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It was back in 2013 we saw Apple offering multiple colour variants for its iPhone 5c. The device came in rather perky colour variants ranging from candy white, blue, pink, yellow, and more. Now, analyst Ming Chi Kuo suggests that Apple might offer the rumored 6.1-inch LED variant of the upcoming iPhone in three new colour variants. According to him, the LED variant of the handset will be offered in white, grey, red, blue, and orange colour variants.
While the Red colour variant shouldn’t come as a suprise as Apple typically launches a red variant a few months after new iPhones debut in fall. It’s a part of an initiative from Apple to fight HIV and AIDS in Africa. That said, we’ve never seen an iPhone flaunting an orange colour scheme. Hence, it’ll be interesting to see what stratgey Apple has in store for its 2018 iPhone-lineup.
Kuo also added that the rumoured 6.5-inch OLED model will come in in black, white, alongside a new gold colour variant. He also noted that the upcoming iPhone X Plus would feature a 6.5-inch OLED screen and will be available starting at $1,000.
As per earlier leaks, sources indicate Apple plans to lauch three different models this year. One of them will be a direct successor to the iPhone X with a 5.8-inch OLED display. The other one being the larger iPhone X Plus with a 6.5-inch OLED display. However, the third variant is expected to be a more affordable model having a 6.1-inch display, and is expected to cost as low as $549.
Kuo also indicated that Apple will be supposedly keep manufacturing costs down for the third iPhone model by reducing RAM, ditching 3D Touch support, and use the less-expensive LED panel instead of an OLED screen. This also means that wireless charging is not likely to be offered, and Kuo also indicated that dual-camera system will be scrapped as well in order for Apple to launch a low-cost iPhone.
We’ll update you as soon as we hear anything new. Until then, keep checking back for more.


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Google held onto its hefty lead in search market share, while Microsoft saw a slight gain in December 2011 compared to the same month in the prior year, according to comScore.
U.S. Search Engine Rankings: Search Share*
|December 2010||December 2011||Point change|
*Methodology: U.S. market share for “explicit core search,” which excludes contextually driven searches that do not reflect specific user intent to interact with search results.
The technology industry is lagging behind many other sectors when it comes to the proportion of women taking up entry level positions. ... read more
We don’t generally think of paid search as a great channel for personalisation, but increasingly, it's becoming one.
Site search matters, yet many ecommerce sites are actually deterring customers through poor experiences. Indeed, a fifth of UK shoppers are not ... read more
How can you create content marketing which works for search, right from the start? Many of us probably think of SEO as ... read more

domain: news


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Korea is getting a step closer to expanding its free trade bloc.
Seoul's trade ministry said Friday that the nation had initialed a free trade agreement with Canada.
The two countries promised to do the official signing in the second half of this year and if all goes well and the two nations' parliaments sign off, the bilateral pact is expected to take effect in 2015.
Over the next 10 years, each side will get rid of tariffs on nearly 98 percent of traded goods.
And while Korea's manufacturing sector is expected to get a boost from the trade pact, the local farming industry, especially those doing business in livestock products, may take a hit.
Canada will lift all of its current 6 percent tariffs within two years on Korean automobiles that make up more than 40 percent of Korea's exports to the North American country.
The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency says Canada's abundance of natural resources, such as oil and natural gas, will be a boon for Korean exports of equipment associated with developing those resources.
However, import tariffs of up to 72 percent on Canadian beef will also be gradually lifted over a 15-year period.
Canada is Korea's 25th-largest trading partner, with the bilateral trade volume standing at almost 10 billion U.S. dollars.
If and when the deal does go into effect next year, Canada will become Korea's 12th FTA partner.
Hwang Ji-hye, Arirang News.


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AT&T Unveils Push To Stem Online Piracy
In a break with other Internet service providers, AT&T Inc. will work with Hollywood studios and recording labels to devise technology that identifies offshore content pirates who use its network to upload illegal copies of movies and music.
Although details remain sketchy, the effort worries privacy advocates, who fear the San Antonio-based company could become a beat cop, monitoring which Web sites customers visit and what computer files they share.
Technology officers from several entertainment companies met June 5 in San Antonio to discuss the effort, which could take months and quite possibly fail to produce a solution that would be technologically feasible and protect customer privacy.
"It's daunting," said James W. Cicconi, AT&T's senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs.
"What we're trying to do here is see if we can devise a technology that can address the problem," he said. "Then we'll have to address the legal issues that flow out of using such a technology."
Legal questions include the privacy interests of customers and legitimate distributions for educational uses or works in the public domain.
Cicconi said such issues will not be ignored.
"We're not trying to be an enforcement agent against our customers," he said. "The intent is to devise a network-based approach to dealing with this problem."
In confirming the effort Thursday, Cicconi acknowledged that AT&T's interests have become more aligned with content providers.
Like its telecommunications rival, Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T has launched its own television service to compete with cable and satellite. The service has increased companies' dependence on studios, which have been pressing Internet service providers to more aggressively stem piracy.
"We've been considering these issues of piracy, and we do feel the interests of our shareholders are aligned with the interests of the content community," Cicconi said.
"We very much have a stake, as they do, in trying to stem illegal appropriation of that content," he said.
Cicconi said the effort is primarily aimed at pirates who set up operations in other countries and upload massive amounts of illegal files using AT&T's network. He said the technology being developed would not target those who download those files.
AT&T's effort is being watched closely by Verizon, which has vigorously fought demands by recording labels to reveal the names of customers who may have downloaded illegal copies of songs.
Verizon executives have also had discussions with studios and other content providers about piracy as it ramps up its own consumer TV effort.
"As we do more content deals ourselves, this comes up in those discussions," said Eric Rabe, Verizon senior vice president of media relations.
"But we continue to believe we don't want to be the policemen on this, while at the same time recognizing copyright is a serious issue and needs to be protected," he said.
Consumer advocates have raised concerns, fueled in part by the lack of specifics from AT&T about the technology being developed.
They are also concerned that large media conglomerates are increasingly dictating how new technology can be used.
"Frankly, the best hope for the consumer here is that we get more competition in content, and I think that's coming thanks to things like YouTube and Joost," said Fred von Lohmann, an attorney with the civil-liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation.
"The question is how many people can be strong-armed before that arrives," he said.


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When the founders of Mickey set out to modernize the commodities industry in 2019, they saw plenty of opportunity for technological transformation.
“If you were to want to go buy lumber, you cannot do it online, you can’t do it without a phone, and you probably can’t do it without a truck,” Mickey CEO and co-founder Alex Rabens told PYMNTS.
With that in mind, the company set out to find people who would want to modernize with it.
On May 3, Mickey announced the launch of its latest business-to-business (B2B) platform: a marketplace that connects lumber producers with manufacturers, builders and other buyers. The platform provides real-time inventories, an automated fulfillment process and an end-to-end purchasing solution.
Eliminating the Need for Suppliers to do Collections
Topping the list of chores a platform can take off suppliers’ hands is collections, Rabens said.
In the lumber industry, as most of the B2B world, sellers typically offer customers terms — and then the customer waits until the last possible day to pay, Rabens said. That can turn something as basic as insisting on payment into a delicate act of diplomacy.
“It’s an odd sort of dynamic because suddenly you’re in a place of collecting payment or following up on payment from someone that you’re also interested in working with again,” he said.
Deploying B2B BNPL to Reduce Friction
Seeking to eliminate such potentially awkward undertakings, Mickey offers B2B buy now, pay later (BNPL), which lets buyers choose when to pay and enables suppliers to get paid instantly.
Its B2B checkout system lets buyers select the amount of time they want to pay — whether it’s upfront or 30, 60, 90 or 120 days. The buyers get the terms they want and pay a little extra if they want time.
“What it does is, it puts both parties in a place where they are generally happier and no longer have to communicate about when payment will be coming,” Rabens said.
Allowing Buyers to Continue Sending Checks
Buyers can pay via ACH or credit card. If sellers are nervous about their buyer churning if they ask them to move to an online payment system, Mickey allows the buyer to continue sending a check and continue getting the same terms. The supplier still gets paid upfront, and Mickey takes the check, cashes it and, if necessary, handles collections.
Buyers that are still sending checks have told Mickey it’s because checks are so ingrained in the way they do things. Others have said that they’re nervous about putting in their ACH information and offering others the ability to draw money from their account.
“There is a feeling of almost like, you are now opting into something that isn’t you writing a check — it’s not as much control or it’s not a fully unilateral move when you do something like that,” Rabens said.
Extending Terms and Enabling Online Payments
Looking ahead, Rabens said he expects that marketplaces will move industries away from the traditional process in which the seller incurs the cost of credit.
“Most of the sellers have had to basically have a credit line just to be able to operate this business because of buyers expecting terms,” Rabens said. “So, the idea that they can now give their buyers the opportunity to not only extend their terms but to pay online is very progressive.”


