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ECB: Cryptocurrency Doesn’t Pose a Material Risk to European Financial Stability
According to an article released by the European Central Bank (ECB), the cryptocurrency sector does not have a considerable influence to threaten the European Union (EU) financial sector. Global Government Forum reports that the existing regulatory framework helps manage risks associated with bitcoin and other virtual currencies.
Cryptocurrency Won’t Disturb Mainstream Finance
The Internal Crypto-Assets Task Force (ICA-TF) of the European Central Bank (ECB) recently published a 40-page paper titled – “Crypto Assets: Implications for Financial Stability, Monetary Policy, and Payments and Market Infrastructure”.
Despite the volatile nature of the industry and associated risks, the ICA-TF claimed that bitcoin and other virtual currencies do not yet threaten the financial sector of the EU economy. An excerpt from the paper reads:
“At the current stage, crypto assets do not fulfill the functions of money, neither do they entail a tangible impact on the real economy nor have significant implications for monetary policy.”
Furthermore, the body said since very few merchants allow the use of bitcoin and other altcoins to purchase goods and services, it shows that the virtual currency sector doesn’t exact considerable influence on price-setting.
The ECB also seems confident in its existing regulatory framework to manage cryptocurrency risks, as the article states that even early 2018 virtual currency market boom was not enough to elicit concerns for the EU financial system.
However, the EU expresses concern at the lack of a uniform regulatory system for bitcoin and other digital currencies. The European body opines that the regulatory framework in different countries is mostly uncoordinated or inconsistent, creating room for what it calls “regulatory arbitrage”.
Furthermore, the body cautions that the virtual currency sector is dynamic and requires constant monitoring. Buttressing the above, paper states:
“It is therefore important that the ECB continue to monitor crypto-assets phenomenon, raise awareness and develop preparedness for any adverse scenarios, in cooperation with other relevant authorities.”
EU Policymakers Still Ignorant of Cryptocurrency’s Disruptive Potential
While the ECB recently acknowledges that the mainstream financial isn’t under immediate threat from the cryptocurrency sector, the body is clearly not oblivious of the industry’s disruptive potential.
Back in 2018, Europe’s apex bank which like other traditional financial institutions who see bitcoin and other virtual currencies as a risky investment stated that the continuous spread of digital currencies should be a priority for regulators globally.
In November 2018, an ECB executive board member, Benoit Coeure said that bitcoin was a combination of three things – a bubble, a Ponzi scheme, and an environmental disaster.
BTCManager recently reported that ECB policymaker, Francois Villeroy favored stablecoins over bitcoin and other altcoins, as they are less prone to volatility.


