text:
Macworld: Intel's GMA965 Graphics To Improve Speeds
2:41 PM | Tuncer Deniz | 22 comments
One of the biggest complaints about the Intel-based MacBooks and Mac Mini are the integrated graphics found on those machines. The current GMA950 graphics processors found in the MacBooks and Mac Minis lack hardware transform and lighting capabilities (also known as T&L). As a result, many 3D games simply either don't run or run very slowly on those Macs. But according to a report by Macworld's Peter Cohen, Intel's GMA965 will have hardware T&L technology.
Here's a clip from Cohen's report:
Intelís 965 chip solves that problem by supporting hardware T&L technology. Thatís not a feature thatís yet been exposed on Windows PCs that use the 965, however. Intel reps at this weekís Game Developers Conference said that a beta version of drivers that support hardware T&L are expected to be released on Intelís Web site imminently.According to Macworld, the GMA965 has been available to vendors including Apple since June 2006 but so far has not made its way to the MacBook and Mac Mini. For more, be sure to check out the full article.
Macworld: Intel solves speed problems with integrated graphics
A demo of the hardware using development drivers showed that Call of Duty 2 ó a game thatís been ported to the Macintosh by Aspyr Media ó scored between 50 and 80 frames per second in a time demo. That game was unplayable on older GMA950-based hardware. Half-Life 2 running at 1024 x 768 with some details turned up turned in an average of 34.25 running on a PC equipped with Vista.
Recent Mac Games News
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Monday, March 5, 2007
Friday, March 2, 2007
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Search for other Mac games news stories or browse our Mac Games News Archive.


text:
HTC M-series and Desire series is now all set to get the design of the HTC A9. At a press conference, President of HTC North Asia, Jack Tong said, “Starting with One A9, our design language will enter a different and fashionable phase.”
It seems that the idea to give the designs of A9 to the other HTC phones is simply to attract the consumers. To compete with the iPhone the company has been working on the brand new One-series handsets as detailed by Cher Wang, Chairwoman and CEO HTC. Sale for the phone will start in next month.
Earlier Tong was seen defending the company from the controversy that HTC had copied the design of iPhone 6, according to Tong; HTC is the first company to introduce a metal body with antenna bands on the rear panel, which was later copied by the Apple.
HTC has been struggling with its mid range smartphones. HTC A9 can be said one of the finest creations of the HTC flagship, back in 2013 HTC launched its One A7 which first introduced the full metal body design.
HTC One A9 is the first non-Nexus phone to come with Android 6.0 Marshmallow update. Phone features a 5-inch 1080p resolution AMOLDED display; consist of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 617 octa-core chipset, and a 3GB of RAM. HTC will use A9’s design as a template for the new upcoming M-series and the Desire series smartphones. HTC has plans to come over the losses of the company by offering some attractive and affordable smartphones which can compete the high end of the race.

domain: news


text:
Shares of sugar producing companies rose on Friday, a day after the government increased the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar by Rs 2 per kg to Rs 31. The decision will help the liquidity of the cash-strapped millers to clear their mounting cane arrears of around Rs 20,000 crore.
MSP is the minimum rate below which the mills cannot sell sugar in the open market to wholesalers and bulk consumers like beverage and biscuit makers.
Arrears of sugarcane farmers stood at around Rs. 20,000 crore as of January-end, according to industry body ISMA. "We have increased the minimum selling price of sugar from Rs. 29 per kg to Rs. 31 per kg. This will help millers to make the payment to sugarcane growers," Food Minister Ram Paswan told PTI on Thursday.
The hike in MSP was in the view of rising arrears to farmers, Paswan said that a mechanism will be put in place to ensure that the benefit given to the industry is passed on to the sugarcane farmers.
In Friday morning trade, shares of Balrampur Chini Mills climbed over 4 percent to Rs 122.40, Avadh Sugar rose 4.5 percent to Rs 383.90 per share, Mawana Sugars shares increased over 8 percent to Rs 44.25 apiece and Dhampur Sugar Mills shares gained close to 3 percent to Rs 197.60 per share.


text:
LONDON, United Kingdom — The Gym Group is planning to roll out a scaled-down version of its gym in a bid to expand its footprint, following in the footsteps of rival PureGym,
Having acquired easyGym in 2018 and later integrating its sites under The Gym Group brand, the low-cost operator currently runs a whopping 165 sites across the UK.
However, CEO Richard Darwin is eyeing aggressive expansion in new markets following a report in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) that suggested the number of low-cost gyms could double by 2026 to between 1200 and 1400 locations.
The “slimmed down” small box sites planned by The Gym Group are expected to be between 5,000 sq ft and 9,000 sq ft, considerably more compact than their traditional locations, which average 15,500 sq ft in size.
Reported in Health Club Management, Darwin explained: “It offers us the opportunity to go into towns that wouldn’t previously have been on our target list, because they wouldn’t have been big enough – towns where the overall population is between 25,000 and 60,000.
“While we don’t have an exact target number of sites for the small box model yet, we did a study with PwC which showed that there could potentially be an additional 300 small box sites across the UK. So the volume is there.”
Rival low-cost chain PureGym launched its own scaled-down small gym model in 2018, beginning with Tunbridge and Buckingham. This has already grown to a seven-strong operation, with further sites in the pipeline.
“It wasn’t just about taking the PureGym model and cutting it down, but about creating a brand new proposition with new floor layouts and flexible space,” Francine Davis, PureGym’s commercial and strategic development director, told HCM.
“These are vibrant, friendly, local gyms, with semi-open studios, inviting usage when no classes are running.”
Last week Darwin announced YoY revenue increases of 26.9% to £74 million and pre-tax profits up 53.3% to £7.1 million for the first half of 2019, thanks, in part, to a £5 premium membership add-on option offered to all members.
According to Darwin, the “Live It” memberships, which include multi-site access and a bring-a-friend initiative, were introduced 18 months ago and adopted by 16.9% of its total membership, boosting yield per member by 5.6% to £15.47.
The Gym Group’s recent success will alert both low-cost operators and small-box boutiques of increasing competition in an already saturated UK market, which is becoming further squeezed by the arrival of US and Australian brands such as Peloton, SoulCycle and F45.
However, David Minton, Director of The Leisure Database, says The Gym Group’s strong performance, when compared alongside franchises, boutiques and the public sector, is simply further evidence that the fitness industry is enjoying a “golden period of growth”.
Minton highlighted the recent acquisition of low-cost fitness franchise Énergie Fitness by Bridges Fund Management and Third Space’s opening of The Yard in Canary Wharf, a similar scaled-down version of its traditional offering, at the start of 2019.
“The public sector has also returned to growth,” Minton added. “The largest public sector brand, Better, now has more fitness sites in the UK than The Gym Group.
“While our Boutique Studio London 2018 Report showed for the first time there are over 15,000 classes per week at boutique studios in London alone, the continued growth of budget brands shows the industry is expanding across all sectors.”
The Gym Group plans to open its first small-box format in Newark, Nottinghamshire, by the end of 2019 with a further roll-out across 2020.


text:
Digital Corridor Announces Six New Companies At The FlagshipsCharleston Digital Corridor
Charleston’s Tech Activity Remains Robust into 2017
The Charleston Digital Corridor is pleased to announce that six tech companies have commenced operations at the Flagship tech-focused business incubator facilities located in downtown Charleston over the past three months. Of the six companies, five have expanded to Charleston from across the United States. These companies join twenty-five other companies currently in residence at the Flagships and include:
- Workiva – Ames, IA
- Morgan 6 – Charleston, SC
- AdvertiseCast – Oshkosh, WI
- N3TWORK – San Francisco, CA
- nvisionative – Mooresville, NC
- Webair – Garden City, NY
Since the Flagship and Flagship2 opened for business in 2009 and 2011 respectively, the Digital Corridor has graduated 146 companies with 25 currently in residence. These companies have attracted just under $200 million in capital investment.
Founded and headquartered in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, AdvertiseCast has chosen to set-up business development and growth operations at the Flagship. "What drew the company to the region is the burgeoning technology scene and the pool of business talent coming from local colleges," said Founder & CEO, Trevr Smithlin. "We look forward to playing a role with local job creation while also serving as a growth medium for innovative brands to reach their target customers to grow their businesses."
"It is an honor to host these wonderful tech startups through their business journey," said Charleston Digital Corridor Director, Ernest Andrade. "With the development of Flagship3, we will quadruple our capacity to host even more tech companies from around the country and cement Charleston as a premium destination for tech companies on the East Coast."


text:
Presenting the best online prices for Latest Sony Camcorders in India as on 30 Jan 2015.
In the last 3 months there have been 23 new launches and the most recent one is Sony FDR-X1000V Action Cam priced at 31,615.
Other Popular products which were recently launched include: Sony HDR-PJ240E/R CMOS Camcorders ( Red ), Sony HDR-CX220E Handycam (Red), Sony NEX-VG30 Interchangeable Lens Camcorder (Body Only).
The cheapest Sony Camcorder launched in the last three months is Sony HDR-PJ230E Handycam (Black) priced at Rs.436 and
the most expensive one being Sony Full-Frame Interchangeable Lens NEX-VG900E/B 24.3MP Camcorder priced at Rs. 1.80L Browse through the complete list of Camcorders
including a wide range of products at Sony Camcorders Price List.