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Toys R Us is in Trouble, As It Explores Possible Bankruptcy
This is not the type of news we like to report but it looks like Toys R Us is hitting some hard times. Toys R Us is exploring Bankruptcy options and as someone who lived through the KB Toys destruction, I do wonder if they can pull through. Some might not know but the same capital group that owned KB owns Toys R Us. This is what we know:
“Toys R Us has hired a law firm to help restructure its roughly $400 million in debt due in 2018, a move that could include the marquee toy store filing for bankruptcy protection, sources familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
Addressing the retailer’s debt load prior to the crucial holiday season could give its major vendors such as Mattel and Hasbro clarity into the company’s long-term viability to help ensure the toymakers continue to stock its shelves throughout the holidays.
Toys R Us has hired restructuring lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis to help address the looming payments, the people said.”
Check out the full story here: Toys R Us hires law firm as it explores possible bankruptcy filing


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Discovering the right event with Calendo
By Gabey Goh July 18, 2013
- New event discovery app aims to help people make better decisions about events they attend
- Now eyes global expansion with newly launched support for eight languages
EVER missed an interesting event just because you weren’t aware it existed?
Eran Back (pic, right) noticed that he did, constantly, and the problem sparked an impulse to create a product that would tackle the conundrum.
That initial impulse became reality in the form of Calendo, a mobile event discovery app that claims to offer a more effective and relevant way to discover what’s happening.
“Calendo’s vision is to help people enrich their offline lives by allowing them to discover new activities, expand their social circles and make better use of their leisure time,” said Back, who holds the position of co-founder and chief executive officer at the Israeli-based startup.
Back and co-founder Dov Frank (above pic, left) are veterans in the startup space, with Back’s most recent venture being Tagsback – an automatic photo-sharing platform. Frank is the founder of social shopping platform eGroupy and previously worked at Backweb technologies as director of engineering.
The duo teamed up with Saar Wilf, a serial entrepreneur and founder of fraud detection provider Fraud Sciences, which was acquired by eBay for US$169 million in 2008. Wilf invested US$500,000 in a seed round in the venture and currently serves as chairman of the board.
Thousands of events are published on social media sites and throughout the Web every day, but people are aware of only a fraction of them, mostly through Facebook by receiving an invitation or noting a friend’s attendance.
Calendo aims to help people make better decisions about events they attend. The app constantly scans for new events on Facebook, prioritises them, and filters for each user only those he or she would find interesting based on their taste preferences and location.
Events range from large public events such as concerts and sporting events to small local events such as parties, yoga classes, art exhibitions and more.
Calendo’s iPhone app was released in April of this year, with recently launched language support for Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish and German.
In an email interview with Digital News Asia (DNA), Ron Koren, head of marketing at Calendo, claimed that over the past four months, during the beta phase which saw participation from 2000 users, the number of events attended by an average user increased from four to 13 events per month (see image).
The technology that drives Calendo is touted to automatically learn and implement an individual’s taste preferences over time. The more a person uses Calendo, the more personalised it is.
The app’s real-time algorithm analyses information from multiple sources to determine 'top'events, including a person's past events, friends' events, the host, location and type of event (music, sports etc.).
It then computes an 'Event Score' which predicts the likelihood of a user's interest in a certain event.
When a user sees an event that she wants want to sign up for, RSVPs can be done directly from Calendo itself, saved to the user’s iOS calendar, with the option to invite others, or share the event on Twitter or Facebook.
For its business model, the team aims to generate revenue via affiliate marketing and premium services for event organisers.
The event-planning industry is estimated to spend US$500 billion annually worldwide. Mobile apps are increasingly becoming a source of affiliate marketing, and Calendo is positioned at the crossroads.
The team aims to help drive the market by bringing customers to the events, and gaining a commission for the increased business, similar to TripAdvisor bringing guests to hotels and airlines.
For event organisers, Calendo hopes to provide a platform for them to market their events in a new way, and to a new audience.
In a similar fashion to how Google enables a business to market its product to a target audience, an event organiser can market towards a specific audience, because Calendo will know which events people are likely to be interested in.
“As far as development goes, we are currently working on expanding our social network reach from just Facebook to including other networks such as Weibo and Renren,” said Koren.
The team also hopes to see significant global growth in the next six to 12 months with the release of additional language support.
Koren noted that a large challenge faced by the Calendo team is the continuing need to improve and program the app’s user interface to allow for the most simple, efficient user experience possible.
“Users love to use an app that is easy to use and understand, and so we constantly try to improve the way the user interacts with the app. We are motivated by the value that this service can provide to its users. It is a truly important tool for expanding a person's social life,” he added.
To find out more about Calendo, click here.


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Scanpay: a new way to make transactions on your mobile
Sven Lung, founder of e-commerce site BrandAlley, has presented a new way to process payments on mobile devices, simply by taking a picture of your card. This new payment method could help increase the number of mobile users that use their device to purchase online.
“At BrandAlley, 80% of online baskets on mobile phones are abandoned due to the difficult payment process,” explains Sven Lung. “Clients are out and about, on the metro, distracted or simply just do not have the time. The objective is to revolutionize the way people pay via their phones and to help m-commerce stores attract new customers. It’s a world-wide first and we hope it will quickly be adopted by m-store owners and customers alike.”
The software was developed in the Epitech labs thanks to the financial support from top French business school, Essec. Payment platform Playbox has already integrated the payment process and will be soon be offering the Scanpay option to its 30,000 clients. The system takes half an hour to download to mobiles devices and installation is free. The founders will earn commission on each transaction made.
Certains mobiles apps, both on the App Store and on Google Play, have already started to use the Scanpay payment method. Moto-taxi app Hicab employs the system in its app, as does Bazarchic, whose president Liberty Verny will be taking part in the Scanpay launch.
Scanpay plans to be integrated into more than 10,000 apps from now to 2014. Aside from the attention it receives from mobile development agencies, the payment system has seen interest from Israli, Russian, Brazilian and South African groups.
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Aimed at drivers seeking a sporty driving experience, the BMW M Performance Automobiles will offer exclusive engine variants, enhanced agility and precision, plus sharper design.
Like all M cars, it's claimed the engine output, power transfer, chassis technology and aerodynamic balance will provide a showcase for the familiar M genes.
The BMW M Performance Automobiles will be presented to the public for the first time at the International Geneva Motor Show 2012 which takes place from March 8-18.
The new range is pointing back to models such as the BMW M535i, which was unveiled in 1980 and captured the imagination of performance-minded customers with its extra power, tuned chassis and modified design. As an addition to the BMW 5 Series ranks, the M535i remained a successful member of the line-up through two model generations and sat alongside the M5 until it was canceled. "Our aim with the BMW M Performance Automobiles is to continue this tradition," confirmed Dr Friedrich Nitschke, President of BMW M GmbH.
The BMW M Performance Automobiles will represent a new model category. "We are targeting customers looking for more emotion and performance, but who don't want to lose the daily usability of their cars," said Nitschke. He went on to explain that the range would include "a wide variety of model series, as well as both gasoline and diesel-engined variants". All-wheel drive BMW xDrive models would also play a role in the BMW M Performance Automobiles, he added.
One reason for this new departure is that 2011 was one of the most successful years for BMW M GmbH since the separate company was founded.
In addition to the BMW 1 Series M Coupe, which marked M's first foray into the compact segment, late last year also saw the introduction of the new BMW M5. The arrival of the BMW M Performance Automobiles in 2012 will also feature the world premiere of the new BMW M6.
From a purist perspective, this could be seen as further dumbing-down the M brand, which once stood as a unique division building hard-edged sports car for hardcore enthusiasts. However, a switch to production-based engines, AWD and automatic transmissions for the X5M and X6M was seen as a departure from its original ethos.
The 1M Coupe further solidified the "production-based" direction of M GmbH, and the latest M5 also shares a modified version of the X5M engine. And while BMW's M cars could never be called soft, they are perhaps losing the distinction that brought them so much respect.
To date, all cars wearing the M badge have continued to appeal to driving enthusiasts and we see no reason why this should diminish but we hope that the products aren't homogenized in an attempt to reach a wider audience.


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Tier III cities drove 3-day sale: Amazon India
By Karan Choudhury | January 23, 2017
It said daily units sold exceeded Diwali, New Year sale which witnessed 200% growth over a usual day
E-commerce major Amazon India saw significant growth in new customer additions in tier III cities like Virudhunagar, Sambalpur and Kolhapur during its 3-day sale that ended today.
The India unit of the US-based company said it also saw 200 per cent growth overall between January 20-22 compared to a normal day.
"Amazon.In saw remarkable new customer growth in tier III cities, including Patiala (1,084 per cent), Virudhunagar (630 per cent), Sambalpur (475 per cent), Kolhapur (400 per cent) among others," Amazon.In said in a statement.
It added that the daily units sold exceeded Diwali and the New Year sale which witnessed 200 per cent growth over a usual day.
"We are humbled by the massive customer interest in Amazon's Great Indian Sale and are excited by the new benchmarks set for daily units, cashless payments using Amazon Pay, and Prime," Amazon India V-P and Country Head Amit Agarwal said.
The company saw its new customer acquisition rate matching the peak of Diwali shopping season and witnessed over 185 per cent rise compared to a normal day. The growth was even stronger in tier II and III geographies (200 per cent).
All product categories grew in the range of 2x-7x as compared to a regular day, it said.
Besides, sellers from tier II and below geographies witnessed growth of over 135 per cent as compared to a normal day.


