business value at approximately £6.2bn, and said it expects to be able to deliver a further £3.3bn of synergies from the transaction.
Voda is the world’s largest consumer goods retailer and a leader in beauty, skincare, hair care, household goods and fashion.
It has more than 200 stores worldwide, with about 40% of its revenue coming from the UK.

domain: news


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Despite this massive setback, recovering sales growth has shifted toward more DIY architectural segment customers and away from public projects involving industrial paints and coatings. As a result, several key industry executives have expressed cautious optimism about 2021, and stronger optimism about a near-normal 2022.
Pre-Covid, the cumulative Latin America market for paint and coatings may have peaked at $10.9 billion, with growth forecast at 4.19% between 2018 and 2023, according to ResearchAndMarkets. South America represented $9.2 billion of that total.
Since 2018, Latin America’s economy expanded a mere 0.1% in 2019, followed by the 7.7% contraction in 2020, according to data from Eclac and the International Monetary Fund.
With cautious optimism, Eclac predicts that Latin America and the Caribbean will demonstrate 3.7% gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year.
Near-Catastrophic Regional COVID-19 Impact
Eclac analysts led by Daniel Titelman, chief of the organization’s Economic Development Division described the impact of COVID-19 on the regional economy in stark terms.
“The region went into the pandemic having already racked up a six-year run of weak growth – 0.3% on average over 2014 to 2019 – and just 0.1% in the last of those years.
With the outbreak of the pandemic, on top of this slack economic growth came negative external shocks and the need to implement lockdown and physical distancing policies and to shut down production activities, which turned the health crisis into the worst economic, social and production crisis the region has experienced in 120 years, with a 7.7% contraction in regional GDP.”
Despite this dire performance, Eclac sees growth afoot this year. “Positive growth is projected for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2021, with a regional average estimated at 3.7%. Generally speaking, however, these rates reflect a significant statistical rebound effect – 3.1 percentage points of that projection – coming after the heavy fall in economic activity in 2020. What is more, that 3.7% growth would mean regaining only 44% of the GDP loss seen in 2020,” the analysts calculated.
As such, many good years will be needed to return real growth to the region, Eclac predicted. “However, if growth returns to the average rate of the past six years, including the rebound in 2021, it would take more than a decade to bring GDP back to its 2019 level.”
Country-by-country results and expectations follow. Mexico, Central America & Caribbean
Mexico is the second-largest economy in Latin America – after Brazil – with a GDP value of nearly $1.1 trillion. Given the proximity to the U.S., however, Mexico is more a part of North America than of Latin America by many measurements, including the flows of trade and capital.
In Mexico, paint and coatings suffered during 2020, but the situation could have been worse. “The coatings industry was impacted less severely than the overall economy in Mexico. Due the lockdowns implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19 over the last year, the paint market was primarily driven by two opposing forces. First, less business activity caused double-digit decreases in the construction industry and maintenance of facilities in the commercial, industrial and service sectors,” explained Henrik Bergstrom, PPG Comex president and VP Architectural Coatings Latin America.
“However, as a result of the quarantine, Mexican households were motivated to complete maintenance and remodeling projects at home, which significantly boosted the paint market in the DIY consumer segment,” Bergstrom says.
“During the first quarter of 2021, the PPG-Comex architectural coatings business grew organic sales by a high-single-digit percentage as consumer demand through the concessionaire network remained strong. We feel optimistic about our performance as we continue to expand our footprint in Mexico, and anticipate reaching 5,000 concessionaire locations by the fourth quarter of this year,” Bergstrom said.
Mexico is predicted to grow its GDP by 3.8% this year, Eclac projected.
In Central America, the combined subregional economies went from growth of 3.2% in the first three quarters of 2019 to a decline of 5.9% in the same period of 2020, Eclac reports. However, the outlook for 2021 is far more robust. Belize, for example, is expected to grow by 7.5% this year, followed by Panama at 5.5%, and Honduras at 45% Eclac predicts.
In Central America and Mexico combined, growth in the first three quarters of 2020 was -9.2%, down 9.6 percentage points during the same period in 2019. This year, Central America and Mexico together are expected to grow by 3.8%, Eclac reckons.
In the Caribbean, a host of island nations are projected to demonstrate growth far beyond the regional norm. Topping the list is Antigua and Barbuda, which is projected to grow GDP by 13.4% this year, according to Eclac. Similarly, Guyana (located on the South American continent, but generally considered to be part of the Caribbean due to the size of its economy), Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Barbados, Grenada, and the Dominican Republic are expected to grow between 5% and 8%, Eclac predicts. Overall, the Caribbean will grow by 4.2% on average.
Brazil is still the largest economy in Latin America with a GDP value of $1.4 trillion, according to Statista. As such it it’s the largest market in the region for paints and coatings, especially for the 70 million households in the country.
In past years, Associação Brasileira dos Fabricantes de Tintas (Abrafati), the Brazilian coatings manufacturers association, has estimated the domestic market for paint and coatings at more than 1.5 billion liters produced in Brazil each year, with an industry sales total close to $8 billion, reflecting an average per capita consumption of about seven liters.
During 2020, Abrafati reported that architectural paint and coatings sales were up 5.1% to 1.4 billion liters. Automotive OEM coatings sales were down 27% to 28 million liters, while automotive refinish coatings sales were flat in 2020 at 67 million liters. Similarly, industrial coatings sales were flat in 2020, at 174 million liters, Abrafati reported.
Over the coming year, reasonable growth is predicted by Abrafati.
“Following its positive performance for 2020, the coatings industry in Brazil expects to see paint sales grow at similar rate to the country’s GDP, which, by current projections, could mean growth of 3.5% or more. Our outlook remains cautiously optimistic, given the uncertainties in the current scenario, but we believe decorative paint sales will continue to increase because the trend towards greater care for the household has consolidated, and home construction has gained steam,” reckoned Luiz Cornacchioni, the executive president of Abrafati.
“As for automotive OEM coatings, which experienced a significant fall in 2020, we expect sales to recover. There are reasonably good prospects for automotive refinish coatings, as used cars are in high demand due to supply chain issues affecting the production of new vehicles,” Cornacchioni said.
“Concerning coatings for industrial applications, we expect positive results in certain segments (particularly those related to the agribusiness, the hospital and health care sector, and the home appliance, furniture, motorcycle, food packaging and certain other industries involved in infrastructure). However, the demand is still down in other segments,” Cornacchioni observes.
“Lastly, it is important to mention that we think ABRAFATI 2021 (the national paint and coatings trade show) being held late this year can give a significant boost to business and innovation, with positive effects in the following year,” Cornacchioni added.
Looking beyond this year, Cornacchioni is still cautiously optimistic.
“There is much risk involved in forecasting longer term in the present situation, with the uncertainties brought about by the pandemic and its impacts. Currently, it is believed the Brazilian GDP will grow at a rate of 2.0 to 2.5 percent for 2022, and the paint and coatings industry could keep pace with or even outpace it,” he said.
“We can say that, for the mid and long terms, prospects remain rather favorable because the Brazilian market is very large and provides countless opportunities. For example, there is some pent-up demand for decorative paints – there are more than 70 million households in Brazil, many of which are not painted even on their (exterior) façades. In addition, the positive effects paints have on the decoration, renovation and protection of wall surfaces and properties that were stressed in the more dire period of the pandemic already have opened and will continue opening up new opportunities to promote these products and their sales,” Cornacchioni said.
“The return of properties launching (new construction and sales) has also contributed to an increase in decorative paint sales, for which there is also a huge potential market arising out of future housing projects aimed at reducing the current housing deficit (about 6 million properties) and the number of precarious dwellings,” Cornacchioni said.
“Additionally, the country will continue needing to invest massively in infrastructure over the next several years to deliver the necessary upgrades and improvement in living conditions, while contributing to job creation. The various concession projects (ports, airports, highways, passenger and cargo railways, oil and gas drilling, etc.) currently in progress, as well as the new Legal Framework for Sanitation, are examples of actions that will boost paint sales in the near future. Accordingly, the industry has a promising future ahead of it,” Cornacchioni concluded.
Eclac predicted that Brazil will demonstrate a GDP growth rate of 3.2% this year.
Colombia is the fourth largest economy in Latin America with a GDP value of $271 billion per year, but is arguably more economically stable than Argentina, which has a GDP value of $388 billion.
In Colombia, too, cautious optimism is the note of the times. “The paint industry in Colombia closed the last quarter of 2020 with positive figures, despite the crisis caused by the global pandemic. For this period, production, compared to the previous year, had an average growth of around 2% and sales 6%,” according to Claudia Vergara, the
General Secretary of Acoplasticos and Acopinturas, the national paint and coatings trade associations.
“The beginning of 2021 was marked by the shortage of raw materials essential for the manufacture of paints, especially resins, solvents, additives and pigments. The shortage caused an increase in prices of more than 100%, which led to the adjustment of the cost structure of companies in this sector and, consequently, to higher prices for paints and coatings,” Vergara said.
“Despite this situation, in the first quarter of 2021, the paints and coatings sector had a positive growth of 9% in production and 15% in sales, compared to the same period of the previous year. This was due, in large part, to the growth of the remodeling segment, which has led to an increase in inventories of wholesalers, hardware stores and warehouses,” Vergara added.
“Also, the subsidies granted by the Government to the construction sector have driven demand in the Colombian economy. In Colombia, renovations represent a significant percentage of the market for paints and coatings. Given the new working conditions at home, consumers have chosen to remodel and improve their spaces, which has boosted demand for the sector,” Vergara pointed out.
“The prospects for the second half of 2021 are still uncertain. It is expected that the economic recovery will continue and the prices of raw materials will stabilize towards the third quarter of the year. However, the current political and social situation in the country may generate a slowdown in demand,” Vergara reckoned.
“Nevertheless, there is still optimism in the recovery, given the positive results for the manufacturing sector in the first quarter of the year.
For 2022, we expect an expansion of internal and external demand, with positive growth of most productive sectors. Growth in the industry’s sustainable product portfolio is also expected, Vergara concluded.
Eclac predicted that Colombia will expand its GDP this year by a robust 5%, similar to the 4.9% expected in Argentina.
Oil Exporters Could Support Renewed Growth
One key to the economic recovery of Latin America will be the revival of oil exports with stronger prices. While the region has been a major oil exporter in the past, Venezuela, which produced close to 750 thousand barrels per day (bpd) in 2019, is in a state of stagnation. Other oil producers include Brazil, which produced 2.8 million bpd in 2019, Mexico at 1.7 million bpd, Colombia at 800,000 bpd, and Ecuador at 500,000 bpd, according to the Americas Quarterly.
Guyana has recently begun oil exports and as a result will become the fastest growing economy in the region, the IMF predicts.
Unfortunately, Brazil consumes more oil and petrochemicals than it produces and Mexico’s net exports are small, the Quarter indicates.
Raising Standards Among Manufacturers
Hopes for growth in the paint and coatings industry in Latin America continue to be pinned to the growing consumption of architectural paints. While in years past premium lines of paint grew faster than more economic offerings, the reverse may now be true. However, the quality of even the most economic lines of paint is now rising.
This is because a key focal point in the Latin America paint and coatings industry is the effort to improve the quality of architectural segment products that are manufactured by domestically-owned companies. Brazil’s Abrafati has been a leader in this effort, which is also supported by the regional association umbrella LatinPin.
By the end of 2020, Abrafati reported that a total of 64,715 performance tests were run on 23,412 paint samples of Brazilian architectural paints. This universe represents 830 brands and other products, and encompassed 7,181 audits.
This quality-focused effort will also be supported by a more detailed review of the paint and coatings industry’s sustainability profile. The World Coatings Council in 2020 initiated work toward the industry’s first global sustainability report, which will be supported by national associations like Abrafati.


