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The other reason is that a large chunk of effective retail price comprises taxes which are levied equally on fuel sold by all companies. The Delhi retail price of petrol, for instance, is almost 49 per cent excise and value added taxes. This leaves little scope for sellers to manoeuvre retail price.
Deepak Mahurkar, partner and leader, India oil and gas industry practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers, however, said mark-ups are expected to lower, and reducing cost to service will become the focus for suppliers. “Significantly, the consumer in this segment never sees the product or feels. Therefore, customer service and product prices are very important to compete. With more choices, competition is bound to set in,” he adds.
An IOC executive, however, said private retailers cannot sell at rates more than that of public sector undertakings (PSUs) because in that case, consumers would not buy from them. “Competition should have ensured private companies that claim more efficient crude oil procurement and refining should have been selling at lesser rate. This, however, has not happened,” he said.
Now, the scope of competition among non-PSUs hotting up is likely to increase, with more private companies coming into the market. But, there is also likely to be wooing of dealers in lucrative markets, which means that the commissions being offered to them goes up.
Mahurkar said the earlier Rs 2,000-crore investment requirement helped in two ways. At that time, India needed crude refining and exploration investment. “Therefore, to attract investment, offering lucrative retailing was the purpose. Also, retail is a socially sensitive segment. Authorising only serious private investors was necessary to supply with responsibility. Shell, BP, Haldia, Nayara, and now Total could qualify,” he said. The retail sector developed well when needed, including in remote areas owing to entry barrier protection provided to oil companies. Also, the government could pass on subsidies through PSUs unhesitatingly.
“Now that attracting investment and capacity creation is not an issue any more, the need to open up the sector was felt by the government leading to various actions since 2002, like price decontrol and a significant one now of lowering the entry barrier,” said Mahurkar.
The new criterion of Rs 250-crore net worth ostensibly is different than the old one of qualifying serious and heavily invested in India players. “The government now wants to ensure uninterrupted consumer supply. Being a sizeable investment and a long supply chain, only those who can fund operations should enter,” said Mahurkar. The retailers and dealers invest upfront in land, construction of storage, forecourts, dispensers, and safety provisions.
Russian state-owned Rosneft-promoted Nayara Energy, which is the largest fuel retailer with 5,128 outlets, for instance, states on its website that apart from the cost of land, the average investment in an outlet ranges between Rs 70 lakh and Rs 1 crore, depending on the size of the retail outlet and the services provided.
Mahurkar also pointed out the government wants to ensure safety, prevent adulteration and pilferage, and ensure quality and quantity through regulations and standards. “In an open market, these aspects get better due to competitive pressure, too.”


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Tweets on Wendy Davis ad assailing Abbott dissent in case linked to rape
Last week, we rated as Mostly True a claim by Wendy Davis about Greg Abbott’s position in a case involving a rape. See that fact check here and to the right.
See Davis’s ad here. Below we’re sharing tweets that went up after we posted the article, starting with our initial Twitter post of the article:

domain: news


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343 Industries is listening to PC gamers, but right now the only plans they have are to bring Halo: The Master Chief Collection and 2015's Halo 5: Guardians to Xbox One.
"We're listening to the PC fans, but right now this is all focused on Xbox One," 343 Industires general manager Bonnie Ross told Eurogamer. That's not to say they couldn't be released for PC in the future though.
Xbox consoles have always been the home for the Halo franchise, but the series has seen some of its games released on PC. Halo: Combat Evolved came to PC in 2033, while Halo 2 arrived in 2007. On top of that, 343 Industries released Halo: Spartan Assault on Steam this year. So the history is there.
I've played both Combat Evolved and Spartan Assault on PC in the past, but for me the optimal Halo experience has always been on Xbox. I'm sure there will be some petition to port it to PC though.


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Germany is stepping up its push for electric vehicles (EVs). Early this summer, the country passed a law that requires all new car registrations must be zero emissions, meaning EVs. Realizing the only way to meet the goals from the Paris global warming agreement is to go further than curbing internal combustion sales in just one country, Germany is now going to push for the same EV requirement by 2030 for all Europe, according to Electrek.
Germany has pledged to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 80 to 95 percent by 2050. In order to meet that pledge, new car registrations of gas and diesel powered cars need to stop by 2030. If the campaign is successful, the government estimates it will take about 20 years for existing internal combustion powered cars to get off the road.
In addition to setting a cutoff for gas-powered sales, in April Germany established an incentive program to speed up the manufacture and purchase of EVs. The key feature of the program is a 4,000 euro ($4,480 U.S.) incentive program for people who buy all-electric vehicles. The incentive is in the form of a discount from the purchase price and is paid directly to the dealer. This discount is money paid directly and immediately, unlike a tax credit or tax deduction.
Germany’s two largest automotive manufacturers, Daimler and Volkswagen, have already made their electric vehicle program strategies public. Volkswagen announced a goal of manufacturing two to three million EVs annually by 2025, including more than 30 new “purely battery-powered electric vehicles.”
In June Daimler pledged to develop more environmentally friendly designs for all powertrains. Mercedes-Benz introduced the all-electric Generation EQ concept SUV, at the 2016 Paris Motor Show. The EQ is the first of many models to be built on Mercedes’ new electric car dedicated platform.
The decision to push for a 2030 Europe-wide ban on new gas-powered cars, published by Der Spiegel, is a step forward but doesn’t carry the weight of law. Germany, however, is influential with EU Commission headquartered in Brussels, which can push for wider spread regulations, which in turn will make such laws easier for its constituent countries to enact.
- Pros and cons of buying a used electric car
- 9 longest-range plug-in hybrids: get the best of both worlds
- How much does an electric car battery cost?
- Why you should consider a plug-in hybrid in 2023
- Tesla Destination Chargers vs. Superchargers: What’s the difference?


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2019 WCA wine media cadetship opens for entries
The 2019 Wine Communicators of Australia (WCA) wine media cadetship, aimed at aspiring journalists with an ambition for specialising in the wine sector, is now open for applications.
Now in its third year under the new format, the cadetship presents a platform for young wine media to take the next step in their budding communication careers.
The cadetship is run by Wine Communicators of Australia – a national organisation for wine industry professionals – and is sponsored through the Adelaide a Great Wine Capital initiative funded by Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA), the South Australian Wine Industry Association, South Australian Tourism Commission and Brand South Australia.
The six-month program involves opportunities to participate in a range of practical experiences including media development workshops, attendance at international and domestic wine events, media placements and mentorship within the wine industry and an opportunity to meet key wine influencers as part of the activities within the Great Wine Capitals program.
WCA Chair, Angus Barnes said: "We are delighted to have the support of Adelaide a Great Wine Capitals and the SA wine industry to offer this unique experience to the next generation of wine media for the third year running. This year’s program will provide the cadet with a range of exceptional wine experiences, both locally and overseas."
Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Tim Whetstone said South Australia’s $2.15 billion wine industry has many important stories to share.
“South Australia is known as a premium wine producing state and home to many internationally renowned wineries,” he noted.
“Through this cadetship there is not only promotion of South Australian wines abroad but also the inspiring stories of regional communities supporting the industry.
“This initiative is another element of the Great Wine Capital Global Network, providing opportunities for the next generation of wine leaders.”
About the WCA Wine Media Cadetship Program
In 2019, the South Australian WCA wine media cadet program will be awarded to a single recipient and will provide them with the opportunity to work with leading wine and media professionals. The program will take place between July and December 2019.
Applications are open to professionals with an interest in wine media aged between 25-40 years of age that reside in South Australia and have a current passport.
Registrations are open until Friday, May 17, 2019.
Click here to apply
Pictured main: Lieke van der Hulst was named 2018 Wine Communicators of Australia (WCA) Wine Media Cadet.


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Facebook is becoming more and more serious about video, to the point that it doesn't want the lack of mobile data to impede its users' watching habits.
The social media company is reportedly testing a brand-new feature that makes sure there's always something to watch — even with a spotty mobile connection. Called Instant Videos, the new feature will download videos in the background as long as the user is connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Then, when scrolling through the app, videos won't buffer or take too long to load because they're technically already stored locally. Instant Videos was first spotted by The Next Web's social media director, Matt Navarra, but Facebook itself later confirmed its existence to TechCrunch, briefly explaining what it's for.
Facebook Is Testing Instant Videos: What Is It For?
Instant Videos have different purposes. First, it illustrates how much Facebook cares about video. The company only recently released the dedicated video tab to U.S. Facebook accounts. It's meant to be a platform for original shows sponsored by Facebook, in addition to various video content from media partners. What better way to push its video efforts further by making sure its users have constant, fast access to them?
Second, and most important, pre-downloading videos over Wi-Fi will save cellular data costs, and it might even encourage viewing Facebook videos when on mobile. Some people, especially those under strict data usage plans, are often wary of using their mobile data willy-nilly, because they don't want to be surprised with their phone bill at the end of the month. Having the videos already there means watching them won't eat into a user's data plan.
Facebook Instant Videos: Availability
Facebook confirmed to TechCrunch that it's now testing Instant Videos with a select percentage of users using the Android app. There's still no indication as to when or if this feature will roll out widely. At present, it's all pretty vague, since it's not clear whether the new feature only works with videos found on the News Feed or also includes ones on the dedicated Facebook Watch tab.
The feature might not work on phones without extra storage to spare, however. To save videos, users obviously would need to have plenty of storage available. It's also not clear how Facebook plans to delete the videos since they obviously can't be stored on a user's device forever. Whether this is a feature one could simply choose to opt out or not also remains to be determined.
Do you like the idea behind Instant Videos? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!


