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Hongxing cone crusher is used for crushing ores and rocks and the advantages are reliable structure, high efficiency, easy adjustment and economy.
An impact crusher is a piece of heavy construction equipment people can use to reduce the size of things like rock, waste concrete, and similar materials.
The ball mill is one of the most widely used super fine grinding machine in the industry and it is the key grinding equipment after materials have been crushed.


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Android Wear may rebrand to ‘Wear OS’ according to latest Google Play Services beta
Android Wear is in a peculiar position. Although smartwatches saw a period of growth last year, it doesn’t look like many device makers are that eager to create new Android Wear smartwatches. Huawei is holding off until next year for the Huawei Watch 3, while Motorola has yet to launch a third generation Moto 360. Meanwhile, existing Android Wear devices are receiving the Android Oreo-based update, so it’s not as if there’s much incentive for existing users to upgrade to a new device. Whatever the reason for the apparent stagnation in the Android Wear ecosystem, it appears that Google is looking to shake things up—starting with a rebranding of the OS to ‘Wear OS.’
First spotted by Redditor /u/H3x0n on the /r/AndroidWear subreddit, the latest Google Play Services beta update is showing a new logo and name when attempting to set up an Android Wear smartwatch. The name is called ‘Wear OS’ and hints at a re-branding of Google’s smartwatch OS.
We decompiled the Google Play Services beta APK, and indeed found several references to Wear OS throughout the strings.
<string name="common_android_wear_title">Wear OS</string> <string name="tp_wear_proxy_title_for_ios">Open the Wear OS app on your phone</string> <string name="wearable_service_name">Wear OS</string>
Although the latest Android Wear app has yet to show signs of this re-branding, it is likely that a future update—perhaps even the next one—will feature the new name and logo. This wouldn’t be the first time that Google has re-branded one of their services. Indeed, Google Pay was formerly known as Android Pay until very recently.
Besides the Wear OS re-brand, we don’t know what else Google has in store for their smartwatch OS. It’s possible that the company will announce other major initiatives alongside the re-branding in an effort to revitalize interest in these devices. Personally, I’m holding out for either the Huawei Watch 3 or Moto 360 v3 before I buy back into the ecosystem—though the recent OpenWatch initiative by BLOCKS may entice me to stick with my existing device.

domain: news


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Brands wary of advertising on YouTube
Companies are hesitating to buy adverts on YouTube and Facebook because of fears that they will appear next to inappropriate content, according to an executive at the world’s largest media agency.
Brands have woken up to the “inherent risk” of advertising through the major online platforms, according to Bethan Crockett, Group M’s senior director of brand safety and digital risk.
Last year, an investigation by The Times exposed how well-known brands were funding terrorism through adverts that appeared on YouTube videos posted by Islamic extremists.
Advertisers pay web platforms to reach their users, but do not have control over where commercials appear.
Ms Crockett was speaking before the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee’s inquiry into fake news yesterday. She added: “They are starting


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It isn’t about the risk of burning to crisp; they want money.
It may seem logical for Porsche 911 GT3 owners to bemad at the automaker for a host of reasons, for instance, the fact that they ran the risk of going up in flames along with their carsduring the engine-fire debacle. But for a growing group of now-organized ownersin the UK, it’s less about safety, and more about cash. Apparently, thecompensation packages offered to owners by the automaker in most markets aroundthe world haven’t quite made it across the Channel.
While Porsche has offered up to $2,000 to American owners forevery month their car cannot be driven (Germans get 175 euros per day), ownersin the UK have gotten nothing. And they’re still being required to make their carpayments while Porsche scrambles to find a solution and replace the engines. Led by a customer named Sunil Mehra, all 30-35 UK owners have now organized,demanding that Porsche reimburse the group, which consists of existing owners, thosewhose production has been suspended and those who had placed deposits but neverreceived a build allocation.


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Facebook enables deforestation in Brazilian Amazon
Criminal networks in Brazil are illegally selling and deforesting protected lands—even within an indigenous reserve—and posting the plots for sale on Facebook, according to an investigation by the BBC. In documentary broadcast Feb. 26, "Selling the Amazon," BBC Brasil went undercover to show how illegal land-grabbers are moving in on public land in the Amazon—clearing rainforest and selling plots to ranchers at highly inflated prices. The documentary showed plots of these cleared lands being openly advertized on Facebook. When contacted by the BBC, Facebook said that it was "ready to work with the local authorities" to investigate the matter, but would not take independent action to halt the land-trading on its platform. While some ads were pulled, others remain on Facebook. One plot up for sale was located within the Uru Eu Wau Wau Indigenous Reserve in Brazil's Rondônia state—a titled territory where invaders and conflict have been a growing problem. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has largely gutted and defunded the nation's environmental regulatory, protection and enforcement agencies. (Mongabay)
Indigenous leaders in regions of the Amazon in Brazil and Colombia have meanwhile joined with environmental groups from France and the US to file suit in a French court against a supermarket chain for selling beef produced by companies responsible for mass deforestation and land-grabs. The lawsuit claims that French grocery retailer Casino violated a 2017 law requiring businesses to do due diligence on companies within their supply chain to ensure they are not supporting organizations that perpetrate human rights violations or environmental destruction.
According to evidence collected by the Center for Climate Crime Analysis (CCCA), Casino purchased beef from three slaughterhouses owned by JBS, the largest meat processing company in the world. JBS slaughterhouses source beef from 592 distributors who collectively accounted for at least 50,000 hectares (123,550 acres) of deforestation between 2008 and 2020. Despite reports detailing the company's harmful practices, Casino has continued to purchase meat from JBS.
Fany Kuiru Castro, a representative for the Uitoto people of Colombia and director of the National Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC) said, "Cattle ranching, monocultures and other extractive industries are putting our lives at risk and exterminating indigenous peoples."
The lawsuit seeks 3 million euros in damages for indigenous groups. It also seeks to bring Casino into compliance with the 2017 law to "ensure that their activities do not entail deforestation," said Sebastien Mabile, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. (Jurist)
Last living man of Brazil's Juma tribe dies from COVID-19
Aruká Juma, the last surviving man of Amazon's Juma tribe, has died from COVID-19, which was brought by invading loggers. Juma, aged between 86 and 90, was the last fluent speaker of the tribe's language. The disease was introduced by settlers and illegal loggers in the area. After several members of the Juma people were slain by settlers in the 1960s, the tribe joined with the neighboring Uru-eu-wau-wau group, and Aruká Juma's daughters got married in this group. (Latin Post, March 16; NYT, March 14)
Brazil environment minister quits amid illegal logging probe
Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles quit on June 23, facing a criminal investigation of whether he obstructed a police probe of illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest. A Supreme Court justice authorized the investigation of Salles this month after federal police raids targeted the minister and other officials alleged to have allowed illegal wood exports.
To replace Salles, Bolsonaro nominated Joaquim Alvaro Pereira Leite, a former board member of the Brazilian Rural Society, a century-old lobby group for farming interests. (Reuters)


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DALLAS — Wal-Mart shoppers, who number 140 million every week in the U.S. alone, are feeling economic pressure, said Duncan Mac Naughton, chief merchandising and marketing officer of Wal-Mart Stores U.S., speaking at the Texas A&M Retailing Summit here.
“Folks are very tentative today — there’s not any really good news,” he said.
Hermès is launching a Laundromat pop-up shop in NYC - dubbed Hermèsmatic - where customers can bring their old scarves to be dip-dyed by an expert. Get all the details on WWD.com. #wwdnews (📷: @donstahl)


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James May, 57, opened up on his lifestyle overhaul as he sat down for a chat with Rachael Hogg on her FoodTribe YouTube Channel. The former Top Gear presenter credited his "other half" Sarah Frater for helping him advise healthy food and drink alternatives.
It's a diet
He explained: "Sarah my other half has put me on a sort of, I don't know what it's called, it's a diet, it's a slimming diet.
"It's a be good to your bowels, be good to your stomach, bowels as in the medieval sense of everything that's inside you."
James detailed how to help keep weight off he drinks his tea "black" though he usually prefers it made with leaves.
"So I drink it black, but usually my cup of tea would be made in a pot because it tastes better in a pot.
James May, 57, opened up on his lifestyle overhaul as he sat down for a chat with Rachael Hogg
"Made with loose leaves because its a pain in the a** but it does taste better. "
James and his art critic partner Sarah Frater have dated since 2000 and mostly keep their relationship private.
Last year, James's close friend and colleague Jeremy Clarkson revealed he lost weight after a trip to Indochina.
He told Jonathan Ross: "I went on a gap year to Indochina. They just have a better diet out there."
"Plus I had a bicycle rather than a car.
"Cycling is not a good thing to do, I'm all broken as a result of it but I did lose a lot of weight.."
James worked on Top Gear with Jeremy for many years alongside their fellow host Richard Hammond.
The trio quit the BBC programme back in 2015 and went to work on The Grand Tour for Amazon.
Kevin Clifton addresses Strictly Come Dancing bosses rejection (PHOTOS)
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Helen Skelton: On The Farm host addresses mask concern while in shops (LATEST)
Recently James explained how the coronavirus pandemic has complicated the future of the motoring show.
New restrictions will limit how many countries the stars are able to enter and travel around.
"The effects of lockdown on making TV shows is that we have to retract our ambitions for travel.
"It's not just, 'Can we get on an aeroplane and go somewhere?' but, 'Are we going to be able to do anything when we get there?'," he told The Sun.
"We need to talk to people and it's an enormous crew with all our kit plus 10 or 15 vans. It's very difficult and we don't want to compromise it.
"It limits the places we can go. I think Amazon would say the same thing," James added.
Instead, the TV host said he would rather "wait" rather than push ahead filming a new series.
"We would rather wait a bit longer rather than rushing it for the sake of it and coming out with something half-a**ed."