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U.S. Service Sector Expands At Record Pace In October
The rate of expansion in the U.S. services sector, where most Americans work, hit a record high in October as demand remained strong even as supply chain problems persisted. The Institute for Supply Management reported November 3 that its monthly survey of service industries jumped to a reading of 66.7. That follows September’s reading of 61.9.
Readings for the categories of business activity, new orders, supplier deliveries and backlog of orders all surpassed previous records. All 18 services industry categories reported growth in October, led again by retail trade.
Any reading above 50 indicates growth in service industries. The services index has shown growth for the past 17 months after two months of contraction in April and May of 2020 when the coronavirus triggered widespread shutdowns and millions of job losses.
To continue reading more articles this month, check out our full O’Neal Steel Market Informer.
You can view each month’s Market Informer, on our blog, The Knowledge Tree.


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Under the Democratic-controlled Congress, big government has found another way to reach into your pocket by placing minimum charges on debit cards.
Legislation has already passed in the Senate and is expected to soon pass in the House that includes a provision giving the Federal Reserve control of debit-card transaction fees rather than letting the free market decide.
While the amendment by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) to the Financial Reform bill is complicated, using terms like “interchange regulation,” what the it means for American consumers is:
• Placing minimum charges on debit cards — not just credit cards — at all stores,
• Processing costs for debit-card transactions will be shifted to the wallet of the card holders.
In other words, inconvenience and higher prices for debit-card consumers.
Seventeen Republicans voted for bigger government in the Senate: Barrasso, Brown, Burr, Chambliss, Collins, Crapo, Ensign, Enzi, Graham, Grassley, Isakson, LeMieux, Lugar, Risch, Snowe, Vitter, and Wicker.
Republicans in the House remain silent on the issue leading many to believe they care little about this newest intrusion of big government.
Experts have cited that retailers like Wal-Mart would be the only ones benefiting from the legislation because they will be looking at lower prices for debit-card use.
Coincidentally, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. gave Durbin’s home state $20 million in charity, focusing on anti-hunger efforts, on the eve of the conference vote. Which members of the House Financial Services Committee will receive kickbacks in their home state next?


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Heritage Grocers Group (HGG) has announced the appointment of DeAnn Brunts as a member of its Board of Directors, effective immediately.
With over 30 years of executive experience in operational, strategic, and financial management, Brunts is a seasoned risk management and governance expert.
Previously, she served as Chief Financial Officer of Benson Hill, Inc., in addition to numerous Chief Financial Officer and Business Unit Leader roles across the retail, food, consumer goods, manufacturing, distribution, and service industries for both public and private companies, the company said in a press release.
“We are thrilled to bring DeAnn onto HGG’s Board of Directors and look forward to all that her expertise and senior knowledge will bring to the company,” said Doug Sanders, Chairman and CEO of Heritage Grocers Group.
Related Article: Heritage Grocers Group Stores to Award $345,000 in Scholarships
“HGG strives to deliver an exceptional shopping experience for all our customers while also focusing on working with the best possible partners to achieve our goals. DeAnn’s extensive experience across various financial leadership positions makes her the perfect fit to join our Board, and we’re very pleased to have her,” added Sanders.
Additionally, Brunts served as a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), where she led various initiatives related to IPOs and M&A. She serves on the Board of Directors for B&G Foods Inc., a position she has held since 2015, Benson Hill (since 2020), and Claire’s Holdings, LLC (since 2021).
Brunts earned an MBA in Finance and Operations Management from The Wharton School and a BSBA in Accounting from the University of Missouri in St. Louis.
“I am very pleased to join the Board of Directors at HGG and am eager to help drive the company forward as it continues to expand and explore new locations and growth strategically,” said Brunts.
“HGG provides a unique and important offer to its customers who want specialized, authentic products reflective of their communities and traditions. I look forward to working with Doug and the team and leveraging my skills and experience to make an immediate, positive impact,” concluded Brunts.


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— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been well-received amongst the WWE locker room. One WWE employee noted that everyone in the company should be pleased he’s appearing at WrestleMania because it means more money for everyone.
— Former WWE Women’s Champion Lita appears from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Frank & Son Collectibles (located on 19649 San Jose Ave. City of Industry, California) on Saturday, April 16.
— WWEShop.com has marked down all Kofi Kingston merchandise by 50 to 75%. Also note, WWE has not released new Kingston merchandise in several months.
The reigning Intercontinental Champion did not appear on this week’s episode of SmackDown.
source: Pro Wrestling Torch


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The Avenue, a 9,000-square-feet new restaurant featuring Italian, French and American food as well as craft beer is expected to open by Memorial Day Weekend on Wilmette Avenue, Chicago Tribune reported.
The Avenue’s co-owner Mitchell Dulin says the average entrée will be in the $10 to $15 range and will feature multiple concepts under one roof, such as a lounge area, a family dining section, an upscale dining room and maybe even a Munich-style beer garden in the parking lot, Chicago Tribune reported.
Just down the road, the Avenue will have some healthy competition when gastropub Nick’s is also expected to open around the same time in the former C.J. Arthur’s location.
Several Wilmette families are investors and co-owners in the new project, which aims to turn the 1168 Wilmette Ave. space into a new, family-friendly tavern and eatery serving “higher-end traditional bar food and other offerings.”
- Gastropub Planned for Former C.J. Arthur's Storefront
- Wilmette Business Opens Cafes at 2 CTA Stations
- Wilmette Designer Kitchens Showcased in Junior League Tour
- Four New Trier Businesses Shut Their Doors
- What Should Replace Wah Mei Chop Suey?


