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Everything you need to know about R.s.market: news, reviews, in-depth analysis, opinion and more
Everything you need to know about R.s.market: news, reviews, in-depth analysis, opinion and more
New Delhi, June 18 (IANS) Domestic air passenger traffic increased 4.81 percent in May, the civil aviation ministry said Tuesday.
Melbourne, June 18 (ANI): Pictures of Australian spin legend Shane Warne's luxurious mansion, which has been reportedly put on the market for 15 million dollars, have been revealed to the public.
Kolkata, June 17 (IANS) Watchmaker Timex Group India, which currently enjoys eight to nine percent market share in organised watch sector, Monday said it is aiming to grab one to two percent market share in every year from 2014.
New Delhi, June 17 (IANS) After football, hockey could be another field for possible cooperation in training between Argentina and India, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said Monday after talks with visiting Argentinian Foreign Minister Hector Timerman here.
New Delhi, June 17 (IANS) The telecom regulator Monday reduced national roaming calls and SMS tariff ceilings from next month and said it would allow telecom service providers to offer national mobile roaming to subscribers for a fixed fee from the same date.
Chennai, June 17 (IANS) Global automobile major Ford Motor Company considers India as a major market for it to grow as well as ship out more cars to other markets even as it is bringing down production in line with the demand in Europe, said a top company official.
Sydney, June 17 (IANS/EFE) A temporary ban has been imposed by the Australian government on the sale of 19 synthetic drugs in the wake of the death of a teenager who used a substance similar to LSD, the media reported.
Geneva, June 17 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Morocco have held discussions on the ways to share expertise regarding manpower and the labour market.
Baghdad, June 17 (IANS) A series of car bombings killed 30 people in different cities of Iraq, reported BBC citing the police and medics Sunday.
Hathras, June 16 (ANI): Expressing concern over paid news, cross-media ownership and the declining role of editors and their editorial freedom, Vice-President Hamid Ansari has stressed the need for corrective action to restore the credibility of the media.
Mumbai, June 15 (IANS) Key indices of Indian equities markets closed in the red for the second consecutive week, with benchmark Sensex losing 251 points, due to persistent weakness in the rupee and sluggish growth numbers.
Mumbai, June 15 (IANS) His grandfather, late cinema legend Raj Kapoor, continues to be a rage in Russia and now actor Ranbir Kapoor is set to promote his latest release "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani" (YJHD) in the country.
London, June 14 (IANS) State-owned Air India is looking to operate new international routes on its newly-acquired fuel-efficient Boeing 787 aircraft to gain market share and cut losses incurred on the domestic sector.
Kolkata, June 14 (IANS) Drugmaker Sanofi Friday said its animal health division Merial has completed acquisition of the animal health division of Dosch Pharmaceuticals to enter India's growing animal health market.
Wellington, June 14(ANI): Kate Moss has reportedly posed for 'Playboy' to mark the 60th anniversary of the adult magazine.
Bangalore, June 13 (IANS) Karnataka's Congress government's ambitious scheme to provide 30kg rice per month to poor families at Re.1 a kg is expected to take off by July 10 and not July 1 as rescheduled from the earlier deadline of June 1.
Moscow, June 13 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Former Russian football star Valery Karpin is being sued for $29.3 million in a Spanish court over a real estate dispute, La Voz de Galicia newspaper reported Thursday.
New Delhi, June 13 (IANS) Amazon has announced that Kindle Fire HD 7 inches and Kindle Fire HD 8.9 inches will be available for the Indian customers starting June 27.
New Delhi, June 12 (IANS) The Supreme Court Wednesday declined to interfere with the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) order directing 11 cement makers to deposit 10 percent of Rs.6,200 crore penalty imposed on them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for alleged cartelisation to control cement prices.
Rome, June 12 (IANS/AKI) A Romanian national has been arrested in the Italian capital on suspicion of stealing telephone wires weighing around a tonne.
New Delhi, June 11 (IANS) The Indian rupee, which has plunged by almost 2.5 percent in the last two sessions and hit a record low of 58.95 against a dollar Tuesday, is likely to stabilise in the next three to four days, a top government officials said.