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The SNP has welcomed the decision by Airbnb to ban booking of rentals during the coronavirus lockdown from 9am today.
Ian Blackford MP (pictured), who has led on the campaign, received confirmation from Airbnb this morning that “From 9am today it will not be possible to book a stay on Airbnb in the United Kingdom during the current lockdown period.”
The news follows significant pressure on the company from SNP MP and MSPs, which was still advertising holiday rentals despite the coronavirus lockdown – ignoring clear warnings for the public to avoid travel.
Ian Blackford MP said:
“I am delighted to have secured a ban on holiday rentals from Airbnb, which is welcome news for people in the Highlands and all across Scotland
“People should be following the clear public health advice to stay at home and avoid unnecessary travel.
“An outright ban on holiday bookings should have been the case from the very outset of the lockdown and I sincerely hope that Airbnb has learned lessons from their awful handling of this.
“In light of their decision, it’s now imperative that bookings taken before the ban are cancelled as a matter of urgency to protect our rural communities from the risk of the spread of coronavirus.”


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WESTLAKE, Ohio -- TravelCenters of America LLC (TA) has agreed to settle a civil antitrust litigation brought by Flying J Inc. and its affiliates, which the company is defending, reported The Central Daily News.
This decision came on the heels of TA's announcement that it will enter into an agreement by which TCH LLC, an affiliate of Flying J, will process payment card transactions on the TCH electronic platform. The settlement requires TA to pay $5 million to Flying J and its affiliates.
The riff dates back to February 2006 when Flying J Inc., a competitor of TA, and affiliates of Flying J alleged that TA conspired against the company by refusing to process payment card transactions using the TCH electronic processing platform, which is majority owned by Flying J.
This litigation process dated up in early 2007 when TA became a publicly traded company. The Central Daily News reported that TA and its predecessor expensed roughly $8 million in legal fees and other costs related to this litigation. As a result of the settlement announced today, both parties have agreed to dismiss any pending litigation.
As a result of the settlement, TA also announced that it will enter into an agreement with TCH to process payment card purchases. TA expects that TCH payment cards will be accepted at all TA locations, including locations branded TravelCenters of America, TA and Petro Stopping Centers. The transition is set to take place after the settlement is approved by the court.


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Ford India is one of the leading automobile companies in India. Reports are reaching the market from all the Indian auto giants. To summarize it, we can say that the star performer has been Honda with a sales hike of 248% in June 2013 and of 45% in the April- June span. Hyundai is stable with its minimal hike of 0.57% this year. Mahindra and Mahindra is running in losses with a fall of 8% in its sales in June 2013. The market these days is not offering a very friendly atmosphere. Although Ford India has succeeded in obtaining a hike of a total 20.46% in its sales in June 2013 as compared to the same month in the last year.
In June 2013, Ford India had sold a total of 8,771 vehicles. This included both the exports as well as the domestic sales. Ford’s performance in the Indian market has been really appreciable. It sold a total of 7,145 units in the country while in the last year they had sold a total of 6,267 units. This gives them a hike of 14% in the domestic market.
The star seller for Ford has been Ecosport. This newly launched sports car received a very warm response from Indians. Ecosport has sold a total of 6,267 units in the country in the past year. The sales for Ford India have rised significantly because of Ecosport.
Ford India has also excelled in its exports. Last year in June, Ford India had exported a total of 1,024 vehicles. This year the exports have risen to a total of 1,626 units. This gives them a hike of 59% in exports.
The executive director of sales and service department at Ford India, Mr.Vinay Piparsania has said that “The surge in Ford India’s domestic wholesales and exports is a strong indicator of customers’ acceptance of our quality products with smart features that they truly want and value. Going further with our global One Ford strategy to deliver
great products, we’ve launched the All-new Ford EcoSport at a compelling value for money proposition, offering a great power of choice to customers from several segments,”
EcoSport is already doing well in India. Recently, Ford India launched an upgraded EcoSport which was being eagerly awaited. This compact SUV is expected to boost Ford’s sales even further. This car is offering a total of 10 variants with 3 engine options. Thus it can suit anyone’s need with ease. It is currently available at a price of 5.59 lacs.


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The Prime Minister took over the platform of Twitter to announce the launch of a digital technology that shall transform lives in a significant way and shall further ‘ease of living. E-RUPI launched on 2nd August as a futuristic digital payment solution.
The PM stated that the e-RUPI voucher initiative would play a massive role in making DBT more effective in digital transactions in the nation. It will also give a new dimension to digital governance. E-RUPI will help everyone in targeted, transparent, and leakage-free delivery. He further added that e-RUPI should symbolize India’s is progress in connecting people’s lives with technology.
The one-time payment mechanism aims to stop leakages in government welfare schemes. The voucher is to ensure that the benefits reach those they are meant to be. Since the benefits are transferred on mobile phones of beneficiaries in QR codes or SMS, there is no possibility of them being misused. E-RUPI does not require any physical interface for transactions and intends to make the system hassle-free for users. It is considered safe as it’s prepaid. Being prepaid in nature assures timely payment to the service provider without the involvement of any intermediary. Since the benefits will be transferred as a voucher, the beneficiary will use the amount for the intended purpose only.
The PM also tweeted some of the benefits of the new electronic voucher-based digital payment solution. He said e-RUPI would connect service sponsors and beneficiaries digitally.
The private sector can also leverage the new system for employee welfare and corporate social responsibility programs. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said the new digital payment platform is expected to be a revolutionary initiative to ensure a leak-proof delivery of welfare services.
A press release stated that “It is expected to be a revolutionary initiative in the direction of ensuring a leak-proof delivery of welfare services. It can also be used for delivering services under schemes meant for providing drugs and nutritional support under Mother and Child welfare schemes, TB eradication programmes, drugs and diagnostics under schemes like Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, fertilizer subsidies, etc.” “Even the private sector can leverage these digital vouchers as part of their employee welfare and corporate social responsibility programmes,” it added.
The E-RUPI platform has been developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on its UPI platform in collaboration with the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and National Health Authority.


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Ford India has successfully finished capacity extension of its Chennai Engine plant, boosting up the annual production to 340,000 units. The plant manufactures about 17 variants of petrol and diesel engines, out of which about of 40 percent is exported. With the capacity extension of the facility, it will strategically position Chennai as a regional hub for small engines. Ford India is set to roll out its One Ford plan with Chennai’s state of art flexi Power Train facility delivering its 400,000thengine.
Ford India announced completion of expansion of its engine plant, which increased the annual engine production capacity by 36% to 340,000, helping to transform the facility into a regional hub for small engines. The facility was finished in a record time of over 14 months and helped to create a capacity which can deliver about additional 80,000 engines annually.
The extra capacity will be used to feed the upcoming demands for diesel engines in India and abroad. This is ought to generate more employment opportunities through the new extension. The new plant has already recruited about 200 employees.
President and Managing Director of Ford India, Michael Boneham said that they are delighted to witness this new addition in their engine plant capacity as the company is gearing up to move ahead to the next phase of growth in Indian region.
It is the world’s first Ford plant to include single flexible production line for manufacturing petrol and diesel engines. It is also first Ford facility to run flexible crank shaft production line for producing crank shafts. The facility also hires fully flexible cold test, Dyno test and Hot test facility for diesel and petrol engines.
Boneham also added that they are at an interesting phase of growth along with the market demanding swift responses from the manufacturers and company is quite proud to present this plant’s amazing flexible production lines both petrol and diesel engine.
Boneham joined Engine Plant’s chief, RadhakrishanBalasundaram for the celebration of the roll out of 400,000th engine from the facility.
Radhakrishan said that this is a special occasion for any Ford family member at the Chennai plant. The commissioning of the facility in a record period is a tremendous achievement and it just sums up many significant milestones this plant has passed in terms of quality and safety.
Gary Johnson, VP manufacturing, said that the production of 400,000th engine from the Chennai plant in just four years is an incredible achievement. He also added that Ford is making about seven different plants in Asia Pacific and Africa and are investing considerable amount in India, to shape it as a regional hub for low displacement engine.
Commissioning of the extended facility is one of the key steps of Ford India to transform into a major exporter and manufacturing hub of small displacement engines i.e. 1.6 TiVCT, Duratorq and 1.4 HC engines. These engines will be exported to South Africa, Taiwan and Thailand.


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IEX resumed the trading of RECs from November 24, 2021, after a gap of almost 16 months. The last REC trade session took place in June 2020.
On the resume day, 801 participants were recorded.
The trade has been resumed in line with APTEL’s recent order dated November 09 and CERC order dated November 18, 2021.
At around 1.01 pm, IEX was trading at Rs772.60 per piece down by 0.5% on Sensex.
The stock has touched an intraday high and low of Rs775.05 per piece and Rs750 per piece respectively.