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The CrystalRoc Samsung Galaxy Tab dazzles as the world’s most exclusive tablet computer
Right in time to gift your bling-loving geeky beloved this festive season, CrystalRoc has created the world’s most exclusive tablet computer. Samsung has commissioned CrystalRoc and Micro Anvika to give a dazzling makeover to the Galaxy Tab. Studded with 5700 Swarovski Bright Crystals, the CrystalRoc Samsung Galaxy Tab also boasts of a customized logo. All set to show up on coming Monday, the 1st November, it will be exclusively available at Harrods, London via Micro Anivka.


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Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev agreed with the proposal of the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova to suspend for a month the implementation of non-food products with an alcohol content of over 25%, with the exception of perfume and fluids, windshield washing fluids.
As reported “Interfax”, Medvedev said, responding to a proposal Popova. “If you think this decision is justified then maybe you need to take the decision of Rospotrebnadzor and Sanitary inspections, well and to monitor how it is implemented in anticipation of the big new year holidays,” — said the Prime Minister.
Earlier, the authorities of Irkutsk and Irkutsk region, where the mass poisoning occurred concentrate for taking baths “Hawthorn”, introduced in the region ban on the sale of those products. The head of the press service of the regional government Irina Aleshkevich said then that we are talking about the legal market.
December 22, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin offered to sell alcohol-containing medications in prescription. In addition, he added that he will be eliminated vending machines with alcohol-containing substances. The Minister of health of Russia Veronika Skvortsova said that the Ministry has not yet resolved the issue of prescription sale of alcohol-containing preparations. According to her, valokordin, Corvalol, tincture of hawthorn and other medications taken by seniors and the elderly. Skvortsova said that the Ministry has developed other measures to combat the use of alcohol-containing preparations not intended.
Information about the mass poisoning in Irkutsk began to arrive on December 18. As of Friday morning, December 23, the number of victims in Irkutsk grew to 74 people in hospitals are 122 people. The mass poisoning occurred after the inhabitants of one of microdistricts of the city bought and drank alcohol bath concentrate “Hawthorn”. In this case, the packaging was a warning label about the ban on the use of liquid inside.
The investigative Committee opened a criminal case under part 3 of article 238 of the criminal code (production, storage, and distribution of goods and products that do not meet the requirements of safety, entailed on imprudence death of two and more persons). In the present case were arrested 11 people.


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Six foreign companies will certainly invest in Macedonia this year, deputy PM and minister of finance Zoran Stavreski said in an interview for state news agency MIA. An IT company plans to open a facility in Skopje and will employ 1,100 people, he said. A German automotive industry firm will build a factory in Veles that will create 600 jobs. A European company from the automotive industry also announced the opening of a factory that will employ 250 to 400 workers. This investor has not selected a location yet, with the choice being among Skopje, Stip and Ohrid.
Stavreski did not disclose the names of these three firms. Three Turkish companies will also launch investments this year, opening 600 new jobs, he added. This information likely refers to the investments by the medical product manufacturers Matek Medical, Istem Medical and Total that were officially announced earlier in 2013.
The minister also said they are negotiating with several other companies from the automotive industry and the electronics sector among others.
Macedonia’s Public Prosecutor's Office said on December 1 it has discovered the biggest laboratory producing synthetic drugs in Southeast Europe in the northwestern city of Tetovo. The lab, ... more
Bulgarian state-owned gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz and Macedonian energy company MER Skopje have signed an agreement on the start of a ... more


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The Brocade beauty pageant
The network equipment maker is reportedly shopping for a suitor. So who's most likely to come a-courtin'?
SAN FRANCISCO (Fortune) -- Larry Ellison does not have a hankering to add Brocade Communication Systems to his long list of acquisitions.
At least that is what he told investors at Oracle's annual shareholder conference Wednesday. "We have no interest in buying Brocade," the Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) chief said in response to a question from an investor.
Brocade (BRCD), which makes switches, routers and software used in networking, has quietly put itself up for sale, according to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal. The report pointed the finger at Hewlett Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500) and Oracle as likely acquirers.
Shares in Brocade are up about 18% since the news hit. You can almost imagine someone, somewhere rubbing their hands together and cackling as their plan unfolds exactly as planned.
Is Brocade for sale? Sure it is, and always has been for the right price. The company, which had net income of $167 million on revenue of $1.5 billion in its fiscal 2008, does have the heft and product diversity to continue as an independent company.
But with a wave of consolidation going on in technology and recent takeout premiums as high as 60%-plus to share prices, now is a good time for Brocade to "quietly" make its intentions known to everyone.
"Interest in Brocade is picking up, and it is unlikely the company put itself up for sale in the absence of third-party interest," Goldman Sachs analyst Min Park told clients. "Brocade is a likely strategic fit for a number of potential acquirers." Park includes Hewlett Packard, Juniper (JNPR), Dell (DELL, Fortune 500), IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) and Oracle among those.
If the trend in pricing for similar strategic companies continues, demonstrated most recently by the 61% premium Dell offered for Perot Systems (PER), and the 34% bonus above the 12-month high EMC (EMC, Fortune 500) bought Data Domain for (which, if you look at it another way, was 222% higher than the stock's 12-month low), an offer price for Brocade could come anywhere in a range of $10 to $15 a share. That is, of course, if Brocade can get a bidding war going.
Goldman Sachs' Min, who has a "buy" rating on the stock, upped his 12-month target price to $10.50 from $9.50 based on the potential acquisition news, he estimates there is a 30% probability on a 35% acquisition premium to Brocade's current share price.
So who is most likely to jump at Brocade? Dell has Perot Systems to digest, so it may not be in the mood. It would be a stretch for Juniper financially. HP certainly has the cash, and its EDS acquisition is well underway. So it's a strong possibility. IBM has the wherewithal too, though perhaps not the stomach for more hardware.
And what about Oracle? It's possible that Ellison means exactly what he says -- that he's not interested, especially given his focus on Sun (JAVA, Fortune 500). But you can never count him out. If this is the beginning of some M&A courtship involving multiple suitors, there is no one better than Ellison at walking away with the prize (especially if he can make IBM's life miserable in the process).


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Plant-based, Paleo, probiotics, prebiotics, antibiotics, GMO, gluten-free, organic, all-natural, cleanses, detoxification, supplement, don’t supplement. Pretty confusing right? What is truly healthy and what is not? What is missing in the healthcare system that can treat your pain safely and effectively? Weekly articles explore trending topics, dig into the science, and debunk myths while giving you a sustainable approach to eliminate pain and improve your long-term health, function and vitality.
By: Jonathan Tait, D.O.
Is our health doomed?
That is a question I was asked over a week ago by a patient, but it is still stuck in my head.
The answer is that it could be (if you live in the United States) in large part because as a country there has been little emphasis placed on improving and safe-guarding the quality of what ends up on your plate, and in turn in your body.
In a recent Washington Post article by Mark Bittman, Michael Pollan (both New York Times best selling authors), Ricardo Salvador (director of the food and environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists), and Olivier De Schutter (Professor of International Human Rights Law), they make this damning assessment:
“The food system and diet it’s created have caused incalculable damage to the health of our people and our land, water, and air. If a foreign power were to do such harm, we’d regard it as a threat to national security, if not an act of war, and the government would formulate a comprehensive plan and marshal resources to combat it.”
The health and environmental impact of our food is a mounting concern, but little action has been taken they suggest because as of right now we do not have a comprehensive food policy. We have separate policies to address food safety or green house emissions, but no unified policy to oversee the largest part of our economy – the food industry.
How could that be? Well, the simple answer is that the food industry, specifically big agriculture business, has powerful influence on policies to make sure they don’t hurt the bottom line. When I say agriculture business I’m not talking fruits and vegetables, I’m talking about high fructose corn syrup and refined grains that get packed into all of those delectable sugary treats – soda and junk food.
Another great example from the article:
“…the federal recommendations for the American diet, known as MyPlate recommends a diet of 50 percent vegetables and fruits, the administration devotes less than 1 percent of farm subsidies to support the research, production and marketing of these foods. More than 60 percent of the funding subsidizes the production of corn and other grains – food that is mostly fed to animals, converted to fuel for cars or processed into precisely the sort of junk the first lady is urging us to avoid.”
Is it becoming clear now why the organic fruit and vegetable section in the average grocery store is smaller than a smart car? Which then shouldn’t come as a surprise that the soda and junk food isles course through the heart of the store like Willy Wonka’s milk chocolate river – tempting you the consumer to dive right in.
“The government now finds itself in the absurd position of financing both sides of the war on Type 2 diabetes…….subsidizes soda with one had, while the other writes check to pay for insulin pumps. This is not policy; this is insanity.”
The two biggest problems I see in health care that will cripple the system, and millions of people, in the coming years is obesity and pain. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 50% of the U.S. population is overweight, and more than one-third are obese. It is estimated that more than 116 million people (greater than one-third) of the population is living with some kind of daily pain.
Do you think the two might have a relationship?
I do, and it is more than a casual fling. They have been in a decades-long unhealthy marriage that is going to get more ugly in the years to come.
And although we would hope they wouldn’t produce any offspring and subject them to this toxic environment, it is too late.
Their teenagers and live-in-the basement twenty-something’s are contributing to the worst health crisis we have ever seen at such a young age – diabetes, heart disease, chronic pain, opioid addiction, and disability.
Again, from the article:
“Because of unhealthy diets, 100 years of progress in improving public health and extending lifespan has been reversed. Today’s children are expected to live shorter lives than their parents.”
Despite being the most powerful country in the world, other countries such as our neighbors to the south, Mexico, have better national food policies than we have currently.
Where it goes from here, and how your health may be affected, is still in your control.
You can choose what you put in your body.
You can support local farmers rather than big agriculture.
You can raise some awareness at the local and state level.
You can choose to have better health, and take action today.
Maybe in time we can all create enough noise that someone in a big White House in Washington has to listen. Maybe before we are all swept down the chocolate river.


