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Huawei moves to overturn 'unlawful' US subsidy ban
Shenzhen (China) (AFP) –
Chinese telecoms giant Huawei said on Thursday it has petitioned a US court to overturn a ban that prevents carriers in rural America from tapping an $8.5-billion federal fund to purchase the company's equipment.
Huawei's petition said the ban -- imposed last month against the company and its Chinese rival ZTE on national security grounds -- failed to substantiate claims that Huawei was a threat and was a violation of due process and thus "unlawful".
"Huawei is a Chinese company. That is (Washington's) only excuse," Huawei’s chief legal officer Song Liuping told a press conference at company headquarters in the southern city of Shenzhen.
The petition to a US appeals court follows a lawsuit filed by Huawei in March that declared a 2019 US defence bill "unconstitutional" for barring government agencies from buying its equipment, services, or working with third parties that are Huawei customers.
The US campaign against Huawei is motivated by fears in Washington that the company is a potential security threat due to the background of its founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei, a former Chinese army engineer.
The concerns have escalated as Huawei has risen to become the world leader in telecom networking equipment and one of the top smartphone manufacturers, and following Beijing's passage of a 2017 law that obliges Chinese companies to assist the government in matters of national security.
President Donald Trump moved in May to block American companies from doing business with Huawei, which US officials accuse of violating US sanctions on Iran.
But Trump has offered a series of temporary reprieves for Huawei to allow service providers covering remote rural areas time to comply with the ban.
Huawei has consistently dismissed the security accusations, saying Washington has provided no proof to back them up.
© 2019 AFP


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The latest news on the API economy
Since the Heroku Platform API v3 hit the market over two years ago, Heroku has announced the official sunset date for v2. On April 15, Heroku will no longer provide access to v2. Prior to the 15th, Heroku will stop supporting auth in query string for security purposes. Prompt migration is necessary.
Microsoft continues to plug its new open strategy, and a number of new Graph-related services propel its strategy. With new apps and APIs connected to the Graph API endpoint, Microsoft is quickly allowing two way access to and from Office 365 apps and third-party, non-Microsoft apps.
The recent debate surrounding Apple’s defiance of the FBI’s request to provision a back door into an iPhone has done something that few other news events could have done; it significantly raised the general public’s awareness of the degree to which Apple has gone to protect the privacy of its cus
So far, this article has primarily focused on the extent to which a smartphone's fingerprint reader can be used to secure the device or provide convenience to the end user. But, does the absence of an AND/conjuction approach for unlocking the device also mean that AND/conjunction is not available
Open banking uses APIs to make services like algorithms, data, identity, processes and other business functionality available to ecosystems of customers, employees, third-party developers, fintechs, vendors and other partners. This article offers four reasons open banking will go mainstream in 2016.
A new company, Secful, aims to help companies identify attacks against their APIs and respond in an automated fashion with a "custom-tailored" security-layer. According to the company, existing security solutions don't sufficiently protect APIs and often fail to detect attacks before it's too late.
GoDaddy completely rebuilt its Cloud Servers service. Built on OpenStack architecture, the service simplifies build, maintenance, and migration of virtual instances. With a continued focus on small business and individual developers, GoDaddy goes to market with a simple, fast cloud offering.
IoT announcements are routinely void of any discussion about developers or open APIs. It's as if the so-called IoT industry is destined to repeat the proprietary mistakes of its technology predecessors even when it's surrounded by current examples of the industry's commoditizing forces at work.
API Fortress is pleased to announce a new self-service feature where anyone can create a free account and try the first ever visually guided API testing platform. It is a tool that offers the ability to test an entire API without needing to write any code.
Google and Twitch announced major service offerings in the world of game play streaming at the annual Game Developers Conference. Twitch's Stream First development approach, and Google's new Video Recording API are meant to create a collaboration between game, player, and audience.
Bitwage launched an API that aims to ease delay times and high fees traditionally associated with paying wages across international borders. API access to its payroll platform enables companies to integrate Bitwage solutions into existing systems such as time tracking software and other workflows.
Upon launching a new service, many providers find that they need a group of users to help isolate issues with the app and vet ideas. The challenge lies in creating a successful beta community to represent the needs of your larger user base. This article covers the 5 keys to securing your beta users.
The way the Square API delivers JSON output makes it possible for an attacker to engage in a cross-site scripting (XSS) under certain circumstances. The vulnerability was discovered by security researcher Ajay Chavda and reported to Square on August 7, 2015 through its bounty program on hackerone.
SmartBear Software has released Ready! API TestServer, an automated API testing solution which hopes to allow developers to find bugs faster and speed the delivery of APIs. It is important to test APIs, as they represent the critical building blocks of business functions and revenue streams.
While the Dutch are known as open minded, modern and straight forward, their government has been anything but. The arrival of the Environmental Act, the largest government IT challenge in Dutch history, has been an impetus for change and has unleashed a new digital revolution.
Mobile payment service Venmo, which is owned and operated by PayPal, abruptly shut off new developers from its public API, which handles payment invoices and distribution of receipts to external web services. Venmo had created confusion after first stating that it was shuttering its API altogether.
Node.js allows the building of applications that handle executions on the server-side, offering an advanced feature set not always accessible with client-side scripting. Here, Niklas Heidloff explains how to deploy an API via Node to IBM’s Cloud Foundry-based PaaS, IBM Bluemix.
This year's Mobile World Congress features a bigger focus on what can be done with the data produced by mobile devices. In that vein, various organizations within the U.N. have given thought to how this data can be used to better the world. This article looks at how APIs can play a role.
Two security researchers discovered insecure, authentication-less APIs that made the world's best-selling electric car, the Nissan LEAF, vulnerable to hackers who could obtain private information about a vehicle's operations and travels and even control key vehicle functions.

domain: news


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It offers 100 Mbps bandwidth where the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile network standard is available. Integrated GPS/GLONASS, and WLAN are in the compact hardware module, making it possible for Continental’s LTE module can be used worldwide.
The survey, showed that 79% of U.S. adults would worry that the equipment in a driverless car will fail, such as a braking software glitch or failed warning sensor that alerts the driver of danger.
Many cars run Windows CE or Windows Automotive, including BMW, Fiat, Ford, Kia, and Nissan. However recently, Ford opted for the QNX operating system from BlackBerry.
Microsoft is working on a head unit infotainment system that runs Windows. Windows Phone screens will display on the in-dash screen via MirrorLink. It was shown at the Windows Build Conference.
The system tries to cut down the “cognitive load,” keeping eyes on the screen less than 2 seconds, good screen sizing, end of small touch icons and most of the system running with voice activations from Microsoft’s Cortana system.
The cards on the screen are pinned with functions needed most like Windows Phone. Features include music playing, turn-by-turn directions by Nokia Here/BingMaps, voice search and text messages.
Some contend that because the system uses MirrorLink, it could be updated to older vehicles.
Connected car information starts at 31 minutes.
At the New York Auto Show, today, Volvo showed how Apple’s CarPlay will work in its vehicles. The way CarPlay will operate in Volvo cars is that it is an alternative to the Volvo Sensus Connect interface.
When CarPlay is deployed by connecting an iPhone 5/5c/5S to the USB port via a Lightning connector, it will work with the Volvo steering-wheel-mounted controls and the 10″ touchscreen. The voice-control button on the steering wheel of will launch Siri or the icon on the touchscreen can be tapped.
At the New York International Auto Show, Hyundai announced that its first car model to feature CarPlay for iPhone 5/5c/5S will be the 2015 Hyundai Sonata. Hyundai previously announced that the Hyundai Genesis would work with Google Glass integration and include Verizon Wireless Enterprise safety, security and entertainment features.
The study found Telematics is one of the most dynamic and fastest growing segments of the cellular machine-to-machine market. The total number of telematics M2M SIMs reached 37m in 2013, representing about 4% of all passenger cars.
Pyramid estimates, M2M SIMs in passenger cars will grow to 12% by 2018, with telematics M2M SIMs contributing more than 20% of all M2M SIMs.


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BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WATE) – Kellogg’s is recalling packages of its Honey Smacks cereal after a salmonella outbreak sickened at least 73 people in 31 states, including Tennessee.
The company is recalling 15.3 oz. and 23 oz. packages of the cereal with a “best if used by” date of June 14, 2018 through June 14, 2019. The 15.3 oz. boxes have a UPC code of 38000 39103 and the 23 oz. boxes have a UPC code#38000 14810.
The Centers for Disease Control says 73 people have been infected with salmonella so far, 24 of whom had to be hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. One case has been reported in Tennessee.
CDC says epidemiologic evidence shows Kellogg’s Honey Smacks is a likely source of the outbreak. If you have any of the cereal, even if some has been eaten without illness, throw the rest of it away and return it for a refund. For more information, visit the company’s website or call 1.800.962.1413.
If you store the cereal in a container without the packaging and don’t remember the brand or type, throw it away anyway. You should also thoroughly wash the container with warm, soapy water before using it again.
Salmonella can cause fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain and typically lasts four to seven days. In rare cases, salmonella can get into the bloodstream and cause severe illness and sometimes deadly infections in young children, elderly people and others with weakened immune systems.
The CDC says the investigation into the outbreak is ongoing.