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OPPO has taken control of the foldable phone market in China, firmly standing up to all of its competitors (including Samsung).
Last December, OPPO introduced its foldable phones, which hit compete head to head with Samsung. And if we haven’t had a chance to try the OPPO Find N2 yet, we have already been able to analyze the OPPO Find N2 Flip and confirm that OPPO is really doing its best in the foldable market. The Chinese firm is making very big bets to secure a piece of the market.
And judging by what we can read in GSMArena, in the still very young flip phone market in its country of origin, it is doing well, because they currently dominate their competitors. Yes, even ahead of Samsung, which until now has been the dominant brand in this sector.
Quality pays dividends
During the first quarter of this 2023 OPPO with a market share of 31% in the folding sector in China. The change is especially noticeable when compared to the previous year, as the manufacturer controlled only 12% of the market Same dates in 2022
And it is the OPPO Find N2 Flip that we talked about earlier. he is very much to blame for this rise. According to the newspaper, this terminal managed at its peril to capture 15% of the market share of foldable devices by device. The terminal has also performed very well worldwide, thanks to which the manufacturer has more than 13% of the global folding folding structure market.
China at the moment the most important market for folding. Competition is fierce in the Asian giant, with more manufacturers offering more solutions when it comes to foldable devices than we see in Europe (one from Xiaomi in particular comes to the fore). And then there’s Samsung. The fact that the Koreans do not have leadership in this market is at least significant.
And it won’t be because its latest offerings in terms of folding are bad, it’s far from it, just check what the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 has to offer to see it, but that’s what OPPO seems to be was able to do more and ask the user for less money use their developments. It seems like there’s finally some serious competition in the industry, and that’s always a good thing for everyone.


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The statement was issued by Sarawak Assistant Minister of Law, State and Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali and Petronas chairman Datuk Ahmad Nizam Salleh.
They said both parties agreed that the best approach in reaching an amicable solution was through a commercial settlement to create a stable business and investment environment.
In this regard, Petronas has agreed to withdraw its appeal against the decision by the Sarawak High Court in relation to a judicial review request dated March 13 and, in return, the Sarawak government will drop all claims in its civil case against Petronas for the payment of petroleum products sales tax.
The statement said Petronas, via its subsidiaries involved, would be paying in full the petroleum products sales tax imposed by Sarawak for the year 2019 amounting to RM2 billion, which is five per cent of the products' sales value.
The two parties have further agreed that future petroleum products sales tax would be reduced and staggered based on future negotiations, under the State Sales Tax (Taxable Goods and Rate of Tax)(Amendment)(No 2) Order, 2018.
"The Sarawak sate government also agrees that the sales tax will be limited to petroleum products stipulated under Order 2018; however, all agreements between Sarawak and Petronas under the Petroleum Development Act 1974 are still valid and in effect.
"This includes collaborative opportunities at the operational level in Sarawak," the statement said.
It added that to ensure the implementation of the commercial resolution, the Senior Minister (Works) and Finance Minister would be tasked with chairing a joint committee for this purpose.


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Whether it's due to the crystal-clear waters, luxurious resorts or slower pace of life, there's no denying that Fiji is a top destination for holidaymakers around the world. Australians are particularly smitten with the South Pacific archipelago – in fact, we accounted for more than half of Fiji's 693,000 visitors in 2014, according to figures collated by Tourism Fiji.
Attracting tourists is an important task, considering the financial impact it has on the country's economy as a whole. The World Travel and Tourism Council reported that the travel and tourism industry contributed almost $2 billion, or 37 per cent of Fiji's gross domestic product, in 2014.
Given these impressive statistics, it isn't too surprising that organisations are continually exploring channels to promote the country, engage with prospects and ultimately bring more people to Fiji. One way Tourism Fiji was able to achieve this was by exhibiting a custom-made stand at the recent Travel Expo 2016.
What was Travel Expo 2016 all about?
— HIT105 Brisbane (@hit105Brisbane) February 12, 2016
Held in 13 major cities across Australia, Travel Expo 2016 provided visitors with the opportunity to plan their next international holiday and gave exhibitors a high-profile platform to show off their products and services. Around 150 exhibitors were in attendance, with companies as diverse as Contiki, Carnival Cruise Line and This Is Africa giving attendees the chance to explore offerings from all four corners of the globe.
The turnout was impressive. Between January 17 and March 6, more then 118,000 people attended the expo – an increase of 23 per cent from 2015's iteration. More importantly, engagement levels were also high, with more than 8 in 10 (83 per cent) attendees planning to travel in the next 12 months and the event website attracting almost a million views.
Who had the best exhibition stand?
— Travel Expo (@TravelExpos) February 18, 2016
There were many beautiful exhibition stands on display throughout Travel Expo 2016 as vendors vied to give prospects the best experience possible. Competition was fierce, with Singapore Airlines' booth winning the praise of the judges in Darwin and Canberra, while Insight Vacations' stand was crowned the best in Cairns and Townsville.
However, when it came to down to it, we're proud to say that the judging panel awarded the event space we created for Tourism Fiji as the best overall booth for the entire event.
There were many factors that went into the judge's decision. Display stands were judged based on product presentation, the customer experience and how well the space reflected the organisation's overall brand. Working closely with Tourism Fiji, we were able to design and produce a truly eye-catching exhibition stand that ticked all these boxes and was a hit with both visitors and the judges. For their hard work and creativity, Tourism Fiji was awarded a space at a future expo – a prize valued at up $5,100.
The next Travel Expo is coming up soon, with events being held in Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne between July 31 and August 14. If you're thinking of heading overseas to escape the winter blues, be sure to head along for inspiration, practical advice and your chance to win some great prices. We can't wait to see the exhibition booths that will be on display at this next event.


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Asda is to cut prices on thousands of its products this month, the supermarket chain announced yesterday.
The UK's second-biggest grocer, said it was reducing the price of 3,600 essential products, including potatoes, carrots, grapes, bananas, milk, nappies and cheese in January but added that the "vast majority" of the cuts would last for a minimum of six to 12 weeks. Asda said the measures would save customers "millions of pounds off their weekly shop", adding that the average price of the product will be trimmed by 13 per cent.
The supermarket also unveiled a three-point checklist for customers, which included them not having to pay more depending on where they live and reiterated its national pricing policy.
The price cuts follow statements by the biggest four supermarkets that they have held off reintroducing the 17.5 per cent rate of VAT on many non-food products from 1 January. The listed grocers, Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury's, are all due to update on Christmas trading this month and with food price inflation falling, the battle to grab consumers' money is as fierce as ever.
Tesco has already launched a special offer promotion on 12,000 of its goods. And Sainsbury's says it has reduced the price of more than 3,600 products.
However, retail analysts also pointed out that the first week of January is often characterised by these type of grocery price-saving claims.
Jonathan Pritchard, an analyst at Oriel Securities, said: "The numbers they bandy about are always open to discussion and I would have been surprised if two or three players had not come out with this type of announcement for the month."
In a tacit acknowledgement of scepticism about the supermarkets' campaigns, Asda also said it was "upping the ante in its campaign to rid the industry of phoney price claims".
Darren Blackhurst, chief merchandising officer at Asda, said: "People are sick and tired of being tricked and deceived by dodgy claims and bogus buy one, get one free offers."
Sainsbury's will issue its third-quarter trading statement tomorrow and consensus is for underlying sales of between 3 and 4 per cent, excluding fuel. Tesco will update on its sales next Tuesday and Morrisons on 21 January.Reuse content


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The number of new car sales in the UK has risen steadily since 2012 and it is showing no signs of stopping. It has been predicted that the UK automotive industry will break industry records by the end of the decade, with experts claiming annual production will hit a record of 2 million vehicles by 2020, along with a creation of 37,000 new UK based jobs in the industry.
The growth of the UK car industry is certainly booming, but what has contributed to the rise in sales, what is influencing its success, and how can we make sure it continues?
A record year for car sales
It has been a record year for the UK car market, with new car registrations up by 7.0% in the first half of 2015. This has been the highest half-year on record, and in September 2015 the industry saw its 43rd consecutive month of growth. 462,517 new cars were registered last month; a rise of 8.6% and the highest September on record.
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the current number of new car registrations in the UK is 2,096,886 – a 7.1% increase from this time last year. It is also the first time that the number has hit the two million mark since September 2004.
Buyers are increasingly opting for cars that have been built in the UK, thus growing the demand for production and contributing to the success of the UK car market. The diverse range of models including the increased use of hybrid technology and the growing number of affordable deals has driven the industry and has enabled more people to buy new cars than ever before.
Cars have become more affordable
One of the most influential factors in the increase of UK based new car sales is their increasing affordability, and in particular the advantages of the Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) scheme.
PCP packages have become increasingly popular to UK customers, and have frequently been credited with driving the rise in sales of new cars. The PCP scheme is now the most dominant form of car finance and in 2014, 73% of all new car sales in the UK were funded using PCP packages, compared to just 21% opting for the Hire Purchase (HP) alternative.
The PCP scheme is an attractive finance option as it enables customers to pay for a new car over a period of (usually 36) months. New cars purchased through the PCP scheme can be more affordable as customers are only paying a fraction of the price; they are essentially renting the car, rather than buying it. The scheme is therefore an attractive option for those who want to change their car every few years, or for those who cannot afford to purchase a new car with cash.
Though the PCP scheme is a viable option to many, some buyers still have difficulty purchasing a new car because of their bad credit history. However, through the formation of Stoneacre Financial Services, Stoneacre Motor Group have been able to introduce a range of competitive bad credit car finance options. Such options are largely based on the innovative new ‘payment box’ technology, which is designed to remind customers when their payment is due to avoid late or missed payments. If a payment is missed, the car will not run, working as a helpful reminder for customers to ensure they pay on time.
Incentives are inspiring customers to buy
The £400m government scrappage scheme of 2009 brought life back into the UK car industry, giving customers £1,000 for their scrapped car whilst manufacturers gave another £1,000 discount off a new car. Designed to encourage customers to buy a new car in the recession, the scheme ensured that the industry stayed afloat and was undoubtedly a significant influence in today’s figures. By the time the scheme ended in March 2010, nearly 400,000 cars had been sold and £300 million was made. A survey carried out by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) found that over half of the participants had never bought a new car before and many people today think that the scheme should be reintroduced.
Recognising the value of the scrappage scheme, Vauxhall has recently launched its own, giving customers a £2,000 discount off a new car when they trade in an old car. There is no upper age limit for cars and any manufacturer will be accepted; all the scheme asks is that customers must have owned their trade-in vehicle for a minimum of 90 days.
A further benefit to come out of scrappage schemes is its effect on the environment, as new cars have a lower amount of carbon emissions than older cars. British buyers are particularly interested in low-emission vehicles and have taken to the idea faster than anywhere else in Europe, though the market is still relatively small. The current Government Plug-in Car Grant serves as an incentive for buyers to purchase a hybrid or electric vehicle, supporting the government’s target to reduce emissions.
The government Plug-in Car Grant encourages customers to purchase electronic cars and vans by offering a grant to subsidise the overall cost, thus making electric vehicles a more affordable option.
Grants are available for 35% off the cost of an electric car up to a maximum of £5000 and 20% off the cost of an electric van up to a maximum of £8000. The scheme has recently been extended and is currently due to continue until February 2016.
Almost 21,000 plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles have been purchased in 2015 so far, and this number is predicted to increase as the scheme is rolled out into 2016. After the recent announcement that from the end of 2015 the grant system will become tiered, sales of hybrid and electric cars has soared with a huge rise of 226.5% over the last year.
The increase of new car sales in the UK is encouraging, and is undoubtedly an exciting time for the economy. If manufactures and dealerships continue to offer buyers attractive and affordable deals, the rate of new car sales will continue to grow, enabling the flourishing industry to develop cleaner and more cost-effective cars to the everyday driver.