text:
Mumbai-based Kribha Handicrafts Pvt Ltd, which runs e-commerce marketplace for ethnic products Craftsvilla, has acquired on-demand logistics enabler Sendd.
The all-equity deal values the Kae Capital-backed startup at close to $5 million (around Rs 34 crore), Craftsvilla said in a statement.
Kae will get stake in Craftsvilla as part of the acquisition deal, Sendd co-founder Nav Agarwal told VCCircle.
“All e-commerce companies have their own logistics companies. We don’t believe that it is capital efficient to go that way. Our vision is to make Sendd one of the largest logistics companies, which will power reach and efficiency for us," Manoj Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Craftsvilla said.
While Craftsvilla will strengthen its logistics capabilities with the Sendd acquisition, the latter will continue to operate as a separate entity and will be free to offer its services to other companies.
Mumbai-based Sendd, run by CrazyMind Technologies Pvt Ltd, was founded in April 2015 by IIT-Bombay alumni Nav Agarwal, Sumeet Wadhwa and Sargun Singh Gulati. Sendd has raised two rounds of funding, seed and bridge, from Kae Capital in the past.
Agarwal declined to comment on the amount Kae has invested in Sendd.
“We believe logistics is a very marginal business and to make it a sustainable one, we need to focus on volume. This can only be achieved by B2B play,” said Agarwal. “Three major factors that we would be focusing on are - reducing the shipping cost, delivery time and returns.”
An on-demand shipping services startup, Sendd allows users to send parcels anywhere around the world. It offers pickups, packaging and parcel insurance. Users of the app can click a photo of the parcel and schedule a pick-up.
“We won't be doing operations. It will be pure tech play, an enabler of logistics,” said Agarwal.
Craftsvilla's Gupta said the startup's logistics engine can predict, in real time, as to which shipment should be given to a particular courier company based on efficiency levels.
Craftsvilla had raised $34 million in Series C funding from existing investors Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners in November last year. The company had then said it planned to acquire companies in the data sciences, ayurvedic products and yoga-ware space.
Founded in 2011 by husband-wife duo Manoj and Monica Gupta, Craftsvilla e-tails products across categories such as clothing, handicrafts, jewellery and art. It follows the business model of US-based Etsy, which created a successful P2P marketplace for handmade products.
In April 2015, Craftsvilla raised $18 million (around Rs 113 crore) from Sequoia Capital and others. Global Founders Capital, which is promoted by the Samwer brothers of Rocket Internet, participated in that round.
It also raised Rs 2.3 crore from Nexus and Lightspeed in an early-stage round of funding in 2011. In 2012, both the investors jointly invested around Rs 8 crore ($1.3 million) in the company’s Series A round of funding.
Craftsvilla competes with NDTV's Indianroots, Cbazaar.com, IMBling, Indiabazaaronline, Indusdiva, Shopatplaces and Mirraw, among others. NDTV Ethnic Retail Ltd, a subsidiary of media group NDTV that runs ethnic wear-focused e-commerce venture Indianroots, raised $5 million in a Series A round of funding from Mumbai-based KJS Group last year. In 2014, Chennai-based Fashionista Retail Pvt Ltd, which runs Indian ethnic wear e-com site Cbazaar.com focused on the international market, secured an undisclosed amount in its Series B round of funding led by Indian private equity fund manager Forum Synergies. High City Retail Pvt Ltd, which runs Shopatplaces, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Indian Angel Network last year.
The ethnic wear market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8 per cent and reach $19,600 million in 2018, according to Technopak.


text:
A new survey of IT decision-makers in India suggests that ease of use and convenience are the top reasons for adopting Software-as-aService (SaaS). The study, by Springboard Research, also revealed the biggest barriers to SaaS adoption in India are a high level of comfort with on-premise applications and lack of adequate awareness about the availability of suitable SaaS applications. (This first finding shows a different result to that found in December in Australia and New Zealand – where Springboard found it was lower cost of ownership that drove SaaS adoption.)
The Indian SaaS market may also grow faster than ANZ. Springboard a compounded annual growth rate of 76% between 2007-2011, reaching US$260 million in revenues by 2011.
Resellers contributed to just 1% of SaaS purchases, while the largest number of SaaS purchases was made during face to face interaction with a representative from the vendor.


text:
Printing corporations have been in existence for centuries and have seen among the most important technological advances of any business. Because of the economic downturn lately, many firms went beneath particularly Funds and the Vanguard Group as a result of their enterprise infrastructure succumbed to the untenability of the competitive surroundings. Companies that can survive this economic recession in a better approach are basically small as well as medium scale industries.
Now could be the time for YOU to have a successful home-based business that YOU POSSIBLY CAN MANAGEMENT and the place YOU DETERMINE how a lot cash you earn on daily basis. On the corporate market, the vehicles are distributed to airports and lodge surroundings. The governmental agency within the United States that perhaps is most answerable for the response to economic recession is the Federal Reserve Financial institution.
Some folks say that taxation is the important thing to controlling the inflation, however others suppose that inflation can’t actually be managed by the government. Until now, Nigeria is the fifth largest exporter of oil on the earth and as a rustic, she has thrived on it. Subsequently it seemed that major agricultural pursuits had been deserted, by the government and also by the folks.
As firms expand into these new markets, they naturally broaden the financial system in their own nation. In another effort to spur development the economy, the government passed an “economic stimulus package” that might give extra tax rebates to tax-payers this year, in hopes that they are going to spend the cash.
Entering the car rental industry puts new comers at a serious drawback. The United States has had periods of hard economic times since the beginning our country’s institution. In the early days of the recession, Indian firms bought up huge identify firms like Jaguar within the UK, whilst increasing their markets domestically.


text:
Earlier this week we brought you news that Microsoft was planning a wireless charging pad similar to Powermat's products.
Engadget spotted the pad in the wild and claim it's a prototype device made by Microsoft Research Asia. The charging pad is named "uPad" and was produced in limited numbers as a souvenir for Microsoft Research Asia's 10th anniversary. It's not yet clear whether the device will be mass manufactured or released outside of Asia. Microsoft officials were unavailable for comment at the time of writing.
Microsoft applied for a patent for the device last year which was spotted this week. According to the patent, devices can be placed on any side of the pad for wireless charging, inductively. The device will use the inbuilt accelerometer to detect which part is facing up to send the charge. The pad will also include an OLED screen to display information such as news and sports headlines and weather information.
Powermat devices currently offer similar features by using a combination of wireless induction charging, magnetic alignment and RFID handshake. Powermat offers replacement battery covers and batteries for devices such as the iPhone, BlackBerry and Nexus One. The technology works by aligning magnetic points to a desktop pad that completes an RFID handshake to determine the exact amount of power required for the device. The device is then charged using electromagnetic fields to transfer energy between two objects (inductive charging).


text:
Jan 9, 2013
Number four in the country, number one in Major League Baseball.
T-Mobile, the number four mobile carrier in the country has signed a multi-year marketing and technology deal with Major League Baseball which will name the company as the Official Wireless Sponsor of Major League Baseball. The partnership with T-Mobile marks the first time MLB has partnered with a major wireless provider in more than a decade.
Under the agreement, T-Mobile with partner with baseball’s advanced media arm, MLBAM, to create a new On-Field Communication system for Major League Baseball. The system, which will begin to roll out in 2013 will provide a wireless voice system between the dugout and bullpens.
“We look forward to working with Major League Baseball and are excited they have chosen T-Mobile’s technology to power a new, in-game communication system at ballparks across the country,” said Mike Sievert, chief marketing officer, T-Mobile USA. “Unlike a typical sponsorship, we’re approaching this partnership as a collaboration in which T-Mobile, MLB and MLBAM will work together to evolve the game with exciting new technology innovation enhancing the experience for customers and fans.”
Under the partnership with MLBAM, T-Mobile will also utilize the company’s nationwide 4G network to enhance network coverage for fans at MLB ballparks. One can assume that this will be touted throughout the 2013 MLB season, especially as more team look to not only utilize in-game social media but are completely immersed in the idea of utilizing social media to spark fan engagement.
“T-Mobile has made a significant commitment to Major League Baseball across our game and business and its innovative drive and expertise in wireless technology will be an outstanding addition to the baseball industry,” said Tim Brosnan, MLB executive vice president, business. “T-Mobile has been an impact player in the wireless industry and we look forward to their innovative spirit positively influencing the game and the way fans enjoy it.”
As to be expected, the deal will also lead to a revamping of MLB’s highly popular ‘AtBat’ mobile application, with both MLBAM and T-Mobile working to not only enhance the digital experience but create more customized content for their users and develop various promotional opportunities and mobile-based offers.
“The underpinning of a partnership with a key provider like T-Mobile mirrors baseball’s long-held belief in leveraging and implementing wireless technology to deliver first-rate products and services to the industry and our fans,” said Bob Bowman, president and chief executive officer, MLBAM. “T-Mobile will play an important role as we continue that focus on bringing top-notch content, connectivity and customizable experiences to consumers wherever they are.”
The agreement, which is worth upwards of $125 million over three years according to Sports Business Daily, will include partnerships between T-Mobile and various MLB national broadcast partners including FOX, Turner, MLB Network and ESPN. T-Mobile will be the new presenting sponsor of ESPN’s Wednesday Night Baseball and will also be referenced in various features on ESPN’s flagship baseball show, Baseball Tonight.
Aside from their now over-arching deal with Major League Baseball, T-Mobile currently acts as a sponsor for two of the more tech-savvy baseball teams, the Seattle Mariners and the Pittsburgh Pirates.


text:
Manhattan-based startup Sprinklr, which uses its technology to monitor how customers feel about brands on social media, has raised $105 million in funding.
The latest round has elevated Sprinklr’s valuation to $1.8 billion from $1.17 billion and solidified its position in the Unicorn Club—companies valued at more than $1 billion.
Since its launch in 2009, the company has raised a total of $239 million. Singapore-based investment firm Temasek, Wellington Management Company and EDBI, the corporate investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, joined Sprinklr’s existing investors in the latest funding.
"We have been doubling and tripling the size of the company,"said Ragy Thomas, CEO and founder of Sprinklr. "Investors found the growth to be attractive and love what they see in terms of the financial metrics we have shown them," he said.
The company plans to use the money to develop its technology, which provides major brands like Nike, McDonald’s, Microsoft and Samsung with insights into their customers, and boost its existing client roster of 1,200. The company wants to partner up with city, state and federal governments in the U.S. and abroad to help them assess their customer care services. Governments can evaluate and improve their agencies using its technology, said Thomas.
Clients pay at least $100,000 up to millions of dollars annually to license Sprinklr’s enterprise software. Sprinklr provides a platform for clients to monitor 23 social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin, to engage with customers, advertise and understand how customers perceive their products and services. Thomas contended that companies are often unable to monitor and mine social media on their own, because they don't have the technology to monitor and respond to customers through one central platform.
Sprinklr has 13 global offices and more than 1,200 employees.