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Swedish and MIT researchers have developed new fibers, called OmniFibers, that could become a major breakthrough in health smart technology. By sensing and then pressurizing internal tubes of fluid, the fibers can monitor and provide tactile feedback about the wearer’s muscle contractions when they breathe.
OmniFibers are thin and comfortable to wear—resembling polyester—rather than overly stiff and hot like previous iterations of wearable smart fibers. Because they are thinner, more comfortable, more responsive, and less expensive than earlier smart fibers, OmniFibers hold promise for a wide variety of applications that could benefit from real-time respiration muscle feedback.
The first goal is to develop a wearable breathing regulation garment.
The idea behind a smart breathing control garment is for the device to observe the wearer’s breathing patterns and provide guidance for improvement using pressure or vibration. Researchers tested their prototype by training an OmniFiber undergarment to recognize the respiratory patterns of an expert opera singer. Their goal was for the garment to learn the opera singer’s breath techniques. The garment could then be used to provide feedback to an untrained singer to train the novice to emulate the respiration of the expert.
The researchers initially chose to focus on singing, but they recognize opportunities for many other applications. For example, OmniFibers could be worn by highly skilled athletes to capture the breathing patterns, similar to what is being offered by Ralph Lauren’s smart shirt, which uses silver-coated thread. They could then be used to help less-skilled athletes improve their performance.
More importantly, OmniFibers could be valuable to the medical community. People recovering from surgeries, collapsed lungs, and other respiratory conditions often struggle to re-learn breathing patterns during recovery. The COVID-19 pandemic has also sadly left many victims with lung damage in its wake. The developers of OmniFibers hope that the technology could soon be used to help medical patients breathe easier and regain lung function more quickly than they would without the in-depth and personalized help offered by a smart breathing-control garment.
Breathing patterns are just the beginning for this fiber technology.
Imagine a smart glove that could help artists capture the perfect brush stroke technique through immediate hand and finger muscle feedback. Or, think of a weightlifter trying to master perfect lifting form after a debilitating injury. Smart fibers could capture movement data from accomplished artists and un-injured lifters and help trainees mimic those optimal movements.
The doors that may be opened soon are numerous. As soon as this technology becomes readily available, the potential for developing other smart products with life-changing implications will skyrocket.
Photo courtesy of Ralph Lauren


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The Show wants your Arizona-inspired haikus! Here's how to send your poems.
Mother Of Baby Found In Amazon Bathroom Released Without Bail
The woman who left a newborn baby in a south Phoenix Amazon distribution center bathroom last week has been released without bail.
In a court appearance Tuesday night, the 22-year-old Amazon employee said she didn’t know she was pregnant and panicked after giving birth on her lunch break.
Prosecutors say there is no evidence the woman harmed the child and a medical examiner is investigating the woman’s claim that the child was stillborn.


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Technology and innovation are getting to be integral aspects of business control. Recent innovations in technology have increased the need for advanced businesses to deal with and shop for technologies that will increase output, drive down costs and simplify operations. Improvements in program and hardware have made it easy for companies to reap gains from fresh technologies and not having to spend on research and development. Innovations in Information Technology may also help business organizations to take on cutting-edge approaches. There has been a paradigm switch in the manner through which companies are spending their THIS investments, corresponding to estimations from a newly released McKinsey research. The article points out that a lot of companies have never fully appreciated the full great things about IT investment opportunities, even after 25 years of investment.
Technology and innovation will be integral to the survival of businesses, no matter the nature within the industry they are simply operating in. Actually medium-sized and small businesses need innovation and technological administration to stay ahead of competition, and continue to be relevant in a world where customers’ needs and wishes are frequently changing. Taking care of technology and development requires proper planning, and a clear understanding of the consumers’ market strategy. Innovation is certainly not an self-employed growth trend that can come up without a tactical view. Handling technology and guaranteeing it visits aligned which has a business’s proper goals and objectives needs thorough familiarity with the market, a well-developed inside team framework, and regular evaluation with the investments in technology. The various elements that have an impact on a business ability to take care of technology and innovate consist of its customer base, the sector trends, organization profitability, and investment in technology.
Integrating technology in business procedures requires more than just investing in the most up-to-date technology with a tested track record. There are multiple investment funds to make prior to implementing virtually any new concepts. Management must ensure that most departments are committed to bettering efficiency and reducing the risk of obsolescence. Business administration pros specializing in technology management, along with marketing, business research, information devices, engineering, and finance are definitely the key people to consider when managing technology and technology.
Handling technology in business should start towards the top. For firms such as Ms and Apple, it started with their inventor, and still carries on today, with their CEO and CFO. Doctor Larry Web page and Mr. Stanford had been computer scientific research majors in Harvard University, and founded Google. They will applied their knowledge of coding languages and search engine optimization to create one of the most powerful companies in the internet’s our childhood.
Arthurda Maitland-Green, a professor at Harvard University’s Medical Institution and Section of Neurology, highlights the value of including technologies in different levels. “You can’t create a technology that works panoramic, ” he said. “You need to have specific capabilities at each level, and next you need to size up your capabilities based on what you’re looking to achieve near the top of the organization. inches
Technology is a method of rapidly growing and developing, particularly in the business space. It is about us, while business managers, to keep up with this and put into practice it inside our operations. Some great benefits of technology management will be numerous, which range from eliminating copying across every area of manufacturing, to saving in cost, to promoting cooperation, to reducing the risk of damage in production, also to simply creating greater overall flexibility in functioning practices. Equally importantly, being a manager ciaocafe.tw employed in an innovative firm, you need to be certain you’re talking your advancement as obviously as possible. “The goal isn’t only to converse the technology, but likewise to demonstrate so why it’s a good idea, and just how it will advantage everyone involved, ” stated Mr. Maitland-Green.


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Spec Ops: The Line's director speaks out on the game's Steam delisting
Over the last few years, the gaming world has seen a pretty depressing trend start to take hold. Without so much as a warning, it has become clear that game developers and producers can strip their games from online storefronts, suddenly making them inaccessible to those who haven't previously downloaded them.
Game preservation is on the chopping block, and the teams that created them are those holding the axe. It's pretty brutal - and players have been shocked as another example of it taking hold has come for a truly iconic game.
Spec Ops: The Line's director speaks out about leaving Steam
The shock removal of Spec Ops: The Line from digital stores hit pretty hard for some fans, especially as its now-relevant commentary on the collateral damage seen in warfare is immensely impactful. Now, the game's director has come forward to comment on the title dropping from the platforms.
"Devastating personally, but also for those who poured their souls into its creation alongside me as developers, and for the gaming community at large,” says Cory Davis, taking to Twitter. "This is not the end for Spec Ops: The Line."
It sounds as though the director intends to remedy this situation in some way, either by speaking to the digital stores that it was pulled from, or finding a new way to welcome Spec Ops: The Line to players. Either way, the move from the storefront was shocking, and it's a sad result for a game of this stature.
Why was Spec Ops: The Line delisted?
It seems as though the game was pulled from digital storefronts as a result of licensing issues, as reported by 2K. "Spec Ops: The Line will no longer be available on online storefronts, as several partnership licenses related to the game are expiring," says a representative of the company.
"Players who have purchased the game can still download and play the game uninterrupted. 2K would like to thank our community of players who have supported the game, and we look forward to bringing you more offerings from our label throughout this year and beyond."
It's good that owners still have access to the game, but it's still frustrating that the game is lost for now. When the game comes back, we expect it'll bite back harder than ever.


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Digital foreign money and funds platform Zumo has appointed its first chief expertise officer because it prepares to launch new merchandise later this 12 months.
Tim Sabanov, who was beforehand Lead Technical Architect with Zumo, assumes his position instantly and can oversee the event and roll-out of recent merchandise, together with a debit card that converts cryptocurrencies to conventional currencies like pound sterling.
Sabanov brings ten years of management in offering options to corporations working with blockchain applied sciences and specialises in funds, monetary providers and fintech.
He was most not too long ago Full Stack Blockchain Developer with Slovenian-based app specialist D.Labs, additionally working with mungoparc, SPRD.digital and Zabec.web.
Since becoming a member of Zumo in January 2020, he has led the event of the Zumo App, ZumoKit Enterprise Options platform, and most not too long ago, the Zumo Smartfolio, which allows customers to view and handle their total cryptocurrency belongings seamlessly and calculates alternatives to maximise the shopping for positions for person’s portfolio.
Sabanov mentioned: “Zumo is main the sector in offering applied sciences that democratise entry to monetary providers. What makes Zumo totally different, nonetheless, is the non-custodial strategy it takes in its platforms, which means that whether or not you’re a enterprise working on the ZumoPay funds platform, or a client on the Zumo App, you might be really in command of your personal funds.
“We’re simply starting to grasp the potential use circumstances of blockchain expertise which is why I’m delighted to take up this put up and assist additional Zumo’s mission to deliver the advantages of good cash to everybody.”
Co-founder and CEO of Zumo Nick Jones mentioned: “Tim is a frontrunner in blockchain applied sciences of really world stature and his expertise will take our merchandise to the subsequent stage.”
Earlier this month, Zumo celebrated 25,000 registrations on the Zumo App, which Tim helped launch final summer time.
This development largely got here from a major drive to usher in new customers, which noticed it add 10,000 new app signups in December. Between the app’s launch in June and November, the corporate had recorded round 10,000 app downloads.
DIGIT’S 2021 #virtualevents calendar:
📅 #MarTech Summit https://t.co/JkViHnOzbF Wed 24 Feb
📅 ScotSecure #CyberSecurity Summit https://t.co/JaD886wGh9 24/ 25 Mar
📅 #DigitalEnergy Summit https://t.co/thGSfrBqlM 22 Apr
📅 DIGIT #Leader Summit https://t.co/alC1xjRvtW 26 Might pic.twitter.com/XXGqh5Braw
— DIGIT (@digitfyi) January 18, 2021
A part of their scheme noticed clients rewarded with 0.02 ethereum (at the moment value round £20) for referring now customers.
As well as, an August crowdfunding marketing campaign by the corporate beat its £1 million goal in 4 days.
Curiosity in cryptocurrency funding has grown through the years, using two main waves within the worth of Bitcoin, the best profile token. After hitting file highs in late 2017, adopted by a subsequent crash, Bitcoin hit a new record firstly of this 12 months when it reached near £30,000, about twice the earlier file.