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Connected CE, streaming devices to dominate holiday sales
| 25 November 2014
Connected entertainment devices, including game consoles and streaming media devices, will be among the most popular gifts for the holiday season, according to Parks Associates.
Among connected CE devices acquired in 2014, 37% of smart watches, 25% of streaming media devices (including players like the Roku 3 and sticks like the Google Chromecast), and 20% of gaming consoles were received as gifts.
Streaming media devices are highly affordable and generally do very well during the holiday shopping season, the firm noted. Parks Associates analysis shows streaming sticks will account for a larger percentage of streaming media device sales in 2014 than they did in 2013.
"In 2013, 46% of Google Chromecasts and 37% of streaming media players, such as the Roku 3 and Apple TV, were purchased as gifts," said Barbara Kraus, director of research at Parks Associates. "The two new streaming sticks this year – the Roku HDMI Streaming Stick and the Amazon Fire TV Stick – have similar functionality as the regular streaming players at a much lower price point. However, the Amazon Fire TV Stick will not be available until mid-January, which leaves the field open for Google and Roku."
Kraus noted that, with the exception of the headset jack and gaming controllers, the Roku stick has essentially the same features and functionality as the Roku 3. This benefit is important to consumers, who, when shopping for a streaming media device, largely based their decision on the features over the price of the device.
"Success of streaming media devices, both sticks and players, hinges in large part on younger consumers' preference for online VOD," said Glenn Hower, research analyst at Parks Associates. "Over 70% of video consumption still occurs on the television. The experience of watching on the big screen is still a key part of the video-viewing event, and purchasing a streaming device is simply an easier process than the research and price comparison involved with flat-panel TV purchases."


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Ohio has become the first state to allow bitcoin payment of tax.
According to the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, from the beginning of this week, Ohio, the company will be able to use encryption currency to pay various taxes and fees, to employees from tobacco sales tax withholding tax, and then to the public utilities tax.
The submission process includes three steps: first, enterprises must be registered to the Ohio Office of the chief financial officer called OhioCrypto.com through a special website. Then, they need to enter details such as taxes, payment and tax period, finally, according to the website, using the “compatible” encrypted wallet with bitcoin payment amount due.
Compatible wallet including Bitcoin Core client, Mycelium and breadwallet, and other compatible with bitcoin wallet payment protocol.
All taxes will be handled by BitPay service providers in Atlanta bitcoin payment, BitPay will bitcoin converted into U.S. dollars and handed over to the office of the chief financial officer.
Although the facility is only suitable for the enterprise, but according to reports, is expected to be available for personal use.
Legislators in other parts of the United States in the past also allows the use of encryption currency to pay taxes into account. As early as three months, Illinois and Arizona are considering allowing residents to use bitcoin payment of tax proposals. Georgia, when 2 month is also considering the same matters.
However, lawmakers in Arizona in two months later due to the lack of the vote to cancel the program. Also, due to the lack of understanding, “crypto currency Georgia proposal in April stalled.
Ohio also has been committed to the other block chain technology into law. In the summer, the laws of the state is stored in the block chain recognition and processing of data, which means that through the electronic signature technology to protect the block chain has the same legal status and any other electronic signature.
In the same month, Ohio legislators will be positioned as the blockchain center of the future, hoping to attract the areas of the company and the blockchain personnel.


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Eden Concepts, a Knoxville-based agricultural technology start-up that we most recently spotlighted in this November 2020 teknovation.biz article, has won another mall Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant, this time from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The earlier award was $100,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
According to Founder Walter Cromer, the $256,000 award will enable Eden Concepts to design, develop, test and deliver a product to reduce labor and production costs for commercial vegetable, flower, and specialty crop growers. “Our goal is to develop a system that eliminates the planting labor component, improves soil health, and reduces the use of fossil fuels on a farm,” he said.
To achieve its objective, Eden Concepts will develop simulation models of the innovation and then design, build, and field-test a prototype over the next year. The system will eliminate the expensive and labor-consuming transplant process and be autonomous so that it will not require any human operators. Cromer expects the prototype will weigh as much as 75 percent less than the conventional transplanting system, reducing soil compaction and contributing to improved soil health. In addition, the all-electric system will eliminate the use of on-farm fossil fuels in the planting process. When commercially deployed, the envisioned system can be used by vegetable, flower, medicinal herb, and specialty crop growers worldwide.
Design, development, and testing will occur over the next 18 months, with the delivery of the first units thereafter. Those interested in being part of the product development process can contact Eden Concepts directly at email@example.com or by phone at 865/719-5327.
Cromer was a participant in the 2018 edition of the “AgLaunch Bootcamp” organized by Memphis-based AgLaunch and the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center. Ironically, the announcement about the SBIR award came in the midst of the 2021 edition of the bootcamp.


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Amazon has surpassed 150 million Prime subscribers globally
- This story was delivered to Business Insider Intelligence Payments & Commerce subscribers earlier this morning.
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Amazon brought in $45.7 billion in online store net sales in Q4 2019, besting its previous high of $39.8 billion from Q4 2018, per its earnings release.Q3 2019. However, it does represent a slight acceleration from its 14% increase from Q4 2018, and given the mammoth amount of revenue Amazon brings in during Q4 thanks to the holiday season, its annual comparison may be more relevant.
Bringing Prime to new markets, like Brazil, has surely bolstered the program's ranks, but two new values may also be responsible for Prime's success.Amazon's shift from free two-day shipping to free one-day shipping. Amazon announced the change in April 2019 and has been increasing the number of eligible products and the number of markets the perk is available in since then, culminating in the number of products Amazon delivered in the US with one-day and same-day delivery quadrupling in Q4 2019.
Providing free one-day shipping may be convincing more consumers to sign up for Prime: 77% of US consumers reported that free shipping is key to getting them to make a purchase online and 35% said the same of next-day shipping, per a report from Walker Sands. And as Amazon adds one-day shipping for more products and markets, the perk could bring in even more Prime subscribers going forward.Its increased grocery delivery capabilities. Amazon's grocery delivery orders from Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods more than doubled in Q4 2019 on an annual basis, per Bezos, and a key part of its increasing popularity may be related to Amazon's recent move to remove the $14.99 fee Prime subscribers previously had to pay to use Amazon Fresh on top of their Prime subscription fee.This likely attracted consumers to sign up for Prime because, by removing the additional fee, Amazon started providing free grocery delivery for Prime subscribers who lived out of range of Whole Foods' approximately 500 stores, something it didn't previously do, adding new value to Prime that may be particularly impactful as consumers' interest in online grocery increases.
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- ZEE5 denies recent data breach claims
- A whole host of jobs, from government to private to foreign companies in India, are opening up — here’s a look at some of those
- Google to now release a Chrome update every four weeks
- Here’s why the BJP may be dilly-dallying on declaring the Metro Man as the Chief Minister candidate for Kerala
- India records 16,838 fresh COVID-19 cases and 113 fatalities in last 24 hours


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A: No. No, it will not.
Adidas on Wednesday became the latest woke, globalist corporation to shove the radical left trans agenda in America’s face.
The company decided to feature an ugly biological male who calls himself a woman as their newest female swimwear model.
As Fox News reported, Adidas collaborated with radical South African designer Rich Mnisi to release the “Let Love Be Your Legacy” collection and campaign. The company claims to want to “encourage allyship and freedom of expression without bias, in all spaces of sport and culture” with its campaign with Mnisi.
Mnisi said this in an Adidas news release:
In creating this collection, I had a strong impulse to speak to my inner-child and express to the world how LGBTQ+ allyship can create a legacy of love. “Unifying these themes together through my own visual language and Adidas’ iconic performance and lifestyle pieces is a powerful combination, making the collection a symbol for self-acceptance and LGBTQ+ advocacy. My hope is this range inspires LGBTQ+ allies to speak up more for the queer people they love and not let them fight for acceptance alone.
In classic woke speak, this means replacing attractive females with hideous males dressing up as women.
Because hey, as the classic Irving Berlin show-tune almost but doesn’t quite say: anything girls can do, men can do better. Among the responses over at GP is this gem.
The new Adidas women’s swimwear range, modeled by men pic.twitter.com/rXwMj6deOR
— McPepe’s (@McPepes_AI)
Heh. Sure, why the hell not.
Let me be the first to speak in favor of women wearing that style of swimsuit. (So long as the women aren’t fat or old.)
The nude beaches almost invariably don’t have the women you want to see nude…
You could even have left the word “nude” off the end of that sentence, and been equally correct.
Sandy Hook, NJ, in the late 1980s had plenty of topless or nude women who were a pleasure to look at. Plenty who weren’t, too, but you just ignore the eyesores.
Of course, that was pushing 35 years ago. Even assuming that Sandy Hook still has a nude section, I imagine that the young, slim women are outnumbered 50-to-1 by the heiffaloes.
A Fwench company has come out in favor of faggotry?
Stop the presses!
Europeons, that’s all I got to say about that.