Canberra, June 11 (IANS) Australian Minister for Resources and Energy Gary Gray Tuesday called on the uranium industry to work with all parliaments to help meet rapidly growing global demand.
London, June 11 (ANI): American financial service company Standard and Poor (SandP) have downgraded their ratings for the US economy from AAA to AA+ owing to the nation's improving economy.
Mumbai, June 11 (IANS) The Indian rupee Tuesday hit a new record low of 58.95 against a dollar on continued worries over current account deficit and increased demand for the US currency from importers in the absence of any intervention by the central bank.
Baghdad, June 11 (IANS) At least 20 people were killed and over 50 injured in different incidents of violence in Iraq Monday.
Mumbai/New Delhi, June 10 (IANS) The Indian rupee registered its biggest fall in almost two years Monday, slumping to below 58 against the dollar for the first time on escalating worries over the country's current account deficit (CAD) and firming of the US currency globally.
Mumbai, June 10 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities market closed Monday's trade 0.06 percent or 11.84 points up.
Bhubaneswar, June 10 (IANS) City-based Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University Monday said a record 1,651 of its graduating students bagged job offers during a recent campus drive, despite the tough market conditions.
Mumbai/New Delhi, June 10 (IANS) The Indian rupee registered its biggest fall in almost two years Monday and slumped to below 58 against a dollar for the first time, on escalating worries over current account deficit and firming of the US currency globally.
Berlin, June 10 (IANS) German football club Borrussia Dortmund turned down Bayern Munich's move for Polish striker Robert Lewandowski.
New Delhi, June 8 (IANS) A 14-year-old girl was raped by her neighbour here, police said Saturday. The accused is absconding.
Washington, June 8 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Data technology developed by Russia is fighting suspicion to compete in US markets, developers said, amid mushrooming revelations about secret US government data surveillance programmes.
Beijing, June 8 (IANS) Aircraft giant Airbus will deliver over 100 passenger planes to China this year, the company said Saturday.
Chennai, June 8 (IANS) The structural imbalance in the Indian banking system's funding dilutes the passing of benefits derived from the monetary policy changes to customers, according to India Ratings and Research.
Beijing, June 8 (Xinhua-ANI): European aircraft manufacturer Airbus will deliver over 100 passenger planes to China this year, with its four-year deliveries to China totaling over 400, the company announced on Saturday.
New Delhi, June 8 (IANS) Forget travelling with guide books and maps. ASMALLWORLD (ASW), a private international travel and lifestyle club, is at your service, to ease your travel woes with real people, offering deals and offers at every step - stay, food, shopping or leisure.
Washington, June 8 (ANI): Playboy magazine, which recently released its first Hebrew language edition in Israel, has not had a negative reaction till now, according to CEO of Playboy Israel.
Thiruvananthapuram, June 7 (IANS) Technopark headquartered IBS Software Services has been awarded the prestigious "Information Technology for the Air Cargo Industry Award 2013", instituted by Britain-based Air Cargo Week.
Beijing, June 7 (IANS) Now is an incredibly exciting time to be pursuing the movie business in China because the country presents a promising market full of opportunities, says Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks Studio.
Kolkata, June 7 (IANS) The recent fall of the rupee against the dollar has brought more smiles to the faces of India's apparel exporters who have been upbeat over rising consumer confidence in the US, one of the major export destinations.
Mumbai, June 7 (IANS) The two telecom ventures headed by the Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, Friday announced yet another accord - this time to share the nation-wide telecom towers infrastructure of Reliance Communications.
Sydney, June 7 (ANI): Australian spin legend Shane Warne has reportedly listed his luxurious Melbourne mansion on the market, with the asking price believed to be around 15 million dollars.
Washington, June 7 (ANI): Americans' optimism about the direction of the economy is slightly up from April and is the highest in years, a new poll has found.
Bogota, June 7 (IANS/EFE) Chile has the highest 2-megabyte broadband Internet penetration rate for landline and mobile connections in Latin America, a report released in Bogota said.
Washington, June 7 (IANS) With an eye on India's vast market, a leading US trade group has engaged two powerful firms to lobby for changes in the proposed comprehensive immigration reform bill to attract skilled technical professionals from India.