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Tether may currently be stable and may have seen its value return to be even with the US dollar, but this may not last long. The stablecoin held 94% of the stablecoin market at the beginning of 2018 – with only two other stablecoin competitors – and continues to lose ground. Now with eight serious stablecoins in the market, Tether’s market dominance lies at only 74% and could fall even further.
It seems like everyone wants to launch a stablecoin these days. There is the USDCoin from Circle, Paxos, TrueUSD and even Gemini Dollars. Even the Huobi exchange has gotten in on the fun, launching its HUSD stablecoin. On the surface, they appear to be solid as they’re backed by physical assets such as dollars or gold, but we have already witnessed how easily it is to see a stablecoin come unglued. Not too long ago, Tether saw its price break free from the US dollar, falling at one point to $94.
This past October, the co-founder of CoinCorner, Danny Scott, showed how easy it was for the stablecoins to not hold their value. He said at the time, “This is because they are openly traded on exchanges based on the supply and demand, meaning their price can fluctuate if people are willing to pay less or more for the currency. For example, GUSD (Gemini dollar) was pegged at $1 and actually hit $1.18. Similarly, USDT (Tether) which is pegged at $1 has fluctuated over time and is currently trading at $0.96. So do we think stablecoins are here to stay? Only time will tell, but for now we are not committing to them.”
Tether has had to deal with a series of issues that may have contributed to its decline among stablecoins. It has repeatedly refused to release audits of its holdings, stating that it would be too difficult (even though other stablecoins readily acknowledge that they can provide the data). Its new banking partner, Deltec out of Brazil, is facing an investigation for its possible involvement in a money-laundering scheme. There have also been concerns raised that the stablecoin was used to manipulate Bitcoin Core (BTC) prices last year.
The case for stablecoins is tenuous, at best. While all cryptocurrency options are still young and the industry needs to be developed, there isn’t much call for an option that can both show volatility on its own, as well as on the asset which backs it.
We’ve all heard the lame excuses – cryptocurrency is only good for criminal activity, cryptocurrency is only useful for money laundering, cryptocurrency has no real purpose – in trying to derail crypto as a legitimate alternative to fiat. Of course, the statements need to always be taken with a grain of salt and the speaker needs to be identified. In every case, the person uttering the words was a definite fiat pundit who either didn’t understand crypto or who was too imbedded with fiat to be able to see the bigger picture. The truth has begun to surface, though, and none of those arguments stand up to scrutiny. Japan has just given us another good indication of the fallacy behind the arguments.
The Japan Times reports that, according to an “official police document,” the country has seen a total of 340,000 suspected cases of money laundering activity or abuse this year in all types of financial transactions. Of this amount, only 6,000 transactions were related to cryptocurrency. Quickly crunching numbers, that means that only about 2% of all the money-laundering activity was found in crypto.
6,000 is still a big number, for sure. However, given the fact that 334,000 cases of money laundering were recorded through fiat, it’s merely a drop in the bucket. Measures are already being undertaken to help reduce the number more, but the fact that money laundering can still be so prevalent in fiat after centuries of existence shows how difficult the activity is to control.
Japan is working diligently to provide better oversight of cryptocurrency entities and exchanges. It is introducing a number of measures that will help prevent tax evasion and control initial coin offerings (ICO) and the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), a self-regulatory entities overseeing crypto exchanges, has authority to patrol the industry, as well.
Any system anywhere in the world can be used positively or negatively – nothing can escape this, not even cryptocurrency. However, it has already shown itself to be a viable option and one that allows users to take back control of their own money. It is not “that thing that criminals use” or “an environmental disaster.” It is a legitimate type of currency that continues to be accepted by more and more merchants every day.
The post The fallacy of the “crypto’s only good for money laundering” argument appeared first on CoinGeek.
The cryptocurrency world was rocked Thursday by the announcement of a huge lawsuit that was launched by United American Corp. (UAC) against a large number of Bitcoin Cash BCH supporters, including Bitmain and its co-founder Jihan Wu, Bitcoin.com founder Roger Ver, Amaury Séchet of Bitcoin ABC, the Kraken exchange and its CEO, Jesse Powell, as well as a few others. The lawsuit contends egregious amounts of fraud and market manipulation on the part of all defendants and could forever change how BCH is viewed, MarketWatch first reported. The lawsuit and all updates will be available on the www.bitcoincashlitigation.com website.
UAC points out in its lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, that the group of individuals colluded to manipulate the BCH network and take control of its functions. The company asserts that BCH has become centralized, which violates “all accepted distributed and decentralized standards and protocols associated with Bitcoin since its inception.” The Florida-based blockchain company further asserts that Ver, Wu, et al worked in conjunction with the Chinese government in order to lead a hostile takeover of the cryptocurrency.
The blockchain is meant to be a decentralized solution. To maintain this decentralization, the network operates on a consensus basis that prevents a single person or group from being able to control the majority of the hash, or mining power. If someone is able to control 51% of the network, they can effectively and autonomously decide the blockchain’s fate and this is what the defendants have been able to achieve.
Bitmain publicly acknowledged its support of Bitcoin ABC during the hash wars and launched efforts to force the BCH network to follow ABC during the hash wars. It rented hash power and even deployed 90,000 of its own mining rigs in favor of ABC mining operations, a move that can be seen as an attempt to centralize and control ABC. There were also speculations that Bitmain’s Jihan Wu was unloading BTC to fund the ABC mining operations, which, in turn, drove the prices of crypto down. Now, people are wondering if Wu is just cashing out amid the hash war.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice is also allegedly looking to get involved in the case against Bitmain and Ver’s group through the FBI Cybercrimes Division.
Roger Ver is a “crypto anarchist” and has also directed the mining operations of his Bitcoin.com mining pool to ABC. In addition,Bitcoin.com was a recipient of some of the hashing power that was rented by Bitmain in order to support ABC.
Ver has direct links to the Kraken crypto exchange through its founder, Jesse Powell. They are friends with a history that dates back to their high school days and Kraken was one of the first exchanges to show favoritism for ABC. It was also the first exchange to declare that ABC was offering the true version of BCH.
The lawsuit explains that Bitcoin ABC, the development and mining group that favored moving BCH away from its original design, has now forced changes on the blockchain without regard to what the community wanted. It introduced arbitrary checkpoints that can allow Bitcoin ABC to take over the network. UAC explains, “Combining this change with the hashing power of Bitcoin ABC backers amounts to centralization. They will be able to override any consensus reached by the rest of the network, forcing other to conform or create an unwanted hard fork.”
UAC also asserts that the entities were fundamental in directing hash power—including through the renting of additional mining equipment—during the BCH “hash wars” this month that saw them force the direction the BCH blockchain was headed. The action resulted in an unprecedented amount of hash being processed by Bitcoin ABC backers and further disintegrated the integrity of the BCH network.
UAC has been involved in blockchain innovation since 2017 and has invested more than $4 million in the space. It argues that the selfish manipulation of the blockchain is not consistent with BCH’s design, and that it has completely altered the “fundamental economics of the business.” In simple terms, it can be viewed as ordering a Filet Mignon in a restaurant and being delivered a burnt hamburger, while still paying for the Filet Mignon.
For a deeper narrative about the scheme, visit the Bitcoin Cash Litigation website.
The full filing can be found here.
The post Breaking down the United American lawsuit against Bitmain, Roger Ver, et al appeared first on CoinGeek.
Markets are down all across the globe. Wall Street has seen significant declines in its prices, futures trading was temporarily suspended and the general sentiment has been somewhat bleak. According to CoinMarketCap, even Bitcoin Core (BTC) is down, dropping 2.81% in the past 24 hours. In fact, all of the top five cryptocurrencies have seen declines of as much as 13%. In all of the chaos, though, there is a beacon that is shining bright. As of this writing, Bitcoin SV (BSV) has climbed 24.80%.
BSV now sits in the number five spot in the cryptocurrency rankings by market cap. Its current price sits at $110.94 and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. This makes BSV more valuable than Ether, which is trading at just $97.57. Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which includes the controversial Bitcoin ABC version of BCH following the hard fork earlier this month, has dropped by 18.32% in the same period and now sits in seventh place by market cap – below Tether.
One of the reasons BSV is gaining ground is because of miners. They have remained loyal to BSV and their loyalty is beginning to show signs of paying off. It has been a difficult road, but one that has been well worth it in order to continue to develop the only cryptocurrency that follows the original definition of what a digital currency should be.
BSV has seen increases of almost 40% over the past week. While it’s difficult to determine exactly why it continues to climb, there are educated conclusions that can be made. BCH was running solid when it was still being rightfully viewed as the original Bitcoin as defined by Satoshi. As soon as chatter began that there were discrepancies in the direction the blockchain would take, the wobbling began. That wobbling continued through the hard fork, leading to the unprecedented drops seen in the price of BCH.
BSV is moving forward with a model that will ensure that Bitcoin lives on. This is being recognized by crypto enthusiasts who are beginning to understand that BSV and its supporters were right all along. Of course, a lawsuit against everything Bitcoin ABC stood for doesn’t help BCH’s cause, either.
There’s no way to know whether or not this bullish trend will continue. However, things are certainly looking up for BSV.
The Poloniex cryptocurrency exchange is looking for big money. It announced in a Medium post this past Tuesday that it is moving forward with a plan to offering support for institutional accounts that will be made available for a number of trading pairs and APIs (application programming interface).
The post reads, in part, “We are excited to announce that institutional accounts are now available on Poloniex! Institutions large and small can enjoy the benefits of our large curated selection of crypto asset trading pairs, dedicated support and robust API services. Poloniex customers also enjoy no fees on BTC/USDC trades in the month of December.”
Poloniex was acquired by Goldman Sachs-backed Circle this past February for $400 million. With the new accounts, Circle will give investors the ability to conduct over-the-counter (OTC) trades using its Circle Trade platform, provided they’re ready to make an investment of at least $250,000. In addition, Circle will offer institutional services through Poloniex, as well as trading pairs with the Circle-created USDC stablecoin.
When 2018 kicked off, everyone expected to see a lot of institutional investors joining the crypto space. The rollout has been extremely slow, with only Coinbase being the major exchange to go after the investment class this past May. Coinbase is also looking to introduce an OTC crypto desk, but that isn’t expected to be introduced until sometime next year.
Poloniex has had a rough year. It has seen the exchange shuffle around its services a number of times and announced in October that it would be removing margin trading and lending products for U.S. customers by the end of the year. This past summer, it received a lot of backlash from users who had become locked out of their accounts after the exchange introduced new verification procedures. It had to deal with mounting pressure at the end of last year as users began flocking to the platform in response to the meteoric rise of Bitcoin Core’s (BTC) price, and wasn’t able to keep up with the load.
Poloniex is still in a solid position, despite the bumps in the road. This past October, a report by DRW Holdings Inc. showed that institutional investors now make up the largest segment of crypto buyers for transactions of more than $100,000, displacing high net worth individuals at the top of the list.
The post Poloniex exchange launches institutional trading platform appeared first on CoinGeek.
There has been a lot of talk by several mainstream financial entities in the past two years that they could be considering launching different cryptocurrency products. While some, such as the CME Group and CBOE exchanges, have already taken the step, many others are still trying to get the ball rolling. One, the NASDAQ exchange, has had plans in the works for a while and has now confirmed that it hopes to launch its platform beginning sometime early next year and that it will start with Bitcoin Core (BTC) futures.
In a recent interview with news outlet The Express in the UK, NASDAQ VP of Communications Joseph Christinat reiterated the company’s position that it is still moving forward, despite the current market slump. He said that there’s been “more than enough work dedicated into the endeavor to make remove the question of regulatory approval. We will do this, and it is definitely happening.” Christinat added that the biggest challenge now is to receive approval by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
NASDAQ, the world’s second largest stock exchange, has been developing its crypto portfolio for the past several years. It had hoped to launch one or more products this past summer, but revealed that it would postpone the launch in order to develop a platform that would be “unique enough” to attract a large following.
Christinat added, “We have put in plenty of financial resources and energy into delivering the capability to make this operational, and we’ve been on it for quite some time. Long before the market turbulence. The current atmosphere won’t affect our timeline in any way. We are going to do this no matter what comes.”
NASDAQ is joined by companies such as Fidelity Investments and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) that are preparing to introduce cryptocurrency trading products. Fidelity has said that it is still on target for a December launch for its offerings, while ICE, which is developing the Bakkt platform, has had to delay its launch from December to next January at the earliest.
What is still not known is how the BTC futures will operate. When CME and CBOE introduced their futures products last year, they were offered as cash-backed futures. Bakkt has said that it anticipates being the first to offer futures that are physically settled and would more than likely maintain those bragging rights even if NASDAQ decided to go the same route.
The post NASDAQ confirms Bitcoin futures launch coming early next year appeared first on CoinGeek.
The U.S. could be inching closer to creating a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICO). Representative Warren Davidson from Ohio has been working on a new bill that is designed to pave the way for crypto and ICO regulations, according to media outlet Cleveland.com, and would clarify the definition of cryptocurrencies.
The bill will be presented to the House of Representatives for discussion. It looks to create a new and unique asset class that would cover crypto and ICOs, allowing the government to regulate the crypto space more thoroughly. The legislation is designed to prevent digital assets from being classified as securities and would allow the federal government to maintain complete regulatory oversight of token offerings.
There is a lot of confusion in the U.S. regarding how to define cryptocurrencies. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said that, with the exception of Bitcoin Core (BTC) and Ether (ETH), the majority of cryptocurrencies are securities. On the other hand, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) asserts that they are commodities.
Two additional agencies, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), both say that crypto is money. Without a central definition in place, standard regulations cannot be created.
Davidson is somewhat of a proponent of cryptocurrencies, or at least of the space in general. He has been pushing for regulation of crypto and assisted in the writing of a letter to the SEC this past September in which he asked that the commission speed up its introduction of legislation in order to prevent tech companies from leaving the U.S. The letter read, in part, “Current uncertainty surrounding the treatment of offers and sales of digital tokens is hindering innovation in the United States and will ultimately drive business elsewhere. We believe that the SEC could do more to clarify its position.”
Even if the bill were to pass through the House, it would still need to be considered by the Senate. Ultimately, this means that regulations shouldn’t be expected to come anytime soon. Perhaps they’ll be implemented sometime next year, but there’s still a long road ahead.
The post US Congressman introduces federal crypto regulations appeared first on CoinGeek.
To be or not to be – that is the question. In the case of the Bitmain initial public offering (IPO), it’s looking every day that it isn’t to be. A new revelation uncovered by a Twitter user that follows the company almost religiously has shown that the once mighty cryptocurrency mining equipment manufacturer is teetering more toward crashing into the ground in a thunderous explosion.
BTCKING555 tweeted a few days ago that Bitmain’s losses in the third quarter of the year could have been as much as $740 million. If accurate, it would mark the worst quarter in the company’s history, but continues a slide that Bitmain has been experiencing since before the beginning of March.
The tweet reads, “We got leak of Bitmain Q3 numbers! COMPLETE DISASTER. The company lost $740 Million including losses on inventory and bitcoin cash! And this is not accounting for hash war costs!”
BTCKING555 alludes to possible additional losses that could top $1 billion due to Bitmain having a large investment in Bitcoin BCH. Since the digital currency’s value has been cut by more than half its recent value, Bitmain is out a substantial amount of cash.
Bitmain would have no one to blame but itself if it were to fizzle. In preparation of an IPO that was expected to launch this past September, the company falsely claimed to have received backing by a number of international companies. It also ran up substantial debt with a chip supplier – to the tune of $1 billion. It finally paid just over two-thirds of the debt, but there hasn’t been word on whether it has made good on the outstanding portion.
The company has been accused of using customer equipment for its own mining purposes. It faces a class-action lawsuit in California over the allegations, only adding to the uncertain future of its operations.
The company also presented an IPO prospectus with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that had blatant errors. The ability of Bitmain to completely disregard regulations and present data that has been verified as false should be enough to make any investor skeptical about giving the company any money. Add this to its mounting financial issues are cringe-worthy and should not only make investors say “No, thanks,” but should make them run away screaming.
The post Bitmain IPO reportedly in “death spiral” as losses increase appeared first on CoinGeek.
It’s no secret that Japanese authorities are looking to take control over tax money it feels is lost in the crypto space. The country is behind an effort being developed by the G20 to implement a global crypto tax strategy that could see governments receive millions of dollars in payments. Back home in Japan, regulators are now looking to introduce a new system that will report significant profits from crypto-based transactions, helping the country recover even more funds.
According to the Japanese media outlet Mainichi Shimbun, the new system to be implemented will give the National Tax Agency (NTA) the ability to gather data from transaction intermediaries, which include crypto exchanges. The NTA will have the authority to request information – such as names, addresses and personal ID numbers – on customers that it suspects of tax evasion. If everything goes according to plan, the system will be developed next year, with an anticipated implementation for the new fiscal year beginning in April 2020.
Not all individuals would be targeted by the new system. The media outlet quotes several sources who said that only those who earn over 10 million yen ($88,700) through crypto transactions would be held accountable.
Currently, crypto exchanges and other companies that are deemed intermediaries only give up data voluntarily. They have the legal ability to refuse to hand over information, but this could change with the new legislation. The exchanges could be forced to adhere to the requests, but would still maintain the right to appeal any request it feels is unwarranted.
The impact won’t be felt widespread, at least not initially. According to a recent survey conducted by the NTA, only just over 300 people indicated that they earned more than 100 million yen through crypto last year. Given the current market slide, the number has probably dropped significantly.
Japan is also ready to come down hard on initial coin offerings (ICO). The Japanese Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced this week that it would introduce stricter regulations on the offering in order to protect investors from fraud. Going forward, any entity wishing to launch an ICO would have to first register with the FSA.
The post Japan to introduce new reporting system to prevent crypto tax evasion appeared first on CoinGeek.
A payment processor with a significant footprint in the U.S. has joined forces with tech company Vaultbank to bring crypto payments to retail customers. SpotOn, which provides a payment processing solution to more than 100,000 merchants in the country, will soon include crypto payment transactions to its platform, allowing retailers to accept a number of digital currencies, including Bitcoin Core, Ripple, Ether and Stellar.
According to a company press release, customers will now be able to pay in the currency of their choice and merchants can choose whether or not to almost instantaneously convert crypto payments to fiat, or to hold them in their original form. SpotOn also has additional developments in the pipeline, including the introduction of a crypto-based loyalty rewards program and the ability to buy and sell crypto directly on its platform.
SpotOn President RJ Horsely states, “Today’s ever-evolving digital market demands that merchants need a payment service capable of accepting a wider diversity of currencies including virtual currencies. Our new technology will allow thousands of SpotOn merchants to accept cryptocurrency without having to onboard to another payment processor or manually convert cryptocurrency funds into fiat.”
Vaultbank is a firm that creates, issues and trades financial instruments using the blockchain. SpotOn invested in a seed-funding round held by the company, which is developing a platform that will allow users to buy, sell and spend their crypto assets on a single solution. The Vaultbank website indicates, “The Vaultbank Platform plans to tokenize securities like Mutual Funds, and will be a securities compliant platform that performs KYC [Know Your Customer], AML [anti-money laundering], FATCA [Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act] and Accreditation. Users will be able to buy and sell security tokens and top utility tokens at industry competitive rates.”
Vaultbank Chief Operating Officer Aaron Travis added in the press release, “This partnership empowers the customer to pay in whatever digital currency they want, while the merchant gets paid in what they want, dollars.”
By giving merchants an easy-to-use crypto payments solution, coupled with the ability to convert the funds into fiat, can go a long way to helping crypto be accepted as an alternative payment solution. The market volatility has kept many retailers away, concerned about losing revenue. However, transferring funds to fiat – until the markets stabilize – helps to counter this issue.