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We are hoping to get more donations and to be able to continue offering these meals for the healthcare providers on the front lines"
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (PRWEB) April 16, 2020
A little over four weeks ago Lara Sahakian reached out to great friend Kim Knausz to see if she would like to join her in sending some delicious baked goods to some local hospitals as a Thank You to the ER and CoViD-19 healthcare heroes. Kim immediately jumped on board and the first 4 batches of tasty treats from Love Lee Bakery were on their way.
The next day, as the two were meeting up for their daily walk on Las Olas, the conversation shifted from the usual South Florida Real Estate market to what was happening in the world while the Corona 19 pandemic was picking up momentum in the United States. As lockdowns were being announced and many of the local businesses began struggling, these two friends were thinking of ways to help and support their local businesses and healthcare providers.
That’s when Kim immediately jumped into action and created a Go Fund Me page and Lara reached out many local restaurants to see if they met strict health and safety guidelines and if they would be willing to deliver directly from their kitchens to the hospitals, in order to avoid any type of cross contamination. “It seemed like a win-win to be able to find a way to continue supporting our hardest hit local businesses while showing healthcare warriors some love and appreciation,” said Sahakian “I have a friend who is a Doctor in the area, and I reached out to him to get some information about the Corona virus and he shared with me that the hospital that he is working at had closed the cafeteria because of the virus and they had no place to get food for themselves on the fly during there 10-18 hour days.”
To date, they have delivered 2,500 meals and baked goods to three of the local hospitals in Broward County. By raising funds through a Go Fund Me Page, https://bit.ly/FLLwarriors, they have been able to continue their efforts and have been able to support ten local businesses. The two friends started the Meals for Healthcare Heroes initiative that keeps growing and inspiring daily, across state lines, as new initiatives have sprung up in State College, PA, Orlando, FL Washington, D.C. and New York City by friends and family. “We are currently supporting three Hospitals in Broward County; Memorial Hospital West, Memorial Hospital Pembroke and Holy Cross Hospital, and so far, we have been able to spread out orders amongst 10 local businesses. We are hoping to get more donations and to be able to continue offering these meals for the healthcare providers on the front lines for as long as the lockdown lasts,” said Sahakian.
Participating Restaurants: LoveLee Bakery, Storks Bakery & Coffee House, Pizza Craft, Empire Pizza Café, Tatts & Tacos, Holy Mackerel Brewery, Offerdahl’s Off-The Grill, Mini Donut World, Laspada’s Original Hoagies, and Sublicious.
If you are interested in helping and supporting the heroes on the front lines while supporting local businesses in Broward County, visit the GoFundMe page https://bit.ly/FLLwarriors.
Lara Sahakian is an Associate Broker at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services EWM Realty International and is certified as a Sports & Entertainment specialist with a focus on Luxury Real Estate. She is the Founder of Elite Global Access, LLC a luxury lifestyle management & travel services company.
Contact: Lara Sahakian: email@example.com 954-612-5272
Kim Knausz is a licensed Realtor at Sotheby’s International Realty specializing in high- end Luxury Real Estate. She was instrumental in launching ONE Sotheby’s Sports & Entertainment Division and is currently the Director of VIP Sales.
Contact: Kim Knausz: firstname.lastname@example.org 954-579-8860


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Remember that clever email we received from Lotus, discussing the new Evora models that would be revealed in Paris? Here are the spy photos of the Lotus Evora S.
Visually, not much has changed so far. That big diffuser in the rear is about all we can see from these photos. Perhaps, though, this hotter S model will get some sort of forced induction. We may have to wait until October, though, to find out.
Scroll down for the photographer’s comments.
As most of you know due to the mail that was sent "accidently" from Lotus Cars the Evora is at the Nürburgring testing both the Evora S and Evora Auto. Well, here are the first photos of the Evora S but so far the visible changes are very small. The only thing showing it’s a S model for now is the big rear diffuser, but there will be some more changes according to our source. Since those changes are not used for testing this time we will have to wait just a bit longer to see the complete package, maybe first in Paris at the car show. But we expect the Evora S to finally get the power and handling that it deserves.
Porsche’s flagship sports car, the 911, is set to receive a major upgrade with an electric introduction; enter the Porsche 911 Hybrid.
More details have been revealed on the Lamborghini LB744 Hybrid Hypercar, featuring a 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 mid-engine, three electric motors, and a new lithium-ion battery.
Porsche tuner turned supercar manufacturer, RUF Automobile, has recently announced the opening of its new North American headquarters in Miami, Florida.
Lexus has introduced its first globally available, purpose-built battery-electric vehicle: the all-new Lexus RZ450e.
Teased two weeks ago, Kia today has unveiled its first three-row electric flagship, the Kia EV9 SUV.


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Just as significant is the marquee at the adjacent Weekends
Furniture Outlet that says, "Sales help wanted."
The furniture store, owned and operated by Ed Medders and his
wife, Denise, will be changing back to the previous name of Lee's
Home Furnishings with regular daily hours in the near future.
The expansive 22,000-square-foot showroom is filled to capacity
with reasonably priced, name-brand quality furniture just waiting
for area buyers to discover. The interior of the huge store has
everything from mattresses to bed sets, dining room ensembles to
literally hundreds of couches, love seats, recliners, tables and
shelving units. To have this selection in a community our size is
remarkable and shows the faith the Medderses have in this area's
The Medderses are far from new to the furniture business. They
started their retail experience 15 years ago on the Fifth Street
curve with the Furniture Warehouse. Their current Lincoln location
was opened 10 years ago and was named Lee's Home Furnishings after
their then 5-year-old son. Ed has more experience in furniture than
just an impressive 15 years of retailing, previously being a
furniture sales rep before opening his first store in Lincoln.
[to top of second column]
The couple also owns a store they opened in 2004 at 3230 Atlanta St.
in Springfield. That store, tended on a daily basis by Ed, has an
expansive 51,000 square feet of top-quality furniture, and business
is going well at that location. Medders said that in the last three
months his Springfield store has shown a modest increase in sales,
and he hopes this consumer interest in the furniture lines he
carries translates into the Lincoln location having success as well.
There is no sense of competition between the Medderses and Doug
Shumard, their neighbor at the Sears store. They carry different
goods, which means that they hope for each other's success and
believe the two retailers with 30,000 square feet combined can help
draw retail customers to both of their stores.
The furniture store's phone number is 735-5711, but it is
recommended to make a personal visit to see just how many choices
are available in home furnishings right in our own community. When
the store's new daily hours are set, the LDN will post them for our
[By MIKE FAK]


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San Francisco has been seeing a lot of new growth and expansion when it comes to tech companies.
But there is a different kind of expansion that is about to happen.
And it’s the kind of expansion that could cause problems for San Francisco business owners.
Check out this article called “San Francisco’s plastic bag ban expands in October” by Haley Zaremba and learn how the San Francisco plastic bag ban will affect new business owners…
“San Francisco’s hard-fought ban on plastic bags is scheduled to expand in October from grocery and drug stores to other retailers, bookstores and clothing stores. By October 2013 even restaurants will have to rethink their packaging options. Take-out may never be the same.”
“Yet despite the political momentum behind the battle against litter and landfill bulk, not all San Franciscans are taking this news well. A group — actually, mostly just a lawyer with a distaste for what he calls environmentalist “know-nothings,” and who has friends in the plastics industry — struck back, and tried to stop the measure in court.”
‘But on Sept. 12, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Teri Jackson ruled that the ordinance was valid and could go into effect in October as scheduled.”
- Is San Francisco Becoming The New Technology Hub? (baybusinesshelp.com)


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There are significant differences in the costs associated with credit cards. Annual fees for credit cards can vary by up to 35 percent depending on the bank or financial institution offering them. The average Finn with credit cards pays hundreds of euros in fees annually. The Finnish credit card payment company Luottokunta estimates that there are nearly as many credit cards as there are people living in Finland - roughly 5 million. The use of credit cards has increased by about 10 percent each year since 2000. This year, credit card payments are expected to top six billion euros. YLE asked six Finnish banks to estimate the real annual interest rate paid on credit cards. The real rate includes all costs incurred by the cardholder, including the reference rate, the bank's marginal rate of interest and other costs such as billing and annual fees. The banks were asked to base their calculations on a hypothetical card with a 4,000 euro limit. By far the cheapest annual rate was given by the Mortgage Society of Finland (Hypo) which specialises in housing loans. Hypo's annual real rate of interest amounted to 9.9 percent. Hypo also offers customers the lowest marginal rate, at 5 percent, charges no annual fee, and the only extra payment is a two euro billing fee. All the banks based their calculations on a three-month euribor interest rate. The survey revealed that while Hypo offered the lowest marginal rate, Nordea's rate was the highest, at 7.5 percent - others fell between the two extremes. Nordea also turned in the most expensive estimate for the real annual rate charged on a 4,000 euro credit card - 13.4 percent. Annual Costs up to 450 Euros
Suomen Rahatieto is an independent organisation that offers financial information to households and small businesses. It says that singles are paying between 200 and 300 euros in annual costs, while 50-year-old couples are spending up to 450 euros each year.
In the survey, the difference between the lowest and highest annual costs quoted for the hypothetical 400 euro credit card used in the survey ran up to 140 euros a year.
The other institutions contacted for the survey included Aktia Savings Bank, OP Bank in Helsinki and Tampere, Tapiola Bank and Sampo Bank.
On average, the real annual interest rate charged on credit cards fell between 11 and 12 percent. Consumers could save roughly 35 percent on costs by switching their credit card business from the most expensive to the cheapest institution.
The financial institutions also acknowledged the difference between the interest rates applied to credit cards and to regular consumer loans. Within the same bank, the difference between rates for consumer credit and credit cards varied by up to six percent.