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Today we sit down with Tian Cheng, a senior partner at Shunwei Capital covering TMT and consumer related industries. Previously he held senior positions at Goldman and Temasek, and he has participated in many investments including: Alibaba, Xiaomi, VANCL, Youku-Tudou, Tuniu, Shanda Literature, Mogujie, Momo, Didi, Rong360, Jiuxian, etc.
We examine bike-sharing in more detail, and in particular Shunwei's investment in Ofo (小黄车）. Tian Ge will cover topics including: how is Chinese bike-sharing different from that in the US, e.g. Citi-Bike in NYC? What are the underlying factors required that enable bike-sharing at scale, and is this unique to China or could it be replicated in other markets?
Separately, we'll also examine other examples of domestic innovation, and how China is exporting new concepts and business models abroad. Did you know that Musical.ly was created by a Chinese founder? We didn't either…
Bike-sharing: Differences Between China and the U.S.
A lot of folks overseas are familiar with the concept of bike-sharing. For example, in New York, Citi Bike is very popular and enjoyed by both tourists and residents. But the thing is, Citi Bike has not raised a tremendous funding and is not considered as a unicorn. And in general, the U.S. comparables are not nearly as hyped as bike-sharing companies in China, such as Ofo and Mobike.
So, can you tell us more about the difference between these Chinese bike-sharing companies and their U.S. counterparts? I mean, the obvious difference that comes to my mind is that, for NYC Citi Bike, there are docks involved, while in China you can leave your bike literally anywhere.
Tian: Right. As you said, these Chinese bike-sharing companies do not have docks, so you can leave the bikes in any public area in the city. To enable the service, a lot of innovations are involved. First, you need to leverage mobile internet technologies. Users can use the apps to get access to the bikes by registering their identity. Second, bikes usually have a smart lock, which comes with a GPS system so that users can search and find bikes through the applications.
Also, for this business model to proliferate, another critical infrastructure is mobile payment. For the last few years, tech giants Tencent and Alibaba have been spending tons of money to cultivate users’ habit of using online payment. Almost every internet user in the city areas in China has become an online/mobile payment user. Users can easily pay for using the bikes via an app.
So, as I said, the bikes need to be smart, meaning they have a GPS system. And users need to be “smart,” meaning you need to have a smart phone with an app for using the bikes. Also, the infrastructure needs to be smart, which means that you need an online/mobile payment infrastructure. Putting together all these factors, you can make things happen. That’s why bike-sharing is unique in China.
Adam: Right. There certainly seems to be a number of complex factors that are required for this to take off. I’ll also add that in addition to leveraging mobile, the GPS component and using mobile payment, which is much more prevalent in China, there is a real user need in China.
China is a biking nation. Bike-sharing is a very affordable and efficient way to get around in the city. If we look at other alternatives, for example, car sharing like Didi, rides used to be cheap. But as Didi consolidated the market after winning the battle against Uber, the prices now are quite comparable with that of taxis. So, this bike-sharing, which is a lot cheaper and allows riders to get to the subway faster, is a very good substitute for most Chinese.
Then for me, the question becomes: is this a business model that is specific to the Chinese market, or is this something we can replicate in the overseas market? Ofo, for example, is looking at not just China, but also Singapore, the U.S., and the UK. So, what is your view on this move, and do you think Ofo and similar companies will be able to succeed globally?
Going Overseas: Ofo, Xiaomi and More
Tian: I think all those companies are trying to enter the overseas market. Ofo, Mobike and other leading bike-sharing companies are also taking in local teams who are trying to copy this successful Chinese model overseas. But whether they can be successful in those markets, we still need to wait and see. Given the fact that, as I said, you need to have the infrastructure and the user habits of using mobile payment. Also, regarding managing and operating the bike fleet, you need a lot of operational expertise and support or cooperation from the local government. These factors may exist in some markets, but not in others.
Finally, you need to test whether there is such need in those overseas markets. For example, in Singapore, the user need is not as high. The public transportation in terms of subway and buses is already convenient and sophisticated. So, bike-sharing in Singapore may not gain enough traction as compared to China.
Adam: Ok, got it. Thanks Tian Ge. Also, you mentioned earlier that there are increasingly more Chinese companies going overseas. That’s very interesting , because back in the day, it was very difficult for US tech companies to enter China and become a dominant player.
These days, some Chinese companies are doing very well domestically and trying to replicate their business models, leverage their technology and resources to go overseas. So, could you talk a little more about that, what are some good examples, what is the trend there, what are you guys seeing?
Tian: I think there is a clear trend in the TMT sector in China. A lot of startups have started to target their expansion in the overseas markets, which is quite new in the last five years. And we are seeing initial successes in some leading companies.
One of those success stories is Xiaomi. Xiaomi has become a miracle in the TMT startup space. They reached a revenue of $10 billion per year after only five years of operation. They are one of the most valuable companies in TMT sector globally.
In the first 5-6 years of Xiaomi, they were focusing their business in China. After gaining enough traction domestically, they started to test their business model in the overseas markets, e.g., India, Russia, countries in Southeast Asia, and the U.S. as well.
In India, we’re very encouraged to see that after two years of operation, they are a top 3 smart phone company in term of shipment. And we’re confident in seeing them become a dominant player in the market. Behind the success in India is that they leveraged their experience in the China market and copied that to India. For example, in India, they also started to distribute their products through the online channel, e.g. Flipkart and Amazon. Later, they started to build their own network of offline stores. All these experiences and strategies, which have been successful in China, were also proven to be successful in India.
So, Xiaomi is one example. In other areas, we also see a lot of companies that started to see initial success. In the mobile application sector, we are seeing Chinese teams successfully tailoring their applications based on the needs in the overseas markets like Middle East, Southeast Asia and India. The reason behind that is, over the last decade, we have seen many domestic successes in mobile application verticals, like entertainment, news reading, social networking, online gaming, live streaming, etc. So, there is a lot of operational know-how and product know-how shared in the industry. When entering those similar markets in Southeast Asia and India, the know-how gained in China became very valuable, especially when they were trying to develop products and operating businesses locally.
The infrastructure in the TMT sector in China has become very advanced. Companies can leverage a lot of cloud services and outsourcing services provided by other companies. There is already an ecosystem established in China, so these companies know how to promote the products, how to spend their marketing dollars wisely by leveraging that infrastructure.
If you look at Google Play and the Apple Store in India and other SEA markets. Among the top 10 applications in those verticals, for example, social networking, live streaming, you will see 5-6 applications are developed by Chinese teams, which is phenomenal. And looking forward, I think this trend will continue. Given the fact that mobile internet has the potential to nurture business models that have no country barriers, we’re confident to see that there will be many leading mobile internet companies come from China in the next 5-10 years.
From Copy-to-China, to Copy-from-China
Adam: That's an interesting point. I do want to push a little bit. I think some of the markets you mentioned, like India, Southeast Asia etc, seem to be less developed. While China is relatively more developed, they had resources, engineers and know-how to bring their technologies over to these new markets. But when it comes to Chinese companies entering more developed markets, including the U.S., the U.K., etc., is that possible? Is that still an opportunity for the Chinese?
Tian: If you asked me this question 10 years ago, the answer is definitely no. As a VC, when we were investing in the China market three years ago, we were seeing a lot of so called the copycats of successful U.S. business models in the market. We call it the Copy-to-China strategy. At that time, there were no Chinese companies that had either the ability or ambition to enter those developed markets overseas.
But things have been changing gradually over the last few years. There are more and more success stories, or those so-called unicorns coming out. Some of them are becoming globally competitive. And second, we have started to cultivate some business models that are unique in the world. So, we are seeing the transition from Copy-to-China strategy to Copy-from-China strategy. Bike-sharing, which has been introduced to Silicon Valley, is one of those Chinese unique business models that has been copied to the U.S. Also, a lot of business models have been copied to the European countries.
Three years ago, obviously China was behind the U.S. market, in terms of the mobile internet development. But the gap has been narrowed quickly. Now for some vertical sectors, we’re leading the global market. There is an article in The Economist two or three months ago, that suggested fintech in China is leading global innovation in the internet and finance sectors.
Also for the last 2-3 years, we have seen some of the Chinese companies starting to test the U.S. market and gaining successes, such as musical.ly, which is a mobile app for video creation and sharing, and Cheetah Mobile, who has developed applications that are very popular in the U.S. I think the trend will continue and internet users in the U.S. will see more and more products that come from Chinese companies.
Adam: Sounds like there is a good momentum going on here, with increasingly more Chinese companies becoming competitive on the global scale. And not just competitive, I’d like to add, but also more innovative.
Next time we will talk more unique examples of Chinese innovation. For example, from the business model perspective, the Xiaomi ecosystem is fascinating, whereby, Xiaomi, a smart phone producer, is also investing in a lot of hardware product providers, and then selling those products via its own ecommerce store, and is doing very well. It’s something that we talk about consistently on The Harbinger.
Live video is another area of interest. In China, it is very lucrative because fans are able to tip the content creators directly by sending digital gifts that can be cashed out, given that Wechat Pay and Alipay are so pervasive and can be integrated into the live streaming apps. While it's a different story in the U.S. A lot of live video apps are ads-supported, which is a hard business to do well and can compromise user experience.
And business model aside, even when it comes to the frontier tech, China is making good strives in artificial intelligence. When you look at the top tech companies in the world, like Google, Baidu and Microsoft, the top research scientists and executives are all Chinese who are making significant contributions to the field. And increasingly, there are these AI scientists and machine learning experts here in China developing really cool technologies and trying to actually productize AI and make it useful, as opposed to just the headline term.
Until next time.


text: The success of the ArmA II mod Dayz definitely continues to grow. Launched four months ago, Dayz totaled fewer than one million players according to the development team, which also states that over 2.1 billion zombies were killed while other players killed nearly 4 million people. So many death huh?The developers of Dayz, Bohemia Interactive Studio is also heading to Gamescom next week, where terminals dedicated to Dayz will be available to the exhibition visitors.Funny enough, a recent press release points that the game will now become a stand-alone title, by the end of the year. Creator of the mod, Dean Hall is now officially project lead developer, will design this version of course with independent Bohemia Interactive Studio to ensure smooth operations."I realize people will have many, many questions - but we wanted to let everyone know the announcement now" stated Hall, "Over the coming weeks, these questions will be answered. The game will have it's own site, www.dayzgame.com and the mod will continue at it's present link." Sounds like a great plan right? The mod might get a lot success as they are following the same strategy of another indie hit: Minecraft.