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You can send a blank check, a title to your home or boat, what's left of your 401(k) or simply a wheelbarrow full of cash. But if you hope to use financial influence to get your hands on Vehicle Identification No. 1 of the Ford GT40 sports car, you are out of luck.
It goes to Bill Ford, chairman and chief executive.
In TV ads Ford says he'd love to tool around in a Mustang with a great audio system. But when the Mustang is being refueled, it appears he'd like to slip behind the wheel of a super-high- performance GT40 powered by a V-8 that develops 500 horsepower and 500 foot-pounds of torque -- forget about the tunes.
"The wheels will spin on this one," said Neil Ressler, GT40 senior technical adviser.
Ressler brought the GT40 concept to Chicago as a visual aid to tell the Midwest Automotive Media Association that Ford has brought its SVT, racing and Living Legends operations into a Performance Group to develop limited-edition performance cars to entice folks into Ford, Mercury and Lincoln showrooms.
The GT40 will be the Performance Group's crown jewel.
Ressler said while VIN 1 is accounted for, several Ford insiders also have expressed interest in purchasing a GT40. He wouldn't say how long the list is, but admitted the name Ressler is on it.
The GT40 is what Ressler calls the "resurrection of the mid-'60s go-fast car." The GT40 bowed as a concept on the auto-show circuit this year.
Within weeks the machine, a modernized and street-legal version of the car that beat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 1960s, was given a production go-ahead.
Henry Ford II wanted to buy Ferrari. When rebuffed, he gave the orders to build a GT40 to put Ferrari in its place.
Ressler wouldn't pinpoint the date the GT40 will appear but said a handful will be ready for Ford's 100th anniversary next fall before full-scale production gets under way in 2004.
No firm price, other than $100,000 plus change; no firm count on numbers to be produced, other than "the low thousands."
And no firm word on how long the GT40 will be produced. "Some even tougher safety regulations are coming in 2006. We haven't decided if we can make it [GT40] past that. We don't know the answer yet. We'll wait until the first GT40 is built, see if it is a success, and then see if we can work on it to meet those regulations," Ressler said.
Mike Zevalkink, executive director of the Performance Group, said its mission is to produce niche vehicles.
Insiders said it's probable that such vehicles will include a niche version of the redesigned '05 Mustang, which will be built off the same platform as the Lincoln LS.
What the group won't do is come up with variants for Ford's alliance partners such as Volvo, Aston Martin, Jaguar and Mazda, Zevalkink said.
Zevalkink said the group will focus on performance variants of existing cars, such as the 2003 Marauder edition of the Mercury Grand Marquis, within 12 to 18 months "if not faster" after deciding a variant is needed to attract or renew interest in a car line.
How do you measure mission accomplished?
"By creating cars that when you drive by one in the dealership showroom, you stop, make a U-turn and come back to see it again, which is what people did with the Thunderbird," he said.
Some will argue that a Performance Group is ill-timed because no high-mileage, safety or emissions group was formed.
"The Performance Group will bring in the money to fund the research and development into fuel economy, safety, and zero emission fuel cells down the road," Zevalkink said.


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Gap store News
A very cheerful Kangana Ranaut inaugurates a popular clothing brand store – view pics
The Tanu Weds Manu Returns actress gets mobbed…
American multinational clothing and accessories brand Gap made its way to the Indian market on Saturday with the launch of its first store, inaugurated by actress Kangana Ranaut amidst a huge crowd in a mall here.Click here to read more
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan shops for baby Aaradhya in London!
The actor picked up cute baby clothes from a renowned brand’s store on Regent Street
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan recently took time out from her work commitments to go shopping for her daughter Aaradhya in London. A few onlookers at London’s famous Regent Street spotted the former beauty queen-turned-actor with her bundle of joy Click here to read more


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HONG KONG - India has made amendments to the export policy of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and the formulations based on some specific APIs.
In a note dated March 3, India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade compiled a list of now restricted APIs and formulations that were previously free to export. It ranged from paracetamol and erythromycin salts to progesterone and vitamin B1, 6 and 12.
Malini Aisola, co-convenor of All India Drug Action Network, told BioWorld that many pharmaceutical representatives have been held up in meetings with regard to this. “They’re all busy in government meetings. The government is holding day-long meetings in the last few days,” she said.
Despite the fears that the COVID-19 epidemic may be creating issues for India’s pharma industry, Aisola said she sees this as more of a precautionary measure.
P.D. Vaghela, the secretary of India’s Department of Pharmaceuticals, reminded everyone that this was not a ban.
“There is no ban. It is only a temporary restriction of a few APIs. They can export after getting permission of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade,” Vaghela told BioWorld.
Mahesh Doshi, national president of the Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association, also doesn't see any reason to panic because of the latest developments.
“It is only a restriction, not a ban. If companies need to export, they just need to report it to the authorities and follow the formalities,” Doshi told BioWorld.
He said he doesn’t expect the restrictions to cause any concerns for Indian pharma, especially since he said Chinese factories are moving back to production mode again.
Yusuf Hamied, the chairman of Indian drug giant Cipla Ltd., said the country’s big pharmas are currently well-stocked.
“The large Indian pharmaceutical companies have stocks that will last them for the next six months. If there are challenges in replenishing the stocks, then there might be issues,” Hamied told BioWorld.
He asserted that his corporation hasn’t encountered any issues with obtaining supplies so far. A recently issued note by Fitch Solutions backs that up on the multinational corporation front.
“Multinational pharmaceutical companies are well-prepared. While most large companies usually keep an inventory for about two to three months due to fluctuating supply and prices of bulk drugs, if the crisis continues, they will have to consider other options, including buying from other countries at a higher price,” reads the note. It also points to Basel, Switzerland-based Roche Holding AG as an example, since it has one API for global demand coming from China with existing stock reserves and the opportunity to source from another location.
India’s export restrictions make up around 10% of India’s export capacity, according to Stephen Hahn, commissioner for the U.S. FDA. Though the agency is still investigating the impact of this latest development, it has raised concerns about the U.S.’ overdependence on sources from abroad.
China is home to around 13% of the 1,788 facilities that manufacture APIs for drugs marketed in the U.S.
India’s pharma industry is even more dependent on China – it imports around 84% of its APIs from the country, according to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization. The imports are used to manufacture key medicines, such as paracetamol, metformin, ofloxacin, metronidazole, ampicillin and amoxycillin.
“Most of India’s API supply comes from China,” Hamied said. “If there were shortages from China, there might be an issue, but we have not come to that point yet,” although he conceded that the situation would be concerning if Chinese production output remained at a standstill for another six months.
The stall in China’s production due to the COVID-19 virus has also caused worries about its ripple effects on the global supply chain.
The outbreak has forced factories in China to delay re-opening along with travel restrictions imposed in some parts of the country. Orders that are supposed to be delivered in the second quarter of 2020 are expected to be mostly affected. But as China gains more control over the epidemic, factories in key sectors and in other provinces other than Hubei are starting to resume operations even though it will take them a while to go back to the same production level.
India is also considering ways to wean itself off the dependence on China. The Department of Pharmaceuticals is said to be working out an incentive scheme with government think tank Niti Aayog to encourage the domestic manufacturing of APIs.
A technical committee has also been set up to make recommendations for the manufacturing of APIs.