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The world's toughest law banning plastic bags has come into effect in Kenya. Anyone caught manufacturing, importing or even carrying plastic shopping bags could face up to four years in prison.
Texas' criminal justice department has banned more than 10,000 book titles from state prisons. However, Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and two titles by former Ku Klux Klan chief David Duke are supposedly fine.
Tunisia and Kenya recently joined the ranks of African countries banning the use of plastic bags - but poor waste management and a mentality of littering make the prospect of a plastic waste-free society unrealistic.
Styrofoam pollution is a serious problem in Zimbabwe. The government is set to ban the ubiquitous material for use in food containers and to promote greener alternatives. But not everyone is happy with the move.
More and more human rights advocates are paying the ultimate price for their activism. Many are threatened and harassed. For years, the situation of human rights advocates has been growing worse.
© 2017 Deutsche Welle |
Legal notice |
| Mobile version


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Illinois has become the latest state in the union to legalize blockchain contracts, or smart contracts.
Part of the new law states:
“A smart contract, record or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because a blockchain was used to create, store or verify the smart contract, record or signature,”.
This means these contracts are now admissible as evidence in court, recognized as a viable alternative to paper-based records and statutorily exempt from local taxation.
According to CoinDesk, the Illinois law extends the same legal recognition already enjoyed by paper contracts to blockchain contracts and agreements so that they are recognized as legally binding in the eyes of the state.
It also shields the blockchain industry from local government interference, meaning cities and towns cannot impose taxes and regulations or require licensing or permits on blockchain systems or those who use them.
“The law ensures that businesses and individual community members will not have to navigate a patchwork of local blockchain regulation,” said Alison Mangiero, president of blockchain technology company TQ Tezos and a proponent of the bill.
This article is not intended to be financial advice. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or as a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Crypto Block does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice.
As always, do your due diligence before investing, and never invest more than you can afford to lose.


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CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. airlines are slowly ratcheting up their bag-check fees, like US Airways Group Inc did on Wednesday, but analysts warn that carriers risk alienating customers with excessive fees.
US Airways said that on domestic flights it would charge $20 to check a single bag and $30 to check a second bag. The carrier said it also would charge $50 to check a second bag on its transatlantic flights.
Late Wednesday, Continental Airlines Inc also unveiled plans to charge some economy ticket holders $50 for a second checked bag on transatlantic flights. Travelers who buy nonrefundable or discounted fares are among those who would be subject to the fee, a company spokeswoman said.
The airline said the fee does not apply to elite members of the airline’s frequent-flier program, those traveling on full- fare economy tickets and other groups.
The fees are consistent with those implemented by rival airlines such as AMR Corp’s American Airlines, which added a fee last week for a second bag check on some international routes.
Airlines view the new fees as fair and necessary to bolster revenue as the industry grapples with weak demand and volatile fuel prices. But for many travelers on long, extended trips, the charges, while technically optional, are unavoidable.
“Airlines are fighting for scraps here. These are penny ante policies that often catch consumers by surprise,” said Joe Schwieterman, transportation expert at DePaul University in Chicago. “It’s made traveling with two bags punitive for many flyers.”
The airline industry, facing losses that have threatened the survival of many carriers in the last few years, have begun unbundling items and services that used to be included in the ticket price.
Last year, several top carriers took the controversial step of charging fees, even for a single bag check on a domestic flight. Customers balked, but they paid.
“All of the fees are unfair for the consumers, but charging for fees is one of the only ways that the airlines can survive,” said Basili Alukos, an airline analyst at Morningstar.
Alukos noted it is still much cheaper to check a bag on an airline than it is to ship the same bag through another major cargo service.
The new fees are common in the U.S. airline industry. Delta Air Lines Inc charges $15 for a single checked bag on travel within the United States and $50 for a second checked bag on travel in the economy class between the United States and Europe.
Some carriers such as US Airways and Delta are encouraging travelers to check bags online by charging a $5 airport service fee per checked bag.
“So far, it appears that consumers have pretty much embraced these fees,” said Kevin Mitchell, head of the Business Travel Coalition, which represents business travelers.
Mitchell noted that when airlines first began charging for second and first checked bags last year, analysts forecast the initiative would net airlines about $400 million a year in ancillary revenue. That figure is now over $2 billion a year for U.S. domestic carriers, he said.
“The airlines are not going to let up in looking further for anything they can charge for that’s not nailed down,” Mitchell said. “They’re running the risk of turning travelers off with all the nickel and diming, because that’s how it’s perceived.”
Mitchell said travelers who rebel against bag-check fees they find excessive can try their luck with another airline.
Southwest Airlines Co has made its relatively inexpensive bag-check policy a centerpiece in its advertising lately. Southwest will check the first two bags weighing under 50 pounds for free. The third checked bag is $50.
Additional reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; editing by Richard Chang and Andre Grenon


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May 4, 2020 - Economy & Business
J. Crew files for bankruptcy
J. Crew filed for bankruptcy Monday, reaching a deal with its lenders to convert $1.65 billion of debt into equity, Bloomberg reports.
Why it matters, via Axios' Dan Primack: It's one of the first major retail casualties of the coronavirus pandemic, though the chain was in serious financial trouble long before. The outbreak forced J. Crew, like its peers, to close its physical stores, but it also scuttled an IPO for jeans unit Madewell, which would have provided the company with fresh capital.


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hrrrrrng colonel, Huawei seems to be out of chips..
Huawei, due to resource supply issues, seems like it may not be able to produce their flagship chip. While it is not to a problematic level yet, it seems Huawei will have to make that decision about production options soon. Since we are on the topic of chips, Qualcomm seems to be in some trouble. Notably, with over 400 different vulnerabilities discovered, Qualcomm and their chips seem to be on the hot seat. In addition, they are not the only ones with vulnerability problem. Specter and Meltdown have made a return, sort of. With some new reports, it seems Specter and Meltdown were never truly resolved. The newly discovered source of these vulnerabilities has been found to be a architectural issue that affects just about every desktop CPU manufacturer.


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By Nopriyanto Hady Suhanda*
Now that the United Kingdom has left the European Union, there is a chance for Indonesia to build on the UK–Indonesia bilateral economic partnership. Brexit is pushing the United Kingdom to form trade partnerships the world over and discussions are now taking place with Indonesia as part of a Joint Trade Review (JTR). This is an opportunity for Indonesia to explore the significant potential of increasing trade with the United Kingdom.
Indonesia and the European Union are also in the middle of negotiating the Indonesia–EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA). The two economies began talks in 2016 and the tenth round of negotiations was scheduled for March 2020 before being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This agreement is expected to erase many existing trade barriers but unfortunately will no longer apply to trade with the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom’s detachment from the European Union gives it the freedom to negotiate its own trade deals. According to UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, in under two years the United Kingdom has formed agreements with 62 countries, indicating its flexibility and independence in concluding trade deals much faster than the European Union.
The United Kingdom is not among Indonesia’s top 10 major trading partners. In 2018 it was Indonesia’s 17th-largest trading partner. While Indonesian exports to the United Kingdom have decreased over the past five years, Indonesia’s imports from the United Kingdom show an upward trend, despite a slight drop in 2019. In that year, the United Kingdom’s import and export volumes to Indonesia were US$1.4 billion and US$1.0 billion, respectively — a drop in the water compared to the United Kingdom’s overall total import and export volume of US$695.8 billion and US$469.7 billion, of which about 20 per cent was with Asia.
Indonesia’s main exports to the United Kingdom are in nickel and footwear. Indonesia is the second biggest nickel exporter to the United Kingdom, after the United States. But Indonesia is still far from being the United Kingdom’s main supplier and lags behind European exporters for footwear products.
There is a significant opportunity for Indonesia to increase its exports across a range of goods where it wields a stronger advantage. The greatest potential is in palm oils and natural rubbers. Palm oil has the largest absolute difference between potential and actual exports in value terms and an agreement could present an opportunity to ramp up additional exports. The biggest current palm oil exporters to the United Kingdom are other European countries, trading under no tariffs, while Indonesia faces a tariff rate of 9.3 per cent. Data processing machines, broken rice and papayas are also ripe for export diversification. Data processing machines have a particularly high demand potential in the United Kingdom.
A constant-market-share analysis between Indonesian and UK trade data also shows greater potential for expanding trade in tissues, footwear, wooden construction material, cocoa butter, and cooking fats and oils. This is based on the bilateral pattern of trade over the last five years and takes into account competitiveness, ability to adapt to the domestic market and local demand.
Indonesia will face tough competition trying to break into the UK market. Turkey and Italy currently compete for the UK market for tissues. Belgium and the Netherlands control a significant proportion of the UK footwear market. And Poland and China lead in exports of wooden construction material.
In the effort to secure Indonesia’s position, the Indonesia Eximbank could serve as a focal point matching Indonesian companies with UK markets, fulfilling its mandate to enable and bolster Indonesian companies exporting commodities.
Indonesia has initiated discussions with the United Kingdom on the JTR with the aim of establishing a strong bilateral trade agreement. In the most recent discussions, the two countries agreed on ten potential focus sectors: education, agriculture, food and beverages, health and pharmaceuticals, technology, infrastructure and transportation, wooden products, renewable energy, white-collar services, and the creative economy. Both parties agreed to finalise and sign the JTR report in January 2021 and to identify next steps once the JTR is signed.
Indonesia needs to ensure that the country’s eminent commodities are included in the agreement under principles of mutualism to the benefit of both parties. Indonesia will then need to map out a strategy on how to make the most of the agreement, particularly around raising business awareness and ensuring the quality of exports as well as imports. It is also important that both parties discuss persistent barriers to trade and investment links, including transportation costs, market preferences, production capacity and product quality.
It is crucial that any UK–Indonesia economic partnership supports a dynamic, competitive and progressive trading relationship.
*About the author: Nopriyanto Hady Suhanda is an analyst at the Center for Regional and Bilateral Policy, Fiscal Policy Agency, the Ministry of Finance, Indonesia. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of any government institution or organisation.
Source: This article was published by East Asia Forum
The article Time To Strengthen UK–Indonesia Economic Relationship – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.
Counterintelligence from Michael_Novakhov (51 sites)


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FROM OUR PARTNER
California Beef Council
Add more beef to the menu to boost check averages
Americans love to eat beef—according to Technomic’s 2019 Center of the Plate: Beef and Pork Consumer Trend Report, 69% of consumers eat beef at home or at a foodservice location at least once a week.
5 ways beef leads to big profits
Beef has the potential to earn restaurants a lot of money. It’s relatively easy to prepare, it can be made into an array of delicious menu items and can be served up quickly to facilitate turning tables fast, too.