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Poles are forking out more on Christmas every year, according to experts.
“All available data clearly shows that Poles are spending more and more on Christmas every year,” said Dr. Mariusz Woźniakowski from the Faculty of Management at the University of Łódź in central Poland.
He added: “Of course, the estimates vary, but this year it is expected that the average Polish family will spend between PLN 1,200 (EUR 280, USD 320) and PLN 1,700 on Christmas, of which up to 40 percent will be spent on presents.”
The types of gifts favoured by Poles have not changed for years, according to Woźniakowski.
“Most often these are cosmetics, books, toys for children and increasingly these days clothes and small electronic items,” he said.
Meanwhile, Poles are increasingly turning to the internet to do their shopping.
According to Woźniakowski, the Polish e-commerce market is estimated to be worth from PLN 36 billion (EUR 8.4 bn, USD 9.5 bn) to PLN 40 billion a year.
Data indicates that Poles’ spending on Christmas presents is growing at a rate of just over 3 percent annually, while online spending on gifts is increasing almost 9 percent every year, Woźniakowski was cited as saying by the PAP news agency.
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Nikon NF-300i is glassess free 3D stereoscopic picture frame powered by Android.3D images can be viewed with naked eye by Nikon NF-300i photo frame.Nikon NF-300i photo frame offers a calender,clock,weather forecast,RSS reader,Web browser and many more……
Acer is the world’s second-largest personal computer maker by shipments after Hewlett-Packard Co.Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci told Dow Jones Newswire that it will be launching its first line of tablet PCs in New York City on November 23rd, priced from $299 to $699 each.
Engadget have got their hands on a prototype PlayStation PSP phone which you all have been waiting for.It has been rumored as Sony’s next big move in handhelds.PlayStation Phone by Sony Ericsson which is expected to hit retail shelves somewhere between the end of 2010, and early 2011.
Barnes and Noble will be revealing a second generation series for its older black-and-white Nook e-reader and this one will be a colored e-reader with some functionalities that will incorporate an e-reader and tablet under a single device.The name of the new e-reader will be Nook Color.
Angry Birds is is one of the most popular games in the Android device.It has got over 2 million users of it’s first weekend of release.Many are looking for a way past a select few levels that they are stuck on.But you can unlock the different worlds of the game without having to beat each level. And since some of those pigs are impossible to smash, you’ll probably end up doing this.
Google has officially confirmed the next version of Android named as ‘Gingerbread’.A giant size Gingerbread man was brought in to be placed at Google’s Headquarters in Mountain View, California.The Gingerbread man joins Froyo, Eclair, Donut and Cupcake at the Google Campus.
Finally Samsung has been getting together an Android-based media player naming as Galaxy Player 50.Samsung device will be unique in that it supports official Google apps like Google Maps,YouTube and Gmail through the Android Market.
DigiTimes suggests that Google recently contacted its partners with news that engineering samples of Android 3.0 will be ready by December and manufacturers such as Samsung, Motorola, Acer, Asustek Computer and Micro-Star International will have Gingerbread tablets in hand to show off at CES in January, 2011.It also reported that Android 4.0 will launch in the second half of 2011.
T-Mobile release myTouch ROM HD and 4G version.You can see the Genius button in action, along with voice commands, Google Maps, HD video recording, video chat, HD video output and Android 2.2 in action……
The Tech Journal is a technology news website that covers consumer technology news. We aim to provide you with latest information about what's going in the consumer technology industry. Over time, we want to grow in a technology news portal providing you with news, information and tools to help make your way through the tech clutter.


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We've already seen a prototype for the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 coupe, and now a photographer has spotted the drop-top version being tested. Like the coupe, we expect the convertible to be powered by the heavy-hitting LT4 supercharged V-8 engine.
Notable exterior bits bulging through the prototype's camo include a front lip spoiler, extended side sills, split-spoke alloy wheels, and a larger rear wing. Those new pieces will likely increase the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 convertible's curb appeal and aerodynamics over even the SS model.
While we expect the new 2017 Camaro ZL1 to be powered by a version of the supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 V-8 found in the current Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and Cadillac CTS-V, GM hasn't revealed official power ratings for the muscle car. The LT4 makes 650 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque in the Corvette Z06 and 640 hp and 630 lb-ft in the CTS-V.
The supercharged 6.2-liter LSA V-8 in the outgoing Camaro ZL1 was rated 580 hp and 556 lb-ft, which was more powerful than the same engine in the last-generation CTS-V (556 hp, 551 lb-ft), but less powerful than the LS9 in the last-generation Corvette ZR1 (638 hp, 600 lb-ft).
Production of the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 coupe and convertible are expected to begin next summer to go on sale for the 2017 model year.
This article originally appeared on MSN.


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Samsung is reportedly (via WSJ) preparing for a smart home control interface that uses your smart TV to recognize basic hand gestures, directed at the objects you actually want to control. So, for example, it would allow you to point at a lamp to turn it off or on, or to other nearby objects to affect them in different ways.
The shift is a bit of an extension of what Samsung already offers, which is basic gesture control of their smart televisions, but turning the TV itself into a sort of smart home hub. The report from the WSJ claims that Samsung is in talks with VTouch, a tech startup that creates the gesture control software, which explains how its so-called “virtual touch” interaction software would replace on-screen controls and manual reports with the finger tip and pointing.
Typically, these control interfaces haven’t been huge successes with users, but that’s down to performance being inconsistent and not entirely accurate. VTouch tells the WSJ that its version of gesture interaction is better because it takes into account not only the hand motions themselves, but also a user’s eye movements, to help prevent detection of accidental input and better determine user intent.
VTouch says that its tech should make its way to shipping TV sets by 2016, and those will be Samsung sets if the deal goes through and these talks continue. The ability to control devices that aren’t necessarily themselves ‘smart,’ through the use of a central hub like a camera-enabled smart TV makes a lot of sense, in terms of ushering in the smart home to the general consumer population within the next few years.
Samsung won’t be alone in chasing this evolution of consumer tech, either. Microsoft is already doing much more with gesture control and user recognition with the Kinect on the Xbox One, and others are looking to make sure devices with embedded cameras and other sensors are more aware of the users who are interacting with them. That might not make every user comfortable, but it does mean there’s a large opportunity for unlocking the current limits on gesture control models.


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Grocery convenience is super important right now — from Walmart Grocery Delivery to Instacart to Amazon Now.
And at the same time, automakers and tech geniuses are working on perfecting self-driving cars.
As companies are trying to make deliveries faster than ever, with as little contact as possible, CVS has partnered with robotics company Nuro to see if a driverless car might be the way to bring you your prescriptions.
Get excited about this:
Robots are delivering prescriptions in Houston for free right now.
According to a CVS press release, customers in three different zip codes surrounding the CVS at 5430 Bissonnet St. in Bellaire Texas, can choose to have their prescriptions and other CVS items delivered via autonomous delivery.
CVS employees fill the vehicle with the order and send it on its way, delivered for free within 3 hours.
A robot that looks like a skinny SUV could show up to your house.
While Nuro and CVS be doing a lot of testing with a fleet of self-driving Toyota Priuses, customers may start to see a strange little car show up to their homes this month.
The R1 and R2 vehicles are as long and tall as a family SUV, but is really narrow — just over 3 feet wide — so people can navigate around it.
Built for deliveries, it can carry 242 lbs. of cargo.
Customers get their orders by entering a unique code.
When the vehicle arrives at its destination, the customer punches in a unique code to reveal the pre-bagged items inside.
We’ve talked about 8 Smart Ways to Get Groceries Without Going Into the Store, but this is next-level.
There’s a good chance CVS is planning a bigger rollout of autonomous delivery vehicles.
The Houston experiment will test whether or not CVS wants to expand this program, and since more than 76% of the U.S. population lives within 5 miles of a CVS Pharmacy, the driverless deliveries could be well-used.
And the chain’s recent partnership with UPS to deliver prescriptions via drone in Florida shows they’re dedicated to using new technologies.
Kroger has also used Nuro bots for deliveries.
Kroger has used Nuro bots to pilot test grocery delivery in Phoenix and Houston.
The pilot program has ended, and since Kroger has doubled-down on their relationship with grocery delivery service Instacart, it’s unclear if they’ll keep going with the program.