New Delhi, June 6 (IANS) Amid a slowdown in petrol car sales, car market leader Maruti Suzuki Thursday said it will shut down its Gurgaon and Manesar plants Friday.
New Delhi, June 6 (IANS) The CPI-M Thursday asked the government to show "special resolve" -- instead of convening a special session of parliament -- to ensure food security to the people.
Mumbai, June 6 (ANI): Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today said that there was no cause for alarm on the rupee decline, and added that the capital inflows were strong.
Sydney, June 6 (ANI): Microsoft has unveiled the updated version of its Windows 8 operating system.
London, June 6 (IANS) Singer-turned-fashion designer Victoria Beckham feels fashion is where she belongs.
New Delhi, June 6 (IANS) Crop tops, ruffled dresses and kimonos - the retro styles are back as holiday wear and designers declare them "must haves" for trendy women keen to look "feminine" and "sensuous" while unwinding themselves.
Rome, June 6 (IANS/AKI) Labour ministers from Italy, France, Germany and Spain will meet in the Italian capital for talks on jobs, ahead of a European Union summit later this month, the Italian government said.
Bangalore, June 5 (IANS) Ricoh, a global leader in imaging devices, has inked an agreement with Vayavya Labs, a startup based here, for tweaking the performances of its devices using Vayavya's DDGen system.
Chennai, June 5 (IANS) The steel service centre (SSC) market is expected to log accelerated growth in the next five to 10 years as industries like automotives, white goods, fabricators and others need to reduce their inventory costs to be competitive, according to consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.
New York, June 5 (ANI): An Austin, Texas-based candy company has released a lollipop that supposedly tastes like breast milk.
Brasilia, June 5 (IANS/EFE) The Brazilian government has announced that it is increasing the amount of money available for subsidized loans to the farm sector by 18 percent to 136 billion reais ($68 billion).
Los Angeles, June 5 (IANS) Robert Downey Jr may be a big name in filmdom, but he doesn't shy away from helping friends. Recently the actor tried to bail out an old pal, who refused to take the help.
Kolkata, June 4 (IANS) The effectiveness of fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) has taken a hit as it was yet to realise a majority of the penalties it had imposed, former CCI head Vinod Dhall said here Tuesday.
Brussels, June 4 (IANS) The European Union (EU) Tuesday decided to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of Chinese solar panels, cells and wafers, Xinhua reported.
Bangalore, June 4 (IANS) Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim Ventures LLC selected Indian global software major Wipro Ltd as its strategic IT partner for five years, the group company said Tuesday.
Hyderabad, June 4 (IANS) Sresta Natural Bioproducts Tuesday launched organic flakes and juices under its brand "24 Mantra Organic" in the market.
Kolkata, June 4 (IANS) Bata India Tuesday said it is planning to open standalone concept stores for ladies footwear over the next two years.
Brasilia, June 4 (IANS) Brazil recorded a trade surplus of $760 million in May, the lowest since 2002, authorities said.
Washington, June 4 (IANS) US construction spending rose less than expected in April, boosted mainly by higher outlays on private projects, the Department of Commerce reported.
Washington, June 4 (ANI): Athletic apparel company, Lululemon, whose Luon black yoga pants were pulled out of the market for being too sheer, has started putting them back into shelves after fixing the see-through problem in them.
Under extreme circumstances, when India's No.2 IT services firm Infosys Ltd is losing market share to the like of TCS and HCL, with disappointing profit margins and thumps down from stock market, the company found no alternative but to recall its co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, 66, as executive chairman for next five years.
Kolkata, June 3 (IANS) German luxury car major Mercedes-Benz Monday said luxury car market in India is expected to be about 280,000 units by 2020.
New Delhi, June 3 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities market was trading 0.38 percent down in the mid-afternoon trade Monday.
Aden (Yemen), June 1 (IANS) Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Yemeni air force officer in the southeastern Hadramout province Saturday, a security officer told Xinhua.
Chennai, June 1 (IANS) Japanese and Korean car makers Honda Cars India Ltd and Hyundai Motor India Ltd registered sales growth while American Ford India Pvt Ltd saw a dip in its sales last month, officials said.