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The cooperation between Mercedes-Benz Trucks and the Chinese construction machinery manufacturer Zoomlion Heavy Industry becomes stronger. On February 25th they signed a letter of intent for the delivery of 2, 500 Mercedes-Benz trucks, model 3341 and 4141.
The Actros trucks are to be produced at the truck plant in Wörth, where they will also be adapted to Zoomlion’s special applications for concrete pumps, the company receiving them later this year. Almost 5,800 trucks were sold in China in 2011, making the company the leader among the European competitors in China’s import segment, making the country the 6th largest market for the sale of Mercedes-Benz trucks. Because China’s construction sector is rapidly growing, the country plans to invest 7 trillion RMB (more than €800 billion) in building and expanding urban infrastructures in the following 4 years.
“We are very delighted that our Chinese business partner chose Mercedes-Benz trucks for its challenging applications in the construction industry. This letter of intent confirms the good image of our Mercedes-Benz trucks and the great capabilities of our young Mercedes-Benz Trucks sales organization in China, which helps us strengthen our market presence,” declared Hubertus Troska, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks and the person responsible for Mercedes-Benz Trucks worldwide.


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The daily Davis Index for Turkish imports of US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was unchanged at $455.71/mt cfr on Thursday following a continued gap between bids and offers.
Turkish mills’ bids for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the USA and the Baltic region remain at $450/mt cfr amid limited offers that are above $460/mt cfr.
In the meantime, demand for scrap is emerging at alternative outlets. Some Egyptian mills are looking for cargoes and bidding as low Turkish mills while a mill from Kuwait has also started checking available offers.
Spot rebar prices in the Turkish domestic market decreased by TRY50-100/mt to TRY6,850-7,030/mt ex-works, including 18pc VAT, on Thursday amid weak sales. Kardemir opened rebar sales at TRY5,975/mt ex-works, excluding 18pc VAT on Aug 11 and closed them the next day without significant results.
Some Turkish mills have kept offers for rebar at $710/mt fob actual weight, but a few small volumes sales to the Middle East, Africa and Europe were heard at $695-700/mt fob actual weight.
A large mill was heard to have sold 30,000mt of wire rod at around $810/mt fob to Europe.


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It’s been 13 days since Adobe announced its plan to spend $20 billion on Figma, the maker of popular design software. In that time, an open-source alternative called Penpot has seen a surge in activity.
Now, Penpot has fresh capital to fuel that growth.
related investing news
On Tuesday, parent company Kaleidos said it raised $8 million to continue development on Penpot’s collaborative design software. The company said sign-ups jumped 5,600% in a single day after Adobe agreed to buy Figma.
“Penpot is seeing unprecedented growth because designers and developers hate working within the silos and rigidity of traditional enterprise software,” said Pablo Ruiz-Múzquiz, co-founder of Penpot and CEO of Kaleidos, in Tuesday’s statement.
While Ruiz-Múzquiz didn’t name Adobe in that quote, he has shown a willingness to besmirch the company more specifically.
“Adobe is a toxic brand for designers, and now Figma is tainted,” Ruiz-Múzquiz wrote in an email to CNBC. He cited a Figma document full of images reflecting negative sentiment on the deal and said it would have been easier if the buyer had been a different company, such as Microsoft..
Over this past weekend, Penpot upgraded the infrastructure for its hosted web app to accommodate the increased level of activity. On-premises deployments grew 400%, the company said, and the number of starts on the GitHub repository holding Penpot’s open-source code made for the type of hockey-stick chart that Silicon Valley loves.
Decibel, which is backed by Cisco, led the funding round, with participation from Athos Capital, an existing investor. While the timing seems particularly relevant, it’s coincidental as the deal was agreed upon in mid-August, weeks before interest surged, according to Jon Sakoda, Decibel’s founding partner.
“We certainly didn’t assume Figma was going to get bought by Adobe,” Sakoda said in an interview.
In a statement to CNBC, Adobe said that, combined with Figma, the company will “make collaborative creativity easier and frictionless and empower millions of users to be more creative and productive” and that it “will accelerate Figma’s innovation roadmap and provide access to an even broader universe of customers.”
Penpot still has no real business. For now, designers can download and run the Penpot open-source software for free or run the hosted version.
But Ruiz-Múzquiz isn’t alone in pointing to the Adobe-Figma deal as a big opportunity.
A post on the Reddit page to discuss Figma entitled “Upvote if you hope to see Adobe Figma deal fall through” received more than 400 upvotes, signaling support. Daryl Ginn, founder of English design studio Rejiggle, offered on Twitter a business idea for anyone to take: Figma, but not owned by Adobe.
Adobe said Figma co-founder and CEO Dylan Field will continue to run Figma if the acquisition closes as expected in 2023. That’s not enough to sooth concerns of some skeptics. Nigerian brand designer Chisaokwu Joboson gained almost 3,000 Twitter likes for a post implying that under Adobe’s control, the ease of saving files in Figma would cease and start to instead function like a heavy-duty desktop app that would require manual saving.
Not everyone has been down on the planned deal. The Dutch designer Fons Mans, for example, tweeted that the ability to work in Figma and “manipulate your images” in Photoshop and elsewhere “would be a dream.”
Figma had initially picked up plaudits for features such as simple sharing and collaborative editing, attracting some designers away from Adobe’s Creative Cloud applications. Adobe offers a Creative Cloud program called XD that’s billed as a competitor, although after seven years, it was reportedly generating just $15 million in annual recurring revenue. Adobe is committed to supporting customers that use XD, said product chief Scott Belsky, in a conversation held on Twitter Spaces.
Still, Ruiz-Múzquiz said that, for the growth of his community, the timing of the deal couldn’t have been better.
“I think knowing about open source and open standards (no vendor lock-in) has helped Penpot position itself as a trustworthy alternative,” he wrote.
Image and article originally from www.cnbc.com. Read the original article here.


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Remaining appropriate has never been harder, provided the fast speed of development, driven by the number, as well as a variety of new technologies, as well as the international pandemic that created extra operational and financial stress.
The COVID-19 pandemic altered customer life overnight, main retailers to rethink just how they performed trade. The crisis additionally quickened digital advancement. According to an industry study in November, 72% of retail specialists stated the crisis increased their digitalization strategies by at least 1-2 years with 21% stating it fast-forwarded plans by at the least 3 years.
As a component of this increased digitalization, merchants ramped up their e-commerce techniques to offer consumers that were going shopping from residence more either as a result of mandated lockdowns or even their own safety and security problems. Retailers as well as consumer brands ought to keep these few shopping patterns top of mind as 2021 begins.
- Ecommerce proceeds its march
Amongst the most extensive adjustments unraveling in commerce is the shift to the digital network. A study approximates that 17% of goods will be acquired online in 2021, nearly increasing from 2016. The pandemic increased this shift towards eCommerce, as numerous customers experimented, as well as became reliant on the digital network while alone. In 2020, goods acquired online internationally expanded by 24% while stored-based sales decreased by 7%.
Three-quarters of worldwide retail experts evaluation anticipate the crisis-inspired online boom to result in a long-term network shift. The essential argument is what percentage of this overnight eCommerce development is sustainable in the coming years. A study forecasts that shopping sales of goods purchased worldwide will upload a 9.5% substance annual development price from 2020 to 2025, which is more moderate than the 24% crisis-driven spike in 2020. By 2025, the study forecasts that online sales will represent 21% of total retail investment.
- Growth is possible through optimization
Also, without expanding supply chains or logistics networks, growth is feasible merely through optimization. Numerous markets are placed to handle more eCommerce purchases than they saw coming into the pandemic, suggesting they are positioned to endure the COVID-19 surge in 2021 as well as in the past. In fact, a study located that the retail market globally could sustain more than $77.7 billion in added e-commerce sales without further framework expansion based upon market characteristics going into the pandemic.