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Transient? Persistent? The modest increase of only 0.1% over one month in consumer prices in August in the United States, excluding energy and foodstuffs, may suggest that the recent surge in inflation is not definitive. Including energy and food prices, inflation stood at 0.3% month-on-month, against an increase of 0.4% expected by the Bloomberg consensus. ” Inflation linked to the reopening [de l’économie] had almost peaked as prices rebounded to pre-pandemic levels or above, but the spread of the Delta variant, which appears to be dragging down demand for services, put further downward pressure on these prices, comments Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics. We expect further declines over the next few months, as inflationary pressure eases, and maybe even reverses a bit. But if you look under the hood, you can see that cyclical inflationary pressures continue to build. It’s the latter that should really worry the Fed, as it means core inflation will stay above target for the foreseeable future.. The US central bank (Fed) is due to meet on September 21 and 22. Any ad on a tapering, or reduction of the asset purchase program, will be closely watched, of course.
New health restrictions in China
This inflation figure enabled the 40 to temporarily reduce its losses. After a session high of 6,677.07 points, the Parisian barometer fell again, in the wake of Wall Street, and ended down 0.36%, to 6,652.97 points, in a volume of transactions of almost 3 billion euros. In the United States, as in France, the market is weighed down by the decline in banking stocks and the luxury sector. In Paris, Dry divested 2.76%, LVMH 1.55% and Hermes 0.74%, while in London Burberry dropped 1.76% and that the Swiss Richemont lost 3.54% in Zurich. The doubling of the number of cases of Covid-19 contamination in the Chinese province of Fujan, where travel restrictions have been imposed, raises fears of a slowdown in the economic recovery in China and therefore weighs on the luxury sector . ” Chinese growth fears are still a good explanation for the decline in luxury goods », Underlines Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG. To make matters worse, AlphaValue downgraded its opinion on LVMH and on Dry, passing from “accumulate” to “lighten”.
Kretinsky crosses the threshold of 5% of TF1’s capital
Also in the red, the title of the steelmaker ArcelorMittal ended down 1.34%. Iron ore prices are at their lowest level of the year, while the decline in production decided in China weighs on demand.
A l’inverse, Technip Energies won 3.84%. JPMorgan has made the petroleum, LNG and petrochemicals engineering group its favorite European stock in the European petroleum services sector. He maintains his board to “overweight”, while raising its target price from 16.20 to 17.60 euros.
At last, TF1 gained 1.18%. Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky has crossed the threshold of 5% of the capital of the television group, according to a notice published on Tuesday by the Financial Markets Authority. According to The echoes, the entrepreneur could further increase his participation.
Across the Atlantic, all eyes are on Apple. The Cupertino giant holds its traditional keynote. Entitled “California streaming”, it will be the opportunity for the group to unveil its new range of iPhone, with better cameras and greater storage capacity. It will also showcase its AirPods 3 and Apple Watch Series 7.


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Amazon has announced job cuts affecting hundreds of staff at its cloud computing business, as the company shifts its strategy to focus on physical stores like Amazon Fresh. The self-checkout system called Just Walk Out will be removed from all stores, impacting several hundred roles in sales, marketing, and global services, as well as a few hundred roles in its physical stores technology team.
An AWS spokesperson stated that the decisions to cut jobs were difficult but necessary as the company continues to invest in innovation for its customers. The firm emphasized that it will continue to hire and grow, especially in core areas of its business, with thousands of jobs available.
The cuts will be felt at Amazon’s operations globally, with a majority of AWS roles based in its home city of Seattle. US-based employees affected by the job cuts will receive pay and benefits for at least 60 days, assistance in finding another job, access to transitional health benefits, and eligibility for severance pay. As of the end of last year, Amazon had over 1.5 million full-time and part-time employees, excluding contractors and temporary personnel.
Amazon has been focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) through AWS, including recent investments in safety and research start-ups. Other tech giants, like Microsoft, are also investing in their AI capabilities, creating competition in the industry. According to US career consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the tech sector saw an increase of 73% in job cuts in 2023 compared to 2022.


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On Tuesday September 21st, Target announced that it was closing nine stores in four states in October because of a new form of organized crime—smash and grab robberies, flash robberies.
The sort of robberies that hit a Wawa convenience store in Philadelphia on Sunday September 24, when it was invaded by between 50 and 100 teenagers who swept goods off the counters and threw drinks at each other. One girl even twerked on a counter. And the kids filmed their deeds. By the time they left, they’d utterly trashed the place. Wawa then closed the store permanently.
Target says that it is losing half a billion dollars a year to these robberies. And The National Retail Federation says that retailers across America are losing $112 billion a year to the increase of this new form theft.
Target and Wawa are not the only chains closing stores. Nordstrom closed two stores in San Francisco. Walmart closed two stores in Portland, Oregon. Old Navy closed its flagship store in San Francisco’s downtown despite the fact that San Francisco is where the chain was started. And Whole Foods and Walmart are closing locations, though Walmart only cites crime as one small factor.
People on the right are blaming this spate of robberies on the Democratic party’s bail reforms, which say that if you have committed a low-level, non-violent crime, you can go scot free until your trial. You do not have to put up any bail money.
The Marshall Project believes that zero bail has nothing to do with the new organized crime. The Project points out that, “An analysis of arrest data in New York shows few people committed new crimes while out on bail.”
Los Angeles Police Protective League spokesperson Tom Saggau disagrees. Fox11 TV in LA sums up his view in a headline: “Zero cash bail to blame for ‘brazen’ smash and grab robberies in LA, police union says.”
Ben Dugan, the head of the Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail, blames the rise in this new form of robbery on Covid. Covid, he reasons, forced people to shop online. This increased demand for goods on the Internet. Then some clever criminal innovator created a new form of smash and grab robbery to fit this demand.
He or she combined flash mobs, online markets, Waze, cellphones, and automobiles, plus the eagerness of kids to make $100 for one evening’s work. He set up a system in which between a dozen and a hundred kids who have never met before converge on a store simultaneously, snatch as many goods as they can, leave in two minutes, then are carried away by a fleet of highly coordinated, rented getaway cars with their license plates covered or replaced, cars whose routes have been carefully mapped out in advance to make sure the fleeing thieves and their goods do not get stopped by traffic.
The organizer then arranges the sale of the loot via online marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace or eBay.
This is a lucrative business. The attorney general of California recently announced the arrest and conviction of “five people who stole more than $8 million of merchandise from retailers.”[i]
Law enforcement agencies all over the country are working to counter this new form of 21st century organized crime.
Congress has passed a law that went into effect June 27th. The INFORM act requires online marketplaces to verify the real identities of high-volume sellers. This would make it difficult for sellers of stolen goods to hide behind fake identities. Backing the Inform Act is the full force of the Federal Trade Commission.
But all of this means that brick and mortar stores are experiencing something you heard about years ago. They are losing out to the Internet. But this time to a use of the internet to organize crime.
Howard Bloom of the Howard Bloom Institute has been called the Einstein, Newton, and Freud of the 21st century by Britain’s Channel 4 TV. One of his seven books–Global Brain—was the subject of a symposium thrown by the Office of the Secretary of Defense including representatives from the State Department, the Energy Department, DARPA, IBM, and MIT. His work has been published in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, Psychology Today, and the Scientific American. He does news commentary at 1:06 am Eastern Time every Wednesday night on 545 radio stations on Coast to Coast AM. For more, see http://howardbloom.institute.


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The terms “Covid-19” and “coronavirus” have become popular. Cyber criminals have taken advantage of this trend to create domains with fraudulent information and commit crimes.
“The best and fastest test for detecting coronavirus at the fantastic price of 19,000 Russian Rubles (just 6,000 Pesos).” This is the bait used by the website vaccinecovid-19\.com to attract internet users, but it’s a fraud. Security solutions provider Check Point has identified that the platform, which also offers news and a map of the spread of the SARS Co-V virus, is connected to malicious activities.
It’s not the only one. Some offer face masks, others provide vaccines, and still others have home tests to detect the virus. These cyber criminals take advantage of the fact that the terms “Covid-19” and “coronavirus” have become very popular in searches to create domains with fraudulent information and commit cyber crimes, which can run from using your credit cards to stealing your information to commit fraud.
The creation of domains to do with coronavirus has taken off during the pandemic. 90,824 new ones were created since the outbreak began until May 11, according to Check Point. Nearly 20,000 new domains related to coronavirus were registered from just April 20 to May 11: 17% of these are malicious or suspicious.
“When you hear the term ‘hacker’, you think of someone hiding in the dark. This image has been sold to us by movies and other media. In reality, there are companies that exist to do these types of attacks on a large scale,” says Víctor Álvarez, pre-sales engineer at Check Point.
The security solutions provider has detected up to 192,000 coronavirus-related attacks per week, an increase of 30% in comparison with previous weeks. These attacks come through websites whose domains include the words coronavirus and Covid-19 or through files related to the subject that are sent to victims’ email addresses.
In the week of March 23, the cyber security firm Forcepoint identified an increase of 358% in malicious emails that contained the addresses of websites connected with Covid-19 and coronavirus. This was in comparison with the previous week.
“60% of attacks reported in Mexico are through remote code execution, i.e. phishing techniques (scams using false information),” explains Álvarez. “When users click on them, cyber criminals take control of their devices and begin to execute different commands to share information.”
As internet traffic increases, so do the chances of falling for a scam that weakens the security of network-connected devices. “Certain behaviors we aren’t paying attention to present risks at the moment for two reasons: because we want to use more services and platforms or because there’s also opportunism on the part of digital criminals,” emphasizes Jesús Romo, director of Telconomia.
Cyber security companies and telecommunications specialists have some simple and specialized recommendations for keeping your internet operations secure:
Check the basics. “Make sure your devices have antivirus software and the software you’re using is up-to-date,” suggests Romo.
Don’t open suspicious attachments. “If something looks too good to be true, it’s bound to be a trick to steal your information,” says Álvarez. Check the domain names, the spelling of emails or websites, and the senders of emails from unknown addresses.
Choose unique passwords. Make sure you don’t reuse passwords between different applications and accounts.
Use encryption when working from home. “If your company has security filters, such as a virtual private network, it should provide you with this so that your device connects securely outside the office building,” says Aldo Cano, independent information technology consultant.
It’s time to change all your passwords to prevent cyber criminals continuing to have access to your information.
Remember that an antivirus is not sufficient in the case of business devices. These need integrated protection that allows secure internet browsing through a virtual private network (VPN), programming restrictions for sites that tend to share malicious information, and protection of each device with solutions according to the size of the industry.
Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are vulnerable too, so there are also dedicated protection solutions for this type of equipment.
Cyber criminals take advantage of any small breach of cyber security or trending topic to extract confidential information and continue committing crimes, as is the case for Covid-19.