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Never before have we needed to be so dynamic
Mar 19, 2020 Comments (0)
‘Unprecedented times’ has been quoted a lot lately and certainly I have never experienced a national crisis on the level we’re seeing with coronavirus.
As we watch events unfolding, only history will reveal exactly how prepared we were for Covid-19 in terms of healthcare provisioning, feeding and supporting the nation, and business recovery.
Like others, I have been both shocked and humbled by the polar opposites of human behaviour these past few weeks but the one thing that has made me especially proud is how our sector has risen to the challenge of getting food and supplies out to people.
The Government appears to be trying to do its best in supporting businesses, relaxing food delivery curfews being just one example, and maybe going even further by allowing extensions to drivers’ hours.
To fulfil the increased demand on home deliveries, supermarkets have had to step up activity with brands like Morrisons reported to be recruiting a further 3,500 pickers, drivers and supports staff at its distribution centres and call centres.
But provisioning for colossal spikes in demand like this will not easy from either a recruitment perspective or a technology one, especially when no one knows how long this crisis will last. Recruits will need to be brought up to speed quickly with processes to minimise downtime, and this is where technology could certainly help with their tuition.
In a previous blog, I touched on how voice-directed warehousing could help reduce training times, achieve higher accuracy, efficiency and productivity and that’s what companies will be seeking right now. Attracting this great new swathe of pickers to supply the demand, especially a younger workforce, could prove a real challenge when jobs like picking can be repetitive. One way to make it more appealing is by equipping staff with technology they’re familiar with; Android.
Its familiar interface is fast and easy to use and workers can get up to speed in hours as opposed to days. New Android touchscreen devices can help operations work at full speed, by capturing multiple barcodes in one scan.
It’s technology like this that not only helps facilitate the training of new recruits but will also improve warehouse processing, enabling firms to better control their stock and send it where it’s needed most. You need full visibility of everything and it’ll be visibility solutions built on peerless Wi-Fi networks and RFID infrastructure that will give retailers and manufacturers the information and agility they need to capitalise on customer demands. Powerful mobility tools empower workers, boosting productivity in every inch of the warehouse.
At such a critical time, some of our customers have found that being able to increase the flexibility of their mobile computing solutions by renting the kit rather than laying out capital to buy it has really helped make them more dynamic.
While our own operational hubs are on lockdown we continue to support our 3000+ customer contracts. We have a duty to ensure the supply chains we support run smoothly. We’re all in this together, whether it’s supporting our business community or our own local community. A big thank you to all our frontline staff, we couldn’t do this without you.
Renovotec is the UK’s largest independent rugged hardware and maintenance, software and services company. Managing Director Richard Gilliard has helped lead the organisation for over 25 years, supporting customers across many sectors including warehousing and distribution, transport and logistics, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, seaports and field mobility. Richard's drive is to enable firms through…


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At Frankfurter Buchmesse this year: a trade fair supportive of free expression, diversity, and those who interpret these concepts for us.
The two-time German Book Prize nominee Sasha Salzmann will speak when Serhiy Zhadan is given the German Trade’s Peace Prize.
International Literature Festival Berlin’s day of Ukrainian readings is scheduled for September 7, the festival’s opening date.
The German Peace Prize board praises Ukrainian writer Serhiy Zhadan for his portrayal of wartime conflict and his humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
Yale University Press’ publication of Serhiy Zhadan’s book is translated by Reilly Costigan-Humes and Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler.
In Kharkiv, a book launch goes underground as Vivat Publishing releases ‘Go the F*ck to Sleep’ in Serhiy Zhadan’s Ukrainian translation.
Interview: Iryna Baturevych at the publishing magazine ‘Chytomo’ has launched an English-language edition for the world book business.
From these finalists for the PEN America Literary Awards, winners will be announced on April 8 and receive a total of more than US$380,000.
Having caught its stride in 2019, Ukraine’s book market now is weathering the pandemic—and opening a new translation grant for rights buyers.
Both the translation and poetry-in-translation prizes are included in the eight longlists released by PEN America for its 2020 literary awards program.
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JANUARY 13--Logical Solutions (Milford, CT; www.thinklogical.com), developer and manufacturer of server-management products, recently announced the positive resolution of the lawsuit filed by competitor Lantronix Inc. In June 2001, Lantronix acquired Lightwave Communications Inc. Following a period of employment with Lantronix, in the fall of 2002, many of the former shareholders and employees of Lightwave Communications began employment with a new company, Logical Solutions Inc. Shortly before the separation of their employment with Lantronix, the former shareholders of Lightwave Communications received a full and general release from all contractual obligations to Lantronix, specifically including a release and discharge of any contractual restrictions on competition. The release was signed by Lantronix president and CEO Marc Nussbaum in July 2002.
In March of 2003, Lantronix filed a lawsuit in the Connecticut Superior Court against Logical Solutions and eight of its shareholders and employees. Lantronix sought injunctive relief and substantial monetary damages, essentially claiming that Logical Solutions and its employees had violated contractual obligations, misappropriated trade secrets, and otherwise engaged in unfair trade practices. Shortly before trial, Lantronix voluntarily withdrew all of its claims against four of the eight individual defendants, and six of the 10 claims it originally made against the remaining four defendants.
On December 11, 2003, the court issued a ruling in favor of Logical Solutions and its shareholders on all claims asserted by Lantronix. The court specifically found that the defendants had not misappropriated trade secrets, improperly interfered with Lantronix's business relationships, or engaged in unfair competition or unfair trade practices. Instead, the court fully accepted the defendants' contention that they were entitled to compete in the console server market because they did not improperly use any trade secrets, and because Lantronix released them from any contractual obligations precluding direct competition.


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India's largest carmaker has just launched its updated car with a limited edition of Celerio in India. The company has launched this car with many cosmetic changes and new features.
The low-cost car is also Powerful and better than the mileage. There are many great features in this new Celerio while talking about its engine, the company has given a 1 litre 3 cylinder gasoline engine in this car.
This engine generates 67 bhp power and 90 Nm torque. Maruti Suzuki has given this speed 5-speed manual transmission. This was Maruti's first car in India which came with automatic transmission. The company named it Auto Gear Shift, after which many cars were launched with auto gearboxes.
This new update is not less than the case of car mileage, its petrol variants are 20.36 km/litre and CNG's 31.79 km/liter.


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Dodge is making things safer for police with the new 2016 Dodge Charger Pursuit. It’s taken the bulky laptop you often see sitting on the middle console and thrown it in the trunk.
Instead, Dodge is replacing the five-inch UConnect display and laptop mount in the with an enormous 12.1-inch, portrait-format touchscreen display. It’s called UConnect 12.1 and the new system doesn’t do away with the old fashioned computer outright. In the trunk, it can connect to the display via an Ethernet cable.
[image_slider] [image_items source=”https://www.carprousa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DG016_119CHjih4bikhs86o564v0vld02drj8-e1442376474811.jpg”] 2016 Dodge Charger Pursuit UConnect 12.1 [/image_items] [/image_slider]
The changes are good for a few reasons. For one, they makes things safer since the new system doesn’t obstruct front-driver and passenger air bags or interfere with occupant space. Dodge says initial feedback found that a traditional, center console-mounted laptop or screen often added dangerous impact points or could even interfere with airbag deployment during a crash. In addition, these third-party upfit solutions were considered distractive to the officer’s outward vision and line-of-sight. Ergonomics designed into the vehicle’s controls and even touchscreen displays were also hindered by the installation of these bulky devices.
Now all that goes away. While the Charger Pursuit will continue to offer redundant audio and HVAC controls, the 12.1-inch display can, at the press of a “button”, split to display Fiat Chrysler’s familiar 8.4-inch display. Make one more tap on the screen, and the police-issue laptop can be managed through the full touchscreen. The touchscreen will also display a menu bar at the top of the page, which can easily be edited by officers. All it takes is a simple drag and drop from the application menu to the top of the display. According to Dodge, the touchscreen will even play nice when its operator is wearing gloves.
“As America’s high-performance police vehicle, Dodge Charger Pursuit is going big for 2016, offering a massive, Uconnect touchscreen system that streamlines a law enforcement officer’s computer system with our easy-to-use Uconnect system – on an all-new laptop-sized 12.1-inch touchscreen display,” said Tim Kuniskis, Dodge and SRT’s president and CEO. “Designed and tested to Charger Pursuit’s stringent test requirements, our all-new Uconnect 12.1 system is the latest piece of tactical hardware that is neatly integrated into the instrument panel for a mobile command center that could only be delivered from Dodge.”
Other bonuses with the new tech system are that there are no pricey installation or upfitting charges, like there are for most laptop carriages. The plug-and-play nature of the new UConnect system won’t require departments to buy new laptops, and finally there’s no need to retrain officers, since the only thing that’s really changing is the input.