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Earlier last week, T-Mobile confirmed a data breach that affects at least 48 million people, a number that could still rise as the company continues its investigation.
The data set contains particularly sensitive information like social security numbers, driver’s license details, and reportedly even the unique IMEI numbers associated with each smartphone.
Not only that, but the vast majority of victims in the breach so far aren’t even T-Mobile customers; they’re instead former or prospective customers who at some point applied for credit with the carrier. A class action suit has already been filed although the arbitration clause in T-Mobile customer agreements may be a hurdle in the road to restitution.
Earlier, cryptocurrency theft took the centerstage with Poly Network, which saw a hacker abscond with over $610 million in various digital coins before ultimately returning most of it. Now it’s apparently Liquid’s turn.
The Japanese cryptocurrency exchange said this week that its “warm” wallets—those connected to the internet, versus “cold” wallets, which are not—were compromised in a hack that resulted in about $97 million worth of bitcoin, ethereum, and other coins being stolen. Liquid said it moved some assets into cold wallets as a response, but the damage had been done.


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Tourist arrivals in Kenya have grown tremendously since the US and Britain have since lifted their travel advisories on coastal holiday-making towns of Mombasa and Malindi, raising hopes of a faster sector revival.
In the first nine months of the year, there was a 17.8 percent growth, which is a rebound for the sector that has been losing money over the past six years.
According to data from Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), the number of international visitors rose to 655,058 to September, up from 555,856 in a similar period last year when arrivals had reduced by 20 percent.
This growth can be attributed to the rigorous marketing efforts put in place by the government through KTB and Brand Kenya, which has been at the forefront of selling the Kenyan brand to the world.
It is this and many other accomplishments that have led to the recognition of Brand Kenya director, Chris Diaz, as one of the top global leaders who are influencing high standards in marketing and are respected thought leaders in the industry. His role in marketing Africa in global markets as a Trustee of Brand Africa, was also recognized.
Speaking after receiving the award at the event hosted by the World Marketing Congress at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, Diaz said that the success of African marketing leaders continues to grow and be recognized globally.
“We have many strong brands and marketers in Africa who are influencing more investments and tourists into Kenya and the wider African market. Africa has great strength of marketers. We have been championing modern marketing solutions and trends which include digital marketing which is transforming marketing strategies of most brands. This is making Africa compete in the global marketing space with world-class standards,” Diaz noted.
Diaz, who is also the marketing director of national carrier Kenya Airways has been involved in positioning Kenya positively on the global stage, and was recognised in a ceremony attended by top marketing gurus drawn from over 40 countries.
“There are huge opportunities for marketing in building African brands, as well as international brands entering the Africa markets. We need to invest in strong marketing teams as the demand for marketing as a career grows. There is need for more investments in training and development for global marketers,” he added.
Diaz was the first marketing leader from Africa to serve on the board of the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK. He is also a fellow of the Marketing Society of Kenya and has a wealth of experience been working with multiple segments and industries.
“Upcoming leaders in both digital and marketing development will position us even more strongly in the global marketplace,” he argued.
The congress also had panels to discuss the future of marketing trends including digital best solutions. Diaz participated in one of the panels, in which he discussed the importance of intra Africa marketing and global brand investments in creating employment opportunities in Africa through strong hospitality offerings and well trained marketers in the region.
He expressed confidence that Africa’s tourism numbers will surpass the nearly 60 million visitors annually, as the brand experience, culture, destinations and great tourist attractions are well marketed globally.
According to congress organizers, the recognized marketer are leaders who are raising the standards, development and experience of global marketers. The congress considered the leaders’ contributions to both sustainability and environmental issues and best-in-class marketing strategies.


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Create or update your MyBiz Profile
on Bizcommunity before 30 June 2013 and stand a chance to WIN an awesome GoPro camera and accessories worth over R6000. The winner will be picked via a lucky draw and announced on 1 July 2013 on Biz, Facebook and Twitter.
[Billy Tawanda Karombo]
SABMiller has taken its traditional African beer brand‚ Chibuku - which is manufactured using either maize or sorghum - into ten other continental countries‚ a move the company says is motivated by its "affordability" and "product innovation" strategies. 11 Oct 2012 10:35
Fashionable is not a word usually associated with farming. But elders in the Mpaem community in the Fanteakwa District of eastern Ghana boast of a wave of change sweeping the African country's cocoa industry. 14 Jun 2012 12:48
[Issa Sikiti da Silva: @sikitimedia]
Population growth, rapid urbanisation, adoption of new technologies, unlocking of abundant resources and the deepening of the financial sector are the five major trends that are set to drive Africa's economic growth, Simon Freemantle, Standard Bank Africa senior analyst, told a media roundtable in Johannesburg, South Africa, yesterday, Thursday 6 October 2011. 7 Oct 2011 09:56
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Kazunori Yamauchi, the maker of Gran Turismo for PlayStation, has quietly returned to real-world racing. Yamauchi was recently spotted at the 4-hour ADAC Reinoldus-Langstrekenrennen Nurburgring VLN race in a Nissan GT-R. As you can tell from the picture above, the GT-R used by Yamauchi is inspired from the GT500 ‘Stealth’ GT-R from Gran Turismo 5. […]
Legendary Gran Turismo race game creator Kazunori Yamauchi hit up the Nurburgring recently to do a hot-lap of the Nordschleife in his race tuned Lexus IS-F as part of a special four-hour endurance race… or more testing for Gran Turismo 5. Click through for the video.


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TweakTown NewsRefine News by Category:
Crysis 3 gets released in just over 48 hours, and is looking to do some good business as usual. First up, we have some download numbers on the beta, which was downloaded over 3 million times.
Most beta players will end up buying the full game, so we should expect at least 2-3 million sales just there. Crysis 2 sold 3 million units, so we should expect more sales this time around. Pre-order numbers are looking great too, where according to EA's end of January financial report, pre-orders for the third Crysis game are sitting at 40% higher than its predecessor.
Crysis 3 gets released on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on February 19 in the US, and two days later in Australia and Europe. Japan will have to wait until March 7 to get their nanosuit soldier gaming on.
Are you getting excited? I'm a huge fan of PCs, but next-gen consoles are always exciting and they should push the bar of games up much higher since games are developed on consoles and ported on PCs.
What should we expect from the next-gen console from Sony? Sony are holding an event this week where they've said we'll "see the future" - most people, myself included, are expecting an announcement of the PlayStation 4. If this is true, here's some things you should expect from the PS4.
5.) Price. This is one of the most important parts of the PS4. The original PlayStation 3 launched for $600, where we saw 60GB included. The PS4 should hopefully hit the $300-$400 price, and include 500GB of storage. We should hopefully see a decently fast HDD inside, or some form of flash storage - maybe 64-128GB of SSD to help the OS feel snappy.
For a game that has been stuck in development hell forever, news of The Last Guardian is coming out and it's finally exciting - it will end up as a PlayStation 4 release and has been for "a long time now".
This is all according to a former Bigbig developer who posted on the NeoGAF forums, where he added "I don't know, but I know it's been in development on Orbis for a long time now. Its platform has been questionable for nearly two years, but the last time it was restarted (it's been restarted a number of times), it was moved to Orbis."
We should hear about the PlayStation 4 in a few days time, so hopefully we see this game as one of the teasers of its next-gen capabilities!
Nintendo has announced that they are running a 3DS eShop promotion for the next six weeks. Six eShop games will be discounted, one at a time for a week at a time. The first sale runs until February 21 and will see users being able to buy BIT.TRIP.SAGA for just $9.99.
The full list of sales is as follows:
- BIT.TRIP.SAGA - $9.99 until 21st February
- Crashmo - $5.99 from 21st February to 28th February
- Fractured Soul - $7.99 from 28th February until 7th March
- Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword - $4.99 from 7th March to 14th March
- Ketzal's Corridors - $4.99 from 14th March to 21st March
- Mutant Mudds - $5.99 from 21st March to 28th March
In Europe, retail games will also be put on sale with the first game being The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D being available for just 19.99 pounds or 29.99 euros until February 21.
The discounts aren't huge, but they may be enough to tempt users into perusing the eShop and possibly picking up some games. Nintendo's digital distribution efforts are still in their infancy and this may be the result of Nintendo trying to grow their digital distribution efforts.
The highly anticipated Android powered GameStick is now available for pre-order through GameStick's online store for $79 today. The base price will land you the USB drive sized GameStick as well as a single Bluetooth controller.
The online store which appears to be powered by Amazon.com is also offering up a multi-functional docking station which is used to wirelessly charge the controller and also serves as an additional external storage device for the GameStick. The dock can be had for a mere $24.99 and includes an Ethernet port, HDMI port and three USB ports.
PlayJam, the creators of the GameStick, already finished up a very successful Kickstarter campaign to the tune of $647,658 back in the beginning of this month. The company says that they are working with more than 250 developers to bring you a wealth of games configured just for the device.
If you've been one of the early birds using Steam for Linux, you can safely get your game on now that Valve have released the now free-to-play Team Fortress 2 to Linux.
Team Fortress 2 being released on Linux couldn't come at a better time, being February 14, or Valentine's Day. So for those of you without a significant other to play with, you can always get your game on with TF2 for Linux.
We're not hearing much about Aliens: Colonial Marines other than its abysmal reviews - but there are some out there voicing their opinions on Gearbox Software's latest flop.
I purchased the game after watching videos months ago, getting just a little excited that we might have another cool game to play - but after the first few minutes of playing it, I felt like I had been robbed of my $50. The demos shown off months ago were of much better quality in terms of graphics and physics within the game, with the final version feeling like it has gone back in development time.
The video above does a very good job of walking you through some of the different parts that have been changed - from the dynamic lighting to the explosions and pre-scripted scenes. I ran the game on my EyeFinity setup and it is so poor with its field of view it's unplayable.
Sony have said we'll see the future on February 20, but before that we're seeing leaks of a purported PlayStation 4 prototype controller. The photo comes courtesy of an unknown source who sent it in to Destructoid.
As you can see, it looks quite familiar to the current controllers, but the directional pad buttons are placed further apart - with what seems like a touchscreen slapped in between. If you can see that glowing part on top of the controller, this could be a Move-related part of the new controller.
There's also a small button to the left of the touchscreen, in the upper right hand corner of the d-pad. This could be the rumored share button, or something associated with the Move part on top of the controller, or the touchscreen. Just above the PlayStation button in the bottom center, looks to be a speaker and underneath the PlayStation button is an audio jack for some headphone connectivity.
I'm sure there are a bunch of you out there that have the same fond memories of playing System Shock 2 way back when games were actually difficult and you didn't have a three-hour baby steps through the game tutorial.
Over the years, it has gotten harder to acquire System Shock 2 as every iteration of Windows piles on top of Windows XP, but now it's coming to GOG.com's catalog on Thursday morning. A Steam release is also coming, but there's no ETA on that version just yet.
Next-gen consoles are nearly here, not including the Nintendo Wii U, and we're hearing that the next-gen Xbox might not be capable of playing used games. Just how much does this piss off gamers? Well, according to the GameStop CFO, a lot.
Rob Lloyd, CFO of GameSpot during his recent speech at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference said that 60% of customers said they would not buy the next-gen consoles if they meant they couldn't play used, or second hand games. Lloyd told those at the event that consumers like the ability to play pre-owned games, as well as having the portability and physicality in games.
Not having these abilities, such as buying a pre-owned game, would stop consumers - nearly 60% of them - from buying a next-gen console that isn't capable of playing used games. Lloyd noted that around 4% of GameStop's used game sales are for games that had been released in the last 60 days - this is a huge fact for used games.