text:
A Burton mum of six bought a bag full of bargains, including 16 bottles of top quality shampoo and conditioner, for under a fiver from a Boots store in Burton.
As part of a mega clearance at the store in Coopers Square shopping centre Kate Hawksworth paid just £4.90 for 16 bottles of top quality shampoo and conditioner, and four hair mask tubs - and many items were as little as 25p.
The eagle-eyed 30-year-old spotted that the products were reduced to 50p each in the store and thought that was cheap enough, but when she got to the till she could not believe her luck as they were even cheaper when scanned. She ended up paying just 25p for most of her items, except for two Herbal Essences hair products, which were cheaper still at 20p each, and a few products priced at 34p.
She posted her brilliant buys on the Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK Facebook group.
Many of the products she bought are being sold for around £2 normally on Boots' website, such as the Herbal Essences Bee Strong Shampoo.
Speaking to The Sun, Kate said: “As soon as I saw them I knew I had to grab them.
“I have six kids at home, four girls, two boys, then myself and my husband - so as you can imagine, we get through a lot of hair products.”
Did you know you can get StaffordshireLive via email?
We offer a free email newsletter service so you can get the latest stories from across Staffordshire straight to your inbox.
Each StaffordshireLive newsletter bulletin will contain the top latest news stories from places like Burton, Stafford, Uttoxeter and beyond. There will be the latest breaking news, what's on events and the hottest talking points straight to your email - and it's easy and quick to sign up . To subscribe, click here.
Decide later that you no longer wish to receive the emails? No problem - you can just follow the unsubscribe link.
After posting her find on the Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK Facebook page, thousands of members liked and commented on her post.
Boots said that the rock bottom prices for some hair products at its Burton store were not part of a nationwide offer.
The further discount taken off at the till was not a result of a glitch, as the shop had slashed prices to clear stock.
A Boots spokesperson said: "At Boots, customers can enjoy great value on lots of products in store and at boots.com.
"Occasionally, in some stores, such as the Boots store in Burton, we have clearance sales on selected items."


text:
Amazon was rumored to open a Manhattan Flagship in time for the holiday season 2014. This didn't happen. Instead we're seeing physical Amazon stores opening in more surprising locations- on college campuses.
The Super Bowl is the biggest football game of the year. A big game deserves a big screen. Your 58 inch screen at home is perfect for a party, but the game stadium will feature a 58 foot display screen.


text:
Solgaleo-Necrozma and Lunala-Necrozma fusions confirmed in CoroCoro
Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon — 12 September, 2017
The new Formes of Solgaleo and Lunala, which will be available in the upcoming Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon have been confirmed to be fusions with Necrozma. This comes via the Japanese magazine CoroCoro:
We'll bring more news as we get it. There is a Nintendo Direct airing tomorrow (Wednesday 13th) which is likely to contain some news. The Direct starts at 3pm PT / 6pm ET / 11pm BST / 7am (Thursday) JST. Follow us on Twitter for live updates!


text:
Order a bowl of turkey chili at a St. Louis-area Panera Bread cafe, and it'll cost you a penny. Or $5. Or $100. In other words, whatever you decide.
Three years after launching the first of five pay-what-you-want cafes, the suburban St. Louis-based chain on Wednesday quietly began its latest charitable venture that takes the concept on a trial run to all 48 cafes in the St. Louis region.
The new idea experiments with a single menu item, Turkey Chili in a Bread Bowl, available at each St. Louis-area store for whatever the customer chooses to pay. The new chili uses all-natural, antibiotic-free turkey mixed with vegetables and beans in a sourdough bread bowl. The suggested $5.89 price (tax included) is only a guideline. All other menu items are sold for the posted price.
If the experiment works in St. Louis, it could be expanded to some or all of the chain's 1,600 bakery-cafes across the country,
Wal-Mart stores test lockers for people who buy on Web
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will be testing this summer an option for consumers to be able to order product on its website and then have it kept in a physical locker at the store so they can pick it up without having to wait in line or talk to a store clerk.
The test, which will be conducted in about a dozen stories in an undisclosed market, is part of the world's largest retailer's overall strategy to offer increasingly demanding web-savvy shoppers the ability to shop any way they want. The company is also expanding its offerings online and improving a new "scan and go" shopping app so customers can immediately download coupons personalized to them.
With the test of the new lockers, Wal-Mart is catering to shoppers who want to be left alone when they buy. Joel Anderson, president of the company's U.S. division, says that 75 percent of its shoppers want to buy interrupted.
Heinz shareholders set to vote on sale at April 30 meeting
Shareholders of Pittsburgh-based H.J. Heinz Co. will vote on April 30 whether to sell the ketchup maker to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital for $23.3 billion.
Heinz said Wednesday it will hold its special shareholder meeting at the New York law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Heinz also said antitrust regulators approved the deal early.
Heinz shareholders will receive $72.50 in cash for each share they own.
Based on Heinz's number of shares outstanding, the deal is worth $23.3 billion excluding debt.
-- from wire reports


text:
Today comes reports of Sound United, LLC — home to several legendary audio brands—Denon, Marantz, Bowers and Wilkins, Polk Audio, Classé, Definitive Technology, HEOS, and Boston Acoustics — to enter an acquisition agreement with Masimo Corporation.
I reached out internally to our Editor-in-chief, Marc Phillips for some making sense of today’s events, he had this to say: “According to BusinessWire, “Masimo is a leading global medical technology company that develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of noninvasive monitoring technologies for hospital and home settings.”
That sounds like an “unusual bedfellows” scenario, which is why the industry is buzzing today: “A global medical technology company now owns the largest hi-fi company in the world!” This acquisition has been introduced as a way to strengthen Sound United and their position in the marketplace, however, while giving Masimo greater access to consumers. Still, it feels like some of our hi-fi history is crumbling beneath our feet.”
My retort to Marc Phillips was as simple and reductive as I could make it: “No one ever got rich enough to buy a hi-fi conglomerate, from being a hi-fi conglomerate.”
Details of the deal can be found in the press release, enclosed below.
CARLSBAD, Calif. –Sound United, LLC (“Sound United”), a leading innovator of premium, high-performance audio products for consumers around the world, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Masimo Corporation (Nasdaq: MASI) (“Masimo”). Masimo is a leading global medical technology company that develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of noninvasive monitoring technologies for hospital and home settings.
Sound United operates iconic consumer brands: Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, Polk Audio, Marantz, Definitive Technology, Classé, and Boston Acoustics. The brands are linked by a commitment to the highest production standards and a focus on unparalleled audio quality and performance. Sound United delivers significant competitive benefits through its platform advantages including global distribution across online, retail and custom installation channels; a cloud-connected home ecosystem; and state-of-the-art R&D function focused on creating the highest-quality consumer products with world-class industrial design.
I have long been a fan (and proud owner) of Sound United’s iconic brands and am honored to steward them through the next generation of technological evolution,” Masimo Founder, Chair & CEO Joe Kiani commented. “Masimo shares Sound United’s commitment to providing innovative, best-in-class products and experiences, with a relentless focus on improving the consumer experience.”
A combined Masimo and Sound United will create stronger relationships with consumers and seamlessly deliver high-quality consumer products. The company will leverage Sound United’s expertise across consumer channels to accelerate distribution of Masimo’s expanding portfolio of consumer products. The resulting company will benefit from a world-class professional and consumer engineering function focused on products that make an impact on the lives of our consumers.
“We’re excited about this transaction and see significant potential in combining our expertise in consumer electronics and audio engineering with Masimo’s strengths in healthcare and monitoring,” said Kevin Duffy, CEO of Sound United. “With our track record of industry-first innovation, best-in-class products, and a global distribution network, we are the ideal partner for Masimo to transform the consumer healthcare experience. I look forward to working with the Masimo team to enrich the lives of consumers.”
The transaction is expected to close near the middle of 2022, subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Post-closing, Kevin Duffy will continue to lead Sound United, reporting directly to Masimo Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Joe Kiani.
Sound United is a portfolio company of Boston-based private equity firm Charlesbank Capital Partners, LLC. Citigroup acted as financial advisor to Masimo and Paul Hastings LLP served as legal counsel. Evercore served as lead financial advisor to Sound United. Stifel and Solomon Partners also provided financial advice to Sound United, and Goodwin Procter LLP served as legal counsel.
About Sound United
Sound United was founded in 2012 with a simple mission – to bring joy to the world through sound. Today, we are one of the world’s largest portfolio audio companies and home to several legendary audio brands—Denon®, Marantz®, Bowers and Wilkins, Polk Audio, Classé, Definitive Technology, HEOS, and Boston Acoustics®. Each brand boasts its own philosophy and unique approach to bringing home entertainment to life.
With centuries of collective experience, Sound United oversees the design and manufacture of a diverse array of premium audio products, including loudspeakers, sound bars, AV receivers, wireless speakers, amplifiers, turntables, and headphones. We create distinct and memorable listening experiences for a wide range of consumers in more than 130 countries. For more information on Sound United and our mission, please visit www.soundunited.com
Tel: +1 213 221 9369 Joshua.Sy@soundunited.com
Max Borges Agency
Tel: +1 305 299 3449 Jessicadarrican@maxborgesagency.com


text:
Full profile →'">
The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
By Ryan Mac, Miguel Helft and Alex Konrad
Square, the San Francisco-based mobile payments company, is expected to go public this year, sources familiar with the company told FORBES. It's unclear whether the company has already filed its initial public offering registration documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but those sources indicated that if it hasn't happened, it will likely happen soon.
"The plan is to do it this year," a person familiar with the matter said regarding an IPO. The person said Square planned to file a "confidential" registration statement. "It's going to happen soon, if it hasn't happened already," the person added. "There has been some internal debate about the ideal timing."
Under current laws, s0-called "emerging growing companies" can confidentially file to go public under the JOBS Act if they have less than $1 billion in annual revenue and meet other requirements. The JOBS Act allows companies to secretly explore the possibility of going public and has less rigorous financial disclosure requirements when compared to the traditional IPO route.
The revelation of Square's plans comes during a week after its cofounder and CEO Jack Dorsey was named interim CEO of , following the resignation of CEO Dick Costolo. Dorsey is Twitter's chairman and helped cofound the company, and there was some speculation that he could possibly assume the head Twitter job on a full-time basis and leave his post at Square. A Square IPO this year would make such a move less likely, and Forbes reported Friday that the leading candidate for the job is Adam Bain.
“I am grateful for the talented team at Square, which I will continue to lead," Dorsey said in a press release on Thursday. "We have built a very strong company from top to bottom, and I am as committed as ever to its continued success.”
Though there is no clarity on what Dorsey will do, sources close to the company said that he and his executive team are planning on taking Square public before the end of the year. Last August, the company denied in a now-deleted blog post that it was in potential acquisition talks or that it had delayed plans for a 2014 IPO.
Square spokesperson Aaron Zamost declined to comment.
Earlier this week, Square launched a new credit card and phone reader that's designed to allow businesses to accept Pay and new EMV chip credit cards. Those readers will be shipped to businesses in the fall.
Follow Ryan on Twitter at @RMac18 or email him at email@example.com.