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Etrio, an electric vehicle start-up, has expanded its product portfolio with the launch of electric three-wheeler range ‘Touro’.
Catering to the cargo segment, the Touro, in variants Max and Mini, will be focussed on intracity logistics, especially last-mile delivery applications. The passenger variants of the three-wheelers will be rolled out soon. The company had raised $3 million last month to facilitate these launches.
Also read: Etrio raises $3 mn in Series A funding
‘Touro’ is derived from the Portuguese word ‘toro’, which means ‘bull’. A company release said the design philosophy emulates the attributes of a bull — strong, stable and powerful.
The entire Touro family is going to be completely localised, making it eligible for Central and State government subsidy, it added.
Deepak MV, co-founder and CEO, Etrio, said: “With the launch of Touro, we now have added new electric vehicles to our portfolio of retrofitted products. We are on a mission to electrify intracity logistics and bring the widest range of electric vehicles tailor-made for this segment.”
While the primary focus remains on vehicles with advanced lithium-ion battery technology, Etrio also has a certified product range with lead-acid.
No fixed price
Etrio is working closely with B2B customers such as LetsTransport, Amazon, BigBasket and Ikea for product customisation. The product does not have a fixed price — it varies basis battery chemistry, payload required, cubic capacity and number of desired kilometres to be run daily.
The company has a production capacity of 500 units per month and is looking to rapidly scale up the deployment of Touro across the country through a mix of outright sales and leasing models. The lease will be offered for orders of over 50 units over a three-year contract.
Currently, Touro is undergoing pilot runs at e-commerce logistics companies in Hyderabad, Delhi and Bengaluru. It is set to expand its footprint across the country in the coming months.


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Two industries that have been under the spotlight because of their stellar growth this year are the Cannabis industry and the NFT world. One taps into the natural and the other into tech-based advancements. And while these two industries seem to be on opposite spectrums, one new NFT collection looks to bring them together by launching a Cannabis-inspired set of mints. The project is called Crypto Joints, and it’s quickly on the rise.
The Crypto Joints NFT project is a collection of 5,000 unique non-fungible mints that heavily emphasize Cannabis culture. Since more states have opened up CBD and other hemp products for medicinal and even recreational use, the community has increased exponentially. Crypto Joints hopes to leverage that growth by jumping into yet another fast-rising industry, NFTs, which have been the core point for blockchain investors, artists, and entrepreneurs the past few years.
The non-fungible token rave has increased over the years as more people start investing in these blockchain-based mints. An NFT is a digital certificate within a cryptocurrency network like Ethereum or Cardano and holds a unique artwork. Many entrepreneurs, developers, crypto enthusiasts, and artists have begun working together to develop various series of these digital collections. The Crypto Joints collection is one of those projects.
The NFT collection also hosts an array of value-giving initiatives that will award its crypto community, one of which is a royalty program that promises to give up to 80% of its profits back to the community in the form of rewards and giveaways. “We believe the Crypto Joints collection is an interesting option compared to the current NFT market,” shares one of the founders. “The fact that it offers a loyalty program gives an added value to the token, increasing its value over time not only because of what it would be worth as NFT.” Already, the founding team has promised over 130 initial prizes to be given away on the launching date, each holding up to 1 Ethereum in value each.
The Crypto Joints NFT will also become a fundraising effort to finance a research facility that will expand medical Cannabis uses shortly. This new revolution around CBD and other hemp products will profoundly impact medical care. The Crypto Joints team hopes to develop token longevity by launching a community-supporting project. This project aims to provide a way for the company to generate revenue while assisting in Cannabis research. The team hopes that the project will positively impact the holders and the company.
Crypto Joints is a company that plans to take advantage of the many developments in the cannabis industry. This industry is snowballing, but it lacks research and standardization. Cannabis Sativa has long been known to have medical benefits. However, researchers have barely scratched the surface of the possible uses for this natural product. Crypto Joints hopes to change that by helping to sustain the cannabis industry.
The 5,000 NFT will be made available soon and can be traded on OpenSea.io starting on December 29. To learn more about the project, check out the Crypto Joints NFT website and visit the OpenSea collection page.


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Travel and tourism spending in the U.S. during 2011 grew at 3.5%, the highest rate of growth for the industry in the past five years. Total tourism-related employment was up 1.4%, ending three-consecutive years of declines.
The figures, released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, show that 7.626 million were employed directly and indirectly as a result of tourism activity in 2011. However, the number remains below the 8.283 million employed in the sector during 2008.
BEA figures also showed inflation in tourism slowed in the fourth quarter of 2011, but was up for the year.
“Overall growth in prices for travel and tourism goods and services turned down, decreasing 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 following a 5.2 percent (revised) increase in the third quarter,” noted the BEA report. “The decline in prices for travel and tourism goods and services reflected decreases in prices for traveler accommodations and for total transportation. For the year, overall prices for travel and tourism goods and services increased 4.6 percent in 2011 after increasing 3.6 percent in 2010.”
The value of “direct tourism output” during 2011 was $807.453 billion, up 8.2% compared to 2010 and above the previous high of $797.526 million set in 2008.
Fourth-quarter growth in the tourism sector was 4.6%, compared to 2.6% during the 2010 period and 1% in the 2009 period.
“The increase in real spending on tourism primarily reflected increases in traveler accommodations and in food services and drinking places,” the BEA noted for the fourth quarter. “For the year, total real spending on travel and tourism increased 3.5 percent in 2011 after increasing 3.0 percent in 2010.”
Hospitality tax collections in Van Buren during 2011 totaled $429,561, up 2.34% compared to 2010. The 2011 collections end a two-year skid in Van Buren.
For the year, hospitality tax collections in Fort Smith totaled $708,141, up 4.3% compared to the 2010 period. This is the second consecutive year for a hospitality tax collection gain in Fort Smith.
The cities of Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, Fayetteville and Siloam Springs collected more than $4.472 million in hospitality taxes last year, a 6.37% gain over 2010. (All five cities collect a 2% room tax on hotel and meeting space, Bentonville and Fayetteville also collect a 1% tax on prepared food.) The hotel industry STR report provided by Smith’s Travel Research indicates 96 hotels in the two-county area posted cumulative annual sales revenue of $107.13 million in 2011, a 7.7% increase from 2010, and the best year since 2007.
Collection of Arkansas’ 2% tourism tax was $12.025 million during 2011, up 4.6% compared to $11.492 million during 2010. Following are the data, according to the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, on total travel expenditures in Arkansas.
Total travel expenditures
2011: $5.687 billion
2010: $5.453 billion
2009: $5.377 billion
2008: $5.572 billion
2007: $5.368 billion


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The CT2S test centre has been set up with École Supérieure Polytechnique de Dakar to help solar panel operators assess the quality of parts they source locally. It will also provide specialized training and host PhD students performing thesis work.
Despite having one of the highest sunshine rates in the world, Senegal uses very little solar power. This is because the photovoltaic equipment available on the local market is often unreliable, with huge differences in performance from one solar panel to the next. PV equipment manufacturers from around the world have gotten into the habit of sending to Africa their faulty or poorly performing devices, which rarely work according to manufacturers’ specifications. As a result, neither businesses nor consumers trust the solar panel components they acquire from local suppliers.
The centre enables businesses and consumers to test components they purchase locally. The plan is to eventually create a certification system that will help buyers identify sturdy and reliable products. It will also train technicians and advisors working in Senegal’s solar power industry so that they can advise buyers and make sure best practices are followed during PV equipment installation and maintenance. The third aim is to conduct research on PV system reliability in the harsh conditions of Sub-Saharan Africa – one PhD thesis project is already underway.
For EPFL, CT2S will provide a way to obtain field data in a climate very different from Switzerland’s. “Right now it’s really hard to get field data that are reliable and sufficiently documented,” said Nicolas Wyrsch, a PV-Lab scientist involved in creating the center. Much of the funding for the center, which today employs four people, was provided by Meridiam, a French investment firm that owns solar power plants in Senegal, and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). This funding will be used not only to build up the center’s research facilities but also to train some 200 technicians and advisors.
The center will eventually raise its own funding. Once firmly established, its next step will be to promote solar power generation across Sub-Saharan Africa. “We are already in contact with other West African countries to set up similar research centers. We think these will help restore people’s trust in solar power,” said Wyrsch.
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Discovery plans to offer the Apple Watch as a reward to Vitality members who live active lifestyles, the company has announced.
Details of Vitality Active Rewards with Apple Watch were not revealed at the time, but information about the partnership between Apple and Discovery has surfaced online.
Twitter user @Clint_ZA recently posted that Vitality members could qualify to get an Apple Watch for free, with an image providing some information about the deal.
Apple Watch will be free for members of Discovery Vitality who achieve their weekly goals. A repayment section was also shown, as detailed in the table below.
Vitality Active Rewards with Apple Watch
It is understood that the information shown in the slide does not show the full extent of Discovery’s offer, and may not represent the final Vitality Active Rewards scheme for the Apple Watch.
Apple and Discovery first announced their partnership on 10 September, and Apple Watch with Vitality Rewards is due to launch in SA during September-November – with additional markets thereafter.
Discovery said it would reveal more details about the offer at a later stage.