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Report: Skoda to Wait on Entering U.S. Market
CEO says there's no rush to make a decision
Skoda said it would make a decision this year on whether or not to enter the U.S. market, but it looks like the Czech automaker needs more time to make up its mind. According to a report from Autocar, Skoda is putting its U.S. ambitions on hold to focus on low-cost cars for India.
Earlier this year, Volkswagen Group teamed up with Tata Motors in the hopes of building a low-cost car for emerging markets. Skoda was recruited to lead the project for VW, leaving the brand little time to focus on its plans for the U.S. "We will need more time to work on the U.S. plans now," Skoda CEO Bernhard Maier told Autocar.
"There is no hurry to rush into the U.S. and no deadline to even decide if we should be looking to go there," Maier added. "There's no need to make a decision right away."
Skoda is currently considering the Group's MQB A0 platform for the new low-cost vehicle. But if VW uses its own platform, it would have to set up manufacturing infrastructure in India to keep production local and costs down.
India is expected to become the third largest car market starting in 2020, making it an important location for auto brands to secure market share. But the automaker also appears at least somewhat poised to enter the U.S., the world's second largest market, now that it has expanded its lineup of crossovers to include a seven-seater. VW Group was reportedly hoping that Skoda could rake in sales in the U.S. because its reputation wasn't as affected by the dieselgate scandal as many of VW's other brands.


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Mr. Potato is officially going general neutral. The Mr. and Mrs. pronouns will be dropped from today's characters.
The new name will appear on boxes this year and toy makers have been updating their classic brands. Barbie will no longer be just blonde and will come in multiple skin tones and body shapes. American Girl doll is selling a boy doll and Thomas the Tank has added more girl characters.
The rebrand comes as toy makers have been updating their classic brands.
What are your thoughts on this?


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IDT Australia’s strong year as it develops mRNA technologies
Independent pharmaceutical manufacturer IDT Australia has reported revenues up 74 per cent in the first half FY 22 to $8.56 million as its developed its capabilities in sterile manufacturing. Profit after tax was $1.21 million, up slightly from $1.12 million in the previous corresponding period. During the period the company upgraded its sterile manufacturing facilities, partly supported by a federal health department grant. IDT utilised the facilities to manufacture Australia’s first cGMP mRNA Covid-19 vaccine candidate in readiness for clinical trials in 2022. The candidate, the Monash University/Doherty Institute mRNA Covid-19 receptor binding domain vaccine, makes the company the only one in Australia with direct experience in mRNA manufacturing processes. The company ended the half with cash of $13.3 million, up 82 per cent.
Bega Cheese booms but Covid costs
Dairy foods and spreads manufacturer Bega Cheese reported a 29 per cent increase in net profits to $28 million in the six months to December, driven by growth in sales of its soy milk brand Vitasoy. The company reported statutory earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 47.7 per cent to $97.2 million, on revenue up 113 per cent to $1.51 billion. Bega was hit by disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic, costing profits of more than $20 million. Global supply chain issues saw higher prices for fuel, packaging, coffee and resin, while suppliers missed delivery time, and there was “significant absenteeism” in Bega’s workforce.
Elphinstone breaks into South American market
Tasmanian mining equipment manufacturer Elphinstone has booked its first sale in Ecuador, delivering a UG20K underground grader (pictured) through local CAT dealer IASA. The UG20K maintains mine haul roads for increased productivity and reduced operational costs. The vehicle boasts LED lighting, emergency control brake, automatic greasing system, multi-view camera and fire suppression systems. During the week it was announced the company would produce armoured hulls and turrets for the Australian army’s next generation artillery system, the Hanwha AS-9 Huntsman.
Cyclopharm’s record year
Radiopharmaceutical company Cyclopharm has reported full Year 2021 results including Record Sales revenue of $17.7 million, up 20.6 per cent on the prior corresponding period. a record revenue performance. The leading producer of lung imaging products recorded sales of its Technegas product up 7.0 per cent to $13.21 million in FY21, and third-party distribution revenues up 89 per cent to $4.1 million. The company has invested $1.3 million in the final stages of seeking the USFDA approval for the sale of Technegas in the US, with preparations in place for rapid commercialisation in the United States. Final dividend maintained at 0.5 cents per share (cps), bringing total unfranked dividends for FY21 to 1.0 cps.
Ainsworth recovering from Covid-19 slump in gambling
Poker machine and online gamine developer Ainsworth Game Technology continued its recovery from the Covid-19 shutdown of physical gambling facilities globally in the half year to December FY22, recording a profit after tax of $9.1 million, which compares to a loss of $50.1 million in the previous corresponding period. Profit before tax was $10 million. The improved performance came with widespread vaccination programmes across its markets and an increase in industry activity levels. Revenue was up 40 per cent to $100.7 million, with Ainsworth reporting an underlying operating profit of $20.7 million. There was recovering revenue from sales of Historical Horse Racing units in North America, sales in Latin America driven by venue re-openings and a higher contribution from online businesses. Australian revenue fell 13 per cent, driven by a drop in sales in NSW and changes in regulations in South Australia.
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Tablets to outship notebooks by 2016, NPD says
The tablet and notebook markets appear to be moving in opposite directions. While the new kid on the block, the tablet computer, is picking up steam around the world, notebook shipments are starting to level off. As a result, research group NPD Displaysearch says tablets will outship notebooks by 2016.
The research firm predicts tablet computer shipments will grow from 121 million units in 2012 to 416 million units in 2017. At the same time, notebook shipments will increase from 208 million units to 393 million units.
NPD Displaysearch cites the maturation of the tablet market as the main driver for this accelerated growth, noting that expansion will be seen in both developed and maturing markets alike.
However, not everyone is confident in the tablet's sustained growth, as it's believed the functionality of the device will need to expand in order to keep its momentum. As of yet, the tablet has proven to be more of a media consumption device, while traditional PCs are seen as useful tools for both consumption and creation.
For the tablet to thrive, some say, it must continue to evolve. Though undeniably convenient for checking email or reading the news on the go, the tablet's utility for content creation has not yet been fully explored -- a point that industry players will likely need to address in the coming years.


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Stan Lee’s Los Angeles Comic Con Returns With a Lineup That Leaps Off the Page
Cosplay, comics and collectibles will be the talk of the town when Stan Lee’s Los Angeles Comic Con takes the DTLA Convention Center by storm from Oct. 27-29. Notoriously the hardest to please fanbase out there, comic connoisseurs have a stacked lineup to look forward to this time around, with a slew of panels and contests guaranteed to tickle any and all graphic novel enthusiasts’ fancies. Plus, with countless writers, artists and pop culture luminaries on-hand for autograph sessions and photo opportunities, as well as numerous vendors setting up shop to peddle their hard-to-find collectibles, there will be something for everyone as part of this three-day extravaganza.
No one name has more cache in the comic book game than pioneer Stan Lee, one of Marvel’s founding fathers. So, when he attaches his name to L.A. Comic Con, attendees can rest assured that the event will go above and beyond to give everyone a truly out-of-this-world experience. Over the three days, a gaggle of revered guests will grace the L.A. Convention Center, including the legendary Stan Lee himself, as well as voiceover artist Tara Strong, independent wrestling superstars The Young Bucks, Tama Tonga and “The Underboss” bad Luck Fale, and comics enthusiast and director Kevin Smith, who has recently directed several episodes of critically acclaimed CW super-series “The Flash” and “Supergirl.”
Other must-meet luminaries on-hand throughout the weekend include Tony Bedard, “Deadpool” mastermind Rob Liefeld, Billy Bob Thornton, “NinjaTurtles” co-creator Kevin Eastman, “Detective Comics Rebirth” writer James Tynion, “The Crow” creator James O’Barr, and so many more. It’s a prime opportunity to rub elbows with some of the people responsible for permeating the pop culture lexicon in such a big way.
In addition to all the panels, guests and vendors that will be filling the Convention center all weekend-long, the event also promises a number of exciting competitions, including a Cosplay contest with a record high cash prize of $20,000, a makeup championship and a prop-making competition. All contests give burgeoning artists a chance to impress those already entrenched in the business, so expect some impressive submissions to capture imaginations of those in attendance.
A number of passes are available for this gigantic event, including one-day badges and multi-day passes, as well as a VIP option that allows the most ravenous of fans to hit the show-floor a half hour early. No matter what option fans choose, though, they’re bound to have the time of their lives as they gab, shop and pose with comic book idols from every corner of the world.