text:
Threats of a winding up order, not to be confused with a wind-up merchant, are no laughing matter.
But what exactly is a winding up order.
Here are some questions and answers which may explain how Newcastle Falcons were able to fight off the latest threat to their existence and avoid the scrum that would have come with closure.
Who can start proceedings?
Anyone who is owed money. Creditors can range from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, as happened in the case of the owners of Newcastle Falcons, to utility suppliers and smaller creditors.
Even ordinary customers like you and me can take out an order and potentially get a company shut down, although there are costs involved.
Basically any company which does not pay its bills can be issued with a winding up order assuming the creditor goes through the right legal procedures.
Is it serious?
Oh, yes. It means the company could be forced to stop trading so even the threat of an order like this must be taken seriously. Not all business concerns would have been able to prop themselves up as the Falcons did.
Does it happen overnight?
No. Creditors tend to use winding up orders as a last resort to get their dosh after trying again - and again and again - to get what they are owed.
The winding up order will have been preceded by a 21-day Statutory Demand for payment giving the company a last chance to pay up.
If the court agrees, the order is granted and company liquidation follows.
What can companies to do avoid getting a winding up order?
Beg, steal, borrow. Well, probably not steal, but possibly beg and borrow.
The Falcons would have been given the choice of finding the money and paying up or, if they could not, getting around the table and talking their way out of trouble.
This might involve negotiating extra time to pay, perhaps agreeing on a smaller amount, obtaining more finance from somewhere, or going into administration.
Administration? What is that?
Some companies avoid winding up orders by voluntarily going into administration. This means getting an insolvency expert to give advice on how to settle the debt but, more importantly, going into administration means they could still trade and all legal action, including the winding up order, is cancelled.
Newcastle Falcons is a big concern. Does this mean small companies are safe?
No. The government says winding up orders can be issued for debts as little as £750. The court fees are £250 and the petition deposit, to manage the winding up, is £1350.
You would have to prove he company can’t pay its debts.
Is it all done in a civilised and grown-up manner?
No. There have been cases where winding up petitions have been motivated by malice as a way of resolving a row between two companies but it does force the debtor to take action.


text:
LG is starting to make its best efforts at drumming up excitement for the upcoming G4. First, the company has officially confirmed that it’s working on a new flagship smartphone, and that it will be called G4. Not that we had any doubts, given the many rumors and leaks about it we’ve seen in the past few days, but still, it’s nice to have official confirmation.
Today LG’s System Dump file confirmed that the Korean’s variation of the G4 has the model number F500L/K/S, and will feature a “2K” QHD 2,560×1,440 resolution.
Everything else about the G4 is a mystery for now, save for the fact that it will probably run Android 5.0 Lollipop. So stay tuned.
LG G4 Phone Photos – LG Cell Phone Pictures
LG Cell Phone Related Posts


text:
Organised jewellery retailers to witness 10-12% revenue growth in FY17: India Ratings
Organised jewellery retailers are likely to witness a 10-12% topline growth in this financial year mainly on account of higher number of weddings coupled with less obstacles on the regulatory front which will drive volumes, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said.
"After the contraction in demand for jewellery in the first half (H1) of calendar year (CY) 2016, organised jewellery retailers are expected to witness a change in fate in the next three quarters and record 10-12% top line growth in FY17," Ind-Ra said in a report.
The sector, it said, posted flat revenue growth in FY16 and low single-digit growth in first quarter of FY17.
Ind-Ra believed that the higher number of wedding days coupled with reduced obstacles on the regulatory front will drive volumes.
The industry faced key hurdles in H1 CY of 2016 like strike by jewellers on account of imposition of excise duty and government regulations, delays in purchases on the expectation of fall in gold prices, increase in recycled gold and possibility of higher share of unaccounted gold in the system due to the spike in prices, regulatory hurdles and levy of excise duty, it said.
Higher number of wedding days in second half (H2) of FY17 (both on a sequential and year on year basis) together with fading regulatory hurdles is likely to provide a boost to the revenue growth in the coming quarters.
Wedding jewellery is a key driver for demand and accounts for 60-65 of the market demand, it added.
Additionally, the government's recent measures like increase in the limit of collectible amount under the Gold Savings Scheme to 35% from 25% of net worth and the compulsory hallmarking of jewellery will boost the organised jewellery sector and aid in shifting some of the demand from the unorganised sector, it said.
The Gold Savings Scheme contributed 15-30% of the revenues for the organised jewellers prior to 2014 when it was closed by the government.
Although the government resumed the scheme in 2015, the maximum collectible amount was capped at 25% of the net worth.
Further, the rating agency said organised jewellers also face an overhang of the impending Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.
"We expect any increase on account of higher GST to be passed on to the end consumer, which may impact non-wedding segment demand and prompt customers to opt for the unorganised sector," it opined.
Get Latest Business News, Stock Market Updates and Videos; Check your tax outgo through Income Tax Calculator and save money through our Personal Finance coverage. Check Business Breaking News Live on Zee Business Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe on YouTube.


text:
A new and improved St. Albert cheese factory is set to rise from the exact spot where the previous one burned to the ground seven months ago.
More than a hundred supporters — including residents, factory employees and firefighters — helped shovel the first few piles of dirt on Tuesday.
Cheese production from the new factory, which will also feature an attached restaurant and museum, is expected to begin in March.
The grand opening of the entire operation is scheduled for June.
Rejean Bourgeois, born and raised in the small town about an hour east of Ottawa, said the closeness of the community helped them overcome the loss of the beloved factory. The cheese and dairy co-operative has been running since 1894.
“Everybody is together,” he said. “Whatever happens to anybody, people are there to help.”
The $30-million factory will be larger than its predecessor at 72,000 sq. ft. and feature state of the art equipment.
The loss of the factory was a big economic blow to the town but staff hopes all employees who lost their jobs will accept offers to come back.
More than 100 workers had to be laid off because of the fire.
“It feels really good,” said former factory general manager Rejean Ouimet.
“It’s like life is starting to grow again, it’s beautiful.”
tap here to see other videos from our team.


text:
HashKey exchange set to debut retail crypto trading services in Hong Kong on Aug. 28
Unveiling Hong Kong's first retail-friendly crypto platform, HashKey gears for launch amidst regulatory advancements.
Hong Kong’s first licensed retail virtual asset exchange, HashKey, is geared to commence operations on Aug. 28 during a live launch event, marking a significant milestone.
This launch brings to the fore the implications of recent regulatory advancements in Hong Kong’s rapidly evolving crypto landscape, arriving on the heels of Hashkey’s upgrade in its Type 1 and Type 7 licenses to extend its services from professional to retail users.
As CryptoSlate reported on Aug. 3, the COO of HashKey Group, Livio Weng, outlined the regulatory clarity and establishment of licensed trading platforms in Hong Kong as potential catalysts for increased transparency and investor confidence.
According to a statement shared with CryptoSlate, HashKey is collaborating with “top-tier banks” to facilitate convenient fiat currency funding and withdrawal services for users. In addition, an insurance scheme is in the works to bolster fund protection for retail investors, further showcasing HashKey’s commitment to compliance, safety, and security.
Hashkey to launch in Hong Kong
User preregistration was launched earlier this month, offering prospective investors HashKey EcoPoints (HSK) as incentives. According to HashKey, asset safety remains a priority, with 98% of user assets kept in cold storage and only 2% in hot wallets.
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong has, however, been making concerted efforts to oversee a burgeoning crypto industry in the region. A notice on Aug. 7 warned virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) of non-compliances and potential legal and regulatory consequences, including steep fines and imprisonment.
The SFC also eased requirements for crypto exchanges due to a shortage of responsible officers (ROs) in the field, demonstrating a pragmatic approach to tackling challenges in the virtual asset sector.
As Hong Kong’s first licensed retail virtual asset exchange prepares for its debut, the SFC reminds retail investors to be cautious of the risks of trading virtual assets on unregulated platforms.
As of Aug. 8, only OSL Exchange and HashKey exchange are regulated within Hong Kong, but the SFC has pledged to update the list of virtual asset trading platforms as approvals are granted.
The launch of HashKey Exchange signals a significant stride in the development of Hong Kong’s crypto landscape, opening the sector to a broader audience and paving the way for a more transparent and secure trading environment.