Pune, June 1 (IANS) Jailed Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt will be trained to make paper bags at the Yerawada Central Jail, official sources said Saturday. He is likely to be paid Rs.25 a day.
Rio de Janeiro, June 1 (IANS) Fluminense have guaranteed the future of coach Abel Braga despite the team's shock elimination from the Copa Libertadores.
Gangtok (Sikkim), June 1 (ANI): Trout farming is becoming popular in Sikkim as farmers reap rich profits due to a spurt in production on the heels of a good breeding period and provincial government's assistance.
Chennai, June 1 (IANS) Japanese-Indian car maker Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd domestic sales went down by 35 percent last month as compared to the sales logged in May 2012.
Vienna, June 1 (IANS/EFE) The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed here Friday to leave its oil output target unchanged at 30 million barrels per day.
Bangalore, May 31 (IANS) Eurocor GmbH, a group firm of medical technology leader Opto Circuits India Ltd, Friday entered into a licensing agreement with Biosensors International Group Ltd, a Singapore-based medical devices maker, to manufacture catheters for treating heart diseases.
New York, May 31 (ANI): Jockey International has spent eight years developing a new measurement system, which the company says takes into account the shape of a woman's breasts, not merely bust size.
New Delhi, May 30 (IANS) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Thursday sought a report from Manipur over alleged gross irregularities in mid-day meal schemes in the state-run schools.
Chennai, May 30 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Thursday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to guarantee that the difference between the market price of sugar and its sale price through public distribution system (PDS) would be borne by the centre as a subsidy beyond 2014-15.
Baghdad, May 30 (IANS) As many as 26 people were killed and 80 injured due to bombings and clashes in different parts of Iraq Wednesday.
Kolkata, May 29 (IANS) The West Bengal government has constituted a task force to prepare a comprehensive roadmap to develop tourism destinations in the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said here Wednesday.
Baghdad, May 29 (Xinhua-ANI): Bomb attacks in Iraq overnight killed 20 people and wounded 47, raising the casualties for the day to 38 killed and 91 wounded, the police said on Wednesday.
Dubai, May 29 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Malawi have held discussions on the prospects of joint cooperation in sectors like labour market and manpower.
Pune, May 28 (IANS) The world's largest food processing and packaging solutions firm, Tetra Pak, Tuesday opened a Rs.700 crore ($127.27 million) production facility in India, aiming to capitalise on the modernising retail business in Asia's third largest economy as it liberalises overseas investment norms.
Beijing, May 28 (Xinhua-ANI): Shortages of cancer medicine in Turkey has led to a booming black market, as Turkish health ministry and drug companies are at odds over pricing policies, Turkish media reported on Tuesday.
Thiruvananthapuram, May 28 (IANS) An IT delegation from Australia will visit Kerala soon to strengthen bilateral business relations, officials said.
Chennai, May 27 (IANS) Wheels India will make lift axles for domestic truck-makers for which it has tied up with a Turkish company, Ege Endustri, for technology, a top company official said Monday.
Mumbai, May 27 (IANS) Indian-origin Hollywood director M. Night Shyamalan feels that Indian cinema is limited in its genres by being inclined towards "Shakespearean kinds of movement and plots" -- the reason why its audiences have not developed a taste for supernatural stories or films about aliens.
Washington, May 27 (ANI): The Palestinian family who sold the world's oldest biblical manuscripts to scholars and institutions is now quietly marketing the leftovers-fragments the family says it has kept in a Swiss safe deposit box all these years.
Beijing, May 27 (Xinhua-ANI): Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Sunday encouraged German enterprises to expand cooperation with Chinese counterparts for win-win results.
Agartala, May 27 (IANS) The Tripura government has urged the centre to continue supply of natural gas to small industries and domestic units in the northeastern state at the administered price mechanism (APM) rate, and not market price.
Karachi, May 27 (ANI): Pakistan's biggest car producer - the Pak Suzuki Motor Company, an affiliate of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan - has put its weight behind opening up trade between Pakistan and India in the automobile sector, stressing that the domestic industry will flourish if Islamabad allows import of car parts from Delhi.
London, May 27 (ANI): Smartphone manufacturer and software giant Apple is facing investigation by the European Union for its sales tactics and technical restrictions to prevent smartphone manufacturers from securing better deals.