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- Rubio: US bandwidth better used by cell providers Updated: Mar-10-14 5:43 pm
- Telecom giant pulls ads from Uganda anti-gay paper Updated: Mar-10-14 10:10 am
- Mexico imposes restrictions on Slim, Televisa Updated: Mar-07-14 7:43 pm
- Judge rules for Samsung in dispute with Apple Updated: Mar-06-14 3:22 pm
- France mobile bid could extend consolidation trend Updated: Mar-06-14 9:40 am
- Dish, Disney deal envisions Internet-delivered TV Updated: Mar-04-14 6:15 pm
- Apple dials up effort to meld iPhone with cars Updated: Mar-03-14 4:22 pm
- Telecoms push back on proposed NSA plan Updated: Mar-03-14 1:56 pm
- Promise and peril in an ultra-connected world Updated: Mar-02-14 2:40 am
- Apple CEO Tim Cook teases, reassures shareholders Updated: Feb-28-14 5:01 pm
- Oscars to stream live online for first time Updated: Feb-27-14 8:46 pm
- Review: Lots of innovations beyond iOS and Android Updated: Feb-27-14 4:01 pm
- Pistorius investigators meet Apple over iPhone Updated: Feb-27-14 11:43 am
- Smartphone cameras step closer to high-end power Updated: Feb-27-14 5:01 am
- Incentives are coming for payments by phones Updated: Feb-26-14 10:49 am
- Phone makers look to emerging markets for growth Updated: Feb-25-14 11:36 am
- T-Mobile 4Q loss widens on higher spending Updated: Feb-25-14 9:32 am
- BlackBerry announces new phones, services Updated: Feb-25-14 3:37 am
- Getting a clearer picture on Netflix-Comcast deal Updated: Feb-24-14 6:28 pm
- Samsung unveils phone with heart-rate monitor Updated: Feb-24-14 4:26 pm
- Several new phones coming, but all eyes on Samsung Updated: Feb-24-14 3:26 pm
- Nokia targets emerging markets with Android phones Updated: Feb-24-14 8:52 am
- Ferris St. spending more than $1M on dorm upgrades Updated: Feb-24-14 4:04 am
- LG to offer its first smartwatch this year Updated: Feb-24-14 2:35 am
- Netflix reaches deal with Comcast Updated: Feb-23-14 4:49 pm
WASHINGTON - Pitching himself as an ally to Silicon Valley, presidential hopeful Sen. Marco Rubio proposed giving cellphone companies more access to government-controlled airwaves as part of a package of pro-business initiatives he said would create "thousands upon thousands of high-paying jobs."
KAMPALA, Uganda - An activist group says the global telecom company Orange has withdrawn advertising from a Ugandan tabloid newspaper that printed the names of 200 suspected homosexuals after a severe anti-gay law was enacted last month.
MEXICO CITY - Mexican regulators declared the country's main television network and Carlos Slim's telecom company as "preponderant" market players on Friday, part of an effort by the government to promote competitiveness in the telecommunications sector.
SAN JOSE, California - A federal judge in California on Thursday denied Apple's request to permanently ban Samsung from selling 23 older-model smartphones and tablets that a jury found infringed on patents held by the maker of iPhones and iPads.
PARIS - French conglomerate Bouygues offered 10.5 billion euros ($14.4 billion) for control of mobile operator SFR telecommunications, launching a bidding war Thursday that could extend the wireless industry's attempts to consolidate in Europe.
LOS ANGELES - With a string of recent deals, cable and satellite providers are beginning to acknowledge a brutal truth that companies like Hulu and Netflix have known all along: Many TV viewers, especially young ones, want shows and movies on their own terms - wherever, whenever and on whatever devices they choose.
SAN FRANCISCO - Apple is accelerating the race to make smartphone applications easier and safer to use in cars.
WASHINGTON - When Apple, Google, Microsoft and other tech giants united in outrage last summer over the National Security Agency's unfettered spying, telecommunications giants such as AT&T, Verizon and Sprint -whose customers are also the targets of secret government spying- remained noticeably mum.
BARCELONA, Spain - We're in the beginning of a world in which everything is connected to the Internet and with one another, while powerful yet relatively cheap computers analyze all that data for ways to improve lives.
CUPERTINO, California - Apple CEO Tim Cook is still trying to convince shareholders that the iPhone maker remains a step ahead in the race to innovate, even though recent performance of the company's stock lags behind other technology trendsetters.
LOS ANGELES - The Academy Awards ceremony will stream live online for the first time to select cable providers in eight U.S. cities.
BARCELONA, Spain - When it comes to smartphones, consumers have an array of choices from Apple to... well, Android.
JOHANNESBURG - South African prosecutors pressing a murder charge against Oscar Pistorius secured a meeting Thursday with Apple officials in the United States over accessing potentially crucial evidence on the double-amputee athlete's locked iPhone, they said.
SEOUL, South Korea - Expect sharper, clearer selfies this year.
BARCELONA, Spain - Many people use their smartphones to watch video, play games and wake them up in the morning. Some even use them to generate digital boarding passes to fly. So why not use phones to buy stuff at retail stores as well?
BARCELONA, Spain - Here's the rub for companies: A good part of the key markets they serve already own smartphones and use them to connect various Internet services. How do you grow from there?
BELLEVUE, Washington - T-Mobile said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter loss more than doubled as the company spent more to lure in new customers.
BARCELONA, Spain - BlackBerry will release a low-cost phone in Indonesia in April and plans a broader release of a phone that restores a beloved row of control keys with a track pad.
SAN FRANCISCO - After years of bickering, Netflix and Comcast are working together to provide their subscribers with a more enjoyable experience when they're watching movies and television shows over high-speed Internet connections.
BARCELONA, Spain - Samsung sought Monday to frame its new Galaxy S5 smartphone as a lifestyle product, as it emphasized a built-in heart-rate sensor and improved camera features over its slightly larger size.
BARCELONA, Spain - Sony unveiled a new waterproof phone that can take ultra-high-definition video. Nokia introduced three Android smartphones aimed at emerging markets. And Lenovo announced one with an all-glass exterior.
BARCELONA, Spain - Nokia is targeting emerging markets with three low-cost smartphones that use Google's Android operating system rather than the Windows Phone software from Microsoft, which is about to take over Nokia's handset business.
BIG RAPIDS, Michigan - Ferris State University is pledging to spend more than $1 million to upgrade its residence halls.
SEOUL, South Korea - LG Electronics Inc. said it will launch a computerized wristwatch later this year, entering a nascent market where Samsung Electronics Co., Sony Corp. and smaller companies such as Pebble are already jostling for dominance.
NEW YORK - Netflix has reached a deal with Comcast to ensure that its TV shows and movies are streamed smoothly to households, the first deal the online video streaming service has reached with an Internet service provider.


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Ag News: NCBA Offers Disaster Relief
**The National Cattlemen's Beef Association is offering disaster relief for cattle producers with the Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program, or WHIP.
According to agrimarketing.com, WHIP provides disaster payments to ag producers to offset losses from hurricanes and wildfires as well as information on ways those not affected can help those who are.
NCBA has also set up a page that aggregates all disaster relief information in one place, including state specific resources, contact and donation information.
**Windstorms, wildfires and a revision of yields on trees is dropping Washington apple crop production estimates for this season by 5-10%.
The Washington Apple Commission tells thepacker.com, the first estimate of the season in early August, by the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, was about 134 million 40-pound boxes, on par with the 133 million for the previous season.
Over Labor Day weekend, a windstorm knocked apples from trees, and some growers reported damage to trellis systems.
**Rice harvest gained momentum in the Sacramento Valley last week.
Rice farmers and marketers say they’re optimistic about crop prospects, though they say the pandemic has created an unusual marketing situation.
In the early days of the pandemic, Americans stocked up on rice and other staple foods, but that trend has eased, and demand from restaurants and other food services remains low. Most export markets for the crop look promising.