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NEW YORK — Education, not enforcement, is the way the Council of Fashion Designers of America thinks the industry should confront the growing controversy over too-thin models.
In the newly released CFDA Health Initiative, of which WWD has obtained a copy, the organization stresses the responsibility the industry has to protect the mental and physical health of models in the fashion business and recommends a series of guidelines. The recommendations are the first development in what is widely expected to be a series of responses as the initiative is further developed.
The guidelines were created by a committee of industry and health experts that was put together by CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg and Anna Wintour, editor in chief of Vogue. The committee consists of von Furstenberg; fitness specialist David Kirsch; Susan Ice, M.D., vice president and medical director of the Renfrew Center, which is devoted to treating eating disorders; nutritionist Joy Bauer; Nian Fish, creative director and senior vice president at public relations and event production firm KCD, and Louis Chaban, an agent at modeling agency DNA.
The guidelines, which are expected to be made public today, are:
- “Educate the industry to identify the early warning signs in an individual at risk of developing an eating disorder.
- “Models who are identified as having an eating disorder should be required to seek professional help in order to continue modeling. And models who are receiving professional help for an eating disorder should not continue modeling without that professional’s approval.
- “Develop workshops for the industry (including models and their families) on the nature of eating disorders, how they arise, how we identify and treat them, and complications if they are untreated.
- “Support the well-being of younger individuals by not hiring models under the age of 16 for runway shows; not allowing models under the age of 18 to work past midnight at fittings and shoots, and providing regular breaks and rest.
- “Supply healthy meals, snacks, and water backstage and at shoots and provide nutrition and fitness education.
- “Promote a healthy backstage environment by raising the awareness of the impact of smoking and tobacco-related disease among women, ensuring a smoke-free environment, and address underage drinking by prohibiting alcohol.
The American guidelines do not stipulate a body mass index for models. As reported, Italy’s Chamber of Fashion last month formed its “ethical code of self-regulation,” which would include granting models a license issued by a committee including Milanese city officials, the Chamber of Fashion, the Association of Fashion Services, and a scientific committee of doctors, nutritionists, psychologists and other experts. The code also stipulates that models have to be at least age 16, and comply with a body mass index of 18.5, set by the World Health Organization.
In the past week, several health experts have stepped forward to offer their opinions on the debate, which has become the most-talked about issue in the fashion industry since President Clinton raised the red flag at the fashion industry for promoting heroin chic. The Northbrook, Ill.-based Academy for Eating Disorders issued its own guidelines for the fashion industry, which includes a minimum age of 16, a medical certification for aspiring models confirming they don’t suffer from an eating disorder, and a minimum body mass index of 18.5.
Other experts on eating disorders, though, caution that the index can be a dangerous measuring point to promote, especially for young adolescents. The Highland Park, Ill.-based National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, for instance, has been working in the U.S. to fight eating disorders for 31 years, and takes a stance that a certified body mass index, while it has a variety of uses, can send out the wrong message to young girls, particularly at the beginning of their growth spurt, as they are most likely to naturally outgrow their baby fat. If the fashion industry enforced a set body mass index, it could send out the wrong message to these young, often impressionable girls, who could try to aspire toward this adult measurement.
“The body mass index should be expressed very carefully as far as adolescence is concerned,” said Keith Anderson, a spokesman for the association. “We believe that it is important to look toward the fashion industry to promote a healthy lifestyle and image. Hypothetically, women who meet the body mass index could still be very thin. Rather than legislation, it’s important to work towards images and lifestyles that are healthy.”
The CFDA is staging an event to discuss health and beauty on Feb. 5 to an invited audience of designers, models, agents, editors, industry leaders, and health experts and specialists from eating disorder organizations.


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The new Actros will take its place as the flagship for Mercedes-Benz Trucks, showcasing the best in-truck tech that parent company Daimler has to offer.
The biggest update to the Actros is the addition of Mercedes-Benz's Active Drive Assist system.
It permits low-level semi-autonomy whereby the truck itself is capable of accelerating, braking and steering in certain circumstances.
It will work at all speeds, so it has stop-and-go functionality, but Mercedes-Benz is keen to remind drivers that the human behind the wheel must maintain vigilance.
A big chunk of the Actros' improved aero comes from the new MirrorCam system.
As the name suggests, it ditches traditional side mirrors in favor of one camera mounted on each door.
The cameras beam images to 15-inch displays on the A-pillars.
The dashboard now sports two screens that show the status of its driver-assist systems, as well as all the readouts you'd find on a traditional dashboard, but with a Mercedes-flavored twist.
Heck, it even has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto now, to help reduce distraction.
Keep on truckin' through to see even more pictures of the new Mercedes-Benz Actros in action.


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Ford has opened itself up to a lot of ridicule lately, not the least of which is for its decision to resurrect the recently deceased Taurus name for the 2008 model year. Never ones to let their arch enemy off the hook, the GM fanboy community over at Cheers and Gears has produced these "mock" press materials regaling the return of the original Taurus' intoxicating allure. We can only imagine its authors trying to complete the project while doubled over on the floor laughing, which was our initial reaction when we first saw it. We have to give them credit, however, for getting all the details right, including the peek-a-boo Ford emblem, two-tone paint job, cornering light and those wheels, oh those wheels. The accompanying fake press release is not to be missed; you can find it after the jump.
[Source: Cheers and Gears]
FORD STRENGTHENS RETRO-80s LEADERSHIP WITH INTRODUCTION OF NEW 2008 TAURUS HERITAGE EDITION
* New edition features more than 5 engineering changes, making it more retro, cheezier, mellower and homlier.
* 2.5-liter High Swirl Combustion I-4 delivers an estimated 90 horsepower and 130 ft-lbs of torque.
* Ford Sync™ (not sink) offers new levels of connection, control, simplicity and personalization with the well known relability of Microsoft
* Taurus Heritage Edition will reach showrooms this fall.
CHICAGO, Feb. 7, 2007 - Ford Motor Company today announced it is bringing back the well-known Ford Taurus name, introducing a new special version – Heritage Edition – for its aging hipsters to go on sale this fall.
"Taurus has been an icon for rental sedans for more than two decades, and it's time to return this powerful name to where it belongs," said Mark Fields, Ford's President of The Americas, at the Chicago Auto Show. "Consumer awareness of the Taurus name is double the Five Hundred that it's replacing, and thats damn good enough for us to forget the latter altogether!.
"By giving these vehicles the bland looks of the 80's that consumers recognize at the same time we're making significant upgrades, we're confident that even more rental companies are going to be attracted to these great products in the future," Fields added.
The 2008-model Taurus Heritage Edition sedan will go on sale this fall, as an upgrade to the earth shattering ALL NEW Ford Taurus. The new Heritage Edition features a fully flush grille guard with peek-a-boo Ford emblem, a new dual color scheme, a new cornering light, more standard safety features – including dual airbags tuned to explode with that classic pop that made people file lawsuits in the early nineties– and other refinements to make it more retro, cheezier, mellower and homlier.