London, May 26 (IANS) Fashion designer Marc Jacobs, who already has three fashion lines and 10 fragrances, is all set to launch his own make-up range.
Beijing, May 26 (IANS) China has said it will discuss recent trade frictions with the European Union (EU) in Brussels next week.
Melbourne, May 25 (ANI): Movie stars are no longer attracting moviegoers to theatres with steamy scenes, as film studios pour cold water on the idea that sex sells.
Washington, May 25 (ANI): China is planning to give a larger role to private businesses and market forces in its economy.
Mumbai, May 25 (ANI): Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has asked market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI)to root out the disease of insider trading from stock markets.
Mumbai, May 24 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday asked the capital market regulator SEBI to root out the "pernicious disease" of insider trading, saying the future effectiveness of the institution would depend on this.
Mumbai, May 24 (IANS) Undeveloped corporate debt market is a weakness in India's financial system and high fiscal deficit is further complicating the problem, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Friday.


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NetEase announced that it has entered into a partnership with Creative Assembly to introduce the “Total War” series of games into China. In the future, Netease will be the exclusive game publisher of the “Total War” series of historical strategy games, as well as the latest and widely acclaimed “Total War: Three Kingdoms“. At the same time, they will launch the card game “Total War: Elysium”. This is expected to be the first to launch in the Chinese PC and mobile market.
Tim Heaton, Director of Creative Assembly Studios and Executive Vice President of Sega Europe Studios, said:
“In the past 20 years, the Total War series has been a leader in strategy games with its iconic gameplay and high quality game quality. We are very happy to bring the “Total War” series of games to China, and we also see that it has huge market potential in China.”
Li Riqiang, vice president of Netease, said:
“Since the launch in 2000, Total War has brought an unprecedented game experience for players and the most exciting moments of different historical battles. This is also the high-quality game content and experience that NetEase has always wanted to continue to bring to players.”
The Total War series is a real-time strategy, turn-based strategy game developed by British game developer The Creative Assembly. According to the data, Total War: Three Kingdoms sold 1 million copies in a single week, and 190,000 players were online at the same time, setting the most comprehensive series of wars.
Total War has many fans in the Chinese market. Previously, Creative Assembly said that China is the country with the highest proportion of game sales. What do you think, was this a good move or not?

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Understandably, the games industry has taken a keen interest in the progress of Nintendo’s brand new system, the Switch. The console represents a new era for the Japanese firm, not only because the Switch fuses what were previously two separate revenue streams for Nintendo – the handheld and home console sectors – but also because it’s replacing the ailing Wii U.
The good news for Nintendo is that, so far, the Switch has fared well both in Japan and overseas. Over the past 24 hours, sales data from both Japan and two other key markets – the US and UK – have begun to seep out, and it appears that the Switch has sold well over its first three days of release.
According to Games Industry.biz, who’ve consulted a number of UK retailers, the Switch sold approximately 80,000 units over its first weekend. To put that into context, that’s double the number of Wii U systems sold over the same time period in late 2012, which sounds like a proper result for Nintendo. Bear in mind, however, that the figure is still some way below the number of 3DS handhelds sold at launch (over 112,000), and it pales in comparison to the PlayStation 4’s huge debut weekend sales of some 250,000 units.
In Japan, Nintendo’s heartland, the clamor for the Switch was much higher. Kotaku cites figures published by Famitsu: the Switch reportedly sold just over 330,000 units in its first three days. Again, that’s more than the Wii U, but not by as significant a margin as in the UK – the system racked up 308,000 sales in late 2012.
Meanwhile, Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime has claimed that the Switch has sold extremely well in “the Americas,” with its two-day sales besting those of any other system in Nintendo’s long history – even the pheonomenally successful Wii. This was according to a tweet by New York Times reporter Nick Wingfield (as flagged up to us by Games Industry.biz). Unfortunately, there are no figures to back that claim up at present, but taken at face value, it sounds like more good news for Nintendo.
It’s also worth pointing out that Nintendo’s taken the unusual step of releasing the Switch in the quiet month of March – bucking the more common approach of a pre-Christmas launch. In many respects, the strategy makes sense: the company now has a few months to let the Switch find its feet among its early-adopters and fans, before it embarks on a second sales drive in the autumn – hopefully with some games bundled in with the console this time.