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Speaking at the RSPO European roundtable in London, Dr Bayu Krisnamurthi stated the Indonesian government’s intention to work together with RSPO towards a joint sustainable palm oil standard, which would scale up production of certified sustainable palm oil in Indonesia.
Krisnamurthi proposed to convert RSPO into an ‘open source’ standard available also for non-RSPO members, while commenting on the struggle to achieve 100% certified sustainable palm oil.
“We are building a plane while flying it,” he said, and emphasised the need to make sustainable palm oil a viable business to all of Indonesia’s palm oil growers and small-holders.
During the conference, Darrel Webber, RSPO Secretary General, also announced the first release, in an accessible format, of maps for all RSPO certified palm oil plantations.
The RSPO maps show exactly where RSPO certified palm oil is produced and together with other data in the GFW platform will empower palm oil buyers to make better decisions that support responsible sourcing.
“By increasing transparency on where and how palm oil is grown, we want to strengthen the role of RSPO as a benchmark to measure everyone’s performance. GFW’s maps will give greater assurance to European buyers that the CSPO they’re sourcing is produced responsibly,” said Webber.
“They will also act as a tool for certified growers to show their commitment and urge customers to support them.”
By releasing the maps of certified growers, RSPO is answering calls for greater transparency in the supply chain, and increasing trust in its standard to achieve 100% certified sustainable palm oil.
The RSPO London conference inaugurated a series of dialogues for RSPO members to discuss their shared responsibilities in delivering a 100% CSPO market in Europe and reinforce the partnership between growers and palm oil users.
The current estimated annual production capacity of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil is 9.7 million metric tons, approximately 16% of global crude palm oil.
About 47.85% of the world's current RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil production capacity comes from Indonesia, followed by 43.95% from Malaysia, and the remaining 8.2% from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Brazil, Thailand, Colombia, Cambodia and Ivory Coast.
Palm oil, palm kernel oil, and its derivatives, are used in 70% of cosmetics products.


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A man drove off with a $61,000 Range Rover from a Hicksville dealership by using a fake New Jersey driver’s license to get financing, Nassau police said in asking for help to find him.
The Grand Prix Subaru dealership on South Broadway did a credit check and approved financing of a 2014 Range Rover, and the customer left in it Nov. 27, police said.
Several days later, the bank notified the dealership that the vehicle was purchased with a stolen identity, police said.
Second Precinct detectives released surveillance photo of the suspect, who was wearing a gray sweater over a black shirt and jeans.
Detectives ask anyone with information to contact them at 516-573-6256 or Crime Stoppers at 800-244-TIPS.


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- Empowers travellers with real-time access to their Borderless Card account
- Manage their account anytime, anywhere
- Instant card blocking in case of emergency
- Global ATM Locator
- In-app customer support
As part of its Digital Strategy, across its core Travel and Foreign Exchange businesses, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. has delivered on a series of innovative mobile-first initiatives: the thomascook.in Holidays, Visa & Forex Online Stores and Apps, iLead-a unique CRM integrated Holiday Sales App, its award winning Tour Manager App and customer self-service App, Click2Book for business travellers, an advanced web technology platform Astra, robotics and machine learning, Voyager-a customised holiday bundler, etc.
With a YoY growth of 16%, the highest estimated growth rate by any country in the world, more than a quarter of India’s population is expected to be using smartphones by the end of 2018 (337 Million users) Source: eMarketer, the US-based market research firm. Not surprisingly, the adoption of mobile apps too has seen rapid evolution- across not merely travel, but also foreign exchange transactions. Data from Thomas Cook’s Foreign Exchange business highlights the clear shift with a 47% growth in mobile transactions. Hence, in a strategic move to empower the new age, mobile-first Indian traveller, the Company has launched the Thomas Cook Borderless App. This, the first of its kind dedicated app, enables its multicurrency Borderless Prepaid Forex Card users to access and manage their Borderless Prepaid Card account anywhere, anytime, from the convenience of a smartphone.
Thomas Cook’s new app while focusing on convenience and global access, aims to further delight users with its safety-security and emergency assist.
Key features of the Borderless App:
- Real time access to the Borderless Card account
- Manage account and transactions
- Global ATM Locator to 2 Million ATMs, across 210 countries
- Instant Card blocking in case of emergency
- In app customer support
Kailash Gupta, Senior Vice President & Head, Payment Solutions Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. said, “Today’s impatient new age traveller is increasingly opting for convenience and we are witnessing a significant consumer shift to mobile-led platforms for both travel and foreign exchange. Hence in our digital focus to empower our travellers, we have launched a dedicated app for our Borderless multicurrency prepaid card users. The app, with its real time services, will significantly improve customer experience and enhance convenience and safety-security, an essential ask for today’s global traveller.”
Launched in partnership with MasterCard, Thomas Cook’s multicurrency Borderless Prepaid Card has witnessed strong adoption since its launch, with over 0.5 million active customers today.Home


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The new generation of the mid-size crossover is here. It debuts as the 2020 model year, so you may presume that there are no bigger changes to come for the second production year. However, the latest reports are suggesting we could see some interesting novelties. These reports mostly refer to a new powertrain option. Other than that, the 2021 Ford Explorer should carry on with the same design characteristics, though there is a chance to see smaller updates in terms of color options, new standard equipment, etc. In any case, the new model should arrive at a typical time of year.
- Powerful engines
- Intuitive touchscreen interface
- Spacious cabin
- Rear-wheel drive
- Some rivals feel more opulent on the inside
- High base price
When it comes to the exterior design, we don’t expect to see any change in the 2021 Ford Explorer. Simply, the recent redesign has brought so many significant improvements that there is no chance we could see modifications before a mid-cycle update.
First of all, there is a new platform called CD6 and one of the biggest benefits is that the new model has switched to a rear-wheel drive. Also, the new model is notably bigger.
With a significantly longer wheelbase, it now competes with family-oriented crossovers like Chevy Traverse as well. Of course, there are new aesthetics as well, designed in a pretty conventional manner, but the overall look seems very attractive.
Big changes came on the inside as well. The new generation is more spacious and also comes with a new dashboard design. You can easily notice a much improved interior quality, while there are lots of new tech features as well, including a pretty large touchscreen at the center stack.
Another thing to mention is the list of standard safety features, which includes things like blind-spot monitors with cross-traffic alerts, hill-start assist, and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection.
When it comes to the powertrain, most of the things will remain the same. Base models will carry on with a 2.3-liter turbo-four, which is good for about 300 horsepower. The ST model will feature a new 3.0-liter turbo V6, which delivers a full 400 horsepower.
Also, there is a hybrid version, based on a 3.3-liter V6 engine, with a combined output of 318 horsepower. For the 2021 Ford Explorer, the biggest novelty could be a plug-in hybrid version, which has already been introduced in Europe.
The system is based on a 3.0-liter turbo V6 and delivers a total amount of 450 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque. We are still waiting for the official confirmation.
2021 Ford Explorer Release Date and Price
The 2021 Ford Explorer should hit the market sometime in the last quarter of 2020. Base models will go around $38,000.


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Samsung Developing New Low-Power, Low-Priced Chipset for HD Radio(TM) Receivers
Chips will Power Portable HD Radio Products and Support Advanced Features
COLUMBIA, Md., May 9 -- Samsung Electro Mechanics, a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies, announced today that it plans to introduce a new chipset for use in portable and home HD Radio receivers. Samsung, which had previously become an iBiquity Digital IC development partner, anticipates that samples of the chipset will be available before the end of the 2007 with production anticipated for the first quarter of 2008.
The low-power, high-performance chip will be capable of supporting all current and planned HD Radio technology features. It is being designed and manufactured using advanced technology and features a System-in-Package (SIP) module and a CMOS, mixed-signal single-chip tuner. Target HD Radio applications include: mobile phones, portable media players, portable navigation devices, table radios and home audio-video components.
"The HD Radio receiver market has begun to take off, driving important production volume today and indicating tremendous potential in the HD Radio chip market in the future. We are excited to be working with iBiquity on the development of this next generation chipset," said Jungsuk Han, Samsung spokesperson. "We believe the combination of the chip's low cost and high performance capabilities will enable us to make a profound impact on the marketplace for HD Radio products. Additionally, the low power and small footprint of our solution will help bring HD Radio technology to mobile phones and portable media players."
"Samsung is a world class player in IC design, manufacturing, and packaging," said Jeff Jury, Chief Operating Officer, iBiquity Digital Corporation, developers of HD Radio technology. "Today's announcement reflects the continuing momentum of the HD Radio rollout and represents a major step towards the introduction of the HD Radio system into a wide range of portable personal audio devices."
About Samsung Electro Mechanics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. Ltd. (SEM) was established in 1973 as a global venture company. SEM has been developing and delivering the parts and components the electronics industry depends on for Mobile Communications, Computer, Audio and Video and Internet and Network products. SEM is also a pioneer in the digital world with core digital technology, best quality and world-class management. SEM's business structure is based on core digital parts and components, core materials development and network devices cultivated as world first-class products in a value evaluation. For more information, please visit the web site, http://www.sem.samsung.com/.
About iBiquity Digital
iBiquity Digital Corporation is the developer of the HD Radio(TM) system, which is powering the AM/FM digital radio revolution. This transformational technology allows AM and FM stations to broadcast digital signals in tandem with their analog signals, providing broadcasters with a platform to offer multiple channels of programming on the same frequency (HD2 multicasting); crystal-clear, CD-quality sound; services such as real-time traffic updates; and text and graphics content. More than 1,200 HD Radio stations are on the air in the U.S., with more than 600 offering multicasting channels. HD Radio technology is now being tested and adopted in many countries outside the U.S., including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Switzerland, Thailand and Ukraine. iBiquity's investors are global leaders in the technology, broadcasting, manufacturing, media and financial industries.
Source: iBiquity Digital Corporation
Tony Song of Samsung, (82) 31-218-2411, 1-201-229-6092, Tsongmailto:@samsung.com;
Gil Chorbajian of Ogilvy Public Relations for iBiquity, +1-518-355-0966, firstname.lastname@example.org;
Vicki Stearn, iBiquity Digital Corporation, +1-410-872-1565, email@example.com
Web site: http://www.ibiquity.com/