text:
In 2015, Facebook launched Instant Articles, which is sort of its version of Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages format in the sense of it being a phone-first fast-loading proprietary webpage format. It allowed Facebook to capture the ads displayed on those pages.
Karen Hao, MIT Technology Review:
Instant Articles quickly fell out of favor with its original cohort of big mainstream publishers. For them, the payouts weren’t high enough compared with other available forms of monetization. But that was not true for publishers in the Global South, which Facebook began accepting into the program in 2016. In 2018, the company reported paying out $1.5 billion to publishers and app developers (who can also participate in Audience Network). In 2019, that figure had reached multiple billions.
Early on, Facebook performed little quality control on the types of publishers joining the program. The platform’s design also didn’t sufficiently penalize users for posting identical content across Facebook pages — in fact, it rewarded the behavior. Posting the same article on multiple pages could as much as double the number of users who clicked on it and generated ad revenue.
Clickbait farms around the world seized on this flaw as a strategy — one they still use today.
You may quibble with Hao’s use of the term “clickbait”; if so, feel free to replace it with something like “low-quality publishers” in your head. The results are the same.
Hao’s reporting is strong and I recommend this article, but it can also be seen, in part, as an updated and consolidated version of stories published since Instant Articles debuted:
In 2016, Kyle Chayka reported for the Verge that the generic and consistent layouts of pages powered by AMP and Instant Articles made it hard to distinguish between legitimate news sources and sketchy blogs.
In 2017, Sarah Perez wrote for TechCrunch about how Facebook would begin ranking faster-loading pages higher in users’ News Feeds, a decision that incidentally benefitted Instant Articles. Facebook says that Instant Articles are “ranked in News Feed by the same criteria” used for any other page.
Notably, Jane Lytvynenko reported for Buzzfeed News in 2018 that Instant Articles were gaining adoption among disreputable publishers. They also used Facebook’s advertising technology.
By advantaging their own formats — however incidentally they may claim — while eschewing moderation, Google and Facebook must be held at least partially responsible in my eyes for the misinformation they helped fund and spread. I do not mean that in a legal sense; I am not a lawyer. But their moral culpability for this should be attached to them for as long as we think about them.


text:
Lost Ember is an upcoming indie game from a wolf’s perspective. Marvelously, that wolf can possess other animals as a way of exploring the ruins of the imaginary Machu Kila. It looks to be a gorgeous adventure title that, as of yesterday, is raising funds on Kickstarter.
In Lost Ember, currently in development, players will “explore the remains of a fallen empire” inside a wolf avatar. The goal is to figure out what happened to the lost people of the empire. To access the sky, ground or sea, your wolf avatar can embody a parrot, groundhog, fish and, developers say, any other animal in the game. It’s a simple, ripe concept familiar from fantasy novels.
“It’s about exploring the world and experiencing it from different perspectives rather than fighting enemies or collecting coins,” the game’s Kickstarter video explains. Developer Mooneye Studios, based in Hamburg, Germany, previously worked on mobile games. This is their first big video game project.
The official story teaser was released yesterday:
In one day, Lost Ember has raised nearly half of its $110,000 Kickstarter goal.


text:
U.S. Justice Department probing Visa over debit practices
The Justice Department is looking at Visa Inc’s debit practices, the company said on Friday, after reports the United States was investigating whether the credit card company uses anticompetitive practices in the debit-card market.
“The U.S. Department of Justice has informed Visa of its plans to open an investigation into Visa’s U.S. debit practices,” the company said in a securities filing. “We have received a notice to preserve relevant documents related to the investigation.”
The Justice Department is probing whether Visa uses anticompetitive practices in the debit-card market, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, said the Justice Department’s antitrust division was looking in to whether Visa limited merchants’ ability to route debit-card transactions over card networks that are often less expensive.
“We believe Visa’s U.S. debit practices are in compliance with applicable laws,” the company said. “Visa is cooperating with the Department of Justice.”
Visa shares fell sharply on Friday, sinking 6.2% to close at $206.90.
The Justice Department declined comment on Friday.
Merchants have long complained about the high cost of network fees, or interchange fees, which can be 2% or more of each transaction and go to the financial institutions behind the transactions.
Industry group the Merchants Payments Coalition, which fights so-called swipe fees, called the probe good news. “The MPC has been concerned about these practices to limit debit routing for years and it’s great to see the Department of Justice looking in to it,” said spokesman Craig Shearman.
While such investigations are not unusual, this one comes amid a greater interest in the digital marketplace.
Earlier this year, Visa and fintech startup Plaid called off a $5.3 billion merger after the government sued to stop the deal and called Visa a “monopolist in online debit transactions.”
The Justice Department has previously investigated the credit card payments industry but settled with Visa and Mastercard Inc in 2010 when they agreed to allow merchants to offer consumers incentives to use a low-cost credit card.
American Express refused to settle. It took its battle with the Justice Department all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in 2018 that it was legal for American Express to forbid merchants from trying to steer consumers to cheaper cards.


text:
After the bloom: Has canola run it's course in Kansas?
Truth be told, a bright yellow-flowering farm crop in Kansas may be growing nationwide according to USDA statistics, but in Pratt County and surrounding areas, farmers are taking a step back as they evaluate if this mostly ground-cover option is how they want to invest their hard-earned time and money.
According to Travis Kolm, an Agronomist and Crop Consultant who works with many farmers around Pratt County, several factors have local farmers steering away from canola crop production.
“A lot of growers have turned away from canola due to the poor winter hardiness and the lack of places to haul the crop once harvested,” Kolm said.
Canola is an oilseed crop. Nutrition labels on the back of any number of food products available in most U.S. grocery stores, including cooking oils, salad dressings, baked goods, shortenings, and more, list canola oil as an ingredient. Canola oil is made when the seeds from the plant are crushed.
Kolm said that most of the canola planted in Kansas is used as a rotational crop for wheat as it's primary purpose. Rotational cropping means to alternate planting different crops in the same field to optimize soil health and combat weeds and pests. In Pratt County, the biggest benefit of planting canola is to control rye and cheat grasses from taking root, he said.
Difficult weather conditions this year have the 2021 canola crop looking thin in many parts of Kansas. The crop is usually planted in the first two weeks of September, blooms in late April, and is harvested in late May or the first week of June. Kolm said that canola prefers a cool and moist climate. So when temperatures went below freezing in the polar vortex and the ground became very dry last winter a lot of the canola crop in Pratt County died. For the canola that did survive, plants have rebounded, but fields are just much thinner than an average year, making potential yields lower for those who plan to harvest it, but not necessarily of bad quality.
Kolm said that not only is it difficult to successfully grow canola in the harsh Kansas winters, but there are few places for growers to sell their canola grains at harvest. Few elevators take canola. Kolm said that the only one he knows of that takes canola on a regular basis is the one in Kiowa in Barber County. Some growers bag up their canola harvest themselves and hire trucks to cart it away, while others may choose to make the drive to Kiowa.
There may be an elevator in Sumner County that takes canola grain as well, but Kolm did not verify that information. In 2019, Tony Loehr, grain originator for Skyland Grain at Cunningham, reported that the Penalosa elevator near Cunningham was able to ship out canola by truck, sending it to Northern Sun, an ADM facility in Goodland. From there it was shipped out to various processing facilities.
As a cover crop canola may do its basic job of holding soil and preventing weed growth, and pollination experts appreciate it's bee-factor availability, but when it comes to actual profit, the verdict may still be out on the bottom-line benefits of growing canola, especially for farmers in Pratt County.


text:
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is a now available to play on all Xbox One consoles for those that bought it and for members of the Xbox Game Pass subscription service. The game is a 4-player co-op fantasy action title that offers players 15 career paths, detailed levelling options,
Microsoft's approach also consist of identical audience pillars which include community, content and cloud.
Japanese video games company Konami is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and this occasion several classic Konami games will be re-released on PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Switch.
The next major update of the Minecraft Village and Pillage series of upgrades is already out now for the Bedrock Edition of the game.
UIt now appears the project will also be adding a second showrunner who's credits include TNT's The Last Ship and The Closer.
An upcoming Xbox One update will soon make it possible to add spatial sound functionality to any TV speakers.
The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance has released its new Alliance Intelligent Cloud, a service that will use the cloud, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Things technologies to power connected vehicles from the three automotive companies.
Microsoft has just announced six new additions to the Xbox Game Pass catalog, including two more games from publisher Square Enix.
Microsoft has begun testing new Store product pages on Xbox One consoles. This new design spaces out the content a bit better, shifting the Buy button to the right side of the screen and bringing the video game description to the top of each product page (see above image).
The video game, Dead Cells, has officially been confirmed to be coming to the Xbox One on August 7th this year and digital pre-orders for it are now live. The game is a 2D platformer with a huge emphasis on exploration, numerous skill and weapon combinations, and nonlinear progression.
The new Type Covers for Microsoft’s newly announced Surface Go device are now up for pre-order on the official Microsoft website. The Type Covers are slightly smaller than the regular ones made for the main Surface and Surface Pro devices and come in burgundy, platinum, cobalt blue, and black.
If you're running an international counterfeiting ring, then yes, you're gonna need some expensive equipment. But for the small-time counterfeiter about town, it's all too easy. Just grab your everyday inkjet printer. Read more...
tcd004 (134130) writes "Few sciences are more romantic than taxonomy. Imagine Darwin, perched over a nest of newly-discovered birds in the Galapagos, sketching away with a charcoal in his immortal journals. Yet Taxonomy is a dying science. DNA barcoding,
New submitter danzvash (447536) writes "I'm doing some volunteering for a street kids charity in Senegal, West Africa, and they need a new database to store all their information for the kids, and to help the funding organizations like UNICEF.
An anonymous reader writes The Chinese city of Chongqing has created a smartphone sidewalk lane, offering a path for those too caught up in messaging and tweeting to watch where they're going. "There are lots of elderly people and children in our street,
你问我是谁？我是全球最小WiFi智能插座inPlug，中文名“硬糖”。 对，我就是有张人见人爱大叔妹子都想咬一 […]
吐槽新版本，这似乎的确已成为 IT 互联网界的一个怪现象，不是所有的用户都喜新厌旧，准确来说，不是所有的用户都在改版升级的短时间内喜新厌旧。
一般人印象主要专攻耳背式蓝牙耳机产品的缤特力，最近也开始尝试不同领域，包括专精运动使用的 BackBeat FIT 无线运动耳机，还有画面上这个看起来依然很有商务味道的 BackBeat PRO...