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- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Airbnb ends rentals in China to focus on outbound tourists
16:16 JST, May 24, 2022
BEIJING (AP) — Airbnb Inc. announced Tuesday it will stop representing short-term rental properties in China and focus its business in the country on serving Chinese tourists looking for lodgings abroad.
Airbnb joins a series of foreign internet companies including Yahoo Inc. and eBay Inc. that pulled out of China after running into fierce local competition and regulatory barriers.
“We have made the difficult decision to refocus our efforts in China on outbound travel and suspend our homes and Experiences of Hosts in China, starting from July 30, 2022,” said the chief strategy officer of Airbnb China, Nathan Blecharczyk, in a statement on its social media account.
Landlords represented by Airbnb have had more than 25 million guest arrivals since 2016, according to Blecharczyk’s statement.
The Chinese government has blocked foreign tourists from visiting since the pandemic hit in early 2020 and has told the Chinese public to avoid foreign travel that isn’t essential for business or study.
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The world’s second-richest man tweeted “as promised” in response to a report on a Tesla-focused blog that the we talks with several Indian states to open an office, showrooms, a research and development center — and possibly a factory.
Tesla Inc. has begun recruiting for leadership and senior level roles in India, according to a person familiar with the matter, as it gears up to break into one of the world’s biggest emerging car markets.
A Tesla fan club tweeted last week the company had brought on board a senior legal counsel.
Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk all but confirmed Tesla would enter India in January after months of speculation. The world’s second-riches man tweeted “as promised” in response to a report on a Tesla-focused blog that the automaker in talks with several Indian states to open an office, showrooms, a research and development center.
Tesla’s entry into India may well prove challenging. Unlike China, India has not prepared a welcome mat for electric cars. Tesla set up its first factory outside the US in Shanghai, and now China dominates sales of premium electric vehicles.
The costly price of Tesla cars is also seen as an important point. Although India is home to a budding middle class, expensive automobiles are far out of reach for the vast majority of the population. Lack of charging infrastructure is another obstacle to mass EV adoption
The state’s chief minister said in February, Tesla has picked Karnataka, a southern state whose capital is Bangalore, for its first plant, . Tesla hasn’t commented. The automaker has been negotiating with local officials for six months and is actively considering car assembly in the suburbs of Bangalore


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REDLANDS, Calif. — Flames ripped through a vast Southern California warehouse used by Amazon Friday morning.
The blaze broke out at the 1.1 million-square-foot warehouse complex in Redlands — east of Los Angeles County, near San Bernardino — some time around 5:30 a.m., FOX 11 reports.
Witnesses told the L.A. news station that about 100 workers had been inside the building when the fire ignited but everyone was safe and accounted for. No injuries were reported.
San Bernardino County Fire Department referred to the building as an Amazon Distribution Center, but a local official implied that Amazon did not own the building, while they do use its services.
“It’s a major structure fire at a warehouse, there are some Amazon trucks on the outside of it, it’s been reported that it’s a supplier to Amazon,” Redlands City Manager Charles M. Duggan Jr. told FOX 11. “It’s definitely not protest-related.”
Caltrans shut down freeways in the immediate area while crews tried to douse towering flames.
By 7:30 a.m., helicopter video showed much of the building’s roof had burned off, exposing hundreds of feet of burnt warehouse.
It was not immediately clear what started the blaze.


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There have been rumors that Tesla (TSLA) might open a factory in China.
Tesla CTO JB Straubel said it would make sense for Telsa to build a factory there when local demand reaches a "critical mass" and last year, Elon Musk suggested a China factory could happen around 2019.
Why would Tesla want to build a factory in China?
To avoid import tariffs and taxes and enjoy government subsidies. Local production would allow Tesla to sell its cars more cheaply, because it can avoid 25% import tariffs and 17% VAT.
Second, to regain momentum in the China market. The final price of the Model S in China is 48% higher than in the US, largely because of the taxes. As a result, Tesla sales in China tumbled 33.5% in 2015 and for 2016, the electric car maker already halved its sales target to only 5,000 cars versus 10,000 in 2015. A locally produced Model 3 could cost under 300,000 yuan (roughly $46,000), competitive against Chinese market leader BYD's (1211.Hong Kong) flagship Qin model, estimates Nomura Securities.
However, the devil is in the details. Tesla will need to find a local partner to build a joint venture, due to regulatory constraints.
But if Tesla is making progress, these stocks can benefit, according to Nomura's Leping Huang:
Sunny Optical (2382.Hong Kong, Buy, providing vehicle lens), Joyson (600699 CH,NR, BMS sensors/passive safety), Wuhu Token Science (300088 CH, NR, touch panels) and Navinfo (002405 CH, NR, maps) have already penetrated Tesla’s supply chain.


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BT winning broadband race
BT now has more than four million customers signed up to its broadband service.
In 2002, it had just 172,000 broadband customers and has taken on more than 2,000 a day since then.
The broadband market has become hugely competitive in recent years with BT battling against cable operator Virgin Media, satellite operator BSkyB, internet firm Tiscali and Carphone Warehouse.
BT said in July that it would focus its broadband strategy on quality and avoid the price war that has led some providers to offer laptops as incentives.
According to the company, Britain has now overtaken Japan, France, Germany and the US in terms of broadband penetration, and is only behind Canada in the G8 group of industrialised countries.
The number of broadband customers is one of the key performance indicators scrutinised by City analysts evaluating the health of telecoms companies.
BT has been trying to strengthen customer loyalty with its broadband TV service, BT Vision, which offers digital coverage from football to films.
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Mauritius among most searched destinations in Google’s Zeitgeist 2013 list
The island made it to the top three most searched destinations for Indian travelers, showed Google’s 2013 year-in-review list. (Image: accommodation.io)
Mauritius made it to the top three most searched destinations for Indian travelers, showed Google’s 2013 year-in-review list.
The island destination also made it to tenth place among the top ten trending destinations for tourists from UK.
And, with the world’s biggest charter airlines, Thomson Airways, planning to start flying its best-in-class 787 Dreamliners to Mauritius next summer from London’s Gatwick Airport, it appears that the beach paradise is indeed a dream destination for British travelers.
Coming to Google’s Zeitgeist charts, Macau and Maldives comprised the other entries in the top three destinations searched by Indian tourists. Macau was the only surprise entry on the top 10 list at first place, which otherwise featured Indian travel regulars like Bali, Bangkok and Singapore, among others.
But, in a slight set-back for relaxing sun-and-sand destinations such as Mauritius and Bangkok, long considered the staple for British holidaymakers, it appears that more active travel ideas such as cycling, sailing holidays and camping breaks have caught the fancy of the average UK tourist.
So, even as island destinations have made it to the top ten trending destinations in UK, it was Rome, New York and Amsterdam that comprised the top three.
Published Tuesday, the Zeitgeist charts reveal the hottest travel destinations by country.The data is divided into two kinds of lists.
The first reflects the ‘trending’ destinations – those that show the greatest growth in searches when compared to last year – while the second shows rankings of topics with the largest total search volumes.
Google covered 72 countries in the 2013 year-end Zeitgeist, compared to 55 countries in 2012. It is the company’s most comprehensive and global list so far.
Google also has some plans in store. It is about to merge Zeitgeist with Google Trends, as well as archive the past 12 years of Zeitgeist lists on the website.
It also plans to have interactive data visualization where you can check out the top daily trending searches from more than 150 countries on the planet.
Google is the world’s most popular search engine, with 71% of the global search engine market share.


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ChatGPt, an AI-powered chatbot that can solve complex questions in seconds, has been warned by Amazon against storing confidential data. Business insiders have reported that Amazon employees are using ChatGPT for research as well as to solve daily problems, based on messages shared on an internal Slack group.
The popularity of ChatGPT has caused the tech industry to sweat ever since it became popular last year, and now even Amazon is feeling the heat. A lawyer for Amazon has reportedly urged employees not to share code with the artificial intelligence chatbot, which was viewed by Insider in internal company communications viewed by the publication.
Insider reported earlier this week that the lawyer specifically requested that employees not share “any Amazon confidential information (including Amazon code you are working on)” with ChatGPT at all. This claim was backed up by screenshots of Slack messages reviewed by Insider. After the company received reports that ChatGPT’s responses have mimicked Amazon’s internal data, the guidance comes as a surprise to the company.
“This is important because your inputs may be used as training data for a further iteration of ChatGPT, and we would not wish its output to contain or resemble our confidential information (and I have already seen instances where its output is closely related to existing material),” the lawyer wrote further, as quoted by Insider.
There is probably no doubt that Amazon is right about ChatGPT obtaining its data, considering that, in a similar story, ChatGPT was alleged to have answered many of the interview questions correctly for a software development job at the company. A review of Slack channel transcripts also done by Insider shows that the AI was able to provide correct answers to software coding questions and was even able to improve some of Amazon’s code through its AI.
“I was honestly impressed!” an employee reportedly wrote on Slack. I am both scared and excited to see what impact ChatGPT will have on the way in which we conduct coding interviews. ChatGPT is still just a novelty at the moment, but many questions surrounding how it may be able to impact our daily lives have surfaced in recent weeks.
It is undeniable that ChatGPT has the potential to play a powerful role in a variety of fields, including education, since it passed a final exam in an MBA level course at Wharton despite some struggles with basic arithmetic (although it was able to pass the final exam in an MBA level course). OpenAI’s CEO believes school administrators need to get over their fears over the technology, since some school systems, such as New York City Department of Education, have banned the technology because of cheating concerns.
Amazon employees are said to have been impressed by the chatbot’s capabilities in the report. As a result of the testing, the Amazon Web Services cloud unit said that ChatGPT did a good job in answering customer support questions and creating “very strong” training documents for their customers. According to reports, engineers used the chatbot to review code as well, and the results were positive. It is reported that ChatGPT, however, had difficulty creating a “rap battle of epic proportions.”.
This does not mean that ChatGPT cannot improve and its developer, OpenAI, may add more capabilities in the coming months. Google is also reportedly working on a ChatGPT rival as many believe that the AI-powered chatbot poses a big threat to its search engine. The key difference between the two platforms is that ChatGPT offers a single answer based on sources available online.
Amazon’s internal Slack channel has many employee questions about how to use ChatGPT. Some employees asked Amazon if there were official guidelines for using ChatGPT on work devices. Others wondered if they were allowed to work with AI tools. An employee is urging Amazon’s cloud computing division, AWS, to clarify its stance on using “generative AI (AIGC) tools.”
Soon, an Amazon corporate lawyer joined the discussion. A screenshot of the internal communication in the Slack channel shows, The lawyer warned employees not to provide ChatGPT with “any Amazon confidential information,” including Amazon code being written. He also advised employees to follow the company’s existing non-disclosure policy, as some of ChatGPT’s responses looked very similar to Amazon’s internal situation.
These exchanges suggest that the sudden emergence of ChatGPT has raised many new ethical questions. ChatGPT is a conversational AI tool that responds to queries with clearer, smarter answers. The rapid proliferation of ChatGPT has the potential to disrupt several industries, including media, academia, and healthcare, prompting efforts to find new use cases for chatbots and their possible impact.
READ MORE: There is now an option to lock tabs that are incognito in Google Chrome
How employees share confidential information with ChatGPT, and what its developer, OpenAI, does with it could become a thorny issue. That’s especially important for Amazon since archrival Microsoft has invested heavily in OpenAI, including a new funding round this week that reportedly totals $10 billion.
Emily Bender, who teaches computational linguistics at the University of Washington, said: “OpenAI is far from transparent about how it uses data, but if the data is used for training, I expect companies to think: After several months of widespread use of ChatGPT, is it possible to obtain confidential information of a private company through carefully crafted prompts?”
Amazon has many internal safeguards for employees using ChatGPT. For example, screenshots of the exchange show that when employees use work devices to access the ChatGPT website, a warning message pops up saying they are about to access a third-party service that “may not be approved for use by Amazon Security.”
Employees participating in the Slack channel chat said they could bypass the message simply by clicking on the “Acknowledge” tab.
Staff speculated that the warning popup was to prevent employees from pasting confidential information onto ChatGPT, especially since they hadn’t seen the company’s policy on internal use.