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· Market has witnessed good broad based bounce-back after the Government’s announcements on various fronts in the last 2-3 months. Some of the positive announcements have been reversal of tax surcharge on FPI investors, Corporate Tax cuts, measures to enhance liquidity, PSU bank mergers.
· The sentiment has turned positive, overall liquidity is improving, MSCI weightage for India has increased and Retail+HNI participation is high.
· Most stress in Auto & NBFC is over. Markets will be driven by earnings which seem to be back on track.
· Historically when P/E is depressed and earnings grew, markets have done well. Right now, P/Es’ are at reasonable levels and thanks to government initiatives earnings are starting to pick up.
· Monsoon has been longer than usual which has affected kharif crops but reservoir and underground water levels are good and so outlook for agriculture is good.
· Auto – The sector has suffered due to earnings de-growth and P/E compression. Earnings were hit as all sub-sectors CV, PV and 2Ws slowed down together. But after production cuts, inventory with dealers is decreasing and sentiment is improving. We are neutral to positive on this sector going forward as we believe that as earnings start coming back, this sector will start looking up.
· BFSI – Insurance companies did well as they were undervalued and they were re-rated. There is a clear demarcation in valuations of PSU banks, Private Banks, NBFCs and Insurance companies. NBFCs with strong parentage and robust retail books continue to look good. Select retail and corporate banks continue to look promising.
· Construction & Cement – This sector is struggling as the Government capex has slowed down especially in states like Andhra Pradesh. Valuations are reasonable and expect a re-rating of the sector soon. Cement is expected to do well given the focus on infra spend.
· FMCG + Consumer Discretionary – This sector is expected to be one of the greatest beneficiaries of corporate tax cuts as most companies were paying full tax. Many companies in this sector are expected to go through an earnings revision.
· Metals – We are not very constructive on this sector so donot own much. We also donot expect big uptick in earnings as global demand is weak.
· Oil & Gas – Fairly valued currently, have built up exposure in Reliance.
· Pharma – Good opportunities available, some stock specific events hurting valuations but haven’t hurt stock prices due to already low multiples. Prefer owning Domestic Pharma. Pharma stocks added over the past year have given good returns.
· IT – Expect stable earnings growth in low double-digit.


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Steele said in the near future Coffee Expressions Witt will also introduce pour-over coffee, “for those who enjoy that option or want to try it.”
In addition to coffee, tea and smoothies, Coffee Expressions Witt will offer desserts made by Unbelievable Bakery. Desserts will include brownies, blondies, dipped pretzels, cookies, carrot cake and a others.
“We will not sell sandwiches, salads or other food items,” Steele said. “The vision for the Thomas Library was to make it a place that would be inviting in more ways than just to study or read a book.”
Coffee Expressions also now offer a 10% discount to all Wittenberg students, faculty and staff, at both locations, when they show their campus ID.
LOCAL: 'We hope to get there soon,' Waffle House official says about Springfield


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The piece contains 600 well-written words, two Quartz-style charts and one interview with a Siemens sales manager. Prominently displayed at the top, bottom and on every graphic are the words “Sponsor Content” in bright orange lettering. “How data is generating green lights to keep you moving on the road” is a piece of native advertising paid for by Siemens and written by Quartz’s marketing team. It’s also a perfect example of how Quartz is bringing compelling storytelling and design to sponsored content.
Quartz is owned by Atlantic Media and staffed by financial and business journalism veterans drawn from legacy media like the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Bloomberg and the Financial Times. Last September, Quartz drew 16 million unique visitors from around the world, the majority on their mobile devices.
In addition to their daily news output, Quartz sends out three email digests whose delivery and content is optimized for three time-zones: for Europe, India and the Americas.
Quartz’s popularity and digital-first design is a model for 21st century news distribution and coverage. But so is its revenue model. Quartz is known in the industry for charging exceptionally high advertising rates to its clients, which represent mostly luxury brands like Rolex and Lexus, as well as companies like United Airlines, Vanguard investments and Chevron. But, rather than solely running videos from these brands or static materials that boast their products, Quartz uses an in-house creative team to extract relevant stories and tangential ideas that, when designed and built with interactivity and compelling story lines, read more like news or lifestyle pieces that cuts across industries and interests.
More like this


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Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
CVS and Rite Aid reportedly disabling NFC in stores to shut down Apple Pay and Google Wallet — CVS Stores Reportedly Disabling NFC to Shut Down Apple Pay and Google Wallet — Earlier this week, pharmacy chain Rite Aid shut down unofficial support for the Apple Pay …
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Don Clark / Wall Street Journal:
Soft Machines, which has raised $125M, leaves stealth mode, reveals plan to license “virtual cores” technology to chip makers — Secretive Startup Unveils Universal Chip — Venture capitalists these days tend to avoid chip companies, largely because developing new products costs a bundle.
Chris O’Brien / VentureBeat:
Apple sent screenshot of explicit image to developer to show app could be used to find porn — App developer claims Apple sent his company porn to prove its app could be used to find naughty pics — A Florida developer says his company got a bit of a naughty surprise via a recent email from Apple.
Abhijeet Mishra / SamMobile:
First Android 5.0 Lollipop updates should hit the Galaxy S5 in December — Android 5.0 Lollipop is coming to the Galaxy S5, and we’ve already given our readers an exclusive look at an early version running on the device. We had already said that the Galaxy S5 would be receiving …
Google bought six Redwood City office buildings totaling about 934,200 square feet for $585M — Google Said to Buy Redwood City Offices for $585 Million — Google Inc. (GOOGL) bought six office buildings northwest of its Silicon Valley headquarters from Starwood Capital Group LLC and Blackstone Group LP …
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
Google’s New Search Downranking Hits Torrent Sites Hard — In recent years Hollywood and the music industry have taken a rather aggressive approach against Google. The entertainment industry companies have accused the search engine of not doing enough to limit piracy, and demanded more stringent anti-piracy measures.
Larry Page reorgs staff, transfers leadership of core Google products to Sundar Pichai — Exclusive: Google CEO Larry Page Reorgs Staff, Anoints Sundar Pichai as New Product Czar — In a significant reorganization of Google management, CEO Larry Page is transferring leadership …
Sudarshan Varadhan / Reuters:
Roku prepares to file for confidential IPO, WSJ report says — U.S. TV startup Roku to confidentially file for IPO: WSJ — (Reuters) – U.S. TV startup Roku Inc is working on plans to confidentially file for an initial public offering, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Xinhua News Agency:
Tim Cook says bringing Apple Pay to China is his top priority there — China Exclusive: Tim Cook: Apple wants everything it develops to enter China market — Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook said he hopes to adapt all of Apple’s developments to work for the Chinese market, which he describes as a “key market” for the tech giant.
Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:
Creators of ‘Room’ say Facebook copied their chatroom app, threaten legal action — Facebook’s new ‘Rooms’ app Room Inc’s ‘Room’ app — Following the launch of Facebook’s new “Rooms” app for iPhone, the company behind a similar piece of software called “Room” …


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In this brave new technological age that we live in, aspiring entrepreneurs have more tools than ever at their disposal to get the seed money necessary to get their ventures off of the ground. One of the most popular of those tools is crowdfunding, a service that is offered by websites like IndieGoGo, Kickstarter and others.
While most fundraising campaigns that find their ways onto these websites are above board, some are definitely not. Since these platforms have launched, more than a few scam artists have launched fake products and services, attempting to swindle thousands out of their hard-earned money. Here are 6 of the most notorious Internet fundraising campaigns ever, each one of which was built upon lies!
1. Kreyos Meteor
Eventually someone is going to crack the code of the â€śsmart watch,â€ť but that day has yet to come. One independent company called The Kreyos Team, â€śtriedâ€ť to get ahead of the game when they unveiled their crowdsourcing campaign for a smart watch called the Kreyos Meteor.
The campaign made all sorts of promises about the smart watchâ€™s functionality. Among those, it promised a waterproof casing, activity trackers, customizable controls, and a litany of other tech buzzwords sure to make gadget-heads everywhere salivate.
People were taken in, and the company managed to raise over $1.5 million for the project. When prototypes started rolling out to backers, though, it was clear that The Kreyos Team was not going to be able to deliver on their promises.
The company blamed another company that was responsible for their smart watchâ€™s manufacturing. But does it really matter? To this day, a product that delivers on what was promised has yet to be released — all while the projectâ€™s leader, Steve Tan, posts pictures of himself with expensive cars and shopping bags for luxury brands on social media.