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March 20, 2019
2 Min Read
A view of the Turkey Hill plant in Conestoga, PA. Image courtesy of Google Maps
American food manufacturer and retailer The Kroger Company recently entered into an agreement to sell its Turkey Hill business and some related manufacturing assets to to an affiliate of private equity firm Peak Rock Capital, the companies announced in separate press releases Tuesday.
“We believe this is the right step to ensure the Turkey Hill business can meet its full potential and continue to grow its successful ice cream and beverage brands,” Kroger Manufacturing Group Vice President Erin Sharp said in a statement. “Throughout this process, we were extremely impressed with Peak Rock’s professionalism and vision for the future of the Turkey Hill business.”
Products sold under the Turkey Hill brand include ice cream and frozen desserts, dairy products, and variety of beverages. Under the terms of the deal, Peak Rock will take possession of a Turkey Hill processing plant in Conestoga, PA. Some 800 workers at the facility will be retained through the transfer of ownership.
“Turkey Hill represents an exciting opportunity to invest in a premier brand with an established reputation for quality, flavor variety, and authenticity, within the large and growing ice cream and refrigerated drinks space,” Robert Pistilli, managing director of Peak Rock, said in a release. “We are impressed with the accomplishments of the business under the stewardship of Kroger and look forward to completing a seamless transition of the business to a standalone entity and partnering with Turkey Hill’s management team to drive significant growth through continued product innovation.”
The sale of the business is slated to close in the first quarter of Kroger’s fiscal year. Following completion of the transaction, Kroger said it plans to use its after-tax proceeds to reduce its debt.
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A follow-up survey of soy sauce carried out by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has shown a significant improvement since the agency's previous survey in 2001.
The FSA, looking at the levels of the chemicals 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP in soy sauce on sale in shops, found that only 6 per cent of the samples taken contained unacceptable levels of 3-MCPD compared with nearly a quarter of the samples tested in 2001.
Steve Wearne, head of Chemical Contaminants at the Food Standards Agency, said: "This survey was carried out by the Food Standards Agency to see if companies had taken action since we found high levels of 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP in a significant number of soy sauce products last year. We are pleased that this survey shows that significant progress has been made.
"The results show how important it is that we do these surveys and how they can be a spur to action by manufacturers.
"There is no immediate risk from 3-MCPD and most people are not affected. You have to eat soy sauce with high levels of 3-MCPD regularly over many years for there to be a health risk, which is why this is an issue for the Chinese and South East Asian community in particular. It is reassuring for these communities that the situation has improved."
3-MCPD, a chemical formed at low levels in a variety of foods and food ingredients as a result of processing, can cause cancer in laboratory animals when it is fed to them in large amounts over a lifetime. It is possible that it may have the same effect on people who eat foods containing high levels of it in most of their meals over their lifetime.
1,3-DCP, a derivative of 3-MCPD, is thought to cause cancer in laboratory animals by damaging genes. Scientists warn, although it is not certain, that it could have the same effect on people. The advise, therefore, that it should not be present in food at any level.
The survey tested 99 different types of soy sauce sold in a variety of retail stores across the UK. Of the six unacceptable samples, four had levels between one and seven times the legal limit. One showed levels 108 times the legal limit, while the sixth had levels almost 2000 times greater. This sixth sample also contained low levels of 1,3-DCP.
Full findings can be found on the FSA website.


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A mysterious Suzuki prototype has been spotted testing in Europe, perhaps our first glimpse at a larger B-segment hatchback from the brand.
Taller and slightly longer than a Swift but not quite as big as an S-Cross, this heavily-camouflaged prototype is believed to be an all-new product for Suzuki which will likely battle the Nissan Note and Honda Jazz in the European market.
Few details can be discerned through the heavy black vinyl cladding, though we can at least see what appears to be an intercooler peeking through the front bumper.
Whether that means this Suzuki will be a turbo petrol or turbo diesel has yet to be confirmed.
The side profile also shows proportions that should give this model greater legroom than the compact Swift, as well as more cargo space.
This new hatch will form part of Suzuki's aggressive new product plan, which will see the company release at least one new model until the end of the decade.
Some of those will be all-new versions of existing model lines, but some, like the car seen here, will be entirely new products for Suzuki.
According to local boss Tony Devers, the Japanese automaker's product offensive will see it bounce back from a lull in new product launches, and reinvigorate sales as new models find their way into showrooms.
“It is evident that Suzuki Motor Company took a very conservative approach throughout the GFC, however, the R&D investment is now fully deployed and exciting new product is guaranteed for the short and mid-term,” Mr Devers said.
“Indeed, we will have at least one new Suzuki model every year for the next five years.”
The first all-new Suzuki off the ranks will be the Vitara, which is due to make its global debut at the Paris Motor Show next month and is expected to go on sale in Australia in the first half of 2015.
MORE: Suzuki News and Reviews
- Interested in buying SUZUKI HATCH? Visit our SUZUKI HATCH showroom for more information.


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Nielsen ratings are what help determine whether your favorite show gets another five seasons or gets unceremoniously cancelled before all of the first season airs. Nielsen was never perfect, but with the recent rise of internet based viewing, it's become broken. The company is preparing to remedy that though, and will soon be including households that have no television service, opting instead of internet only.
The folks at Samsung have found a way to take some of the attention away from UHDTVs, at least for a bit. They're boasting that at CES next week, we'll see a TV with a brand new shape. From the promotional video and picture, it looks like a 16:9 turned 90 degrees, but even more interesting is that it appears to be semi-transparent.
When people want a giant screen at a low price, or they want to pick up the biggest TV around, Mitsubishi has been accommodating. They've provided massive DLPs for the same price as much smaller LCDs and plasmas. They've also innovated and worked with different technologies, such as their use of lasers. That's all over, as it turns out. Mitsubishi has officially announced the end of its TV business.
The impressive Atmos sound technology from Dolby has just been attached to another major firm – 'Star Trek Into Darkness.' The followup to the incredible J.J. Abrams reboot of the Star Trek franchise will take advantage of everything Atmos has to offer, immersing audiences in sound and creating pinpoint audio locations. In other words, when the Klingon Bird of Prey passes overhead, you're going to want to duck.
Last week a Japanese business news service called Diamond Online revealed that Panasonic is planning to exit the TV industry in favor of producing iPad screens. That's something we'd normally scoff at, but Panasonic hasn't expressly denied anything. Instead, the company says that these claims "are basically speculative in nature and contain a number of errors of fact or misinterpretation."