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Move over, Marty. There’s another robot coming to town.
Tally will coming to all BJ’s Wholesale Club locations across the country, including Hanover Township, Lehigh County, and Quakertown, company officials announced Tuesday.
Unlike Marty, who patrols Giant supermarket stores, helping staff identify slip hazards, Tally will monitor supplies, ensuring that shelves are fully stocked and items are appropriately displayed and accurately priced.
“This real-time data unlocks powerful efficiencies that enables faster restocking, directs BJ’s team members and members to quickly locate products, and provides valuable visibility into inventory tracking,” company officials said in a news release. “Ultimately, Tally allows team members to be more efficient and re-focus more of their time towards providing exceptional customer service.”
Using a suite of sensors, Tally operates during normal store hours alongside shoppers and employees. The robot scans the entire store up to three times per day and autonomously returns to its dock, allowing for continuous operation.
Tally does not have googly eyes like Marty, however.
BJ’s Wholesale Club is partnering with Simbe Robotics for the Tally rollout. Headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts, BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. operates membership warehouse clubs across the eastern United States. There are 237 clubs and 165 BJ’s Gas locations in 18 states.
Simbe Robotics is a leader in automation solutions headquartered in San Francisco.


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I wonder if it would be possible to trade the sugar factory for a dairy or feed lot or something that would improve the odor.
I hate to think that this is only September and they have already set a new record for stink.
(Frank Franklin II/Associated Press)
5 things you missed: Apple releases iOS 7.1, Tumblr allows updates by phone, more
Apple has released iOS 7.1, now available on smartphones and tablets. That and more in what you missed in technology today. Full Story
(Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez/AFP/Getty Images)


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Axis Cleaning and Support Services is taking an innovative approach to delivering its services nationwide by moving away from a 'traditional' geographical structure in favour of segmenting its client portfolios by sector and appointing sector leaders to meet the specialist needs of each business.
Managing director Stuart Buswell says that by focusing on 'specialisms' the company can further strengthen its position: “It has long been evident that the traditional model was too rigid and did not support our core strengths,” he said. “A sector-based approach using sector directors with dedicated expertise is a strategy that is much better aligned to our capabilities and will ultimately help us to serve our customers better. And this is already being proven. An element of these changes has already allowed us to enter into tenders that we would never have considered six months ago.”
These key sectors include manufacturing, food, transport, retail and shopping centres, and commercial cleaning. An additional 'sector' identified by Axis Cleaning and Support Services is 'specialist cleaning solutions'. This business unit will span multiple industries but will be responsible for identifying and developing new and specialised cleaning services that go 'beyond the norm'.
To complement this new approach, the business is also investing heavily in technology to support the changes and assist the day-to-day running of operations, which is now managed via a central hub from the Axis Group's new headquarters in London.


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Eastern Mountain Sports Said to Be Headed for Bankruptcy Court
Vestis Retail Group, which operates the Eastern Mountain Sports, Bob’s Stores and Sport Chalet chains, is preparing a bankruptcy filing, extending a run of retail-industry defaults, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company, owned by private equity firm Versa Capital Management LLC, could file as soon as next week, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the process isn’t public. The default would follow Sports Authority Inc.’s trip to bankruptcy court in March, underscoring the challenges of the sporting-goods industry. Other well-known retailers, including American Apparel Inc., Quiksilver Inc. and Hancock Fabrics Inc., also have filed for Chapter 11 during the past year. And Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. may be headed for bankruptcy as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter have said.


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Some holiday traditions stay the same year after year. Then there's Lights Before Christmas at Riverbanks Zoo.
The zoo is always tinkering with its lights show, trying to add new sparkle to the old favorites. This year's major addition is the Holiday Card Walk, giant pieces of art designed by local school classes.
The zoo set no parameters for the cards, just asked students to decorate 4-by-8-foot panels with holiday notions. Some of the oversized greeting cards feature traditional Christmas motifs; others incorporate the zoo setting, with animals gathered around a fire or pulling Santa's sleigh, said zoo spokesperson Lindsay Burke.
The other additions include giant candy canes that flash to music and tube lights that give the impression of snow falling.
Lights Before Christmas regulars also will notice the popular "Music in Motion" show has moved from the former sea lion pool to in front of the giraffe exhibit.
The show runs 6-9 p.m. through Jan. 3, with breaks on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year's Eve. The busiest nights always are the weekends closest to Christmas.
To avoid the lines at the ticket booths, you can purchase tickets online at riverbanks.org for $8 for adults and $6 for ages 3-12.
The other major light show in the area - Holiday Lights on the River at Saluda Shoals Park - begins Wednesday and runs through Dec. 31. It's a drive-through display with special get-out-and-play opportunities on Friday and Saturday nights and the full week of Dec. 17-23.
Holiday Lights on the River admission is $10 per car, $20 for 15-passenger vans and $35 for buses.


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Budget friendly smartwatches Ticwatch E and Ticwatch S are now being held as a campaign on Kickstarter with more than 15,000 backers as of August 11.
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Launching in the UK to help tradespeople digitise their working processes, ToolTime, a cloud-based job management software solution, promises an end to paperwork chaos and up to 30% in saved working time.
Developed specifically for home service trades, ToolTime centralises all company processes, eliminating paperwork, simplifying operations and providing a route towards digitalisation for 150,000 UK businesses.
Having found success since launching in Germany in 2018 and expansion into Austria, ToolTime has already been utilised by 10,000 tradespeople. The job management software allows digitalisation and centralisation of company processes for tradespeople on the move, increasing visibility of work, streamlining administration, and in turn, saving up to 30% of working time.
ToolTime also aims to bring an end to the current administrative state of the 150,000 companies in the UK's finishing trades sector. Having formed a standard for digital business management in Germany, ToolTime plans to mirror this standard in the UK.
“ToolTime research has found that these businesses still rely on pen and paper or basic computer software such as Word and Excel to run their businesses,” said ToolTime CEO and co-founder Marius Stäcker. “Clearly there is an opportunity for increased digitisation to enhance efficiency and customer service, and save time."
Features of ToolTime's software are robust, offering appointment scheduling, a free SMS confirmation service and map-based appointment visibility, all working to ensure timely job execution and coherent customer communications.
Further features include job time tracking and documentation. Additionally, these can be linked to quote and invoice creation ensuring transparency, professionalism and swifter paperwork operations.
ToolTime job management software also boasts of being user-friendly with easy integration to existing systems, complete with a live team training. The software is versatile and can capture customer signatures via a mobile application with both iOS and Android compatibility.
It also adapts to the UK tax system, allowing financial information to be efficiently exported to simplify tax returns. It comes recommended by Vaillant, a leading manufacturer of boilers, heat pumps and heating systems.
The cost of the ToolTime software is £59 per month for a web license, and additional £29 per month for each mobile application license. Its launch in the UK aims to streamline operations and boost efficiency for small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and sole traders in the home services sector, contributing towards the digitalisation of company processes and potentially contributing towards increased productivity for up to 150,000 UK businesses.


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Following on from recent rumours of 4a Games’ Metro and Metro Last Light being ported to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the developers themselves have come out to have their say on the matter and admit that both of those games are in the process of being ported to the current gen systems.
The developers released a statement saying:
“Is Metro Redux real?
Yes. We never made any secret of 4A’s desire to bring Metro to the latest generation of console hardware.
But what you saw leaked was taken from an old, internal planning presentation, containing some nuggets of truth but a lot of hypothetical ideas and place holder material.”