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The Senate Commerce Committee postponed a hearing on privacy and online advertising.
The hearing, which was only called five days ago, was scheduled for Wednesday (June 18), but Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), who called for the hearing, asked that it be postponed. According to a spokesman for the senator, the issue appeared to be accommodating the potential witnesses.
Those witnesses were expected to talk about the state of online advertising and marketing, including behavioral marketing, the impact on users' privacy and what protections should be afforded by the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission.
The online-advertising issue has been heating up in Washington, D.C., driven by concerns about Internet-service providers’ access to data and the merging of search and advertising functions. Just last week, the chairman of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee said the ad partnership of Google and Yahoo would get a thorough going-over by his committee.
Key members of the House Telecommunications & Internet Subcommittee also weighed in with “serious concerns" about reports that Charter Communications planned to track Web-site visits by its Internet customers and share that information with an ad firm, asking it to hold off on those plans.
For some, the issue has become the new-media-ownership battleground. “Online privacy now is a kind of shorthand for who will control the new-media monopoly landscape,” said Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy. “With advertising revenues for traditional media deteriorating, the emerging main source of funding for content production will be online advertising.”
Chester has been pushing the FTC to pay more attention to the online-ad space.


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KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 11): Hotels in Malaysia reported a total of 95,972 room cancellations due to the fast-spreading 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), resulting in a loss of revenue of over RM40 million as of last Saturday (Feb 8).
This was revealed by the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) in a statement yesterday, which highlighted it has met with relevant ministries in preparation of a government stimulus package for the tourism industry.
MAH president Kamaruddin Baharin said most of the room cancellations are up until the end of this month, with the majority originating from China.
“There are also cancellations from local Malaysians, from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea and other countries.
“We are tracking cancellations from our member hotels and the number is growing everyday ... People are afraid to travel and that is a problem, despite the situation in Malaysia being well under control and we remain safe for tourism,” he said.
According to data provided by MAH, hotels in Kuala Lumpur and Sabah took the biggest blow, with losses of revenue due to cancellations for the period Jan 22 to Feb 29 amounting to RM11.29 million and RM10.48 million respectively.
MAH said it has met with Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi, as well as key industry stakeholders, in a meeting called by the finance ministry in preparation of the government stimulus package for the tourism industry.
“We are happy that both the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Tourism were receptive to our ideas, particularly on easing industry stakeholders’ cash flow constraints.
“The ministers openly expressed willingness to consider the temporary suspension of certain mandatory contributions by tourism employers, as well as to introduce a personal tax relief for individual Malaysians traveling within the country in 2020,” said MAH chief executive officer Yap Lip Seng.
Yap said the industry is also seeking a reduction in the rate of the tourism tax from RM10 to RM1 per room per night until the end of this year, to boost international tourist arrivals.
To encourage locals to travel and stay in hotels, MAH called for a personal income tax relief of up to RM1,000 per person for those staying in hotels registered with the tourism ministry.
The association also proposed a temporary exemption of service tax for hotels, as part of the Visit Malaysia Year’s initiative to counter the negative impact of the coronavirus.
It is also asking for a 10% discount on water bills for six months, a temporary suspension on employers' contribution to EPF and the minimum wage order, amongst others.
Furthermore, MAH said the industry could benefit from special set ups including a tourism marketing fund, recovery campaign and relief guarantee facility, and general banking support.
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HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. -- Kenny Syla works at the Pizza Grill in Hastings-on-Hudson and said the friendly atmosphere at the restaurant makes his job easy to love. The Pizza Grill has been open in Hastings for the past 10 years. Syla, an Eastchester native, works behind the counter, chats with customers and does a little bit of everything for the local pizza shop. It's the family orientated nature that separates this pizza shop from the rest according to Syla.
"We're pretty kid friendly," he said. "We take care of them like a family over here pretty much."
Hastings High School students Liam Byrne, Mike Iaciofano and John Cotaj agreed with the friendly atmosphere as all three relaxed with their food by the back of the restaurant.
With the family friendly atmosphere there are plenty of loyal customers. In fact Syla said he's seen recurring customers stopping in frequently for the last 10 years. With a large glass window in the back of the store, customers can get a glimpse of the Hudson River while they eat. When asked how he got into the pizza business, Syla said it's something that he's always enjoyed.
"I loved pizza since I was a kid, I'm a pizza fanatic," he said. "I love what I do."
Syla said he got into the food industry because he knew the owner and the job security was tough to beat.
"Everybody always wants to eat," he said.
The Warburton Avenue located pizza store takes pride in its quality of food. Syla said everything is made from scratch and that toppings are carefully cooked into pizzas, rather than thrown on top.
"The only thing we get pre-ordered is the sodas," he said.
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Samsung shares fall on weak earnings outlook
- Staff Washington Business Journal
Shares dropped by more than $8 billion on Thursday over concerns that the mobile phone marker will continue to see sales growth slow. The drop was the biggest single-day drop for Samsung in seven months.
Samsung manufactures mobile devices, semiconductors, televisions and home appliances. Mobile devices make 50 percent of Samsung's operating profit over the past two years.
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(Reuters) – Peloton Interactive Inc., the exercise bike company, has sued Lululemon Athletica Inc. after the sportswear manufacturer threatened its own lawsuit over Peloton's new clothing line.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court on Wednesday in Manhattan. night, 2-1 / 2 month after Peloton launched its clothing brand after the end of its five-year partnership with Lululemon, a break that Peloton was called friendly.
Peloton said that Lululemon claims that five of its bras and leggings for women products Bra, High Neck Bra, Cadent Peak Bra, Cadent Laser Dot Bra and Cadent Laser Dot Leggings – infringed on six Lululemon design patents "lacking merit."
treadmill, after sales growth slowed as more people received the covid-1
In a letter dated November 11, Lululemon's lawyer stated that the Vancouver, British Columbia-based company would sue the Peloton unless it stopped selling its new ones. clothes.
But the Peloton said that its products and Lululemon's designs are easy to distinguish, and Lululemon's designs are too "obvious" to deserve patent protection.
"In addition to the many clear and obvious "differences in design, Peloton and Lululemon's brands and logos are also distinctive and well-known, making confusion between products a virtual impossibility," said Peloton.
The platoon wants a court declaration that they have not infringed Lululemon's patent and trade dress and that Lululemon's patent claims are invalid.
"At Lululemon, we are known for our product innovation and iconic design," Lululemon said in a statement on Friday. "We will defend our property rights, to protect the integrity of our brand and to protect our intellectual property."
were concerned that a new variant of the corona virus would spread and keep more people at home longer.
The lawsuit is filed by Peloton Interactive Inc. v. Lululemon Athletica Canada Inc., U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 21-10071.