text:
PANAJI: Nearly 700-800 applications have been received by the fire department since April 1 for the grant of no-objection-certificate (NOC) following the district collector’s directives to not renew or grant new licenses unless traders get the fire clearance.
The department has been conducting inspections after receiving request for fire clearance and has also started issuing fire NOCs after receiving payment of fee of Rs 150.
The department recommends 4 kg capacity ABC powder type fire extinguisher for grocery stores which is priced between Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,500 while for wine shops it is recommended to have a liquid form carbon dioxide (CO2) extinguisher, which is priced between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000.
The fire department says that not a single trader from the new municipal market has applied for fire NOC thereby risking the lives of themselves and visitors in case of fire exigencies.
According to CCP records, renewal of nearly 2,500-3,000 trade licenses has been put on hold since April, due to the lack of fire department clearances. But there are no records available with them on the number of shops and establishments that actually require fire NoCs.
The CCP in the absence of authentic figures has allowed several establishments to do business without requisite trade licenses.
However it is estimated that there are atleast 15,000 eateries, hotels, restaurants and bars, private offices, and shops in the city but the traders association has alleged that although registered traders have to do all renewals and pay taxes, there are some traders without trade licenses were allowed to operate illegally in the market.
There has been a hue and cry from traders association criticizing the move of the district collector stating fire NOC should be restricted to only bars and restaurants and not to any other establishments.
“There are thousands of such commercial establishments which operate illegally and do not comply with fire safety measures. This is happening as there is no proper monitoring system in place. Hence, we have started the exercise in collecting the name, address and nature of business of the traders by visiting each of them to expose the CCP maladministration,” said the convener of Panaji Hotel and Traders Association, Barnabe Sapeco.
Source:: The Navhind Times


text:
The global game industry is expected to grow from $68 billion in 2013 to $96 billion in 2018, according to a significantly upgraded forecast by market researcher DFC Intelligence.
The five-year forecast has been upgraded from past estimates thanks to the strong performance of the market — including the launch of Grand Theft Auto V and the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft — in late 2013. DFC said both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 will eventually sell more than 100 million units each. Previously, DFC predicted the game business would hit only $82 billion by 2018.
The forecast includes revenue from PC games, console games, and mobile games. It also includes hardware spending on dedicated game devices.
“DFC has always tended to be conservative in its forecasts,” says DFC analyst David Cole. “Last year we were concerned about competition from the enormous amount of free to play content and the growth of mobile. The poor reception for the Wii U was also a major area of concern.”
According to Cole, the last few months of 2013 had some major positive signs for future industry growth.
“There was concern that the core game consumer was losing interest in the market,” he said. “The huge success of Grand Theft Auto V and the successful launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One showed this was clearly not the case.”
In addition, the PC game and mobile game market are expected to grow at a steady pace. The worldwide PC games market is expected to reach $26 billion in 2014 after a slow year last year in North America and Europe.


text:
This follows the agreement reached on 11 July this year, between the EU and the previous government of the Republic of Moldova, led by Ms Maia Sandu, to broaden the degree of trade liberalisation for specific agricultural products under the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA).
The Republic of Moldova will be granted additional duty-free tariff rate quotas to export table grapes (of double the current amount) and plums (of a 50% increase on the current volume), as well as a new duty-free quota for cherries (of 1,500 tonnes). As part of the agreement, EU producers will also have more export opportunities, as the EU will gain additional duty-free access to the Moldovan market. Moreover, the thresholds triggering the anti-circumvention mechanism for wheat, barley, maize, sugar and processed cereals have also been raised, taking into account the trade patterns over the last few years.
The deal demonstrates the EU’s commitment to Moldovan citizens and businesses, and the opportunities and benefits offered by the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). These revisions are in the context of the third-year review of the EU-Republic of Moldova Association Agreement. The EU completed this review in response to sustained efforts made by Ms Sandu’s government to implement reforms under the DCFTA. The EU encourages the Republic of Moldova to continue the implementation of these needed reforms in the spirit of our Association Agreement.
Before it can enter into force, the agreement will have to be approved by the EU-Republic of Moldova Association Committee in Trade Configuration (ACTC).
The Association Agreement between the EU and the Republic of Moldova aims to deepen political and economic relations between the two parties. It also creates a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). The Agreement provides Moldova with a framework for boosting trade and economic growth, through improved access to the EU market for its products and services, as well as by comprehensively approximating its trade-related laws and regulations to EU standards.
Since the provisional entry into force of the DCFTA in September 2014, there has been a considerable growth in exchanges: EU imports from Moldova grew by 62% between 2014 and 2018, and the EU is Moldova’s biggest partner, representing 56% of its total trade.
- Publication date
- 20 December 2019
- Directorate-General for Trade
- Country or region
- Trade topics
- Economic PartnershipsImporting into the EU


text:
Fresh Bucks partners with a network of local partners to serve 12,000 Seattle households, redeeming $4.6 million in fruit and vegetable benefits.
Enrolled Fresh Bucks participants receive $40 in benefits in their Fresh Bucks account each month. Customers can spend their benefits on fruits and vegetables using their Fresh Bucks Card or app at participating farmers markets, farm stands, and grocery stores, six of which are BIPOC-owned. In 2022, the program welcomed two new small businesses into the retail network, Central Co-Op and the program’s first grocery delivery provider, Local Yokels.
“Healthy communities are at the center of our vision for a strong, vibrant One Seattle, and we are committed to ensuring that every family has access to high-quality, nutritious, and culturally relevant foods. As pandemic-era food assistance benefits end and inflation remains high, programs like Fresh Bucks are critical for providing tangible support to vulnerable communities most impacted by food insecurity. By partnering with healthcare clinics, non-profits, local retailers, and farmers markets, we are strengthening local food systems and helping neighbors find fresh foods that taste good – and support their overall health.” – Mayor Bruce Harrell, City of Seattle
Fresh Bucks partners with 41 retail partners and 19 local organizations who implement the program and reach community members most impacted by food insecurity.
“With grocery prices continuing to rise, the need for food assistance is higher than ever. Fresh Bucks fills a critical need, providing healthy food to 12,000 households, 83% of which report being food insecure, including people with low-incomes, communities of color, immigrant, and refugee communities. We know there are many more families in need, and I look forward to working with Mayor Bruce Harrell and City Council to find ways to reach more Seattle families with Fresh Bucks. – Jessyn Farrell, Director of the Office of Sustainability and Environment. – Jessyn Farrell, Director of the Office of Sustainability and Environment
To learn more about how Fresh Bucks and its partners met the needs of program participants last year, see the 2022 Fresh Bucks Impact Report.
Fresh Bucks is funded by the City of Seattle General Fund and revenue from the Sweetened Beverage Tax. For general information on the program, please visit SeattleFreshBucks.org or call 206-256-5438.


text:
- 20 November 2018
- Transport / Logistics Services
Due to successful industrial action on the part of its unions, Canada Post has called on its international partners to halt mail and parcel shipments to the country due to a 30 day delivery backlog caused by the strikes.
Canada Post also said that its domestic customers are also backed up due to the strike action that began on October 22.
“The backlogs are also extending to international mail and parcels entering the country,” Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton said in an email.
“As a result, we have been forced to request that international posts, including the United States Postal Service, refrain from shipping items until we can clear the backlog.”
In response the UK Royal Mail said it would hold its Canada bound shipments rather than send them in. In a statement Royal Mail said, “As a result of ongoing industrial action, we have now been requested to suspend the dispatching of international traffic destined for Canada, from today until further notice,” it said.
“This applies not only to us, but all international postal operators.”
The strike action came as a direct result of Canada Post management telling its delivery staff that they would no longer be able to choose the dates of their holidays but would rather be given them regardless of convenience. Rolling strike action has ensued with some results for the staff – management has made offers to the unions but the unions refusing to accept immediately. Canada Post’s management has made the offers time sensitive with the deadline at 2359 next Saturday.
The unions have also criticised the international shipment delay. Mike Palecek, CUPW national president said, ““There is no reason to halt international shipments. Let us solve our issues at the bargaining table.”


text:
Alongside the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power this year, there are numerous planned games for a variety of devices. This new offering could follow in the footsteps of other major successes like Game of Thrones and cast a vast net across the entertainment industry to catch viewers.
Model Uses Various Platforms
In the cutthroat world of the modern television model in which numerous streaming platforms are battling for viewers’ attention, simply offering a great series is no longer sufficient. Production companies have to commission related content across other forms of media to market the shows to more people, and the best way to do this is through games.
The mobile gaming market has been a revelation for franchises, and this is something that didn’t exist when Jackson’s pictures hit screens. If it had been around in a more meaningful manner, the offerings may have attracted even more attention. Recent films like Jurassic World have made good use of the mobile games market, with titles like Jurassic World Alive and Jurassic World: The Game both available for Android. The model clearly worked, as the movie from Colin Trevorrow cleaned up at the box office and raked in more than $1.6 billion.
Another sector that was only just starting to take off during the 2000s was the online casino market. This has also been a lucrative place for franchises to market their offerings. Game of Thrones is the best-known example of a television series that expanded into slots, with the Microgaming game ranking among the most played ones at real money casinos like LeoVegas. Players can get £100 and 50 free spins when they sign up at the site, which has been referred to as the king of online and mobile casinos. The LeoVegas mobile app is available for Android, which means that the GoT franchise has an even wider presence.
Gollum Game is the
It won’t be surprising to see more mobile and casino games based on Lord of the Rings coming out soon alongside the Amazon series. After all, the new offering is supposed to be Amazon’s answer to Game of Thrones, so the company will want to replicate that franchise model wherever possible. It will also be hoping to better it, though, and this could come in the form of producing titles that never existed for Game of Thrones. For instance, fans of the HBO
series were crying out for a sprawling open-world epic set in Westeros, but it never came to fruition.
There have already been various console games set in Middle Earth, and these have highlighted the endless scope for large-scale games set in Tolkien’s extensive fantasy world. The next one in the pipeline is The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, a new action-adventure game being developed by Daedalic Entertainment. It focuses on the legendary character in a prequel story set before the events of Tolkien’s novels.
That leaves plenty of scope for what could happen in the game, and it is likely to attract a high number of players who want to learn more about the character and why he became so obsessed with the ring. The game will be available across a wide range of devices, including Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
If developers are working on a Gollum game, that means there is endless potential for other titles in the Lord of the Rings universe for studios to focus on. Different characters like Aragorn and Boromir could be explored, or there could be more of a focus on new characters from the upcoming Amazon series.
There’s not long to wait now for the new Rings of Power series, and expectations are high for this big-budget series. It is wise to expect the modern franchise model to enlarge this series and market to a vast number of viewers.