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The Federal Communications Commission charged telecommunications giant AT&T with switching wireless prepaid customers to monthly data plans, despite telling those customers that they could keep their pay-as-you-go plans. AT&T agreed to pay $700,000 to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and refund customers who paid for monthly data plans, which could be as much as $25 to $30 per month, the FCC said.
The FCC reported that AT&T made monthly plans mandatory in September 2009 for first-time AT&T users and for AT&T subscribers who upgraded phones. But AT&T smart phone users with prepaid plans who kept their old phones had the option to keep their pay-as-you-go data plans. "Some consumers who replaced these phones under warranty or insurance, or who moved to a new residence were switched to the monthly plans, even though AT&T had said the 'grandfathering' policy would continue to apply in these situations," the FCC stated.
The Ohio State Senate has undertaken a bill designed to require the Ohio Department of Taxation to offer its taxpayers the option of receiving income tax refunds on prepaid cards. Currently, Ohio residents can receive refunds by paper check or electronically via direct deposit to bank accounts. The bill, S.B. 365, would direct Ohio's tax commissioner to add the tax refund card option.
Ohio State Senator Eric H. Kearney, D-Cincinnati, introduced the bill in August 2012. "This prepaid debit card program will benefit those citizens that do not have a bank account for direct deposit, or for those who wish to avoid the hassle with paper checks and check cashing fees,” Kearney said.
A trend toward prepaid calling services is apparently taking hold internationally. A report by Voxofon LLC, a Houston-based international voice and messaging services provider, said a large percentage of international subscription plan users who try prepaid calling solutions abandon their subscriptions in favor of prepaid.
"For users who once called abroad with subscription plans from their mobile/landline providers 'at least several times a month,' 43 percent stopped using the plans altogether once they were introduced to easier, prepaid solutions like Skype and Voxofon," the provider said.
Additionally, Voxofon reported that 89 percent of subscription users decreased their usage of the plans after they were introduced to prepaid calling options.
Safeway Inc. subsidiary and prepaid card distributor Blackhawk Network launched its PayPower reloadable prepaid cards at Safeway locations in Canada. PayPower is a Visa Inc.-branded card issued by All Trans Financial Services Credit Union Ltd. and managed by Blackhawk Network (Canada) Ltd.
In the 2011 Underbanked Market Sizing Study, the Center for Financial Services Innovation and Core Innovation Capital estimated the market of financial products for the underbanked was $78 billion in 2011, a 7 percent increase from 2010. The analysts said revenue in this market consisted of an overall market volume of $682 billion in principal loaned, funds transacted, deposits held and other financial services rendered.
Gift and loyalty card provider Electronic Commerce International said it is now offering Paycloud, the mobile app developed by rewards and stored-value network operator SparkBase. Paycloud eliminates the need for customers to use physical gift and loyalty cards at the POS and renders POS systems contactless without the necessity of upgrades.
Euronet Worldwide Inc.'s prepaid card division, epay, launched the epay Gift Card Center, which showcases the closed-loop gift cards of over two dozen national, brand-name retailers. The center is being made available to merchants in advance of the 2012 holiday season.
Rovio Entertainment, creators of the popular Angry Birds mobile app and franchise, chose prepaid card program manager Kaiku Finance LLC to manage the Angry Birds prepaid card program in the United States. Rovio said the Angry Birds app has been downloaded over 1 billion times and is the fastest growing consumer brand and the most downloaded game of all time.
Free-to-play online game developer Nexon Corp. said it will expand its Karma Koin prepaid card program to Mexico in late November 2012. Over 1,300 7-Eleven Stores Inc. and Best Buy Inc. locations in Mexico will carry the cards. Nexon donates a percentage of each Karma Koin transaction to charity.
Payroll card provider TFG Card Solutions Inc. inked a deal to supply the unbanked employees of the restaurant chain The Old Spaghetti Factory, owned by OSF International Inc., with Visa Inc.-branded payroll cards. Implementation of the paycard system is reportedly underway in the restaurant's 42 locations.
Brazilian financial institution Banco Bonsucesso and international prepaid program manager Rev Worldwide rolled out the MEO Card, called Brazil's first MasterCard Worldwide-branded general purpose reloadable prepaid card. A Bonsucesso executive said 40 percent of the economically active population in Brazil do not have access to financial services and 55 percent of Brazilian workers are paid in cash.
Visa and Chexar Networks Inc. launched a mobile prepaid remote deposit capture platform that enables Visa prepaid card users to deposit paper checks to reloadable Visa prepaid cards by scanning checks with smart phones. The network will be expanded to include the cardholders of Unirush LLC's RushCard, AccountNow Inc. and Plastyc Inc, and some FSV Payment Systems Inc. cardholders, later in 2012, the companies said.
The Western Union Co., ICICI Bank and MasterCard collaborated on the Western Union ICICI Bank Prepaid Card in India. The companies said the card can potentially elevate millions of underbanked individuals into India's financial mainstream.
Tampa, Fla.-based GPR card provider nFinanSe Inc. entered into an agreement to be acquired by AccountNow Inc., a San Ramon, Calif.-based GPR card provider in the direct-to-consumer sales channel. After the initial phase of the acquisition, expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2012, nFinanSe will become a subsidiary of AccountNow.
Atlanta-based prepaid card distributor InComm hired Jeffrey Lewis as Vice President and General Manager of Financial Services and promoted Robert Skiba to Executive Vice President of Regulatory and Governmental Affairs. Lewis was formerly Director of Alternative Payments and Prepaid at Discover Financial Services. Skiba has been at InComm for nearly four years and serves as Vice Chairman of the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association. Santillo joins ēdo
Nashville, Tenn.-based social network services firm ēdo Interactive tapped Tony Santillo to the position of Executive Vice President of Product and Strategy. Santillio brings over 17 years of executive experience at companies like Capital One Financial Corp. and AOL Inc. to his new role of helping edo expand its product offerings and market presence.
BillMyParents Inc., the teen payment solutions brand of Socialwise Inc., appointed Brian Thompson to its board of directors. Thompson is Senior Vice President at financial services consultancy Equity Dynamics Inc.
GiftCards.com added Carlos Tribino as Chief Marketing Officer. Tribino is a 20-year marketing veteran and formerly the Vice President of Marketing at Viacom International Media Networks, where he managed marketing research and events for MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central in southern European markets.
The Green Sheet Inc. is now a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals. Click here for more information.
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CYBERGAME: 'ROSE' ONLINE COMMUNITY GROWING FAST
MANILA, October 3, 2005 (STAR) Attracting over 300,000 registered players a mere three months after it was introduced, Philippine ROSE (Rush On Seven Episodes) Online is indisputably the fastest growing massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in the country today.
Published by Level Up!, the same company that brought the highly successful Ragnarok Online to the country, ROSE Online is the first 3-D online game that features fully customizable characters as well as player-owned and -controlled cars and mechanical robots.
Ching Merano, ROSE Online community manager, credits the game’s personalization feature as one of the reasons why the game is succeeding.
"The first thing a ROSE player notices, especially if he has previous experience in online gaming, is how much freedom he has with how his character looks. For instance, while job classes have clothes that are specific to their classes, there are also a lot of ‘civilian’ clothes that all characters can wear regardless of job class," Merano says.
The weapons are also interchangeable between job classes for as long as the player fulfills the stat points required to wield a particular weapon.
But the most compelling reason for its success, Merano says, is that ROSE fulfills most gamers’ wishlist on how a game should look, feel and play.
ROSE’s player interface is friendly and can be understood even by first-time gamers so it’s no surprise that ROSE is being marketed as a girl-friendly game.
Of the 300,000 registered players, 30 percent or 90,000 are female. Sheila Paul, ROSE Online business unit director, says, "While gaming in general is still dominated by male players, a lot of girls are getting into it as well. We believe this is a huge market potential for us and the relatively large percentage of female ROSE players proves it."
Level Up! is hoping ROSE Online’s appealing visuals and character customization features will capture the fancy and imagination of the female teen and "tween" (nine to 12 year olds) market.
"Visually, ROSE is very different from the hard-edged look of current online role-playing games. Everything, from the landscape to the characters, looks more colorful," Merano says.
Looks notwithstanding, however, ROSE offers the same gameplay challenge that’s offered by most hardcore online games.
While the online gaming market is increasingly getting crowded with game publishing companies launching new offerings practically every six months, Paul is confident that ROSE Online will continue to hold its own.
"When we went commercial early this month, we expected some player attrition but instead, the number of players climbed steadily and we continue to enjoy a healthy concurrent player count," she adds.
ROSE Online has between 8,000 and 10,000 current players (the number of players playing the game at the same time). The number varies depending on the day of the week.
Level Up! is confident that ROSE Online will enjoy even greater success when the company formally launches the game this month.
Meanwhile, to keep the community strong, Level Up! is promoting several in-game activities such as new quests and a chance for players to travel to the game’s second and yet undiscovered planet Luna.
ROSE will be officially launched on Oct. 29 with a grand public event dubbed "ROSE Bash" at the Glorietta 4 Dolphin Park in Makati.
Activities will include the finals of the Search for ROSE It Girl, ROSE Cosplays, fan art and cheerdance competition. Free all-day gaming will also be available at the newly opened Extreme Gaming Grounds in Glorietta 4. The game site is found at www.roseonline.ph.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2005
by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE


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On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit announced it would uphold the ban instituted by the International Trade Commission’s exclusion order on sales and imports of Apple’s Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 in the U.S.
The tech giant, however, has found a way to keep the Watches on shelves and workaround the ban by tweaking their Watches not to include the disputed blood oxygen feature
The back-and-forth on the availability of Apple’s watches is due to an ongoing dispute between Apple and medtech company Masimo, which sued Apple in 2020 for allegedly poaching its employees and stealing trade secrets related to technology that uses light to measure blood oxygen levels in the Apple Watch.
In October, Apple was banned from selling and importing its smartwatches after the ITC issued an order to protect Masimo.
President Biden had 60 days to review and overturn the ITC’s order that stopped Apple from selling its watches but failed to veto the ban by the deadline.
Apple subsequently filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and on Jan. 15, the court reinstated the ban.
Since Apple managed to suspend its blood oxygen feature, however, Watches are again available for sale, but without the blood oxygen technology.


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Palm is laying off an undetermined number of its 1,050 workers this week in an effort to stem the effects of the economy and Palm’s decreasing smartphone market share. While it’s not a shock – everyone is doing it! – Palm now has to deal with RIM and Android eating their lunch and iPhone essentially stealing the entire casual smartphone market out from under it.
According to data released Thursday by ChangeWave, only 5 percent of companies plan to buy a Palm smartphone in the next quarter, half the figure from a year ago. By contrast, 78 percent of corporations planned to buy a RIM device and 22 percent an iPhone.
Sadly, that sounds about right.