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Experts say plane tickets will only get more expensive as the holidays approach.
âIf you’re planning to travel now for Thanksgiving or Christmas, you should have booked your ticket about three months ago,â said Brian Sumers, aviation expert and editor of Skift – an information site on the travel industry. “It’s a mess over there.”
On Tuesday, the cost of gas in Los Angeles County rose another cent. The average price is now $ 4.57.
SEE ALSO | Gasoline hits $ 7.59 a gallon in California town
Sumers said when fuel prices go up, so do flight costs.
âThe airlines are trying to find this perfect place,â he said. “What’s the most money people will pay so that we can fill our planes?” “
Experts say traveling on Tuesdays or Wednesdays or non-holiday weeks can help save you money. There are also several apps that can help you.
“We like Hopper, which allows you to set an alert on a route and say, âHey, tell me when is the best time to buy? Said Mitchell Stoutin with The guy at the points. “Skyscanner is another excellent for the wait and the crowd. It’s an app that lets you say more of, “Hey, find out where I am to anywhere.” “
But on Halloween, industry analysts said many of the deals would be canceled.
United said they are already seeing an increase in demand for the holidays and have so far hired an additional 1,000 pilots this year to help get more flights in the air.
The pandemic has caused thousands of cancellations and delays, so experts say you should try to book the flight as early as possible for the day. That way if something goes wrong you have more options later.
READ ALSO | United States details new COVID international travel requirements, including vaccine mandate
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Gordon Ramsay is set to open a new café in West London.
According to reports by Propel, the shouty chef plans to launch the Bread Street Café on Ealing Broadway High Street.
He has reportedly applied to open a site under the name Bread Street Café on the popular west London high street.
Gordon, 54, already operates two Bread Street Kitchen sites in Southwark and (aptly named) Bread Street.
The Ealing café is thought to be opening where the former Limeyard unit was, next to Wagamama and Turtle Bay.
The proposed site is also attached to Ealing Broadway shopping centre and is a five minute walk from the station.
The menu for the Bread Street Kitchen offers a selection of British favourites from beef burgers to fish and chips.
The Kitchen offers mains costing upwards of £16. One option, which includes a beef wellington, truffle brie mashed potato, mixed leaves salad and a red wine jus, costs a whopping £47.50 per person.
However, it is yet to be seen whether the Bread Street café will offer similar dishes and prices.
Despite being a hub for many West Londoners, independent establishments in Ealing have not always fared well compared to the chain restaurants on the high street.
Gordon, however, is no novice and has successfully opened 18 restaurants in the capital including a mixture of Michelin-starred restaurants and casual dining establishments.
According to Yahoo, the chef is looking to expand and open ten sites across the UK by the summer.
The chef’s group has an “ambitious” expansion strategy led by new finance chief, Antony Perring, formerly of Leon and Wagamama
Gordon told Yahoo: “Despite all of the pandemic related challenges, we have to be optimistic and forward thinking and invest back into our amazing industry.
"We have an incredibly ambitious global growth strategy, and I’m delighted to have Antony on the team to help drive our future expansion plans."
Recently, the dining magnate opened a fifth Street Burger restaurant in Covent Garden as well as another in Kensington High Street.
Despite the optimism, Gordon’s U.K. restaurant portfolio reportedly lost over £56 million during the pandemic.
Nevertheless the Gordon's expansion continues with his eyes seemingly set on Ealing.
Only time will tell whether locals will warm to Gordon's café but it will certainly be in the perfect spot to attract new customers.
Limeyard was previously open on 8 High St, London, W5 5DB, but is now permanently closed.


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Walmart Health clinic in Dallas, Georgia, celebrated its grand opening on Friday, Sept. 13.
Walmart has opened the first-ever Walmart Health center in Dallas, Georgia, and remodeled the adjacent supercenter with new features aimed at improving the customer experience.
The Walmart Health center plans were announced last month, and it offers primary care, labs, X-ray and EKG, counseling, dental, optical, hearing, community health (nutritional services, fitness), and health insurance education and enrollment. It will be staffed with physicians, nurse practitioners, dentists, behavioral health providers and optometrists. The center has an entrance separate from the store for patients
Customers can also bring their pets to Walmart for the new in-store Essentials PetCare clinic. Services are available for dogs and cats and include vaccinations, routine care, microchipping, lab work and treating minor illnesses.


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Instagram’s sharing problem
Facebook (FB) and Snapchat are in a sort of arms race to woo young users and appeal to advertisers. Competition between the two is expected to intensify as Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, is set to go public later this year in what is likely to be the largest IPO (initial public offering) after Alibaba’s (BABA) in 2014.
Besides WhatsApp, Instagram is Facebook’s other weapon against Snapchat. But could Instagram’s new monetization strategy cause publishers to defect to Snapchat?
Attracting a stream of unique content
Instagram and Snapchat compete in several fronts, and one of the areas the two are competing in lately is in getting a stream of unique content onto their platforms. In that space, Snapchat has a service called Discover, while Instagram has Stories.
Although the services are nearly copies of each other, the apps have adopted different strategies in dealing with their content partners. While Snapchat shares revenue generated on its Discover platform with publishers, Instagram is keeps everything for itself, raising questions on whether Instagram could be perceived as offering Stories publishers a raw deal.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Instagram isn’t commenting on how monetization of its Stories feature may evolve. As for now, Stories’ publishers can generate direct income by creating sponsored content, but they have no part in ad revenue Instagram generated from ads served against their content.
Instagram publishers are optimizing
Although Instagram publishers are hopeful Stories’ monetization will improve in their favor, Snapchat could use Instagram’s lack of sharing revenue to portray itself as a better platform for publishers and cause defection of talents from Instagram.
For this reason, Facebook, its messaging app Instagram, Snapchat, Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google, Twitter (TWTR), Yelp (YELP), and other online advertising companies have stepped up their hunt for digital ad spending.


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Karisma Kapoor has shared photos of her latest look. She wore a crop top and jeans which immediately caught the eye. Anushka Sharma called it “stunning”.
New Delhi,UPDATED: October 12, 2022 3:16 PM IST
Karisma Kapoor (left) and Anushka Sharma (right).
By Daphne Clarance: Karisma Kapoor manages to amaze fans every time she shares photos of her clothing choices. Keeping fashionistas on their toes, Karisma has a reservoir of fashion looks that pop up often at various events. Aging like fine wine, Karisma keeps her styles subtle and adds a bit of glamor to her techniques.
Recently, the diva took the internet by storm with her photos in a jeans-t-shirt combo that got fans and celebrities alike. Karisma teamed a loose white crop top with skinny waisted boyfriend jeans.
“I feel like a snac,” Karisma wrote in the caption of her Instagram post in which she posted photos of her latest outfit. Adding volume to her hair, Karima opted for stunning waves with a side parting.
For her makeup, she generously applied highlighter with shimmery eyeshadow and glossy lips. She finally completed her sporty and glam look with running shoes.
The post was a hit and garnered over 2,000 likes. Many celebrities have even commented on Karisma’s look. Amrita Arora responded to the diva’s caption and wrote, “Looks like she is.” Saif Ali Khan’s sister Saba Ali Khan commented, “Cute. Beautiful combo.” Karisma’s cousin, Zahan Kapoor, was shocked by the actress’ youthfulness. “Stop. For a second I thought it was a stock photo. I was 25,” he wrote.
Anushka Sharma also adored Karisma’s jeans-t-shirt combo. She commented, “Always a stunner.”
Meanwhile, Karisma Kapoor was last featured in the web series Mentalhood in 2020.


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Uber buys food-delivery startup Postmates for $2.65 billion in stock
Uber has bought San Francisco-based food-delivery service Postmates for $2.65 billion in stock, the two companies announced in a joint statement Monday. Postmates is the fourth-largest delivery food service in the U.S. Last month, we told you about Uber’s attempt to buy GrubHub but the deal fell through.
Founded in 2011 by Bastian Lehmann, Sam Street, and Sean Plaice, Postmates powers local, on-demand logistics focused on fast deliveries from any type of merchant at scale. The acquisition announcement comes at a time when Postmates was considering restarting its IPO process. The San Francisco-based startup was valued at $2.4 billion in its last fundraising round in September, according to public funding data.
If approved by government regulators, the deal will make Uber Eats the second largest food service in the U.S. after DoorDash, according to Second Measure and Edison Trends. The companies said Uber intends to keep the Postmates app running separately, “supported by a more efficient, combined merchant and delivery network.”
Postmates’ platform gives customers access to the most selection of merchants in the US with more than 600,000 restaurants and retailers available for delivery and pickup, many of which are exclusive to Postmates. The market leader in Los Angeles and markets across the southwest, Postmates covers 80% of US households, across all 50 states. Customers can get free delivery on all merchants by joining Postmates Unlimited, the industry’s first subscription service.