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Apple’s Latest Patent Will Change the iPhone As We Know It
Foldable screens and updated cameras are very exciting and all, but the latest iPhone 7 rumor is here, and it might just make your day. A patent application by Apple called “Inductive Power Transfer Using Acoustic or Haptic Devices” was published by the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office last Thursday. YAAAAS. Inductive charging, or wireless charging, is when an electromagnetic field is used to charge a device — which does away with all those annoying wires and plugs and stuff.
This image from the patent application shows the wireless charging coil built into the speaker portion of the phone, which will have two uses: 1) to transmit sound and 2) to transfer power inductively.
While the iPhone would by no means be the first smartphone to offer wireless charging (companies like Samsung, Sony and LG all did it first), this changes the game for iPhones. Inductive charging has several advantages, like not having to plug and unplug a phone constantly, which cuts down on the wear and tear of the handset. Also, since the technology can be all wrapped up, there’s less chance of corrosion, since it won’t be exposed to air and water.
You hear that? Water. Yup. There’s previously been speculation that the iPhone 7 might be waterproof. If this inductive charging patent is applied to the iPhone 7, it could seal up that open charge port that makes the phone vulnerable to water.
What do you think of wireless charging? Tell us in the comments below!
(h/t International Business Times, photo via Apple)


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Prices hiked up amid low sales as Nawroz arrives
KABUL (Pajhwok): Traders and vendors in capital Kabul say their sales in Nawroz days have reduced by 60 percent compared to the previous year.
Most of Afghans celebrate the New Persian Year by visiting parks, preparing different food items including Haft Mewa (a mixture of seven types of fruits), cakes, biscuits, wear new clothes, greet each and visit the homes of relatives and friends.
A fruit seller in Froshgah locality of Kabul, Abdul Sami, said more fruits were sold these than ordinary days. His sales these days stood at around 15,000 afghanis per day, compared more than 50,000 afs per day in the same season last year.
As part of the tradition, the family of a newly-engaged boy takes cooked fish and Jalibi sweet to the family of his fiancée on the occasion the New Year. But Jalibi and fish sellers also complain of low sales this time.
A fish seller, Syed Akbar in Pul-i-Khishti area, said their sales had reduced as compared to last year.
“Last year, I would sell fish and jilibi worth 200,000 afs a day, but this year, we can hardly sell 25,000 afs worth fish and Jilibi each day,” he said.
A garments seller in Mandawe locality of Kabul, Mohammad Aqa, said they would sell 100 pairs of cloths each day, but now they only sold 40 pairs in a day.
A resident of Khairkhana locality, Waris, said he wanted to purchase gifts for his fiancée, but unfortunately prices were high.
The price of a kilo of fish soared from the previous 200 afs to 260 afs and of Jalebi from 80 afs to 100 afs and of dried fruits increased to nearly 30 afs a kilo, he said.
“Shopkeepers take advantage of the New Year celebrations and sell goods at artificially increased prices. They should think Allah is watching them and should avoid fleecing customers,” he said.
Security measures for Nawroz
Atiquallah, a resident of Deh Mazang locality said he was pleased to see security measures had been put in different parts of Kabul. He hoped the festivities would pass off peacefully.
He greeted security personnel on Nawroz and urged them to be more vigilant. He also asked militants to shun violence and instead struggle to reach goals though peaceful means.
Aryana, a resident of Karta-i-Aryana locality, also asked security forces to maintain better security during Nawroz celebrations and try to prevent possible security incidents in Kabul.
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updated 05:40 pm EST, Mon December 21, 2009
Push-to-talk Android handset
Detailed specs have emerged for Motorola's upcoming Opus One push-to-talk Android handset, according to the Boy Genius Report. The device reportedly features Wi-Fi connectivity and a 3.1-inch capacitive touchscreen with 320x480 resolution, while the Android 1.5 OS is powered by a "Zeus" CPU. Motorola also integrates an accelerometer, proximity sensor, and dual microphones to help reduce background noise.
Pre-loaded utilities are said to include a corporate e-mail client with ActiveSync support, Motorola's navigation app, a barcode scanner and a document viewer, among others.
The Opus One is expected to arrive soon on Sprint's iDEN network, although a launch date and pricing remain unknown.


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Worldwide software releases for the Sony PlayStation Portable for the week of August 10th, 2008.
to shell out for a PSP and this is it. but where are the cables to hook it up to the TV?
N4G is a community of gamers posting and discussing the latest game news. It’s part of NewsBoiler, a network of social news sites covering today’s pop culture.


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Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 23rd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.37 per share by the specialty retailer on Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%.
Nordstrom has a payout ratio of 41.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Nordstrom to earn $3.94 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.6%.
Shares of Nordstrom stock traded down $0.54 on Thursday, hitting $33.81. The company had a trading volume of 4,971,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,208,592. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.48. Nordstrom has a twelve month low of $33.75 and a twelve month high of $67.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.
Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Nordstrom had a net margin of 3.27% and a return on equity of 52.45%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Nordstrom will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.
In other Nordstrom news, insider Christine Deputy sold 13,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.61, for a total transaction of $559,213.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Worzel sold 17,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $770,625.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 102,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,616,460. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,180 shares of company stock valued at $2,164,864. Corporate insiders own 5.21% of the company’s stock.
JWN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank cut shares of Nordstrom from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $43.30 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, February 22nd. Guggenheim restated a “hold” rating on shares of Nordstrom in a report on Thursday, February 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Nordstrom from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America set a $48.00 target price on shares of Nordstrom and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Piper Jaffray Companies set a $44.00 target price on shares of Nordstrom and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.73.
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Nordstrom, Inc, a fashion retailer, provides apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories for women, men, young adults, and children. It offers a range of brand name and private label merchandise through various channels, such as Nordstrom branded full-line stores and online store at Nordstrom.com; Nordstrom Rack stores; Nordstromrack.com and HauteLook; Jeffrey boutiques; clearance stores that operate under the Last Chance name; Trunk Club clubhouses and TrunkClub.com; and Nordstrom Locals.
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Those of us in the know are patiently waiting for QR code technology to take off, as it inevitably will, but Shell and PayPal aren't willing to stand by and end up falling behind the curve. Pouncing on the flourishing standard, the two have shaken hands on a deal that'll soon let patrons at Shell petrol stations pay for fuel using only their phones, PayPal details, and some well-placed QR codes. Having successfully trialed the mobile payment method way back in 2013, it's ready to roll out to the "vast majority" of Shell garages in April, though will initially be reserved for members of Shell's Drivers' Club programme before randoms can get involved later this year. "Using a debit or credit card to pay at the pump simply isn't convenient enough," a fictional spokesperson commented, adding that booting up the Android/iOS Shell Motorist or Paypal apps, and pairing with a pump via a QR code so your PayPal credentials can be charged is the stuff futuristic
nightmares dreams are made of. A receipt of the transaction will also be sent to your phone when you're done, confirming you've successfully completed the process and not screeched off with a full, free tank.


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March 06, 2015 05:36 PM
UPDATED March 06, 2015 05:43 PM
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Aly touches on a recent collaboration with the Episcopal Farm Workers Ministry to produce biodegradable water pouches for workers to access in the fields.
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Sir Martin Sorrell, founder and executive chairman of S4 Capital plc, believes that new tech tools such as ChatGPT, a software application designed to mimic human-like conversation based on user prompts, have the ability to threaten big holding companies in the advertising world. He even envisions a future where OpenAI’s ChatGPT (in which Microsoft has invested $10 billion) could eventually replace media buying and planning, “and it would be very effective”.
While speaking to the India Today Group at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Sorrell said that the tech platforms are developing technologies that can plan and buy media directly with clients in a very effective way.
“That is a massive problem for the holding companies because it attacks the largest holding company in the world,” he noted.
Noting that almost all big holding companies in advertising including WPP, IPG Group, Dentsu and Publicis depend for almost half of their profitability, on media planning and buying, Sorrell said that these companies are going to come under increasing attack from technological changes that we are going to see, some generally driven by data.
“They could be out of business unless they adapt. I think it's really a fundamental shift which could take a few years. But the technology is there, it has to be refined,” he added.
“I think people are underestimating the impact that this (AI) will have because machines over time, can be trained to do, with more and more experience, to do quite complex tasks, certainly much more complex than we currently think. So I think that's one of the issues. But I think the impact will be more profound,” he further added.
Sorrell highlighted that technology is changing the marketing and advertising landscape and hence his company’s focus is on digital, so much so that 50 percent of S4 Capital’s revenue comes from tech-focussed business.
Talking about key advertising trends, Sorrell said that digital transformation and measuring the impact of ad dollars is going to dominate the ad market.
“Two things – One is moving down the funnel as we call it to activation and performance. So there will be an emphasis on volume, revenue growth, ROI, media mix modelling, and digital spend which is easier to measure. And then secondly, digital transformation because margins are going to be under pressure because costs they won't be able to get the price increases margins, but most analysts are forecasting that earnings will be down. There will be a correction on earnings and there will be pressure on margins.”


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Lincoln Aviator Lives New York Auto Show
Hot on the heels of Ford’s big announcement for a gaggle of new and updated SUVs in the next couple years comes this, a teaser for the new Lincoln Aviator. Wait, did we just sayAviator,as in the rebadged Ford Explorer that lasted all of three years and was last seen in 2005? Yes we did. Or technically,Lincolndid.
These are certainly interesting times in which we live, especially if you’re a fan of Ford’s luxury division and love sport-utility vehicles. Late last year we got a look at the restyled Lincoln Nautilus, which technically soldiers forward as the MKX with a new name. The smaller MKC also donned a similar facelift, though it wasn’t fortunate enough to receive a snazzy new title.
On March 28th, the Lincoln Aviator Preview debuts at #NYIAS
Posted by The Lincoln Motor Company on Thursday, March 15, 2018
Here’s the plot twist: could the Aviator simply be the MKC with a new name? We don’t have any information on this new offering, save for the glimpses shown in the above video. Rumors from a few years ago suggested Lincoln was once again working on an Explorer-based Aviator, but in the SUV world a “few years ago” is borderline prehistoric. Yes, the MKC just got its new Lincoln-brand face and some fanfare at the Los Angeles Auto Show last November, but a sudden name change to an existing model isn’t new territory at Ford. Remember when the restyled-for-2008 Ford Five Hundred sedan appeared at the Detroit Auto Show? Remember a month later when the exact same car showed up in Chicago as the newFord Taurus?
In any event, we won’t be held in suspense for too long. The teaser says this new Aviator – whether it’s a dolled-up Explorer, a rebadged MKC, or something entirely new – will debut at the end of this month for the New York Auto Show. And in Ford’s press conference this afternoon a new Lincoln SUV was mentioned as appearing at the show, so we’d hedge bets on this being the rumored Explorer-based offering.
But in this crazy climate of SUV competition, anything is possible.
Source:Lincoln Motor Company


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MANAMA: Energy drinks have gone off shelves as Bahrain gears up for the implementation of the selective tax.
Markets and cold stores reportedly took Red Bull cans off the shelves, claiming that the company failed to supply them, reports our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej.
Bahrain has officially endorsed the selective tax on products deemed unhealthy for consumers.
Under the scheme, a tax of 50 per cent will be imposed on carbonated or fizzy drinks.
A selective tax of 100pc will be placed on energy drinks, such as Red Bull, and tobacco products, effectively doubling their price.