text:
An ongoing patent dispute with long-time chip supplier Qualcomm led Apple to turn to Intel to power a future 5G iPhone, Fast Company reported.
Apple engineers have reportedly conducted initial 5G work with Intel and believe the company’s recently announced 5G modems will suit the iPhone’s needs.
Intel unveiled its new XMM8000 family of 5G modems this week with the debut of the XMM8060. The new multi-mode modem is designed for use in a variety of form factors – including smartphones – and will feature backward compatibility with legacy 2G, 3G and 4G technologies. Intel said it expects the XMM8060 to ship in commercial devices starting in the middle of 2019.
Qualcomm’s own 5G modem – the X50 – made its debut in 2016 and is also expected to make its way into devices in 2019.
Fast Company is the second news outlet to suggest Apple is moving ahead with the design of its future iPhones without Qualcomm. At the end of October, The Wall Street Journal indicated Apple was thinking about dropping Qualcomm from its devices entirely and turning instead to Intel and Mediatek for its chip supply.
The potential shift to Intel as iPhone chip supplier would mark another substantial blow to Qualcomm, which supplied modems for the Apple device since 2011. Qualcomm already lost a portion of its modem share to Intel in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8, and the Apple fight is taking its toll in the form of loss of licensing revenue.
Earlier this month, Qualcomm filed a lawsuit against Apple alleging the iPhone giant shared software secrets with Intel, potentially aiding its major rival.


text:
After all, how many Brazilians are subscribed to the streaming platform? Check the answer!
Estimated reading time: two Minutes
Last year, following a mistake by the Economic Defense Administrative Council (Cade), the subscriber count was released to Netflix, one of the world’s largest streaming platforms.
However, the so-calledcashier Black ‘must be private. However, the documents were leaked during a demo by the Neo TV Association, which represents small pay-TV operators in Brazil.
How many Brazilians own Netflix?
In this sense, see below the excerpt from the document that mentioned the number of subscribers to Netflix at the time:
“It is true that streaming platforms have gained many customers in recent years, but it is also clear that a large portion of consumers consider OTT services as complementary to pay TV – for example, Netflix has already managed to gain 19 million subscribers in Brazil alone.”
Thus, in order for the company to communicate with CADE, it is necessary to send a document to the public and a confidential one. The special text contains information about the number of Netflix subscribers.
So what happened in this situation is that the information was in the public version of the script and it ended up leaking.
Netflix records first drop in subscribers in a decade
In April of this year, Netflix reported the first drop in subscriber numbers in more than a decade. Thus, the platform lost 200 thousand subscribers in the first quarter of 2022. In fact, the company’s decision to stop the service in Russia led to the loss of 700 thousand subscribers.
For the second quarter, Netflix released a poor script, predicting a loss of 2 million subscribers, despite new seasons of such successful franchises as “Stranger Things”, “Ozark” and the premiere of “The Gray Man”.
Anyway, do you want to stay informed of everything that is happening in the financial world?
So follow us YouTube channel And on our social networks, like FacebookAnd the TwitterAnd the Twitch And the Instagram. So, you will follow everything Banks Digital credit cardsAnd the loansAnd the financial technology and topics related to the world of finance.
Photo: Elliot Quand Jr. / Shutterstock.com


text:
Two mega port projects, proposed to be built in Colachel, Tamil Nadu and Dahanu, Maharashtra, are likely to get the cabinet's nod by the end of the week. The two ports have an initial investment of about Rs 15,000 crore.
India has 12 ports, which reportedly handles about 600 million tonnes of cargo traffic. The government has set up a target to double this number by 2020, The Economic Times reports.
"These two projects are likely to get Cabinet clearance this week. Two more major port proposals, one in Sagar in Maharashtra and another in Andhra Pradesh, will be send for the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs clearance next month," a senior shipping ministry official was quoted as saying by the publication.
The Colachel port, located on the Malabar Coast in Tamil Nadu, is anticipated to become the "southern gateway of trans-shipment" in India. It will have total capacity of 50 million tonnes. With an initial investment of Rs 6,000 crore, it will be built in three phases, an official told ET.
"Large container ships need about 18 metres of water depth. Colachel is already a natural harbour with water that is 20 metre deep," the official further added.
On the other hand, the Dahanu port, which will be a multi cargo port, will be set up to decongest the Jawaharlal Nehru port trust. The proposed Dahanu port will be set up 4.5 nautical miles off Dahanu coast, around 150 km from Mumbai.
Some of the biggest vessels are generally harboured in Singapore and Colombo. From there, the cargo is then sent via feeder ships to the smaller ports. This results in considerable revenue loss for the domestic ports. India wants to move its cargo ship from the Colombo port, because it is developed by China.
The 12 major ports in India are: Kandla Port, Mumbai Port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Marmugoa Port, New Mangalore Port, Cochin Port, V.O Chidambaranar Port, Chennai Port, Kamarajar Port, Paradip Port, Vishakhapatnam Port and Kolkata & Haldi Ports, according to a government data report.


text:
Bad batteries reportedly the cause of Galaxy Note 7 fires
Gear up on five IoT news bites for Monday
Bad Battery Battery problems appear to be the reason for Galaxy Note 7's catching fire, according to Reuters. An unnamed source spoke with the news organization, adding that a final report on its findings will be made at its earnings conference later this month. But the source notes that Samsung was able to repeat the explosions—and that they were not cause by software or by the design of the product. Samsung recalled its smart device last year after reports of the smartphone catching fire hit social media and news. Concern pushed the Federal Aviation Administration to ban the devices on planes. The company eventually stopped selling the smartphone entirely.
Health Detector A wearable to detect when you have Lyme disease? A Stanford team has been developing just such a device that would be able to tell when your body has changes such as blood oxygen levels shifting, or skin temperatures changes. The prototypes are already starting to work, as one of the authors of a paper in the PLOS Biology journal about the project found, using his wearable and the data to diagnosis his own Lyme disease. Wearable sales are growing, but not as quickly as once estimated. About 16 percent of Americans use wearables, according to eMarketer. And tat's only thought to reach 21 percent by 2020. Interest in smartwatches, and fitness trackers certainly appear to be stalling. But wearables that can detect or manage health may hold a different interest to consumers. Stanford researchers clearly believe this is so.
Apple Commercial Apple has pushed out a series of ads for its new AirPods. The problem? Apple's wireless earbuds are few and far between. Ordering them online will take six weeks. Pickup in stores? Plan to wait until sometime in March.
Nokia Foldable Nokia has a patent for a foldable phone—with a screen that folds inside, a bit different from the Samsung option we wrote about last week. Samsung, as we mentioned, is planning to launch their option this year. The patent was filed back in 2013—but with Samsung's presumed launch up and coming, brands may be looking to launch competing options as well. (Via PhoneArena)
Robot Kill Switch The EU wants to ensure that humans have protection from robots in the future—demanding they have a kill switch installed when developed.


text:
NEW YORK, Jun 27, 2014/ — In an announcement today, Brooks Brothers confirmed that award-winning designer Zac Posen has been named Creative Director for its signature Women’s collection and accessories.
In this new role, Mr. Posen will direct the current Brooks Brothers design and merchant teams and will be responsible not only for the women’s collection but will also affect a variety of areas including brand development and presentation for the women’s label.
Trained at Central Saint Martins in London, Zac Posen is known for his signature modern American glamour look that catapulted his eponymous label that he launched in 2001.
Since then, his collections have grown to include Zac Posen, ZAC Zac Posen and Z Spoke Zac Posen with offerings in handbags, accessories, eyewear and fur.
Of his new role at Brooks Brothers Mr. Posen said, “I am truly honored and excited to be embarking on this incredible opportunity to take the Brooks Brothers Women’s brand into the future while respecting its deep, rich American heritage as an institutional company.”
America’s longest established apparel brand, Brooks Brothers began selling women’s apparel as early as 1874 when an advertisement for the company promoted capes and accessories available in a special department within the store – then located at Broadway and Bond Street.
Zac Posen’s first women’s collection for Brooks Brothers will debut in spring 2016 and will be available worldwide.


text:
Industrial hemp makes 1,000’s of sustainable products and can help farmers, our health, the economy, and the environment. But why can’t we grow it in the U.S.? Now raising money to complete production, “Bringing It Home” (www.bringingithomemovie.com) explores the story of hemp: past, present and future and the expanding global industry that is putting money in the pockets of business leaders and farmers all over the globe. Hemp is a non-psychoactive plant that can help solve problems such as global warming, nutrition, deforestation, unemployment, toxic clean-ups and improve indoor air quality in buildings.
Filmmakers Blaire Johnson and Linda Booker began filming after learning about the first house completed in the America using hempcrete by a home designer now on a mission to build a hemp group home for his young daughter and other children with chemical sensitivities and disabilities. As a building material, hemp combined with lime is non-toxic, highly insulating and mildew, pest and fire-resistant. But the one huge drawback — industrial hemp is currently illegal to grow in the United States — so it must be imported, despite the fact that it once was a thriving crop in America.
Industrial hemp varieties are non-psychoactive Cannabis Sativa L plants grown for their seeds, oil fiber and woody core. American consumers are purchasing an estimated $419 million in hemp products annually and that number continues to grow. China is the largest exporter of industrial hemp and American farmers are cut out of the competition due to federal classification of hemp as a drug, despite 17 U.S. states having passed hemp farming legislation.
Johnson & Booker have filmed and interviewed hemp business entrepreneurs and advocates in Spain, the U.K. and U.S. (and others from Canada, Switzerland, France and South Africa) and now seek funding to complete interviews and post production to complete the film by the end of 2012. Contributions can be made through mid June on IndieGoGo or through the Southern Documentary Fund at www.bringingithomemovie.com
- Industrial Hemp Facts, Hemp Uses, and Hemp Myths (goodwordnews.wordpress.com)
- Industrial hemp now being used to build homes (agbeat.com)
- Industrial hemp has backers in state legislator (whengovernmentfailsinkentucky.wordpress.com)
- Industrial hemp has backers in state legislator (shereekrider.wordpress.com)
- The RP: It’s high time we legalize hemp, (whengovernmentfailsinkentucky.wordpress.com)
- Jonathan Miller: It’s High Time to Legalize Hemp (huffingtonpost.com)


text:
Supply chain management challenges start at day one and never end.
That’s what Mike Farid, president of Nature USA, a third-generation textile manufacturer based in downtown Los Angeles, told a roomful of Magic attendees Monday at a seminar titled “Made Where? Sourcing Products From U.S. Producers is Easier Than You Think.”
“Even brands or retailers that surpass $1 billion in sales, their single biggest challenge is supply chain management,” he said. “In our business, you see so many brands starting every year and nine out of 10 don’t see their fifth year of existence because there are so many challenges.”
Read more at Sourcing Journal.