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Catford Broadway has officially become a pedestrian zone to help attract more people to shop and socialise in the area.
It means any vehicles using the street as a shortcut or for parking would be slapped with a fine.
Cyclists can still use the pedestrian zone, which also covers a section of Brookdale Road between Catford Broadway and the entrance to Catford Shopping Centre.
More than £2.1 million has been pumped into revamping Catford Broadway including new lighting and seating and improving the look of shop fronts.
The funding has come from the Mayor of London and Lewisham Council.
For more information on the changes to Catford Broadway visit lewisham.gov.uk/inmyarea/regeneration/Catford-regeneration/Pages/Catford-Broadway.aspx
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Sharing files has always been an integral part of the Internet. During the past few years, some file sharing services have complicated the exchange, making it difficult for users to easily share things with others.
Pipe, a brand new Facebook app that we showed you recently is setting out to change the world’s perception on file sharing.
The Pipe application provides a simple and intuitive UI, literally a pipe coming out of the computer screen into which the user just drags and drops a file. On the other side, the file emerges out of the friend’s Pipe.
Pipe’s founders and management team are experienced entrepreneurs from the digital media space. The buzz is swirling around this Berlin-based start up, and their innovative new service with popularity and is growing by the day.
“We believe that privacy is very important. People and organisations aren’t being as careful as they should.”
Pipe’s mission is centered around simplicity. Anyone from a 5-year old to a senior citizen can use the app to share photos stuff. Its founders gained inspiration from the one-on-one connection.
In addition to the app’s simplicity, Pipe’s CEO Simon Hossell tells us it’s incredibly secure as well.
“We believe that privacy is very important. People and organisations aren’t being as careful as they should,” Hossell says.
The app’s interaction is completely private because you have to be Facebook friends with the person you’re sharing with. (The person on the other end of the “pipe” must be logged into Facebook Chat too.) The process almost eliminates spam and other nasty things that can happen with regular file-sharing.
“The goal is to bring this very simple, easy to use, and intuitive app to everyone,” says Hossell says. “We are focused on rolling out the app and making it a service that is available to everybody everywhere. We want to make sure we do this securely, simply, and in a fun way.”
Pipe plans to launch to the public in the very near future. (The app is still in private beta for now.) Hossell, along with partners Marco Rydmann and Philip Eggersglüss, are hoping that users will find the app easy to use and intuitive.
“Facebook has a file transfer feature but it is very clunky and difficult to use, add the fact that most people don’t even know its available,” Hossell says.
The group is launching its Facebook app first because because of the social network’s 800 million plus reach. They felt that there was real need for easy file sharing between friends.
“We felt that social media was missing a one to one interaction. Before Pipe there wasn’t a simple and fun way to interact in a private sense,” Hossell noted.
Next steps for the company include branching out to different social networks and mobile platforms. “We want to make this available to everyone.”
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Fashion and lifestyle magazines aimed at the over sixties are appearing on newsstands across Japan. And by taking a positive and inclusive approach to a long-neglected demographic, publishers are realising the spending power of the ‘nice generation’.
“From our sixties onwards, let’s enjoy being stylish once again!” proclaimed the launch issue of monthly magazine Suteki na Ano Hito (That Nice Person). Beyond a beaming portrait of 64-year-old cover model Anna Yuki, fashion shoots featured grey-haired women in a range of casual and carefree looks, as well as styling tutorials, nutritional advice and skincare tips. Published by Takarajimasha, the magazine’s humble approach hones in on the fashion tastes of mature women, sending a clear message to fully embrace life after 60 and be true to – and proud of – yourself.
As Japan’s population ages rapidly, addressing the needs of the so-called silver generation has been a topic of widespread discussion. Despite this, fashion magazines – here and around the world – have largely been skewed towards the youthful. Older readers were either catered for with patronising titles or not at all. “Many businesses saw this generation as having little potential, believing that older women wouldn’t be interested in fashion and would only buy essential items,” says Suteki na Ano Hito’s editor in chief, Keiko Kamishita, who launched the magazine last September. “Women in their sixties are healthy and socially active so it’s important for them to be stylish too.” They also have plenty of spending power, which should please advertisers.
During the magazine’s development, Kamishita and her editorial team began to meet women in this age bracket at get-togethers at hotel lounges and cafés. These informal discussions revealed that the women were just as interested in fashion and culture as they had been in their younger years. “These women are different to past generations,” says Kamishita. “From a young age they read fashion magazines and, as western culture was introduced, began thinking about how to look stylish. But on entering their sixties there were no fashion magazines for them. It was a great source of frustration.”
As the publication took shape, these face-to-face conversations informed the content in sectors such as fashion, lifestyle, beauty and health. The decision was made to use models in their sixties, including readers and street-scouted talent, while the readership would be addressed not as seniors or the elderly but as the suteki-sedai (nice generation).
Since the magazine’s launch the communication channels have remained open: regular gatherings continue and reader events provide a platform for further dialogue, while questionnaires in each issue source feedback on favourite looks, topics of interest and in-demand products. This back-to-basics approach has resonated with the readership, an estimated 70 per cent of whom are over the age of 60.
Suteki na Ano Hito is not alone in catering for Japan’s mature readers. The bimonthly lifestyle magazine Ku:nel, which underwent a renewal in 2016, targets women in their fifties and above through content spanning fashion, food and interiors. Published irregularly since 2014, Tsuru & Hana focuses on the wisdom of the older generation, sharing their stories and life lessons.
“People are our greatest asset,” says Kamishita. “We use a traditional way of making a magazine. At a time when you can find any kind of information online, carefully addressing our readers’ needs and searching for women to feature takes a lot of effort. But it also builds empathy, which has a positive impact on sales.”
Building on the success of the first two issues – all 100,000 copies of each sold swiftly – plans are in place to develop the magazine further in 2020. Highlighting feedback from readers, particularly those in regional areas who are unable to purchase the items featured in the magazine, Kamishita hopes to eventually develop a mail-order catalogue – the next step in publishing a product worthy of the stylish suteki-sedai.


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New Delhi: India’s economic growth rate will slow to 6.6 per cent in next financial year from an expected 6.9 per cent in 2022-23, the World Bank said in its latest economic update. India however is expected to be the fastest growing economy of the seven largest emerging-market and developing economies (EMDEs), it said.
The growth rate of 6.9 per cent in current fiscal year (April 2022 to March 2023) compares with 8.7 per cent in the previous year. For 2024-25, the growth rate is projected at 6.1 per cent. “The slowdown in the global economy and rising uncertainty will weigh on export and investment growth,” it said.
The government has increased infrastructure spending and various business facilitation measures. However, it will crowd-in private investment and support the expansion of manufacturing capacity. “Growth is projected to slow, to 6.6 per cent in FY2023/24 before falling back toward its potential rate of just above 6 per cent,” it said.
The GDP expanded by 9.7 per cent on an annual basis in the first half of fiscal year 2022-23, reflecting strong private consumption and fixed investment growth.
Consumer inflation in most of the last year was above the Reserve Bank’s upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent, prompting the policy rate to be raised by 2.25 percentage points between May and December.
India’s goods trade deficit has more than doubled since 2019, and was USD 24 billion in November, with deficits for crude petroleum and petroleum products (USD 7.6 billion) and other commodities (for example, ores and minerals at USD 4.2 billion) accounting for the widening. —PTI


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Worries about the increasing debt of Fiat S.p.A. brought the company’s stock lower on Tuesday while it moved closer to complete a merger with Chrysler Group by outlining plans for a single management team.
Fiat Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne, who also runs Chrysler, increased his targets for this year on the back of forecast-beating results for the second quarter that incorporated Chrysler for the first time since Fiat took a majority stake in it last month.
However, the new targets were below the estimates of some analysts. Worries about debts, which are higher than expected at year-end, pushed Fiat shares 4.5 percent lower at the market close to 7.17 euros.
The joint management team, which Marchionne intends to unveil in the next few days, is seen as a logical step to bring the two companies closer to a full-blown merger. However, analysts stated that Fiat has to explain first why its debt is growing, and how it might finance the purchase of the Chrysler share that it does not already own.
A London-based analyst who sought anonymity shared that everything about the operating line seems “good” except for the “big confusion” surrounding the net debt figure. The analyst said that everyone’s interested to find the reason for the 2 billion net outflow in the second half.
Fiat, which is the sixth largest vehicle manufacturer in Europe by market share, estimates net industrial liabilities of 5.0 to 5.5 billion euros at the end of 2011, versus the estimates of analyst for the whole year of 4.8 billion euros and a second-quarter debt of 3.4 billion euros.
When asked regarding the debt levels in a conference with analysts, Marchionne stated that the pro forma combined net debt remained at 6.3 billion euros in 2010, thus, the projected figure for this year would be an improvement.


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Posted by Allen Young
on May 17, 2015 in guides
| Comments Off on Guild Wars II Twilight Assault update revealed
ArenaNet today announced Twilight Assault, the newest content update for massively multiplayer online role-playing game Guild Wars II, launching on October 1. The developer said the update “continues ArenaNet’s commitment” to releasing new content for players every two weeks, a rate it claims is faster than any other Western competitor. “In Twilight Assault, trouble is stirring in Twilight Arbor and rumors abound that Scarlet Briar, the devious leader of the Aetherblades, is behind the suspicious activity,” reads a line from the...


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OMAHA – Nebraska Beef Ltd. is suing Meyer Natural Foods LLC, Loveland, Colo., to settle a dispute over the liability for beef that was recalled last summer and the cost of the cattle involved, according to The Associated Press. Nebraska Beef recalled nearly 7 million pounds of beef in two separate recalls last summer after its products were linked to at least 76 cases of E. coli illnesses.
Some of the recalled meat came from cattle that Meyer Natural Foods LLC bought and sent to Nebraska Beef's plant for processing. Bill Lamson, Nebraska Beef attorney, said the case is primarily a dispute on expenses between the companies.
To post your comments on this story, click here:[email protected].


text: OnStar found itself at the center of a firestorm after it sent out an e-mail notifying customers that it planned to collect data from vehicles even after service had expired or been terminated. That is, unless the (soon to be former) users specifically opted out. Well, in a statement today, President Linda Marshall changed course and announced the post-subscription data collection would be opt-in only. The company still hoped some departing customers would volunteer to maintain a connection so that it can "provide former customers with urgent information about natural disasters and recalls affecting their vehicles." (They're just looking out for you buddy.) Even if OnStar loses out on boatloads of valuable data, at least the company won't have to listen to Chuck Schumer's public chastising any more -- that man lays a better guilt trip than your mother and grandmother combined. Check out the full announcement after the break.