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A recent case from the Northern District of California, Alvarado v Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC, 2018 WL 6697181 (N.D. CA. Dec. 20, 2018), highlights the importance of drafting employment arbitration agreement language to specifically include FCRA claims. In Alvarado, the Plaintiff was employed by the Defendant between June 2015 […]
Sterling counsels financial services clients through heavily regulated financial services and consumer finance sectors. He earned his stripes by being a compass for clients coming out of the 2008 financial crisis and while serving as Vice President, Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer to Advance American Cash Advance Centers, Inc., the largest provider of non-bank cash advance services in the United States.
Sterling’s previous in-house experience is valuable to clients and as a Partner in Womble Bond Dickinson’s Business Litigation Practice Group and as a member of Financial Services Litigation Team and Consumer Finance Litigation Team. He represents public and private companies and financial institutions on class actions and dispute resolution alternatives such as loan modifications, forbearance agreements, and other loan workouts. Sterling also counsels financial industry clients regarding regulatory compliance, consumer credit issues, commercial real estate transactions and disputes, complex business litigation, and general corporate matters.
As a member of the Financial Services Litigation Team, Sterling represents domestic banks and servicers in commercial loan workout and foreclosure work as well as consumer finance litigation.
Last Thursday, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the “Bureau”) announced a settlement with State Farm Bank, FSB (“State Farm”) regarding alleged violations of the FCRA as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010. In the Consent Order, available here, the Bureau indicated that it found that […]
Can an outside investigation constitute a “consumer report” under FCRA? The Seventh Circuit appears skeptical
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in the case of Rivera v Allstate Ins. Co., 907 F.3d 1031 (7th Cir. 2018), recently wrestled with a novel question under the FCRA – whether an investigation conducted by third party into employee misconduct could be considered a consumer report under […]
As basketball season arrives, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky reminded us that there is no such thing as a slam dunk when it comes to damages awarded pursuant to a violation of the FCRA. In the case of Shockley v. Portfolio Recovery […]
Consumers are filing more FCRA related complaints than they did last year. Last week, the Association of Credit and Collection, Oregon, issued a news release citing a WebRecon report which indicated that consumer complaints rose in August, 2018 for several categories, including the FCRA. According to the report, […]


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“The more things change, the more they stay the same”
This famous quote is said to come from French novelist Alphonse Karr (1808-90), but its origin is subject to ongoing dispute. As such it offers a perfect summation of the mobile phone sector after perhaps the most tumultuous month in its history.
It all began on 4 October with the launch of the controversial
iPhone 4S. It was followed a day later by the
tragic death of Steve Jobs, arguably ”the” innovator behind today’s
Next RIM announced its new BBX operating system. On 19 October Google officially unveiled the most radical overhaul of Android to date with the launch of Ice Cream Sandwich and its corresponding Galaxy Nexus hardware. This week Nokia formally announced its first Windows Phone handsets, the first Nokia Lumia 800 Phone Nokia Lumia 710, marking the start of a sea change for the 146 year old company. Then Sony topped these headlines by buying out partner Ericsson to go at the sector alone.
Meanwhile throughout the month Microsoft rolled out Windows Phone Mango, the update which gets it back into the smartphone game. Even the position of the industry’s major players was shaken up as figures yesterday revealed Samsung passed Apple to become the world’s largest smartphone maker. Further signalling this new world order ZTE continued its relentless climb becoming the fourth largest mobile phone seller and RIM drifted into the dreaded category known as “others“.
And yet… the more things change, the more they stay the same.
The iPhone 4S received the same cries of discontent that met the iPhone 3GS and has yet received even more gargantuan, record breaking sales on release. RIM’s BBX turned out to be just the phone version of QNX which has long existed on the floundering PlayBook. Google continued to be dogged by reports of Android fragmentation (with neglected handsets now dubbed ‘Android Orphans’). The Lumia 800 was also essentially the N9 reissued with new software, with Nokia admitting “When you see the two phones together, you can see it’s basically the same design language and [by not releasing the N9 in the UK] we wanted to make sure in the beginning there wasn’t any confusion for the consumer over which is which.”
Repetitive behaviour was on show too as Sony was strongly linked with a bid for webOS which would return it to a proprietary platform and Samsung really only took the top smartphone vendor spot because “a lot of people held off purchasing an iPhone during this three month period, waiting for the launch of the iPhone 4S in October”. Throughout the period everyone continued to apply for patents and sue one another… sometimes even themselves.
So, other than setting a links record in an article, what does this all mean?


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These alternative crops vary somewhat, but they do have a few elements in common:
They’re hardy. They’re different. They can be sold as superfruit.
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Some growers are looking for a late-season market window.
“It’s hard to put a number on the potential market for dark, fresh, sweet cherries.”
Cranberry handlers in most states will have to move 15 percent of the 2017 crop away from U.S. consumers due to a rule finalized by the USDA in April, and the Department of Agriculture has also posted a proposed rule restricting the amount of crop that large growers could deliver after their next harvest.
“This was by far the best year we’ve ever had.”
Report: Impacts of climate change in California significant


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How do people consume television content and advertisement in the age of the smartphone?
Understanding how attention is distributed across screens is crucial to digital platforms. In collaboration with i2 media research and Eye Square, Facebook conducted an extensive ethnographic study collecting ecologically valid data from 6 countries worldwide, looking at people's eye behaviour while watching TV with their smartphone available.
The project investigated simultaneous cross-device ad consumption using a unique and innovative combination of design, focus and methodology mostly based on behavioural neuroscience methods, which consisted in obtaining real time continuous measurement of where people were looking (via a mobile eye-tracking device) while in their living room (with or without other people) watching TV.
Results from the UK sample showed how attention to media can be very fragmented. Only about two third of the ads shown on TV received some attention at all, with most distractions coming from smartphones.
The study showed how having a proper understanding of the fragmentation of user attention during TV consumption would allow digital platforms to really act as a supplement for TV plans. The research was presented by Prof Jonathan Freeman (i2 media) and Stephen J. Gray (Facebook) at Facebook's Cross Channel Measurement event in February 2018; watch the full results here: https://www.facebook.com/FacebookMarketingUK/videos/1534023306697012/?t=1533