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As more LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks go live across the globe, operators have started planning to offer data roaming, and reusing existing spectrum is seen as one of the best chances of getting worldwide coverage, according to speakers at the L...
Apple today patched bugs in iOS and Safari used at last month's Pwn2Own hacking contest by three teams of researchers who collectively earned $45,000 for their work.
As Research In Motion launched its PlayBook on Thursday evening, Cisco Systems was already accepting orders for its Cius enterprise tablet and shipping it to some customers.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) wants to compel telecommunications service providers to purchase more equipment made locally in the country.
Sprint subscribers will now be able to pay for the applications they buy on Android Market via their monthly cellphone bill, Google <a href="http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-carrier-billing-options-on-android.html">said in a blog po...
Microsoft on Wednesday announced 1,500 new developer tools coming in May for the next version of the Windows Phone operating system, code-named Mango, that's due in the fall.
Three large broadband projects funded recently by the U.S. Rural Utilities Service (RUS) largely cover areas already served by broadband providers, according to a study released Wednesday by a trade group representing cable broadband providers.
Long-time partners Huawei Technologies and Motorola Solutions have agreed to settle trade secrets lawsuits against each other, the companies announced.
Libyan rebels in the East of the country have set up their own mobile phone network connecting them to the rest of the world, over a month after they were cut off from a centralized network that required all international calls to be routed through a...
Verizon Wireless and LiveCast Media today announced 4G Mobile Reporter for use with Verizon's LTE network to send live high-definition video wirelessly with a laptop and USB modem.
Research firm Gartner yesterday gave Microsoft a hard diss on the tablet front by not including Redmond in its recent tablet-OS four-year forecast.
Amazon.com announced a new Kindle with Special Offers for $US114, priced $US25 less than the bestselling $139 Kindle but still above the magic $100 pricetag that analysts say will make the e-reader affordable to most consumers.
HTC's latest smartphone, the Sensation, has a dual-core 1.2GHz processor from Qualcomm that holds the promise of faster graphics and is due to ship in Europe in the second quarter, the company said at an event in London on Tuesday.
Nokia launched an updated version of its Symbian^3 mobile operating system on Tuesday, along with two phones running the software, the X7 and the E6.
AT&T announced a new service today to help retailers design, deploy and manage mobile commerce Web sites, as well as applications optimized for smartphones.
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WHAT IS BIM SHOW LIVE?
BIM Show Live is best known as the Construction Industry conference which packs a punch. Far from the norm, it’s disruptive thinking elevates this technology-led event to one of the most trusted platforms for learning, knowledge sharing and industry insight for all things digital construction in the UK and beyond.
BIM Show Live looks at where we are with the ever expanding digitisation of the construction industry and it is events such as this that provide a platform for built environment experts to share their knowledge, skills and experiences of what has worked, and just as importantly what hasn’t worked in the world of digital construction.
In construction, we are now in an era of innovative technology and BIM Show Live has always been at the forefront of new and emerging technologies, with the 2018 show gearing up to be just as radical as ever.
Previously staged in London and Manchester, BIM Show Live returns to Newcastle upon Tyne for a second year, an area rich in engineering and manufacturing, with a growing economy and not to mention home of BIM Show Live founders; Space Group.
Space Group CEO and BIM Show Live co-founder Rob Charlton told us: “We’ve been running the show now for six years, and each year we never fail to present the new and the wonderful. Our industry is progressing at an accelerated rate and we believe at BIM Show Live we have an obligation to bring our visitors the very best our industry has to offer for technology and digital construction, plus what has changed year-on-year and what this means for future projects.”
The show offers a blend of key note speakers and seminar streams covering; data, next generation, stories and strategies – all of which are chaired by two of the BIM-world’s most respected professionals; David Philp and Simon Rawlinson, both of whom have been with the show since it’s very beginnings.
David is the Global BIM/IM Consultancy Director at AECOM and Chair of the Scottish BIM Delivery Group and will be Chairing day one after presenting his thoughts on the state of the industry.
As Head of Strategic Research and Insight at Arcadis and with over another 20 years experience in construction and built environment research, Simon is taking the Chair for Day 2.
Over the course of the two days, to ensure visitors to the show are equipped with skills to stay ahead of the game, the four content streams will see over 50 leading figures from a cross-section of sectors within the construction industry including: Chairman of Soluis and CEO of Sublime Martin McDonnell, Rob Jackson, Associate Director at Bond Bryan Digital, Radu Gidei, BIM Manager and Carolina Pracz BIM Co-ordinator from Grimshaw, Rebecca De Ciccio, Managing Director of Digital Node and James Austin, Product Manager at Autodesk.
The disruptive thinking nature of BIM Show Live allows it to bring in opinions from other industries and how these translate into best practice that can be shared. This is the very essence of why keynote speaker, Anders Hvid, CEO and co-founder of Dare Disrupt was selected.
Anders believes that understanding exponential growth is essential to a company’s success, and that the development of technology is driving fundamental change in the world.
Exponential technologies, disruptive innovation and the future of society will be the main areas of his keynote speech, and Anders commented; “My talk is designed to take you past the here and now and provide you with a glimpse of what’s to come.”
With events such as BIM Show Live, it is evident that with all of the technologies available to use we have more power in our hands than ever before. Digitalisation has developed rapidly and is now the driving force of transformation on all areas of construction.
For 2018, BIM Show Live will once again be staged in Newcastle’s the Boiler Shop, Stephenson’s Quarter – on Wednesday 28 February and Thursday 1 March. This two-day conference is set to triumph with its future-thinking and focus on emerging technologies to benefit the construction industry.
More information available here
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After a successful program of four events in 2019, Carnival Cruise Line’s “Why Use a Travel Advisor” (WUATA) initiative is expanding in 2020, with 100 parties coming to cities across North America and the Caribbean.
The program, which is designed to help advisors reinforce their value with consumers, saw Carnival reach about 300 or so people at each of the events in 2019 (with about two-thirds of those in attendance being consumers). It will launch in 2020 with the goal of getting to 25 times more consumers than they did in 2019.
“We are expanding the program in a really huge way,” Adolfo Perez, Carnival Cruise Line’s senior vice president of global sales and trade marketing, told Travel Market Report.
To do so, Carnival is enlisting its field BDMs to help host the parties; and AMC movie theatres in the U.S., and others in Canada and the Caribbean, to host the events — which are all free to attend for advisors registered at GoCCL.com.
Each party will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and will feature a presentation by a BDM and stories from guests explaining just how much value travel advisors added to their vacations. All advisors attending will be able to bring two guests — one a client and one who is not yet a client — who will be there to receive Carnival’s third-party endorsement of the values of advisors.
Carnival's Mike Julius talking with a CCL "Super Fan" at the cruise line's WUATA party in Jersey City last year. Photos: Daniel McCarthy/Travel Market Report.
“It’s just part of our whole process for really engaging the agents, showing support, and putting the money where the mouth is,” Perez said.
Carnival started planning the new program in the fall of last year with the goal of continuing to “get in front of consumers” to tell them the values of a travel advisor, Perez told Travel Market Report. While the 2019 series of WUATA parties were successful, Perez and his team wanted to cover more ground in 2020.
The parties will start in April. Seventy-two of the 100 parties are already scheduled through June and are “all over the place” in Canada, the U.S., and the Caribbean including one in Barbados where Carnival Fascination does duel embarkation during its seven-day sailing schedule from San Juan.
The WUATA parties will be paired with 2020’s other initiative from Carnival, “100 Reasons Why Use a Travel Advisor,” which features 100 different giveaways, events, rewards and more to boost travel advisors and help them strengthen relationships with their clients. That campaign will also feature “100 Rockin’ Rewards,” a promotion that will allow Carnival’s partners to earn an extra 100 reward points for every five bookings they make with Carnival’s Loyalty Rocks program between Jan. 13 and Feb. 29, 2020, up to 1,000 points.
With all these events, Perez said, Carnival wants to help the trade remain the single-largest distribution channel for Carnival.
“I’ve been at Carnival since I was literally in high school – I’ve always had a big respect for travel agents since I can remember. I realized that not only Carnival but the cruise industry would not be where it is today had it not been from the support of advisors when it started initially,” Perez told Travel Market Report.
“WUATA helps strengthen the channel, which is obviously important when we have the capacity we have now with Radiance and Sunrise. The only way I can expect their support is if I support them as well,” he said.


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The iPhone 14 series of phones gets another year of free SOS satellite communication
When the iPhone 14 series of phones was launched, Apple promised its users two years of free emergency SOS satellite communication, but now it is extending the service for another year. This feature allows users to contact emergency services in areas without mobile connectivity.
However, while the entire iPhone 14 series of phones is getting this service extension, it still won’t be available to everyone. Apple specifies that the free version will be extended only to users who have activated their device in a country that supports emergency SOS satellite communication before November 15, 2023 at 12:00 PM Pacific Time.
This means that, although Serbia is not on the list of countries that support the mentioned satellite communication, you can still get an extension of this service if you have activated the device in: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Great Britain or the USA.
Interestingly, Apple is extending this service at no additional charge, but still does not specify how much it will cost after the free trial period ends.


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- As the industry grows, the quick grab for talent in the cannabis industry may be pressuring other retail categories. With more than 1,500 job postings on Glassdoor in December of last year, the marijuana industry has seen a 76% increase in openings over a twelve-month period, the site noted in a recent report. Even though current federal regulation outlaws its sale and use, statewide initiatives legalizing marijuana have allowed the industry to expand. Support for legalization has reached a "record high" of 66% of Americans in favor; 33 states have either legalized it for either medicinal or recreational use, Glassdoor noted.
- To compete, median salaries in the industry are more than 10% higher than the U.S. median, coming in at around $58,511 per year. The majority of open jobs listed on the site were for professional and technical workers, including people specializing in marketing, accounting and more, but the most in-demand jobs were all service and retail-oriented jobs, such as sales associates and brand ambassadors.
- Most jobs are posted by small or medium businesses in particular localities, but the most in-demand jobs in cannabis may be in direct competition with similar jobs in retail, hospitality and restaurants, putting even more pressure on employers in today's tight talent market.
Cannabis is one of the top growth industries in the U.S., and not because of the need to grow its product line. The trade is seeing expansion across the country as more states and localities legalize its consumption. For many in the industry, talent shortages may continue to drive wages up, even for entry-level positions, to keep pace with growing consumer demand — an interesting snapshot into how a developing industry is both grappling with and directly impacting the talent market.
Talent shortage is considered a top risk for organizations going into 2019, a recent Gartner survey revealed, and the marijuana industry only makes an already tough retail and hospitality market tougher. High wages in the industry could spread in localities where marijuana jobs are prevalent. And salary is one of the top reasons job seekers set out to find new opportunities.
Training in the industry is providing a road map for many emerging trades, however. As states and municipalities scramble to keep pace with pending legislation, schools, training facilities and certification programs are popping up to address what many believe will be an influx of more than half a million new jobs in the marijuana industry in the next six years.