The Switch’s launch hasn’t been without its teething problems. There have been complaints that the wireless Joy-Con controllers don’t always synch up to the main unit successfully – a problem which, some have claimed, may be a design flaw in the hardware – and Nintendo have rather controversially refused to replace Switch screens with dead pixels.
On the other hand, the Switch has also earned praise for the potential in its flexible, go-anywhere design – including in our review – and in Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the Switch has one of the best-reviewed launch titles of all time. Breath of the Wild was beaten to the top spot by Horizon: Zero Dawn in the UK sales charts, while the game sold around 190,000 copies in Japan. In America, Nintendo also claims that the Zelda sequel is the “best selling standalone launch title” in its history – again, according to a tweet from Nick Wingfield.
The short version of the Switch’s three-day performance, then, could boil down to, “So far, so good.” The sales haven’t exploded like the PlayStation 4 or even the Wii, but then, the timing of its launch suggests that Nintendo didn’t expect it to. After a decent start, the real work for the Switch is still to come over the coming weeks and months. We’re still waiting for the roll-out of other big-hitters in the Switch’s line-up, such as Splatoon 2 and Mario Kart 8.
Above all, we wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo has some kind of bundle planned for the autumn. One of our main beefs with the Switch isn’t with its hardware, but with the lack of a pack-in game like Wii Sports or Nintendoland in previous generations – exactly why the party mini-game collection 1-2-Switch wasn’t included in the $300 deal is something of a mystery, since it’s a great showcase for the Switch’s hardware. Platform sequel Super Mario Odyssey is currently scheduled for release this autumn. We’re guessing that Nintendo may be planning to release some kind of Mario-themed console bundle to coincide with its launch – the kind of combo that would likely generate plenty of interest in the run-up to Christmas.
For now, that’s speculation on our part, though. What’s clear is that the Switch has generated far more attention than the Wii U did five years ago. Now we just have to see how Nintendo capitalizes on it.


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Cryptocurrency has been unable to gain mainstream adoption due to the extreme volatility it is subject to. For instance, in December 2016, Bitcoin was priced at $900, it went up to $20,000 in December 2017 while coming down to $4,000 in December 2018.
To address this problem of high volatility, some influencers from the crypto business community came up with a good alternative—stablecoins. Stablecoins are a new kind of crypto assets that are backed by fiat currencies like the US dollar.
The idea behind stablecoins attracted Paul Stahura, co-founder of Donuts and eNom. A Series A funding round of $1.2 million in Stably, a Seattle based startup, is being led by him.
Stably has its native stablecoin known as StableUSD (USDS). The objective behind this is to
ensure the basic characteristics of cryptocurrencies— privacy, security, anonymity, and speed are intact with minimum price volatility.
“We’re simply turning dollars into digital dollars,” said Stably CEO Kory Hoang.
Speaking about stablecoins, Stahura mentioned TrueUSD, a stablecoin of TrustToken that recently achieved a market capitalization of $200M.
Hoang informed that the main agenda behind developing stablecoins was to “enable fast and borderless payments, an efficient and cheaper solution for remittance, and a reliable alternative to money in developing or hyper-inflationary economies.”
Stably’s total funding amounts to $1.7 million. It is backed by a wide group of investors which include Beenext, 500 Startups, and other angel investors.


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Here’s How iPhone SE Display Assembly Looks Like [Images]
Something similar to the leaked iPhone SE display assembly has recently appeared on the Internet. The images showing the aforementioned part have been first spotted on a French website called Nowhereelse.fr, so we can be sure they are legitimate and trustworthy. Contrary to recent rumors, the new 4-inch iPhone appears not to support the 3D Touch technology.
Leaked photos of a display assembly allegedly for the rumored 4-inch iPhone SE have been posted online.
As previously reported, the display assembly does not appear to support 3D Touch.
What do you think about the images of the leaked part? Leave your comments below.
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It's not even February and already you're skipping the gym. You may still want to lose weight and get buff, but it's getting easier and easier to miss those dates with dumbbells. Perhaps what you need is a little extra incentive – of the cold hard cash variety.