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The limited-service restaurant industry has become a sort of dichotomy. On one side are legacy brands that have defined the way Americans have eaten for generations, brands that have grown big enough to survive bad publicity and creative stagnation. On the other are fast-growing brands that are changing the way the game is played, forcing the legacy brands to adapt as they meet consumer demand for innovation and creativity.
Chick-fil-A, though, is somewhere in the middle. Neither a fast-food king nor a fast-moving newbie, the nearly 50-year-old Atlanta-based brand simply keeps doing what it does best and, in doing so, has positioned itself as one of the greatest success stories in the business.
Jumping Pizza Hut to claim the QSR 50’s No. 8 spot, Chick-fil-A raked in $5.78 billion in 2014, about $700 million more than 2013. It’s worth repeating: Chick-fil-A, a mostly regional chicken brand, is now bigger than the country’s largest pizza chain.
What led to its massive success in the last year? The company kept busy with the launch of grilled chicken, fair trade coffee, and a commitment to phase out all antibiotics from its chicken by 2019. True to form, Chick-fil-A rolled these developments out in a way that emphasized what the top chicken brand on the QSR 50 is best known for: its integrity.
“They’re staying true to their brand. … It’s what they do,” says Randy Lopez, senior marketing strategist at Synergy Restaurant Consultants. “[Chick-fil-A] seems like it’s something that has more integrity and doesn’t feel fast food-ish. It feels a little more artisan, and even the growth of their brand has always been for quality.”
Chick-fil-A’s enduring reputation for consistency sets it ahead of the pack at a time when many fast-food chains are scrambling to improve the quality of their operation—or at least the perception of it.
Beyond the quality of the food, the company also focuses on the quality of its hospitality more than the average brand, which is demonstrated by its intense customer loyalty and impressive employee retention.
Amanda Norris, senior director of product development at Chick-fil-A, cites this commitment to genuine hospitality and “craveable” food as two distinguishing factors in the company’s service model. “We like to say ‘the-better-for-you fast food.’ It’s all about where good meets gracious,” Norris says. “We’re all about connecting with that customer. It’s not just about transactions for us; we really want to create a relationship.”
In fact, Norris says, the idea to offer grilled chicken and premium coffee came from listening to customers. The grilled chicken recipe reportedly took seven years and more than $50 million to create.
“The magic in it is 50 percent recipe and 50 percent grill,” Norris says. “We wanted it to taste like you grilled this piece of chicken on your backyard grill at home.”
Given the volume of business that Chick-fil-A restaurants do (an average unit volume of about $3 million, a QSR 50 high), Norris says it wasn’t feasible to set up full-sized grills in the kitchen. Instead, the company worked with Garland Grills to develop a new grill that could cook quickly and consistently. When the grilled chicken first launched, Bloomberg Business described the new kitchen technology as an “industrial-scale George Foreman Grill [that will] slash the cooking time.”
Lopez praises the innovation for its cost-effectiveness: The new grills didn’t require kitchen remodeling, nor did they slow throughput.
“It’s a way to create a new product that is truly original, and it utilizes a new cooking process without creating major retrofit costs; that benefits the operators and franchisees,” Lopez says. “Obviously they’re very smart and good at what they do, but they definitely hit this one out of the park because they took the time to test and create a signature product that is on-brand.”
Aaron Noveshen, founder and president of restaurant consultancy The Culinary Edge, says he can see how something as seemingly simple as grilled chicken would require such an investment of time and money. Not all chicken sandwiches, he says, are created equally.
“Fried chicken holds pretty well; you can cook it in batches and hold it for a little bit of time, and it stands up pretty well. Grilled chicken is not as forgiving,” Noveshen says. Without breading, white meat has a tendency to dry out and shrink. Whereas a 3-ounce piece of chicken will cook to about 4.5 ounces with the added breading, a 3-ounce piece of chicken without breading will only yield around 2.5 ounces once cooked. Because of this shrinkage, cost and yield are big issues to consider.
“Any time you’re dealing with a naked product like that, you’re going to have to figure out how to engineer the pricing to function properly to be able to give the same type of value coefficient that you’re providing with the fried
product,” Noveshen says.
With many consumers eschewing fried foods altogether, introducing a grilled product differentiates Chick-fil-A in the better-for-you fast-food space, Noveshen says. He adds that the Grilled Nuggets were probably the most revolutionary product among the grilled chicken lineup because so few operators are doing grilled renditions of nuggets or strips.
In addition to the healthier grilled chicken option, Chick-fil-A also boosted its health reputation in 2014 by making a commitment to eliminate all antibiotics from it chicken by 2019. Norris says that roughly 70 percent of Chick-fil-A consumers were concerned about antibiotics in their food, which inspired the company to set that goal. Although the no-antibiotics announcement predated McDonald’s similar commitment by more than a year, it garnered far less media attention.
Brand-building expert and QSR columnist Denise Lee Yohn says this could be explained by the fact that, unlike McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A has never been vilified for its food quality or nutrition. “The difference is that Chick-fil-A already has this positive, wholesome, healthy halo where people aren’t necessarily questioning the healthfulness of their food or the quality or the safety,” Yohn says. By taking a proactive approach to these issues, Chick-fil-A ensures its place as a top operator. “Great brands don’t sit back and wait to be a target; they actually really try to understand what their customers care about and use innovation to always improve what they’re doing.”
The grilled chicken and no-antibiotics commitment debuted in early 2014. By fall, Chick-fil-A was already launching another new product, its specialty-grade coffee.
Norris says customers would come into Chick-fil-A for breakfast with a coffee from a competitor. To address this gap, the company wanted to make a coffee that would not only pair well with the breakfast fare, but could also stand alone.
Chick-fil-A partnered with Thrive Farmers Coffee to create a proprietary blend specifically for the brand. The medium-roast coffee meets the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s standards for specialty grade. Compared with other quick serves, Chick-fil-A was already ahead of the game even before it introduced Thrive, Noveshen says. With a strong breakfast program already established, the new coffee could add even greater credibility to the morning daypart.
Synergy’s Lopez sees the company’s entry into the premium coffee space as reminiscent of Dunkin’ Donuts, which began making espresso drinks in 2003 and later asserted its place as a quality-without-frills competitor to Starbucks in 2006. Dunkin’ was able to attract a new consumer segment and become more mainstream through its coffee program.
“You really have to go big or go home in terms of putting something like that together,” Lopez says. “I’m seeing more fast-food places not even marketing food items or LTOs anymore. … They’re now marketing quality [and] freshness cues to talk about those attributes, and that’s kind of where this whole direction has changed.”
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Travel experts convened at the New York Times Travel Show, held January 26-28 in NYC, to hear leading hospitality companies discuss top-of-mind industry concerns. Stylus rounds up the highlights – from today’s key demographics, including myriad family types, to travellers’ growing interest in adventurous learning, and vital issues like over-tourism and gender equality.
Tourism’s Hot Topics: The New York Times Travel Show 2018
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Welcome to Stylus – your window to tomorrow’s most exciting opportunities.
By identifying, analysing and decoding the most important trends from 20 industries, we’ll give you the ideas and insights you need to future-proof your business.


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Near parity with the Australian dollar has presented a speed bump for Hawke's Bay wineries trying to gain traction in the Aussie market.
The Kiwi dollar jumped half a cent against the Australian dollar this week, moving above A99c and sparking renewed speculation of parity. The strength of the dollar is putting a strain on exports to Australia for some industries - among them, New Zealand winegrowers.
Hawke's Bay Winegrowers Association chairman Michael Henley said the dollar was a hindrance to breaking further into the Australian market for local wineries.
"Obviously it's not ideal. It does affect everyone's wishes to make Australia a stronger market for Hawke's Bay wine.
"Actually, the US is a more attractive proposition at the moment given the exchange rate. Australia needs to be a very strong market for Hawke's Bay wine - there is an opportunity there."
He said wines produced in Hawke's Bay such as chardonnays and syrahs were drops that should do "relatively well" in Australia.
"There's been very much an infatuation with Marlborough and other regions and it's been a hard slog for Hawke's Bay wineries."
The key to success was educating Australian consumers, and opening their eyes to Hawke's Bay wines.
In the spirit of this approach, eight of the region's wineries will travel to the Game of Rhones wine event in Sydney and Melbourne in June, "in order to spread the word that Hawke's Bay makes some great syrah".
"It actively has to be worked on or it's not going to happen."
Consultant winemaker Rod McDonald said a great harvest was "finishing with a bang" this week.
The kiwi dollar had "taken the fun out of exporting to Australia for now," but his strategy for selling overseas was built for the long-term.
"In a situation like this, as with all export relationships, when the exchange rates moves and the retail price point does not change, someone's margin gets eroded.
"It's always up and down and is not unexpected, but it adds another dimension or strain on a relationship, or at least creates another lever to pull when contemplating future negotiations."
Craggy Range global sales director Warren Adamson said Australia was an important market for the winery.
"At Craggy Range we have always applied a very long-term view to our export strategy which flows into our current exchange rate policy.
"We trade using the currency of the export markets, rather than in New Zealand dollars. This allows us to maintain our price position within the markets no matter what the exchange rate.
"Australia is, and will always remain, a key market for Craggy Range."
Wine is the sixth-biggest export from New Zealand, with the industry hitting a new record for exports last year, earning $1.37 billion, an increase of 8.2 per cent.


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Trivago-Tnooz: Free Webinar on Technology Benefits for Hoteliers
Online hotel search engine Trivago and tourism news portal Tnooz on June 8 will hold a free “TLearn” webinar on “How Hoteliers Are Missing Out on Bookings by Not Embracing Technology”.
Hoteliers are overwhelmed with technology options that appear inaccessible, expensive, and difficult to adopt, trivago says. The webinar will reveal why hoteliers are losing out on bookings by not capitalizing on technology at every stage of the traveler’s online journey. It will also offer advice on how they can change this and succeed in a market that’s becoming more and more competitive.
Panelists include trivago industry manager for the UK and Ireland Aly Thompson, Tnooz moderator Martin Cowen and Tnooz senior editor Kevin May.
To register press here.


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Destinations and resorts in Mexico are responding to the challenges of the current global health situation with new offerings and creative solutions to enhance the meetings and incentives experience.
Addressing this matter, the prestigious Prevue Magazine with over 50 years of experience publishing content-rich media solutions for the global travel and tourism industry, has published an interview with Cynthia Kunz, Corporate Sales Director, Meetings and Incentives at Velas Resorts to talk about how Velas Resorts responds with creative solutions to enhance our guest’s experience.
“Mexico’s geographical location and its outstanding travel connectivity make all of our beach destinations the ultimate attractive spot for the meetings and incentives industry—both from an experiential and budgeting standpoint.”
“The desire to build memories, celebrate company milestones and connect with fellow team members in unique settings continues to be paramount in our industry.”
“Creating safer and healthier experiences is a key strategy for success, and our focus is to offer impeccable alternatives for open-air celebrations where participants are invited to reconnect with one another once again.”
Read the full interview here!