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Small businesses form the backbone of our economy, accounting for over half of all U.S. sales.
What you may not know, however, is that small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are frequent targets of destructive cyberattacks, many of which can be crippling. Though it may seem surprising given that the breaches of large enterprises make all the headlines, according to a report from Symantec (via Small Business Trends), 43% of all cyberattacks targeted businesses with less than 250 employees in 2015. Even more disconcerting, the National Cyber Security Alliance (via the Denver Post) found that 60% of small businesses fold within six months after suffering a cyberattack.
All of this data paints a rather bleak picture of the state of security for small businesses. SMBs are being targeted regularly, and it's clear the impact of a cyberattack can be crippling. So how can we ensure that the small business community isn’t decimated by cyberattacks? The answer: Be proactive about security and prepare for the worst.
The Online Trust Alliance 2017 Cyber Incident & Breach Response Guide estimates that over 82,000 cyber incidents occurred last year, impacting more than 225 organizations daily. Combined, over 4.2 billion consumer records and identities were exposed. According to The Global State of Information Security Survey, security incidents caused more than eight hours of downtime for 31% of impacted organizations, equating to days of downtime across businesses globally. For a small business, downtime can spell downfall, so preparation is key.
In order to minimize the likelihood of your company being put out of business by a cyberattack, you should develop and implement a cyberattack response plan from day one. When developing a plan of attack -- or rather, identifying defensive measures -- it’s important to consider the following steps:
1. Prepare For The Worst
Don’t wait until a breach happens to put an incident response plan in place. Security should be approached as an investment in the future of your organization -- both for small businesses and larger enterprises. It’s important to establish a clear budget and spell out the resources necessary to put a cyber response plan in place and follow through should an incident occur. Engage stakeholders and decision makers to develop a comprehensive plan laying out proper protocols so that in the event of a cyberattack, the team is prepared to quickly respond and resolve the problem before irreversible damage is done.
2. Account For The Little Things
While it’s important to focus on the big picture, it’s true what they say: The devil is in the details. When it comes to security, you can never be too organized, and a cyber response plan is no exception. Throughout the process, be sure to identify key tasks, manage timelines and document all response efforts from beginning to end so you can pinpoint where the process may need to be refined or scrapped altogether. With threats constantly evolving, there is always room for improvement, so never assume your process is perfect.
3. Every Penny Counts
Security tools tend to be more costly to implement after a breach has already occurred, so investing in security from the start is the most economical approach for any organization. This is especially true for small businesses where resources -- in terms of both financial means and manpower -- may be scarce. To mitigate the risk of costs down the road, it’s important to make the most of your security budget and establish a cyber response plan from day one.
4. Involve Everyone
While this may seem like a no-brainer if your business consists of only two or three employees, it’s important to make sure the entire organization is looped in when it comes to a cyber response plan. Not only should your plan be shared internally with employees, but everyone should be educated on cybersecurity best practices to minimize the security risks associated with the human element.
5. Revisit And Rework
Refine your response plan along the way. The cyber threat landscape is constantly evolving, and cyber response plans must shift to keep abreast of new developments. Don’t wait until a breach occurs to fix what might be broken. Instead, meet with employees on a regular basis to ensure policies are being followed and your response plan is effective.
According to an IBM study conducted by the Ponemon Institute, the average consolidated total cost of a data breach is $4 million, a figure that would be staggering for most small businesses. That being said, cyber incidents don’t need to spell death for SMBs. By preparing for the worst and developing a cyber attack response plan, small businesses can ensure they’re poised to respond appropriately and quickly bounce back after a cyber incident.


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Free registration is required to read the article. “WHEN most people shop for a cellphone, considerations like aesthetics, size and features usually top the list. For most, the sleeker, the smaller and the more fully loaded the phone, the better.
But when Eugene Auh went trawling at eBay for a cheap cellphone last month, he searched for one with a decidedly anachronistic bent.
“I wanted the biggest cellphone I could find,” said Mr. Auh, a 27-year-old investment manager in Philadelphia. His winning bid of $25.95 bought a Motorola DynaTac, a 1980′s-era “brick” cellphone that fits more comfortably in a backpack than in a suit pocket.
Rather than subtracting from its charm, the phone’s cumbersome size – it is roughly eight by two by three inches – is its main attraction, Mr. Auh said. Indeed, he plans to take the phone to work, to the gym and even to his nighttime haunts.
“Imagine this: I’ll walk into a bar and ask for a girl’s number, then break out my phone,” he said. “How could you say no to that?” “


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Esports Technologies has announced the relaunch of Gogawi.
The immersive betting destination is now available in more than 140 jurisdictions, with enhancements that include expanded odds, enhanced promotions and additional payment options, as well as esports-friendly interface improvements.
A main enhancement of the Gogawi .com relaunch is a relationship with ApcoPay that aims to provide customers with more deposit and withdrawal options, as well as faster settlement times.
The latest version of Gogawi .com, built for esports betting – which was an estimated $17 billion worldwide market in 2020, according to Wholesale Investor incorporates key customer feedback that Esports Technologies believes significantly upgrades the user experience through several new features including: Improved payment options, Multi-tier bonusing programmes, New wagering products, etc.
“The relaunch of Gogawi .com is a big milestone for Esports Technologies and showcases how our IP and platform investments improve the esports wagering experience for customers. This is the next step in our journey to aggressively enhance and expand the Gogawi experience for all esports wagering customers,” Bart Barden, COO of Esports Technologies, said.
“We are pleased to be integrated with Gogawi .com to provide its customers with our best-in-breed payment platform, and share the vision that esports wagering is an exciting and growing industry in which we operate,” Daniel Buttigieg, Head of Business Development at Apco Systems Limited.


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The bullseye has become a moving Target. Minnesota-based retail chain Target announced this week that is it pulling the plug on a proposed site in Antioch, Illinois. The company said slumping sales and the weak housing market were the reasons for the withdrawal, but a company spokesman made it clear that Target is applying the brakes on new growth. Target will not be part of the so-called Antioch Marketplace, which the city’s Mayor said is “in flux right now.” “I can’t speculate if the project will move forward,” Mayor Dorothy Larson told the Daily Herald newspaper. “I would certainly hope so.” Target also jettisoned projects in Morris, Illinois, and in Chicago. “We have more store opportunities than we can pursue at this time,” a Target official told the Daily Herald. “We have to make sure it is a good fit for Target and the community, and right now, we have to be selective.” The Antioch Marketplace developer, V-Land, said it still plans to proceed with the enormous, 600,000 s.f. mall, located near an existing Wal-Mart. The Target store would have been around 132,156 s.f. The developer says a Kohl’s and a Lowe’s are also part of the tenant mix, but Kohl’s refused to confirm their involvement. “We don’t actually comment on real-estate speculation,” a Kohl’s spokesman told the newspaper. The largest mall in the area, the Antioch Mall was approved two months ago. The developer helped sell the project by projecting it would generate big sales tax revenue for the local elementary school district, and the high school. “All I can tell you is we are very much interested in figuring out a way to work with Target and keep them as part of the project,” said a representative from V-Land. But if Target was their target, V-Land needs to find another target.
Does this Target pullout fit into the larger picture of new store slow-downs at retailers like Wal-Mart? “There are a lot of stories flying around about retailers dropping locations all over the country,” a spokesman for V-Land admitted. “We built this project around certain anchor tenants and do what we can to work with them.” The fact remains, companies like Target and Wal-Mart are scaling back their overly-ambitious growth plans, and leaving many communities, like Antioch, with happy homeowners who are thrilled to hear that the big box chains are becoming more ‘selective’ in where they locate.


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As Xbox 360 enters its fifth year on the market in times past we would typically be bracing ourselves for the arrival of its successor – but Microsoft reckons that its popular console may not have even reached middle age.
I think in many ways we’re still on the upside of the console lifecycle,” the president of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division Robbie Bach told CBC.
Historically, the content cycle has been driven by graphic technology. There’s still plenty of power available in the Xbox 360, there’s still plenty of power available in the PS3. Nintendo probably can’t say that.
But the console world has changed fundamentally in a very important way – innovation doesn’t require new hardware. The fact that we can deliver a new Xbox Live service every year is a very powerful thing and completely changes the experience without changing the console, without requiring the industry to reboot every five years.
The fact that we can introduce something like Project Natal and have it work on every Xbox 360 and create an entirely new way to interact with the system speaks to all of that. For the industry, I think this is a tremendously positive thing. For consumers I think it’s tremendously positive.”