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Women entrepreneurs in Kosovo tend to establish and run their businesses by themselves and are less likely than men to utilize loans, a new report says.
In Kosovo, over 80 per cent of women are inactive in the labor market, and only ten per cent of the country’s active businesses are owned by women.
About 94 per cent of Kosovo’s women entrepreneurs own individual businesses, and about 70 per cent generate less than 10 thousand euros in annual turnover, according to a new report by the Riinvest Institute.
“This is not unique to Kosovo, but the data for Kosovo is more concerning… the structure of businesses women operate reflects the entire structure of Kosovo’s economy,” said Alban Hashani from the Riinvest Institute at the report’s launch on Thursday. He argued that Kosovo needs affirmative action programs to improve the situation of women in the labor market.
“Women’s entrepreneurship: An analysis on doing business in Kosovo” assesses the characteristics of women’s entrepreneurship in the country and the unique challenges they face, based on surveys of 313 women entrepreneurs.
Women surveyed said that the major motivator for starting a business was financial gain, followed by unwillingness to work for someone else, and unemployment.
Findings indicate that most women-run businesses are micro businesses, predominantly oriented towards services and trade, particularly beauty and hairdressing. Most women–88.3 per cent–start their ventures with their own capital. Men business owners are nearly twice as more likely to have utilized a bank loan; only 10 per cent of women business owners have taken out a loan from a financial institution.
“There has been public debate about whether or not women are good clients for loans. Our research shows that women are model clients, with high rates of paying installments on time,” said Riinvest researcher Dita Dobranja. She added that men entrepreneurs tend to have higher annual turnover rates and much higher rates of benefitting from public procurements.
Most of the women surveyed, 85 per cent, said that they did not face gender discrimination when registering their business, and 66 per cent said that Kosovo society supports women entrepreneurs.
The main barriers reported in the survey were tax rates, a small market, and administrative burdens. The main barrier specific to women-owned businesses was reported to be family obligations, with about 47 per cent of women saying that caring for family constrains their ability to engage in business activities.
However, Syzana Aliu, owner of an 110-employee ice cream and cheese production company named Magic Ice, said that she sees social norms as the biggest challenge.
“I’m sorry to say that the expression most often heard at birth is ‘is it a boy or girl?’ Women are seen as weak from the very first day of life. They say that women have to work twice as hard to get paid half of what men are paid. I balance this a much as I can in my company,” Aliu stressed at the report’s launch.
She added that she is grateful for the full support from her husband and parents, which was reflected in the data: 89 per cent of women said that their families supported their ventures.
But data collected suggests that even women-owned businesses do not respect the Law on Labor when it comes to maternity leave; around 64 per cent of those surveyed believe that their employees do not take maternity leave as per the law. However, the report says, most women believe that the Labor Law should not be changed, and most also think that paternity leave should be covered, with 3 in 4 women saying that they would finance paternity leave.
09 November 2017 - 13:21
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Women and men gathered in Prishtina to denounce gender inequality, hom...
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- The applications cover virtual footwear, clothing, and sports equipment.
- Online retail store services featuring virtual goods are also covered.
- The trademark filings indicate plans for custom manufacture of real-world versions of digital footwear and apparel.
Nike has filed three new trademarks for .Swoosh, a new metaverse platform under Nike Virtual Studios that will house the sportswear giant’s virtual apparel, footwear and accessories.
The applications were filed on Nov 14, the same day that .Swoosh was announced. The three new trademarks applications were filed for Nike’s Swoosh logo, the brand names “DOTSWOOSH” and “.SWOOSH’.
As the platform allows community members to collect and trade Nike’s virtual creations and wear the virtual apparel in digital games and immersive experiences, the trademark applications cover footwear, clothing, headwear, eyewear, bags, sports bags, backpacks, sports equipment, art, toys and accessories for use online and in online virtual worlds.
NFT-related goods and services that are covered in the new trademark applications include video clips, photography, music, data, visual effects, digital multimedia files, digital collectibles, and crypto-collectibles featuring and linked to digital and physical footwear, clothing, headwear, bags, backpacks, masks, jewelry, sports equipment, digital animated and non-animated designs and characters, avatars, digital overlays, character skins, art, toys, and trading cards authenticated by non-fungible tokens on a blockchain network for access to and use in digital offline and online environments.
The trademarks also cover online marketplace for buyers and sellers of downloadable virtual goods, digital collectibles, and crypto-collectibles, digital animated and nonanimated designs and characters, avatars, digital overlays, skins, art, toys and trading cards authenticated by non-fungible tokens on a blockchain network
As the virtual products come with utility, the trademarks cover the launch of membership club services through holding NFTs granting members access to exclusive digital and physical products and reward events, physical product creation programs, and access to digital or physical products such as clothing, shoes, bags, masks, toys, collectibles, trading cards, artwork, and jewelry as part of giveaways, contests and rewards.
The trademark filings also indicate plans for the custom manufacture of real-world versions of trading cards, digital footwear and apparel.
In 2023, Nike will debut its first digital collection for .Swoosh, shaped by the platform’s community. Starting in the new year, users will be able to buy the digital products, minted on Polygon, with a credit or debit card. According to Fast Company, Nike plans to sell the digital sneakers for less than $50 a pair.
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Wed, 21 Sep 2022 01:38 PM IST
American tech giant Apple launched its new 14 series on September 7 and it became an instant hit until customers found a bug in iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max's camera. But now, the smartphone makers have announced that by next week they will be bringing a fix for the camera shaking issue that some users are facing on their iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max smartphones.
According to GSM Arena, the new cameras on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max phones have an issue with third-party apps that causes their autofocus or OIS systems to go wild and vibrate uncontrollably. Apple is aware of the problem and is working on a fix.
Earlier, some users of iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max took to social media to complain about the camera bug. Users have complained about the bug hindering camera features in social media apps like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, but it doesn’t appear to affect Apple’s preinstalled camera capabilities.
This issue makes the video captured with the smartphone's camera unusable and worse and may even damage the hardware. However, this problem does not seem to affect the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus variants.
Apple's own camera app is working fine, which suggests that this is a software issue rather than a hardware one as it only affects third-party cameras. Of course, installed apps shouldn't be able to cause your camera to go haywire, so this is probably a bug with the camera API, reported GSM Arena. Apple has said that a fix is coming next week, so those users will need to hold off until then.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 14 Pro, which includes a 48-megapixel sensor for the main lens for the first time, is one of the main upgrades for this year’s device. The phone also gets a software interface at the top of the device known as the Dynamic Island, which works with an updated camera cutout to show information such as map directions or AirPods status. The iPhone 14 Pro starts at $999, with the Pro Max model costing $1,099 in the US.


text: This is our first in-depth analysis of the UK smart speaker market. We have three years of data for smart speaker adoption in the country along with comparisons to U.S. adoption and use patterns. This is particularly relevant since the UK largely followed U.S. adoption rates through early 2019 by about one-two years but that all changed in 2020 when the UK leapt into a lead. The report includes hundreds of discrete data points, 33 charts, and over 30 pages of analysis. It is the most comprehensive review of smart speaker adoption available today for the UK and it is from the research team that brought you Voicebot.ai.


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Kmart managing director
However, to achieve his goal of emulating the UK discount chain, Mr Russo, who previously ran fast food chain McDonald’s, needs to convince Australian shoppers that today’s Kmart is a different beast to the old one.
The 170-store chain has been transformed since Mr Russo took over in September 2008. Prices have been slashed, the number of stock-keeping units has been more than halved and the retailer has moved away from high-low pricing to an every-day low-price model, fuelling strong volume growth.
When Kmart cut the price of cushions from $13 to $5, volumes doubled to 200,000. Towel sales rose from 330,000 to 1.9 million after Kmart cut the price from $7 to $5.
“We have completely changed the model. We provide products at the lowest prices we can every single day," Mr Russo said.
However, while Kmart is now serving 12 million more customers than it was less than a year ago, the extra business has yet to translate into significant growth in sales. In fact, prices have fallen so far the value of an average shopping basket has declined.
Mr Russo said customers were still “mission" shopping – coming in for one or two items but ignoring the rest.
“Customers have not yet got it they don’t know who we are or what we stand for," he said. “We have to change this. We need more customers to get what we have done and we need existing customers to visit more often and buy more things when they visit."
Mr Russo also conceded Kmart had struggled to gauge increased demand triggered by price cuts and was still learning how customers reacted to everyday value rather than promotions.
“Forecasting the right volumes has been a challenge for us over the past few months," he said.
Kmart is developing plans to better engage with customers, improving offshore sourcing to overcome higher wages and cotton prices, opening self-service checkouts and trialling new layouts. It has also been building a pipeline of new stores.
The Australian Financial Review


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The pingNpay platform will make the most of native forex backed stablecoins to energy microtransactions at a fraction of the price of typical debit card-based funds.
Two former Ripple executives are planning to go stay with a micropayments community they co-founded someday subsequent 12 months. The startup, which has moved out of stealth mode, goals to present clients the power to conduct low-value funds ($20 or much less) by considerably decreasing charges related to such transactions.
The startup, which has moved out of stealth mode, goals to present clients the power to conduct low-value funds ($20 or much less) by considerably decreasing charges related to such transactions.
Jeremy Gentle, former vice chairman of strategic accounts at Ripple and Richard Bell, a former senior director on the payments community, based pingNpay on the idea the community will likely be match for Net 3.0 infrastructure and ecosystems.
“Nobody has but to crack the sub-$20 digital fee market,” stated Bell. “The key card networks can course of tens of 1000’s of funds per second, besides, the most cost effective debit card funds price retailers at the very least 20p (US$0.33) per fee, which represents 20% of a £1 (US$ 1.38) fee.”
Clients will have the ability to pay for providers and merchandise offline together with meals and drinks whereas additionally with the ability to pay for on-line merchandise together with subscriptions, based on a press launch on Sunday.
Particularly, pingNpay will cap transaction charges at 1% of the assessed worth of every transaction. The charges will likely be distributed amongst software program suppliers for digital wallets in addition to pockets suppliers who difficulty the wallets to customers.
Charges will likely be paid in actual time at level of transaction and will likely be borne by the payer until it’s a consumer-to-business transactions, wherein case the receiver pays, based on the discharge.
Per the startup’s web site, pingNpay is presently focusing on This autumn 2021 to have its core know-how “up and working” with plans to launch first within the U.Ok. by 2022, and can make the most of a stablecoin backed by the pound. Different international locations are anticipated to comply with in “fast succession,” with their very own native currency-pegged stablecoins.
The stablecoins to comply with in every nation of operation will likely be “100% backed” by liquid fiat belongings and can function a broadcast proof of reserve to satisfy regulatory necessities, the corporate’s stated.


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The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has confirmed to be essentially the most contagious to this point, with new case counts in America breaking the one-million-mark final week and persevering with to common round 700,000 per day, each information by a large margin. And whereas has to date been proven to be much less deadly than earlier variants, its fast unfold and excessive case rely has finally led to the identical end result: hundreds are dying every day.
This has led many companies, cafes included, to look out for the well being and security of their staff and shut quickly. But closures imply few/no hours, which suggests no revenue for the cafe or its employees. To assist, Go Fund Bean is amassing a listing of digital tip jars for cafes in America that people can donate to and assist their favourite coffee bars get by powerful instances.
Now identified extra for his or her work connecting coffee professionals by way of mentorship applications and offering need-based grants, Go Fund Bean started its present within the throes of the primary wave of the pandemic, March 2020, compiling an ever-growing record of digital tip jars for the lots of of cafes nationwide experiencing momentary closures. And now, virtually two years later, with a worldwide pandemic that has no finish in sight, they’re again at it.
In a recent Instagram post, Go Fund Bean has put the call-out for all quickly closed cafes as a result of COVID which have created digital tip jars to assist pay their employees. Like they did in March of 2020, Go Fund Bean will use their platform on Instagram to assist sign increase the tip jars to achieve extra would-be donors.
All cafes must do with the intention to have their digital tip jar broadcast by Go Fund Bean is fill out the appliance linked of their Instagram bio. For extra data, go to Go Fund Bean’s official website or Instagram.