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It’s been a year since the Yota dual-screen handset was announced, but the good news is that it’s finally available. Austria, France Germany and Spain will be the first countries to get the Android smartphone, but it won’t come cheap, retailing at 499 Euros.
YotaPhone dual-screen smartphone now on sale, LCD and E Ink displays front …Pocket-lint.com
Dual-display Yota smartphone and e-reader on sale today for €499The Verge
YotaPhone with dual screens launched; 4.3-inch LCD on front, greyscale e …IBNLive
all 22 news articles
Source: Tech News From Google


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Bookmaker Paddy Power celebrated a strong set of results in 2015, after posting a sharp increase in pre-tax profit in its final 12 months as standalone company and lifting its full year dividend. In 2015 Paddy Power merged with sector peer Betfair to create a gambling giant worth approximately €10bn (£7.7bn, $11bn) with operations in Ireland, Britain, Australia and US.
In the 12 months to 31 December 2015, the Ireland-based bookmaker saw profit rise 8% year-on-year to €180m. Net revenue jumped 24% from the corresponding period in 2014 to €1.1bn, exceeding the €1bn barrier threshold for the first time, while operating profits grew 10% to €180m after the company paid €66m in new taxes and product fees.
The London-listed group, which lifted its dividend 18% year-on-year to 180 euro cents per share, attributed the rise in revenue to a strong performance in its online and retail divisions, which both registered double digit growth. Paddy Power's online business saw revenue increase 23% year-on-year, with the sportsbook and eGaming divisions logging a 28% and 10% gain respectively.
In the retail arm, revenue in the UK grew 15% year-on-year, while revenue from retail operations across the Irish Seas was 14% higher than in the previous 12 months. On a like-for-like basis, revenue climbed 6% in the UK and 11% in Ireland, the bookmaker said, adding it had opened a net 20 new units in Britain and 14 units in Ireland over the course of 2015.
Meanwhile, in the 12 months to the end of last year, punters staked bets worth a combined €8.65bn with Paddy Power, a 23% year-on-year increase and the group said it expected the figure to increase once the integration of Betfair is completed.
"The revenue growth momentum has continued and trading across the group is in line with our expectations," said group chief executive Breon Corcoran.
Paddy Power added it has begun working on a strategy aimed at delivering £50m worth of savings each year and it remains confident of achieving its goal, stressing the need to ensure the merger is quickly finalised but without jeopardising the existing business ahead of a key trading period that encompasses the Cheltenham Festival, Aintree and the Euro 2016 football championships.


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There are nine fixes with UPB5.230623.009 for Pixel phones, as well as the Pixel Fold and Tablet. It’s notable that Google has moved back to a single build. Looking ahead, this update is still running the August 2023 security patch, with another release bringing September’s seeming likely.
- Fixed an issue where apps crashed in some cases after a
CallStylenotification was posted.
- Fixed various issues that could cause call or carrier service interruptions.
- Fixed an issue where the system was using an inefficient path when placing CPU restrictions on apps running in the background.
- Fixed issues with
SurfaceFlingerthat were causing a loss in system performance.
- Fixed an issue on Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet devices where the taskbar sometimes turned invisible while interacting with it.
- Fixed an issue on Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet devices where the animation on animated wallpapers stuttered when launching apps.
- Fixed an issue on Pixel Fold devices where the interface layout was misaligned while customizing the Home screen.
- Fixed an issue on Pixel Fold devices where the clock on the lock screen was flickering while animating.
- Fixed various issues that were impacting system stability and performance.
If you’re currently enrolled in the Android Beta Program and running the latest Beta 5 builds, you will automatically get offered an over-the-air (OTA) update to Android 14 Beta 5.3.
Android 14 Beta 5.3 with the August 2023 security patch is available for the Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 5, Pixel 5a, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7a, Pixel Tablet, and Pixel Fold, as well as the Android Emulator.
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A Sub 500cc Motorcycle
Royal Enfield is a king in the Indian market for bikes under 500cc, but Honda has said it wants to take the company on at its own game. According to Indian Autos Blog, media outlets received an invitation to a new motorcycle reveal from Honda that looks like it will be targeted right at Royal Enfield.
The event is to take place on September 30th at 11:55 am. Honda’s invite showed a crown and had the words “Block your date. Bring the red carpets out. Get ready for a majestic launch.” It also said, “Your Highness is arriving on 30th September 2020.”
There are no official details about this new machine at this time. However, it’s clear that the company is targeting Royal Enfield. Multiple publications noted that this new bike will likely be a premium motorcycle in the 300 to 500cc category, which would properly target Royal Enfield.
It’s unclear if this motorcycle will be for markets outside of India, but I’d expect not. At least not at first. If, however, the company sees success with its new model, I wouldn’t put it past Honda to bring it to North America.


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Verizon eyes its own video streaming service
Reuters reports that wireless carrier Verizon is currently holding talks with content providers on starting an online video service. Verizon is apparently talking with the providers about a web-based TV service for mobile platforms. The tip about the service came from Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam on Tuesday.
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Verizon says that its goal "is to work with content providers."
"I have personally had discussions with the CEOs of the large content companies, and we would love to partner with them to see how we can take FiOS contact mobilely across the country." McAdam said.
The service that Verizon is talking up would be served over wireless connections, not just broadband in the home. This sounds like a great way to consumer the meager data allotments Verizon offers to me.
"I think you can actually get a virtuous cycle where broadcast viewing goes up and over-the-top viewing goes up, if you time this properly," McAdam said.
McAdam also noted that the company expects Netflix to pat for faster video delivery as part of the interconnect deal. Netflix made a similar deal with Comcast recently.
"I have spoken live and via email with (Netflix CEO) Reed Hastings, and I believe that we will get some sort of an arrangement with them as well," said McAdam.
I can’t help but wonder what effect Netflix paying for faster service from ISPs will have on subscribers. If the costs go up for Netflix, odds are the costs will go up for subscribers.


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KeePass is an open source password manager that you can get for your PC. Now the developer has it partially ported it over to BlackBerry 10. The app itself keeps track of all your passwords in one place. All you need to do is have one password to get in. But for now this version […]
There has been a lot of talks on the touchy subject Netflix on BlackBerry 10. We heard about another report from AllThingsD that “Sources say Netflix isn’t developing a version of its app for BlackBerry 10 — native or port. And the company confirms those reports: It has chosen to forgo the platform entirely for […]
This is an older-android version of Instagram that has recently leaked out for BB10 fans. While this is a none official version it brings local uploads to the device a feature that’s been sorely lacking.
8Tracks a popular internet radio option has ported their app to BlackBerry 10 as well as the Playbook. 8Tracks has been around for a while but has just recently ported their app over to BlackBerry. The app allows you to listen to music that was uploaded by other people or you can create your own […]
If You Have More Than One Twitter Account, There Is A Way To Use Them All On BlackBerry 10 With A Work Around
There are a lot of people out there who have more than one Twitter account. Personal accounts, groups, work etc etc. But how can you access and use them all on BlackBerry 10? There is a way to do it. A work around was made using an Android port as a short term solution. hit […]
Research In Motion has recently partnered with Soc.Io Mall to to bring applications over to BlackBerry 10, Soc.Io Mall is an Android app store. Soc.Io Mall has recently set up a website to aid developers in porting their applications over to BlackBerry 10. They ave also set up a contest where you can “Win BlackBerry […]
@NICKVALENTINO has put together a nice site that lets you auto-tweet the big name app providers to tell them you want them to support BlackBerry10. With that said what are you waiting for? Head to PortToBlackberry10.com and tweet your favorite apps, get them onto the platform #TeamBlackBerry. We are the future of mobile, we’re taking BlackBerry back to […]
Mobile LinkHeroCraft has released a new game into BlackBerry World! The Tiny Bang Story is now available for the BlackBerry PlayBook! The Tiny Bang Story has been ported over from Android from the looks of it. Tiny Planet, a gorgeous steampunk inspired world sadly devastated by a recent asteroid strike. Your mission is to […]
Like DoomGLES plays Doom on the Playbook, the guy behind it Michaël Ryssen has gone and ported Heretic to the Playbook in the same manner. Before you download the port, you should know that you have to already have a copy of the game. Read more info on that here. hit the break for a […]
Smiley’s Pop is a new game for the Playbook. It actually has roots in iOS on the iPhone and iPad. The developer of the game Ovogame decided to bring it to the Playbook.
Physics games are starting to take hold in today’s gaming world. One of the most famous games would be “Cut the Rope” this game is available for the PlayBook via the android player. Another game that uses the physics will be Gravity Lab. Hit the break for more information regarding this game.
BlackBerry® Runtime For Android Applications Now Supports The Android In-App Billing APIs In The 2.1.0 Developer Beta Build
With the release of the Playbook OS 2.1.0 Beta build, you can not only port your Android apps to the Playbook, but you can also do in app billing. By adding this feature, developers make it easier for users to make the purchase, and give the developers more revenue. From the DevBlog: There are a […]
PlayDoom for the Blackberry PlayBook has been updated to version 1.0.9. PlayDoom is an awesome port of Doombased on Mike Welsh’s flash version. It features some basic multitouch controls and (obviously) great framerates. Now the full version of Doom (if you own it) is also playable!