GymPact, a new iPhone app, charges users anywhere from $5 to $50 for every time they miss a workout.
"We decided to motivate people by having money on the line, rather than giving them money, which is a very radical departure from other motivational apps and programs," Yifan Zhang, GymPact's co-founder and CEO, told Reuters.
Zhang created the app while she was at Harvard researching the link between financial incentives and motivation, according to the news agency.
"One of the key concepts is loss aversion. Say you take the same amount of money and you offer it as a reward, or use it as a penalty. People are much more motivated by a loss than by gain," she said.
Here's how GymPact works. Users provide their credit card information and then enter how many times they plan on going to the gym that week as well as how much they'll pay for each missed workout.
At the end of the week, you are charged for whatever gym dates you missed, with your money going to reward people who went to the gym as promised. Last week, workouts were paying 73 cents, the company said.
Don't think you can easily cheat the system by lying to your phone and telling it you went to the gym when you were really at home scarfing down donuts. You must stay at the gym for at least 30 minutes for it to count, and thanks to the GPS on your phone, the app knows whether you've been at the gym or home on the couch.
The purpose of the app isn't to take your money or make you rich, of course.
"We really think of what you have on the line as the number of days you're committing. That's really the focus of the program – how many days can we get you to go to the gym every week," Zhang said.


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The traditional «flip» issue of Grazia is out with two covers, and Liza Monetochka appears on both. The singer talks about her film debut, informal wedding and unhurried lifestyle.
Also in this issue:
- The new reality: wearing coats with slits, skirts with large pockets, shapeless handbags and bandeau tops.
- 50 shades: makeup for the current season. Grazia looked at new beauty products and chose the most beautiful and interesting.
- An interview with Hunter Schafer, star of the Euphoria TV series.
- Who and where: the main cultural events.
The issue is already on sale.
Independent Media in


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I remember when being an economics student we were told that there were two basic flows: the real flow (that of goods and services) and the monetary or nominal flow (that of money). It made sense that the goods were produced (real flow) and then paid (money flow). Up to here everything is correct.
More recently we have read news about the price of bitcoin that apparently is Petro, the new Venezuelan crypto-currency. A little closer, Portugal limited cash payments to € 3,000.
Is the “cash” over?
It may never end physical money, but the reality is that eCommerce is going to more and electronic payments do not stop growing.
Some might think that the digitalization of transactions could speed up the economy by reducing cycle times, lower intermediation costs, reduce fraud and even favor those less in need. Too good to be true? Let’s see the case of Africa.
Emigration and digital money
According to the UN and the World Bank, there are 600 billion dollars a year in the world to the family members left behind. From Spain, 6.6 billion dollars are sent each year to the countries of origin of the emigrants who reside in our country.
Only 22,000 Gambians, 66,000 Senegalese and 45,000 Nigerians residing in Spain, remit more than 500 million euros a year. The average cost of sending money in the sub-Saharan corridor is 9.7%. The biggest in the whole world. That is why the World Bank has set the goal for 2020 to reduce this cost to a maximum of 4%.
These remittances represent up to 20% of GDP for some of the countries in the region. A reduction in the cost of intermediation would have a tremendous impact on the net money that arrives in the country and, therefore, in the GDP.
And how to reduce the costs of moving money in a continent with a low level of banking? Surely there are alternatives, but in any case they must all pass through the digitization of money .
Mobile money in poor countries
Perhaps everything has already been written about M-pesa, the successful Vodafone initiative for Kenya and Tanzania. M-pesa is an example of GSMA is taking it to Latin America and the Caribbean area. It is confirmed that the new banks in poor areas are mobile operators.
In Senegal, shopkeepers usually charge through Orange Money. By buying a sack of rice you can transfer part of your balance of minutes to your phone number. When the merchant wants to withdraw cash, it will be enough to approach a kiosk of the mobile company and collect their money. As if it were an ATM. No banking offices, only mobile phone network. Money transferred from mobile to mobile.
Mobile money is digital money
I regret to contradict those who think that the gradual disappearance of physical money favors traditional banks. I am afraid that it is just the opposite. The more digitized, the better for citizens and the economy in general. At least, in this aspect, Africa is ahead.