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Ford has reached an agreement with Rivian to develop a new model on the fast-growing electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers platform and take a minority stake in the company.
Rivian is currently developing his R1T pick-up truck and his R1S seating SUV, which will be built on a custom skateboard chassis that was designed to be modular, so it can be used for a wide range of machines.
The new strategic partnership, in which Ford has invested around $500 million (£386 million) in Rivian, will result in engineers from the two US companies working together to develop an EV battery for Ford
There are still no details about the type of vehicle on which the companies will work, although it will be “totally new”. In the US, Ford has shifted its focus to pick-ups and SUVs, and is currently developing an electric version of its popular F-150.
Ford boss Jim Hackett said the partnership with Rivian “brings a new approach” to the development of Fords electric vehicles and that the young company “can benefit from Fords industrial expertise and resources.
Rivian founder RJ Scaringe called the agreement a “key milestone in our effort to accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility.
Rivian will remain an independent company. Ford is the latest major investor the firm has achieved; it had already raised £894.5 million, including £544 million from online retail giant Amazon, it announced at the Los Angeles Motor Show.
The agreement is also the latest in a series of partnerships that Ford has achieved as part of its overall restructuring. He recently reached an agreement to work with Volkswagen on the development of a range of vehicles, including vans and mid-size vans, and talked about building vehicles using the MEB platform for electric vehicles in the German conglomerate.


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Users of the beautiful (yet to some flawed) Mac Pro, which was launched in late 2013, rejoice. Apple has just announced that a new ‘completely redesigned’ Mac Pro is coming in the pipeline – but unfortunately it will only see the light of day in 2018. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said the company is “completely rethinking the Mac Pro” for their customers.
The new model is said to come with more modularity in mind, to facilitate easier maintenance and upgrade paths, something that the current Mac Pro is notoriously hard to do. The same announcement also said that there will be future Apple Professional displays to be announced at the same time as the new Mac Pro, as well as professional-level iMacs in the horizon. This will be good news for professionals who are locked into the MacOS ecosystem but needs to upgrade their machines to meet the demands of modern design and workload needs.
At the same time, Apple did announce a refresh of the Mac Pro, with a processor bump to a 6-core Xeon processor for the lower model and an 8-core Xeon processor for the higher tier. The graphics also gets a bump – the lower tier model gets dual D500 Radeon chips while the higher tier gets the D700 Radeon chips. Unfortunately this model does not have any of the new generation perks such as USB Type-C, Thunderbolt and so on.
We just have to wait until 2018 to see what Apple has in store for the professionals in terms of hardware.


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It looks like people can't get enough of Match Group's (MTCH 2.56%) products. The owner of online dating properties including Tinder, Match.com, and Hinge released another quality earnings report on May 5, beating analyst expectations and reiterating revenue guidance for growth in the mid to high-teens for 2021.
Despite headwinds from the COVID-19 lockdowns, especially in countries like India that are still facing a huge surge in cases, Match Group continues to grow its dating business and is about to enter a new industry, social discovery. Here are three reasons investors are optimistic about Match Group stock.
1. Tinder is doing well even during the pandemic
Match Group owns dozens of dating apps, but Tinder is the most important to the company, currently contributing over half of its annual sales. The most popular dating app in the world had just under 7 million paying subscribers in Q1, up 15% year over year, with average revenue per user (ARPU) up 4%. This combination of subscriber and ARPU growth led to direct revenue growth of 18% at Tinder in Q1.
In its quarterly earnings letter, management said Tinder has the widest geographic exposure and the highest percentage of sales coming from the purchase of "a la carte" extras -- like a Tinder "boost," which temporarily bumps up the prominence of your profile --among the apps it owns and thus COVID-19 hit Tinder sales the hardest. Looking at the chart provided in the Q1 letter (below), North America and Western Europe a la carte purchases have grown since before the pandemic, while all other regions are trending in the wrong direction.
Overall, Tinder has shown its resiliency as the top dating app in the world despite COVID-19 headwinds, and should continue to grow subscribers and sales over the next few years as more people look online to find a romantic partner.
2. Hinge is growing
Hinge, a dating app bought by Match Group in 2019, has slowly ascended to become the third most downloaded dating app in North America, according to data provided by the company. Up from the 13th spot in 2018, the relationship-focused app is quickly becoming one of Match Group's most valuable assets. It tripled revenue in 2020 and is "on pace to double revenue in 2021," according to the company, which did not provide numbers with that statement. Hinge is only in North America at the moment, but Match Group said it plans to start rolling out the app internationally in 2022 once it finalizes its monetization strategy.
The future is clearly bright for Hinge. Over the next few years, it should start to meaningfully contribute to Match Group's top-and bottom-line growth.
3. It's going beyond dating
Match Group is slated to close its planned acquisition of South Korean company Hyperconnect sometime in Q2. The purchase is for $1.725 billion and will bring two Asia-focused "social discovery" apps, Azar and Hakuna Live -- which match people for more than just dates -- under Match Group's umbrella. On its own, the Hyperconnect acquisition looks solid, seeing as the company generated $200 million in 2020 revenue, which was up 50% from the prior year. It will also help Match Group expand into the South Korean market, where it has historically struggled to gain traction with its other apps.
Management is touting the Hyperconnect acquisition as a way for the company to expand outside of dating to a broader "social discovery" category. This means matching people and groups not just for romantic relationships, but for interest groups and friendships as well. It is a nascent category, so there is a lot of uncertainty around whether social discovery can go mainstream, but if Match Group can execute as it has with dating, social discovery could drive meaningful growth for the company.
Is the stock a buy?
At a market cap of $37 billion, Match Group trades at a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 13.5 and a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 58 based on the low end of its 2021 guidance. This is expensive compared to the S&P 500 index, which trades at an average forward P/E of 21.7, and investors should pay attention to the valuation as it could lead to some volatility. But there are reasons to be optimistic about this business going forward.


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Attny: P'tex auction could be crowded
August 29, 2003,
New York — With the timetable extended for the Pillowtex auction and bid qualifications eased by the bankruptcy court yesterday, the attorney for Pillowtex's unsecured creditors committee believes there may be a very active auction of the company's assets during an Oct. 2 liquidation.
"We've had dozens of calls expressing interest" in various Pillowtex assets, Mark Power, a partner with Hahn & Hessen, New York, told HTT today. "A number of very credible parties have expressed their interest, and we're hopeful it will be a lively auction."
The court has now set Sept. 29 as a bid deadline, Oct. 2 for an auction and Oct. 7 for a court hearing to ratify the result, either to another successful bidder or to initial bidder GGST under its sale proposal.
The four-company joint venture, formed specifically for the Pillowtex liquidation, had made a bid of $56 million, but that value increased to more than $88 with the addition of $17.7 million in liabilities and $14.4 million in carrying costs.
Pillowtex president and cfo Michael Harmon said he was hopeful there would be active bidding but said it was unlikely unsecured creditors would receive any payout if the GGST proposal weren't outbid.
"Our No. 1 objective is to find people to overbid," Harmon said. "We know there are a lot of people interested."
Related Content By Author
The Countdown to the ICON Honors Continues featuring Christophe Pourny


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The Hispanic online population increased by 3.3 million users during the last 11 months, according to statistics released by comsCore. The total number of Hispanics using the internet in January 2010 was of 23,625,000. (for February 2009 figures click here). The increase is primarily due to new enumeration estimates which have better inclusion of cell-phone only households (which are more prevalent among US Hispanics).
The January 2010 data collection is based on the Media Metrix 360 approach. Josh Chasin, Chief Research Officer at comScore, recently told Portada that there are essentially two ways of measuring online audiences; one panel-centric, through person-oriented measurement panels, the other approach is site-centric, consisting of data obtained by publishers putting tags on their websites to register unique visitors, page views etc…Media Metrix 360 is a hybrid and factors in the audiences measured by both methods. The February 2009 figures was panel centric based. The 3.3 million increase is, therefore, also a result of the new 360 measuring method, which tends two show larger audiences.
In addition, Portada had access to comScore Media Matrix Data about the Top 20 Properties visited by Hispanics in January 2010.
Compared to prior rankings, the audience increase of Facebook is striking. It is also interesting to see that no Hispanic online pure play is among the top 20 players.
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Total Internet Hispanic All
Top 20 Properties (Panel Only)
Fox Interactive Media
Wikimedia Foundation Sites
Weather Channel, The
Source: comScore Media Metrix


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With established markets like Western Europe and North America limping along at low-single digit growth rates, astute multinationals have reworked their expansion plans and are firmly committed to building share in emerging markets such as China and India. In the personal care and household products industry, L’Oréal is leading the charge, with a forward-thinking plan to add two billion consumers during the next several years. Other marketers, including Unilever and Shiseido, have their own strategies to expand their consumer bases, and you can read about all of them in The International Top 30, our annual look at the leading marketers in the household and personal products industry with corporate headquarters outside the US.
For example, Unilever CEO Paul Polman recently admitted to analysts that his company may have gone a bit too far in cost-cutting measures in recent years. Now, the Unilever team is building a strategy that it hopes will garner double-digit gains for the next several years. Meanwhile, after a couple of years of cost-cutting of its own, L’Oréal is growing again, helped along by a 20% surge in sales of luxury products in Asia. As it has since we started The International Top 30 back in 1991, Unilever leads our list, followed by L’Oréal, Reckitt Benckiser, Henkel and Kao to round out our top five.
Companies are ranked according to sales of household, personal care and industrial and institutional products for their most recently concluded fiscal year. Sales are translated from local currency to US dollars using an average exchange rate for the fiscal year reported. For privately-held firms, sales are estimated via a variety of industry sources. Of course, if you are looking for results for US-based companies, be sure to read The Top 50, which is available now online at Happi.com.
As always, we hope you enjoy this edition of The International Top 30, and we welcome your comments and suggestions for new companies on our list.
The International Top 30