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iPhone X Has Green Line Display Problem
Apple has a new problem with owners of the super expensive iPhone X complaining of a green line appearing on their screen.
It was this time last week that Apple was forced to address a glitch that caused some iPhones to unexpectedly start auto-correcting the letter “i” to a capital “A” and a question mark.
According to one Twitter user, who first experienced the issue earlier this week, the green line is ever-present and does not go away even when the device is restarted.
Regardless, the last thing anyone wants to experience after forking down $1,500+ for a new phone is a faulty device that requires a full-on replacement, especially given that iPhone X supply is still lagging demand.
This is not the only problem to plague the iPhone X. Earlier this month the auto correct issue emerged when people updated their phones to version 11.1 of the iOS operating system.
In a tweet, Apple said people could “fix it by installing the latest software update”. The update also addresses an issue with Siri.
The company has not explained what caused the problem.
The problem was highlighted last week when people trying to tweet messages such as “I got a new iPhone” found their posts were appearing as “A[?] got a new iPhone”.
At the time, Apple outlined a temporary fix for the problem on its website.
The fix involved editing the keyboard settings in iOS so that the right character, either an upper or lower case “i”, was used.


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Trust House announces bottle store sale
Trust House has announced the sale of its Masterton bottle store ‘The Bottle O’ to Big Barrel Group Ltd.
The store has been owned and operated by Trust House on its Russell Street site since 1977 under various names including Wholesale Bottle Store, Joseph Masters, Liquor Plus and Liquorland Wairarapa.
Trust House chief executive, Allan Pollard, said while the store had been an iconic retail outlet in Masterton for more than 30 years, poor returns, ever-decreasing margins and rising costs now made it unviable for Trust House. “It is the right time sell and concentrate on other areas of our business that will return greater value back to our community.”
With a head office in Napier, Big Barrel is a family owned and operated business with 27 bottle stores mostly in the lower North Island. “The company has an excellent reputation in the industry for well-appointed stores that are managed efficiently by well-trained staff and will be an asset for Masterton,” Mr Pollard said.
“We are now working through the sale process with the purchaser which includes retaining as many of the store’s seven full and part-time employees as possible.” The business will change ownership in early December this year.
This sale means that Trust House will no longer own any standalone retail bottle stores in Masterton.
Further information from:
Allan Pollard, Chief Executive, Trust House Ltd, Ph: 06 370 0520 or 027 493 3507


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Remember the ketchup controversy?
It was 1981, a few months after President Ronald Reagan took office, when a U.S. Department of Agriculture task force addressing school lunch regulations declared ketchup and other condiments "vegetables," thereby sidestepping requirements that schoolkids be given actual green stuff. The policy was met with outrage and never went into practice, but it helps illustrate the thinking about school lunches at the time: Keep it cheap.
If you ate school cafeteria food during that time period, you know that it was cheap. And horrid. Styrofoam plates heaped with hockey-puck hamburgers, mystery casserole, pizza that stuck to the plate.
By comparison, Colorado Springs School District 11's Good Food Project looks inspirational.
In 2009, director of food and nutrition services Rick Hughes launched the program with a goal of bringing "good food" back to D-11 cafeterias. "Good" as in "made from scratch," unprocessed, and sourced from farms.
By January, he aims to come as close as possible to eliminating growth hormones, antibiotics, artificial dyes and preservatives, hydrogenated oils and added sugars (including corn syrup).
"When you stop and think about it, the nourishment that we obtain from eating food sustains our lives," Hughes wrote in a news bulletin to parents and kids last fall, when the program had gone into full swing. "It stands to reason that the better food we consume, the better our lives will be related to overall health, physical and cognitive performance, and mental health."
D-11's staff, Hughes says, has been reading nutrition labels since 2009 and rejecting foods that don't meet their tough standards. Kids in D-11 eat grass-fed, hormone- and antibiotic-free Ranch Foods Direct beef. They get all-natural chicken from Red Bird and Pilgrim's. They have produce from local farms. Many bread products are made from scratch. Even their ketchup is free of corn syrup.
"We just have a genuine interest for what's best for kids," Hughes says. "We saw Food, Inc. when Food, Inc. first came out, and we came out scratching our heads and saying, 'Is the American food industry really that bad?'"
Hughes says he did his research, and in short, he found the answer was "yes." It's a profit-driven industry, and producers do what they can to make food visually attractive and extremely "palatable."
But the chemicals and additives that make processed macaroni and cheese bright orange and chicken nuggets spongy, don't make them healthy. Hughes notes that processed foods have long had a huge presence in school cafeterias, because much school food is provided free-of-charge from the USDA commodities program, which purchases excess crops from farmers to stabilize food prices.
"The commodities program is heavily influenced by the food industry," Hughes says, "and the food industry has really written the rules for school lunches for a long time."
Hughes says D-11 still gets some free food from the government, which he wants to take advantage of so he can keep student cost down. (This fall, the district will increase breakfasts by 5 cents a meal and lunches by 10 cents a meal across all grades, following a year of no increases.) But he tries to keep it mostly to fresh and frozen vegetables, so that he can bring in more high-quality foods.
D-11 administrative dietitian Jamie Humphrey says the concept is simple: "We've adopted this phrase: 'Real kids deserve real food.'
"If they're getting better food, they can concentrate better in the classroom," Humphrey says.
"...It's really great because we've gotten feedback. We've had parents that say, 'We're so glad you're making changes.' And their kids, when they've come home, have said, 'Can we get apples instead of Twinkies?'"
Making it yummy
Now, it hasn't been all backslaps and brussels sprouts. Hughes says he also got calls from parents angry about processed favorites being yanked.
He found himself having to explain that trans fats build up in your body and affect your heart, and that artificial dyes have been linked to hyperactivity in children. Those conversations, however initially frustrating, turned out positive, Hughes says; the parents got it.
Of course, it's helped to have someone like Brian Axworthy in his corner. Axworthy, a chef, says he's worked kitchens in five-star resorts, hotels and country clubs over the course of his 18-year career. He was hired a year ago by the district with this charge: to bring natural flavors, spices and fun presentations to cafeteria menus.
"It's a give-and-take [with the kids]," Axworthy says. "Part of my job is to make sure the foods are going to interest them."
Most of D-11's menu items are variations on comfort foods. Axworthy makes homemade macaroni and cheese with vegetables blended into the sauce, along with bright orange turmeric. It looks just like the Kraft Foods version. But it's healthier.
He makes "bbq chicken," only he uses natural chicken and a homemade sauce. He makes turkey wraps with fresh spinach and whole-wheat tortillas. Mashed potatoes are a savory mix of regular potatoes and nutritionally rich sweet potatoes. Taco salads are packed with fresh veggies and topped with fresh salsa. Baked ziti has ground beans substituting for part of the meat.
So will D-11 help change the nation's school lunch system? Or the way that kids think about food?
"I think that's a paradigm shift," Axworthy says. "But I think what we're doing is a first step."


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The IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen has published its fifth sustainability report. For the first time, it links the industry's achievements and goals to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the same time, the report serves as a status report for an industry that has set itself ambitious goals for the circular economy by 2025: One million tons of recyclate use and 90 percent recyclable or reusable household packaging.
Share of recyclable and reusable household packaging rises to 81 percent; demand for recyclates increases
A study by the Society for Packaging Market Research (GVM) shows that the share of recyclable or reusable plastic household packaging has increased from 75 percent (2016) to 81 percent (2020). "Many innovations are in development, so a further increase can be expected in the next few years," Isabell Schmidt, IK managing director of circular economy, is confident. "This means the industry is right on target for the 90 percent recyclability target."
According to the report, the use of recycled material in plastic packaging is also making progress with 474,000 tons (2019) (2017: just under 400,000 tons), confirming that the race to catch up has begun: Between 2017 and 2019, demand for recyclates increased by more than 18 percent, while at the same time consumption of virgin plastics declined. Here, too, the industry expects the trend to continue.
The IK's "Earth" initiative is also on track, with 26,500 metric tons of agricultural silage and stretch film sent for mechanical recycling, a huge step forward (2014: just under 2,180 metric tons) toward the 34,000-ton target for 2022.
However, the report also points out the many challenges. For example, sourcing high-quality recyclates, especially for food packaging, is still a major hurdle for the industry. "In cooperation with the recycling industry and other players from business, politics, public authorities and civil society, we are committed to overcoming the existing hurdles in a variety of ways," says Isabell Schmidt.
Diverse contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Whether consumer, product, or climate protection, protection of the oceans from plastic discharges, or transformation into a functioning circular economy: with their products and development goals, plastic packaging manufacturers contribute in many ways to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and support the political development goals at European and German level. With the IK Sustainability Report, which provides plenty of data and facts about the industry, the association also invites plastics critics to a differentiated and factual discussion of the often emotionally assessed "plastic packaging". Critical aspects such as waste in the environment are not faded out thereby. Isabell Schmidt emphasizes "After all, transparency, credibility and dialogue in a spirit of partnership are also part of the demands made on our interest group as defined in the report".