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Shares of dry bulk shipping stocks are on a tear this Monday morning. In 11:25 a.m. trading, Safe Bulkers (SB 0.31%) stock is up 10%, Danaos Corporation (DAC 0.52%) is up 10.1%, and Star Bulk Carriers (SBLK) is leading the whole pack higher with an 11.8% gain.
And why? The "BDI." That's why.
Ever since 2021 began, the Baltic Exchange Dry Index (BDI), which tracks the rates that dry bulk shipping companies can charge for hauling dry bulk goods (e.g., coal, iron pellets, and grain) across the ocean, has been on a tear. From a starting point below 1,400 at the beginning of the year, the BDI has more than doubled already, passing the 3,000 mark on Thursday and closing out last week at a five-year high of 3,053.
Higher prices for dry bulk shipping almost certainly mean higher profits for dry bulk shipping stocks, and it won't take us long to prove out this thesis. In just two days' time -- on Wednesday, May 5 -- Safe Bulkers is due to report its fiscal Q1 2021 earnings results.
Danaos will follow with its own report after close of trading on Monday, May 10.
Then Star Bulk Carriers will round out the trio with a report of its own on May 19.
With each successive report, and each earnings beat (investors hope), excitement about the next report should grow, and stocks prices could rise along with that hope. Indeed, hopes are already pretty high. According to earnings estimates on Yahoo! Finance, analysts believe that 2021 will see both Safe Bulkers and Star Bulk reverse their year-ago losses and earn a profit. Danaos, which was already profitable in Q1 last year, could more than double its profits this time around, earning as much as $2.90 per share.


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In a surprise move Microsoft has decided to equip its feature phones with Opera Mini rather than the company’s own Internet Explorer browser.
The agreement applies to mobile phones based on the Series 30+, Series 40 and Asha software platforms and while it might seem an odd decision it makes some sense. Currently these phones use Nokia’s Xpress browser rather than Internet Explorer anyway and Opera Mini is a lightweight, versatile browser which should be a good fit for low powered feature phones.
Any new devices will come with Opera Mini pre-installed while existing users will be encouraged to upgrade to it. It’s not clear what this means for the future of Xpress, but presumably support for it is coming to an end.
“This is a great opportunity to spread the benefits of Opera Mini to millions more consumers in our core markets. There are still massive numbers of people who have not moved to smartphones, but Opera Mini can provide them with an amazing browsing experience right now,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software.
So if you’re running a Windows Phone handset don’t expect a change in browser any time soon, as this is specifically aimed at feature phones.
Having said that Opera itself is a popular browser on smartphones too. Currently there are around 250 million Opera Mini users, with over 100 million of those using Android and for higher end phones there’s also a full version of Opera available.
So if you’re on an Android or iOS handset and want to give Opera a try there’s nothing stopping you, but despite Microsoft’s agreement with the company there aren’t any versions of Opera available for Windows Phone right now.
©Copyright 2017 www.3G.co.uk - All Rights Reserved


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Report by Omar Gonzalez, Western Regional Coordinator
Bosses to Union- “NEXT?”
At the start of contract negotiations covering more than 200,000 postal workers, postal bosses revealed they have little interest, if any, in bargaining over issues critical to Union negotiators.
When the Union’s Chief Negotiator submitted the union’s first proposal over “service standards and consolidations” the Postal henchman was quick to say management would listen but negotiations over this and other subjects are not mandatory. Management’s Spokesperson declared the Union’s proposal as being “permissive” a legal term indicating the issues could be discussed but not bargained over. Then in an indifferent tone the postal boss asked what’s “next?”
Other Top Priority Issues
The Union made it clear it wants to deal with consolidations, subcontracting, expansion of products like postal banking, and curtailment of approved Shipper programs.
The Union also asked management to declare a Moratorium on consolidations and service standard changes. The postal spokesperson responded- “I will tell you tomorrow”. He then failed to show up the following day for another round of talks. Management is still set to involuntarily reassign thousands of employees in April and July of this year throughout the country.
Management Slow To Respond
The Union had issued a demand for information and documentation in November 2014 on employee leave, employee debts, tort claims, retail Non Traditional assignments, hazardous internal reviews and other issues. In typical fashion , management had attempted to bill the union for the information then waived the alleged costs to produce the information. However, they had failed to produce the requested information three months later in time for the start of contract talks.
So Much Is At Stake
“Too many of our members take their benefits and contract rights for granted not realizing just how much is at stake,” declared Regional Coordinator Omar Gonzalez. “Lay Off Protections; bid assignments; cross craft work restrictions; 50 mile excessing radius limit, Cost of Living Adjustments, Sick & Annual Leave, holidays, seniority and even the very grievance procedure we are accustomed to are subject to agreement being reached on a new contract,” said the Regional Coordinator.
Postal bosses signaled no real interest in negotiating over subcontracting retail services declaring they had stamps at stores for decades. Meanwhile, the Union is set to propose improvements over job placements, eReassign, seniority, excessing , non traditional assignments and other work floor matters while preparing for a show down in arbitration if no agreement is reached on a new CBA.


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If any one had any doubt that there is money in tag management, then the announcement today that enterprise tag management vendor Ensighten has managed to raise US$ 15.5 million in Series A financing should knock those doubts right on the head.
Ensighten's Enterprise Tagging
The funding round was led by Volition Capital with a number of other investors including Eastern Advisors and Floodgate Fund to top it up.
We have come across Ensighten in a small way in the past by a way of a free do-not-track tool. It is a company that clearly has ambitions -- ambitions that others believe in too -- to deliver tags as a service. It has also made that service scalable and lightening quick.
If it can provide effective tag management for enterprises then it is clearly onto a winner. Tagging, while essential, is really slow and infuriating, but if it’s not done correctly, it can have a really negative impact on your webpages and site.
Now it seems Ensighten has managed to provide a service that has captured the attention of the venture capitalists. With the money, it says it will accelerate product development and expand sales and marketing operations, as well as expand its workforce as it enters what it describes as its “next phase of growth” without actually describing where it hopes that growth will bring it.
That said, Ensighten has already developed a market for itself. Among its clients it already claims to have 10% of the Internet Retailer 100 companies, including two of the top five, along with global companies like Sony, Microsoft Dell and Thomson-Reuters.
At this point, and across this customer portfolio, Ensighten is being used in websites, but is also getting a lot of attention from vendors that are providing solutions for the integration and optimization of digital marketing services like Web analytics, social sharing and conversion pixels.
The result, is that is has rapidly spread form the US into the EMEA region with the opening of an office in the UK in May of this year. That office is also expected to grow rapidly in the coming months.
Currently, Ensighten's global Tag Delivery Network provides over 750 billion tags annually to more than 25,000 Web domains across 150 countries that cover US$ 25 billion in transactions. At least that’s what Ensighten’s figures say, and there’s no reason to dispute those figures.


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White Rivers Media, a full-service digital marketing agency has announced its foray into the Delhi NCR. Operating out of Mumbai for more than 5 years, the company is tagged as the one of the fastest growing independent digital agency in India and it now looks forward to cater clients in the Northern region through physical presence.
Started in 2012, the agency services national and international clients from more than 8 countries. Team White Rivers Media has worked with some of the top-valued brands in the country, executing many of their flagship campaigns and grabbing eyeballs internationally.
The agency has worked across a range of industries and verticals, including brands like OnePlus, Viacom18, TATA Cliq, Zivame amongst others.
With the new office in DLF Cyber City, White Rivers Media is looking to localize all the Digital, Video and AI driven eCommerce solutions for their NCR based clients and more.
Shrenik Gandhi, Co Founder& Chief Executive Officer, White Rivers Media said, “Delhi NCR expansion has been one of the focus points of this quarter and we are glad to be taking the leap. Delhi NCRhas been a key market in our growth story and with a localised office, we look forward to develop stronger relationships. Our core team will be actively involved to ensure the best operational SOP’s are followed and in getting the right talent on board.”
White Rivers Media is one of the only agency to rank in Deloitte Tech Fast 50 Companies for 2 years consecutively (2016 & 2017). White Rivers Media is currently working with brands across eCommerce, Tech, Real Estate & Fashion. The agency also provides custom ecommercesolutions via their proprietary Artificial Intelligence tool. Over the years, the agency has worked across borders, timelines and languages, making it a multicultural outfit.