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Fabletics is a fast-growing brand of athletic clothing that was founded by Kate Hudson.
It has opened its first San Diego branch at Fashion Valley mall.The store measures 1,745 square feet and is packed with technology. It brings some of the sophistication of internet commerce to brick-and mortar retail. The store opened last weekend and will host a special VIP event for select members on Thursday.
The online retailer started Fabletics in 2013. It is most well-known for its subscription model where users can have their workout clothes delivered straight to their door. Fabletics began opening brick-and mortar stores last year as a way to expand from e-commerce. But the company’s digital roots are apparent in its new San Diego location, where technology is embedded in the shopping experience.
Guests who visit the store can expect to receive a greeting from an associate who will verify their membership status. If a shopper isn’t a member, they’re encouraged to create a free profile at a kiosk in the store. Creating an account allows the shopper to take advantage of the store’s tech perks, like tracking what clothes you try on and getting personalized outfit suggestions based on previous purchases.
A large iPad outside of the dressing room will display the name of the customer when the shopper enters. Another tablet can be used inside the fitting room to request different sizes and pieces. The iPad will also have suggestions on how to style the clothes you’re trying on and personalized offers, among other features.
Fabletics calls its software OmniShop, which connects in-store sales to the company’s online operations. Adam Goldenberg, the co-founder and co-CEO of Fabletics’ parent company TechStyle, told TechCrunch earlier this year that the company invested more than $150 million in OmniShop. Obviously this isn’t just to spruce up the customer experience, but to provide the company with data that will inform its operations.
Fabletics can see which styles are winning customers and which ones aren’t.
For example, the system allows Fabletics to see when a product isn’t converting well and investigate if there is a fit, sizing or style issue.
“Because different products are being scanned at the SKU level in the fitting rooms, they can track in real-time what’s converting and get an early read if there’s a problem in design,”Alexis Blais is a spokesperson for Fabletics.
Blais stated that the company recently reviewed the data and discovered that a popular legging was not selling in its XS size while other sizes were selling well.
“When they investigated it, they found there was a defect in the product and pulled them from the shelves and online,” Blais said.
Fabletics has 12 new retail stores opening in San Diego this year. There are currently 34 stores across the country.
The Fabletics shop is located on the second floor. mallThe shop is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.
“I’m excited to continue to expand our retail footprint and bring our new store concept to San Diego,”Hudson, Fabletics cofounder, issued a statement. “Fabletics is a brand for all women and our mission from the very beginning was about so much more than just creating cute activewear. We wanted to build an inclusive community that inspired women to live an active lifestyle — and I am thrilled to bring that to the amazing women in San Diego!”


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U.S. retail prepares for an AR holiday season
Apple now offers the world’s most popular Augmented Reality (AR) platform and retail is just one of many industries that is maxxing out on Apple product support – and it looks like we’re going to have an AR holiday season, according to Adobe Analytics.
Mobile is everywhere
This year’s Adobe Analytics survey shows some optimism at retail, but also reveals a couple of trends that will become increasingly important in the way people interact with their local retailers.
The survey also represents the importance of mobile to the retail segment. Retailers said social media influencer programs (62%) are going to be important for driving holiday sales, as are mobile apps (73%).
Buy online/pick-up in-store is also becoming incredibly popular – and nearly all retailers say physical presence gives them an edge over Internet only retailers. Almost half say these arrangements are giving them “significant proportion of sales”.
Interestingly, no one seems to be talking about Beacon tech.
Retail AR, is now the time?
One of the biggest revelations is that 56% of retailers say that they’re creating experiential shopping such as mock show-rooms/AR experiences to better engage with customers.
This means everything from changing rooms in which you can try AR versions of clothes in shops to AR experiences at home that let you place furniture (IKEA), carpets, change home décor and more.
Gary Specter, vice president, global head of GTM, Commercial Business, at Adobe said:
“Today’s consumers want to experience a brand, and these more immersive moments are playing a role in driving actual transactions. The good news is this survey finds that more than two-thirds of retailers understand this consumer expectation, and they have a few experiences up their sleeves for the holidays.”
The second interesting take away is around voice. Adobe claims just 7% of retailers are currently using voice tech as a sales tool, while 62% are investigating or plans to leverage it as a sales tool in the future. That’s still a pretty big number when you consider:
- Voice tech is only now crossing the AI augmented/human divide, with services like Business Chat and firms like Nuance carving the way.
- Retailers haven’t completely wised up to the need to ensure good SERP on local search results using voice interlocuters such as Apple Watch or AirPods.
- While voice first interfaces are clearly heading for prime time, they aren’t there yet. This suggests retailers should think about the first mover advantages they may realize in the event their core markets are also first adopters for the technology.
- Most retailers will still wait and see as their audiences may have different needs.
The omnichannel shopper
We also see some insights into the omnichannel nature of today’s retail experiences.
“The biggest concern for retailers when it comes to selling products online is staying price competitive (40%), followed by shipping time (23%) then converting visits (22%),” said Adobe Analytics.
It will be interesting to see how this shopping season goes….


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TAIT's annual expo COM.IT 2009 got off to a roaring start today. With 95 leading IT companies exhibiting at the expo and expected visitors numbers of visitors around 5,000, COM.IT promises to be the biggest channel event this year.
The expo was inaugurated today at MMRDA Ground in Mumbai. Leading dignitaries—Patrick Mathias, VP, Cisco; Rakesh Bakshi, Legal Head, Microsoft India; Kensaku Konishi, President, Canon India; Mohit Anand, Country Manager, Belkin; Mukesh Gupta, Country Head, AOC; Rajesh Gupta, Director, Intel; and Zia Saquip, Executive Director, CDAC—light the lamp.
Welcoming guests at the inauguration, Ketan Patel, President, TAIT said, "Even in a difficult year, TAIT has executed a big event. It goes to show the growing importance of COM.IT. I would like to thank all sponsors and exhibitors for supporting the expo."
In his welcome note, Patel also highlighted the challenges and opportunities facing channels. "It’s been a tough 18 months. But owing to the bad economic condition, many resellers realized that to sustain business they need to differentiate. The economic crisis also taught us the importance of quality sales and marketing skills.”
Canon’s Konishi said that events like COM.IT help in raising awareness about technology and create broader and newer markets.
Highlighting the agenda of the COM.IT Conference, which is an integral part of the expo, Rushabh Shah, Director, TAIT said, "This year's conference focuses on emerging technologies that present great opportunities to resellers and also on how well technologies need to be marketed. New technologies are emerging and customer buying patterns are transforming. Channels need to adopt new marketing tools and sales approaches to leverage new opportunities and hence the program has been formulated keeping these two aspects in mind."
While the COM-IT expo is scheduled from December 10 to 12, the conference program is scheduled for today and tomorrow.


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Ericsson is resurrecting its WebRTC-based browser, Bowser, to help spark the development of more websites and apps that embrace voice, video and messaging features.
Increasingly stiff competition in the database market has claimed another victim, as InfiniDB has ceased operations effective immediately with plans to file for bankruptcy.
Security advisories for OpenSSL should not be used for competitive advantage, according to the development project behind the widely used cryptography component.
VMware wants to bring enterprise-class reliability to OpenStack by releasing a distribution of cloud hosting software that runs on top of the virtualization stack.
IT shops that want professional support for MongoDB without paying for the enterprise edition of the company's increasingly popular NoSQL database now have an option from MongoDB itself.
Chasing the successful hosting model of GitHub, Linux distributor CoreOS has set up an online repository where organizations can store and share their Docker containers.
Watch out Oracle, Pivotal is offering a lighter alternative to the Java Enterprise Edition (JEE) stack.
The team at Mitro Labs, the developer of a password manager, is joining Twitter, and its software is being released under a free and open source license, Mitro said Thursday.
The U.K. government has adopted ODF as its standard for the exchange of word processor and spreadsheet files between departments and with citizens and suppliers, meaning that companies and citizens will not be required to buy a particular application...
Borrowing a technique from the software development community, Chef, maker of a popular system configuration tool, has released the first commercial software to support a new and supposedly more effective approach to managing hardware and software, c...
Oracle is hoping to turn heads in the crowded data analysis market with Big Data SQL, a software tool that can run a single SQL query against Oracle's own database as well as Hadoop and NoSQL data stores.
IBM, Microsoft, Red Hat and other IT vendors are lending a hand to Google to help build software that enterprises could use to manage their computerized workloads in the cloud.
The OpenSSL Project is planning a number of changes to ensure its security component, used across millions of computers across the Internet, is in tip-top shape.
Taking on Google, Databricks plans to offer its own cloud service for analyzing live data streams, one based on the Apache Spark software.
Hoping to simplify life for system administrators, CoreOS has launched a commercial Linux distribution that continually updates itself, eliminating the need to perform major upgrades.
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Rip-off fees for using credit cards to be banned
End to surcharges will save shoppers millions
Fees for using credit and debit cards will be banned in a move that could save shoppers £500 million a year.
New Treasury rules will stop retailers from adding hidden charges at the checkout, a practice that particularly drives up the cost of goods and services online. Airlines, travel agents, ticket booking websites, universities and councils were among those exposed by The Times last year for levying fees of up to 3.5 per cent.
Convenience stores and pubs will also be banned from imposing the fees, which can vastly inflate the cost of low-value purchases.
The blanket ban on such “rip-off” charges will come into force from January next year, covering card fees as well as levies for digital payments made via services such as