text:
The latest and greatest from Samsung is here. With a tagline that goes "Next Is Now !" , Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd today announced its entirely redefined smartphones, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge. I had the opportunity to catch the live viewing telecast in Barcelona with a bunch of other tech guys and bloggers and the best part was we got the chance to feel and play with the actual units at the end of the event.
|Samsung Galaxy S6 And Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Announced Launch Event|


text:
There’s nothing like the allure of a new luxury watch. But with today’s inflated prices and decade-long waiting lists for some of the more popular models, it’s understandable that people should look to the pre-owned market.
And why not? It seems everyone is doing it. Whether they’re trying to save plastic or the planet, or simply look after their pennies, more and more people are going online to buy preloved items, rather than new. Financial pressures are also driving second hand sales. Households on stretched budgets – having spent the last two years without jobs or working shorter hours – are also proving keen to want rid of unwanted goods or buy pre-owned online.
There’s recognition that cast-offs can have a cash value that can be easily realised and with primary markets’ lack of supplies forcing customers to look at the secondary market, sold-out items can attract far more buyers. Take eBay, for example. According to reports from 2021, the company sold more than 60 million used items in a year.
Customers’ expectations are certainly rising for digital channels along measures such as site speed, stability, and delivery times. To keep pace, retailers should start by designing web pages that are optimised for shopping. Those who fail to embrace e-commerce in the future will certainly miss opportunities, especially in selling to Generation X and Z consumers.
In the pre-owned luxury watch and jewellery markets younger generations are showing increasing interest. Luxury watch-related content generated over 173 million views on TikTok, while in 2021, global fashion search engine Lyst reported a 42% increase in searches for ‘couple’, ‘engagement’ and ‘wedding’ watches, with a pre-owned Rolex 40mm Submariner gaining the most interest, according to Refinery29.
Due to some very limited and sought-after models, Rolex has seen an increase of 16 per cent in spending, with its timepieces selling for up to 298% of their original retail prices, according to the 2022 Luxury Consignment Report produced by TheRealReal – an online marketplace for authentic, resale luxury goods. The data also suggests that if you own a Rolex Submariner Date, it is a fabulous time to sell, as on average they sell for up to 262 per cent of market price.
While the pre-owned market seems a popular route, especially for products that cost a fortune to buy new, is it the same for luxury watches? Who buys an expensive timepiece in this way without physically seeing it first? It could be that you have to make a decision based on a few photographs and a bit of description, and then there’s the need to decide if your seller is trustworthy enough.
Luxe Watches is the UK’s leading omnichannel independent retailer, specifically focused on buying and re-selling pre-owned luxury watches. The retailer encourages customers to sell their watch or jewellery and use it as collateral for a part-exchange.
Because the Essex-based boutique understands that a customer wants guarantees of condition and authenticity before a purchase – as this could mean buying and selling from opposite ends of the country – it has invested in an incredibly useful tool that provides a market valuation within 60 seconds for Rolex brands.
Sell Your Rolex is the technology that makes it possible for the pre-owned market to be attractive in terms of investment. Rather than worry and debate whether buyers are genuine on the grey market and the prices they’re being charged, they can get an instant watch valuation using the new tool. All they need to do is input their watch brand and model, with a few notes about tis condition and paperwork and they get a good estimate for price.
To proceed with a sale, a buyer simply books an appointment to visit the boutique or post the watch down securely. When Luxe Watches receives the watch, it is inspected and the company provides a final binding offer based on its authenticity and condition. If the buyer is happy they can have the cash transferred to their bank in less than five days.
Since the tool’s launch in September 2020, the retailer has spent more than £4 million with the public and aims to buy at least 90% of its stock from the public, as opposed to relying on trade shows. This is partly a reaction to Brexit and covid travel restrictions making selling and buying more difficult but more importantly, it’s a way of supporting the growth of the UK GDP after many physical stores were forced to close as a result of the covid pandemic.
Luxe Watches goes beyond standard pre-loved sales by offering clients a full 360 service, which includes in-house watch servicing – so a great option and reassurance for those who may be nervous about buying pre-owned. There’s no need to worry about drop shipping either as you know you have a representative there to manage the whole process. You’re more likely to get authenticity verification, a warranty and a return policy. When you buy from a genuine pre-worn dealer, you’re paying for the watch and the service.
Why pay for news and opinions when you can get them for free?
Subscribe for free now!
NEWS3 days ago
Heavy winter sweaters, coats pile up at stores as warm weather threatens holiday shopping season
BUSINESS4 days ago
What is supply chain management and why is it important
NEWS3 days ago
Meta’s new AI assistant trained on public Facebook and Instagram posts
NEWS3 days ago
Exclusive-Travelex owners considering sale of company –sources


text:
Smartphone gaming is a huge market. While many people said that the potential is saturating, Pokemon Go came out. The game released like a wrecking ball and ran over nearly every other game in the markets, becoming a major sensation overnight. However, with every smartphone game, come cheaters and hackers. Though they are a very small percentage of the total gamers, the still cause a lot of nuisance. Niantic, the company behind Pokemon Go has now decided to show zero tolerance to these cheaters.
In an official statement, Niantic has declared that anyone found violating their terms of service would be handed a ban. “This includes, but is not limited to: falsifying your location, using emulators, modified or unofficial software and/or accessing Pokémon GO clients or backends in an unauthorized manner including through the use of third party software,” the company said.
In the past, there were various levels of bans, but no permanent bans. However, a stricter action is now going to be taken on the users who would be spoiling the game for others. The company first came out with a major crackdown on those apps which helped violate the TOS. Now the company is going for the gamers who are intentionally doing so. This is indeed a good step from them.
Niantic has also released a link where the users could go to appeal against the ban. If the users believe that they have been following the TOS and are still banned, they could appeal against it. If found to be true, the ban will be reversed. As of now, there is no information on how Niantic is going to keep a track of these violations. Things such as GPS spoofers are hard to trace. However, it is quite comforting to know that the company is trying to make the world a better place for gamers.


text:
As Black History Month is just a few weeks away, it’s a good time to start reflecting on the incredible milestones reached and accomplishments made by trailblazing African-Americans. In honor of Black History Month, Essence has dedicated its February issue to the next class of young Black females paving the way.
Chi-Raq actress Teyonah Parris, Black Lives Matter activist Johnetta “Nettie” Elzie, and Black-ish star Yara Shahidi each have their own dedicated cover for the new Black Girl Magic issue. The stunning black-and-white portraits showcase each woman’s unique beauty and serve as a powerful reminder of the power we each have to impact the world.
"Being a part of this reemergence of a movement both pro-diversity and pro-woman is the best part of being a Black girl," the 16-year-old Shahidi told the magazine.
BET.com always gives you the latest fashion and beauty trends, tips and news. We are committed to bringing you the best of Black lifestyle and celebrity culture.
(Photo from left: James Devaney/WireImage, Johnetta Elzie via Twitter, Frazer Harrison/Getty Images, Essence Magazine)
For the past 10 years, Yusef has been dictating all of the beauty trends we emulate via his most famous client, none other than Rihanna. He started out his career as a performer, but he ended up behind the scenes. In Hairstory, he details his rise in the industry from aspiring singer to creative directing the hair for Fenty x Puma.


text: AT&T Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co yesterday announced an agreement to join forces to promote each other’s technology in the field of electronic commerce. The two are aiming the service at companies that host their own electronic storefronts, but wish to outsource the back-end transactional services, for which the two will offer AT&T’s SecureBuy service, which includes Open Market Inc’s Transact software. HP will provide its HP Domain Enterprise Servers running either HP-UX or Windows NT and the two have also begun to develop joint products, but there were no details of what they might be or when they will appear. In addition, HP is opening up its sales channels to AT&T, whereby all of its 15,000 or so value-added resellers (VARs) will offer the SecureBuy software and services, as well as all AT&T’s website services. These include its Easy World Wide Web Service, AT&T’s advanced hosting solution; and the AT&T Enhanced Web Development Package. The deal is not exclusive for either side, as both already have e-commerce strategies with other vendors. The two companies will also incorpoarte iCat Corp’s electronic commerce suite for building web-based catalogs. HP says its Praesidium security framework will be integrated with SecureBuy over time, but it is not essential for this plan to work. And AT&T, which is currently testing the Mondex electronic wallet-based electronic payment systems, said that could find a place in this plan if the tests are successful, as it is due to be integrated into SecureBuy. HP said the deal was made before its acquisition of card processing company VeriFone Inc, but its role is being evaluated at the moment.


text:
Microsoft & Parallels Partner to Deliver Windows & Internet Explorer Test Environments We know that many of our customers are…
With the rapid growth of tablet and smartphone use in the past ten years, it’s no surprise that apps are following suit.
A recent Gartner report predicted that by 2017 there will be more than 268 billion app downloads grossing more than $77 billion dollars in revenue. Apps are the “next big thing,” said Gartner. The vast majority (92%) of mobile apps are currently free, and they’re being used to better understand the needs of consumers.