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We celebrate local heroes, change agents in Tamil Nadu at first-ever YourStory Disruptors event
All disruptors or change agents have one thing in common – they’ve created a lasting impact in their areas of specialisation. In other words, their stories need to be celebrated. And at the YourStory 2018 Disruptors event in Tamil Nadu, Chennai, we did exactly that.
On Wednesday, December 12, YourStory recognised and celebrated the stories and work of 15 disruptors of Tamil Nadu in various fields, ranging from education, governance, technology, business, entrepreneurship, art and culture, literature, agriculture, and entertainment. Each of the disruptors facilitated at the event shared their stories of innovation, vision, foresight and perseverance in different categories.
The Disruptors of Tamil Nadu
The disruptors of Tamil Nadu across sectors were
- Pandia Rajan, Tamil Nadu Minister for Classic Tamil language, Tamil culture and Archeology, and founder of Ma Foi, a global HR firm, in Politics
- Dr Santhosh Babu, IAS, IT Secretary, Tamil Nadu, in Governance
- Karthik Kumar, Co-founder, Evam, in Art and Culture
- Mithun Sancheti, Founder and CEO, Carat Lane, in Ecommerce
- K. Kumaravel, Founder, Naturals, in Entrepreneurship
- Arun Vasu, Chairman, TT Group, who backed fisherfolk and surfer Megavan Murthy to establish a surfing school in Kovalam, in Sports
- “Hot Breads” Mahadevan, Founder, Oriental Cuisine, in Food and Beverage
- Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder and CEO, Bharat Matrimony, in Tech Platform
- Vinoth Kumar, Organic Agriculture Expert, in Agriculture
- Sivashankari, Author, in Literature
- Hemalatha Annamalai, Founder, Amphere Motors, in Manufacturing
- Rangaraj Pandey, former Editor-in-Chief, Thanthi TV, in Journalism
- Sriram, Founder, Nalandaway Foundation, in Social Sector
- Gayathri and Pushkar, Tamil filmmakers, in Entertainment.
The highlight of the event was the felicitation of the Disruptors of Tamil Nadu and the Legend of Disruption Award, which was posthumously awarded to Late Chinni Krishnan who brought about the sachet revolution in the country. His sons CK Kumaravel, CK Ranganathan, CK Ashok Kumar and CK Rajkumar received the Legend of Disruption award on their late father’s behalf.
The eminent jury that selected the disruptors of Tamil Nadu included Sushila Ravindranath, senior business journalist; Surendran, Founder of Success Gyan; Kavya Nair, Advay Capital; Sanjay Enishetty, Partner 50k Ventures; and Dr Palaniappan, Medway Hospital.
“The biggest takeaway from this event has been that we have so many local heroes in India itself. They’re all disruptors and their individual stories are so very inspirational,” said YourStory CEO and Founder Shradha Sharma.
The guests who gave away the awards included Great Lakes Institute Founder Professor Bala V. Balachandran, entrepreneur and silk merchant/philanthropist Nalli Chinnasami Chetty, senior journalist Sushila Ravindranath, Mehta Hospitals MD and angel investor Sam Mehta, social worker Aruna Subramanian, Zoho evangelist Kuppulakshmi, IIT-M professor Professor Mahesh, Success Gyan Founder Surendran, and Hema Rukmini of Thendandal Films.
How disruption can lead to nation building
In a panel discussion on ‘How Disruption can Lead to Nation Building’, Dheeraj Sinha of Leo Burnett and Smruti Parida of Nestaway spoke with Shradha on the importance of always being the disruptor and ensuring you’re never disrupted yourself.
“So, the strategy to win, or the strategy to cross over, or to tide the whole costing chain is what we always tell our clients: No matter where you live, no matter how small you are, always be the leader. The strategy to win in this market is to come as a leader, talk as a leader… no matter how much money you have,” Dheeraj said.
“People don’t want to know how you’re different, people want to know how you’re relevant,” he added. “So, the point is, chase relevance, no matter the competition. Chase relevance - be the leader.”
Smruti said it was important to create a niche and be recognised as “the category king.”
“Look at something that you can use, that a million people can use, and make a lot of capital out of it. My learning has been that you create a category with your own beliefs, and do it in a way where you disrupt the consumer and that niche itself will look like a category, and people will come and eventually maybe with you being the first mover in that space - be crowned as the category king.”
The panel discussion was followed by a presentation on ‘Blockchain, the Next Disruption’ by Belfrics Group, a global blockchain technology firm and cryptocurrency exchange with a presence in over 12 countries.
Belfrics Founder and CEO Praveen Kumar and Chief Digital and Innovations Officer Santhosh Palavesh outlined the emerging role of blockchain technologists, and the industries that can benefit from the adoption of blockchain technology. Santhosh highlighted the need for regulatory changes to ensure seamless implementation of blockchain technology.
C.K. Kumaravel, Founder of Naturals, who was awarded The Disruptors award in the Entrepreneurship category, said that the event was made special because of the awardees. He added each of the awardees have disrupted their category and created a new way of life for all stakeholders.
“Be it Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder and CEO of Bharat Matrimony, or my friend Hemalatha Annamalai, Founder of Amphere Motors, or for that matter Mithun Sancheti, Founder and CEO of Carat Lane, Rangaraj Pandey from media, Sivashankari. The list goes on and on, but everybody is a disruptor in their field. Business was going on a particular way when they came in and after that, life changed!” he added.
C.R. Venkatesh, Founder of Madurai-based Digital Infoway, said, “The event was a great inspiration and will definitely encourage entrepreneurs to aim high.”
Shyam Nagarajan, Founder of GoFloaters, a temp workspace aggregator, said, “The inspiring stories and the determination of the disruptors to do something different gave me the much-needed shot in the arm for my entrepreneurial journey.”


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Leeds B2B dealer Blue Cow Mobile has overhauled its website.
Founder and managing director Andy Taylor said its redesigned website was six months in the making and reflects the company’s individuality in the market, and also its philosophy to keep things simple and yet at the same time maintain a high level of professionalism and customer information.
The firm is to launch a new online IM customer service tool for new and existing customers.
Taylor said: “The site is almost complete, and represents a significant facelift to the old site. There are a few more functions that will go live in a couple of weeks, including a live online help desk, which will allow customers to interact with a member of staff in a single mouse click.
“There are a few dealers out there with good websites, but we feel ours is different. And we don’t want to be like others.”


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A report appears that League of Legends may come on mobile phones in partnership between Tencent and Riot Games
Riot Games today officially announced that it is the only developer of the game.
It also announced the intention of launching its game League of Legends: Wild Rift next year, either on Android or iOS and currently the game is available for pre-order on the Google Play Store. The company has also released a trailer for League of Legends: Wild Rift, and at the same time has promised users to launch test versions before the end of the year
From the section above, we can get an idea of what to expect from League of Legends: Wild Rift.
The highlight is that the game was rebuilt to run on phones and consoles using a new 5v5 map designed specifically for these platforms.
Instead of spending 45 minutes in a single battle, this release will go from 15 to 20 minutes.
So it is clear that Wild Rift is not a port for the PC version, but a completely new and different game
Also, you can still expect to see more than a few familiar faces, where currently there are 40 champions, and more should follow after the official release
Most of all, Riot Games is proud that this awaited game will not be paid but will be freely available to everyone
Finally, League of Legends: Wild Rift seems to be a reimagining of the PC version, and with MOBAs growing in popularity on mobile phones, Riot Games is keen to expand its versionsAs noted, you can pre-register the game on the Google Play Store, so you’ll receive a notification as soon as it’s officially launched


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Images Retail - January 2015
While organisations have now had a CTO now for years but with the age of big data truly upon us, information management has spawned the birth of a new C-suite member—The CIO. With information being king it is no wonder that the CIO is being increasing looked up to lead strategic planning and innovation. According to the 'New Voice of CIO' report by IBM, "Today’s Retail CIOs spend an impressive 54 percent of their time on activities that spur innovation. These activities include generating buy-in for innovative plans, implementing new technologies and managing non-technology business issues." In this the January issue of IMAGES Retail, we speak to CIOs of leading retail houses and try to take a quick look at the evolving role of new age CIO and what other C-Suite members expect from him.
As a cover focus, and in sync with Food Forum Indian that we are hosting in Mumbai on January 14-16, we bring a term study of the ever growing and evolving food and grocery retail market. Also, block your dates for the 15th mega annual congregation of the India Fashion Forum, which will take place on March 18-20 at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai.
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There are currently 450 Web 3.0 startup in the country, including four unicorns.
According to a new study published by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), a non-profit organization in India with over 3,000 members, the country currently possesses 11% of the world’s Web 3.0 talent. The figure makes India the world’s third largest regarding its Web 3.0 workforce, employing nearly 75,000 blockchain professionals today. Furthermore, the industry group expects the talent pool to grow by over 120% within the next two years.
India is also home to 450 Web 3.0 startups, four of which are unicorn companies. Through April 2022, the Indian Web 3.0 ecosystem has raised $1.3 billion in funding. Moreover, over 60% of Indian Web 3.0 startups have expanded their footprints outside of the country.
The vast majority of firms listed in the study are building applications in decentralized finance, gaming nonfungible tokens marketplaces, metaverses, decentralized communities, on-chain coordination mechanisms, and so on.
Within the next few years, the NASSCOM remains optimistic about Web 3.0’s growth outlook in the country, stating that it expects the number of Indian internet users to increase by 150 million and 5G users in India to increase to 500 million. Debjani Ghosh, president of the NASSCOM, commented:
“India’s rapid adoption of new-age technologies, its growing startup ecosystem, and large-scale digitally skilled talent potential is cementing the country’s position in the global Web3 landscape. It is heartening to see that industry and government stakeholders in India are taking a very pragmatic approach towards blockchain tech, with use cases being explored in areas ranging from health & safety, finance, enterprise tech, and land registry to education.”