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Mercedes-Benz India, a completely owned subsidiary of the German luxury automotive marque, is set for the launch of its new A-Class hatchback range in the domestic premium vehicle market on May 30, 2013. The company has joined hands with MTV for an exciting A-Class Pulsate Contest, as part of its brand development campaign for the soon-to-be launched model. The prices of the upcoming Mercedes-Benz hatchback range would be revealed to public on the day of its official launch in the country.
As per the rules, one lucky winner of Mercedes-Benz MTV A-Class Pulsate Contest will a get a change to go for an all expenses paid trip to Ibiza or will be driving home the new A-Class car. The enormous prizes are expected to take excitement for the A-Class launch to an entirely different level among the domestic car enthusiasts.
Mercedes-Benz India is targeting its upcoming A-Class models at the young Indian style and performance oriented car enthusiasts. The German auto maker is claiming its A-Class to be ‘The Pulse of a new generation’ on its official website. The premium hatchback appears stunning on the initial previews uploaded on the website and is expected to become the company’s next big volume puller in the Indian luxury car market. Industry experts believe that A-Class would become the company’s cheapest offering upon its arrival in the country.
In order to participate in the A-Class Pulsate Contest, one needs to post a snapshot of a party with friends on the popular micro blogging site- Twitter. The party photos should be tweeted with a hashtag- #aclasspulsate, for a valid entry. One can also share why he/she is the life of a party on visiting the website - www.mtv.in.com/pulsate.
The yet-to-be launched Mercedes-Benz A-Class range is expected to come in both petrol and diesel powered options in the country. Further, the premium hatchbacks would be marketed as Completely Built Units (CBUs), however, the company could begin localised assembly if the demand for A-Class hots up in the Indian market. The German premium car maker is expected to introduce A-Class with a starting price close to Rs. 20 lakh.


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Chang'an Automobile, China's fourth largest automaker, will spend US$820m in 10 major global markets by 2020, a company executive said.
It aims to sell 400,000 vehicles annually outside China by then, said vice president Zhu Huarong.
"To make Chang'an a true international automaker, a strong foothold and long-term perspective are crucial," Zhu told China Daily in Frankfurt.
Chang'an will focus on further development in 10 major overseas markets, including Iraq, Algeria, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Ukraine.
"We will establish three major overseas manufacturing bases in Russia, Brazil and Iran, with about $700m investment, by 2020," said Zhu.
"Another $120m will be used for distribution channels and branding in our targeted markets."
He told China Daily that Chang'an also has ambitions to move into the mature and challenging western markets.
"We'll study the proper way to enter European countries, the United States and other markets," said Zhu.
Assuming those plans succeed, Chang'an will have 810 dealerships overseas by 2020, said Zhu. The company will generate 30% of total revenue outside China by then, with 5% coming from Europe and the US.
Chang'an has in recent years invested in opening R&D centres in Turin, Italy, Nottingham UK, Yokohama, Japan, and Detroit in addition to its R&D centre in China.


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27 Jun 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Prague — In first quarter of 2016, vendor revenue on the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) enterprise networking market decreased by 6.8% year on year, according to detailed competitive data reports released by International Data Corporation (IDC). However, performance among the three sub-markets — Ethernet switching, wireless LAN (WLAN), and routing — differs significantly.
“In 2015, the enterprise networking market in EMEA was practically flat after several years of revenue growth,” says Peter Kosinar, senior research analyst at IDC. “Although the underlying technological and economic factors are strong enough to bring the market back to growth in 2016, we are likely to see large variation in countries’ performance.”
Ethernet switching, which constitutes a clear majority of the market, declined by around 10.3% year on year in first quarter of 2016 (this market also declined in 2015, albeit marginally). Routing and WLAN, on the other hand, posted year-on-year growth of 2.4% and 2.3%, respectively, after showing single-digit annual growth in 2015.
These findings are included in IDC’s EMEA Ethernet switch, router, and WLAN trackers, which provide quarterly, country-level information on the performance of leading market players, enabling study of competitive dynamics across underlying technologies. The sections below highlight some key findings for EMEA enterprise networking sub-markets in first quarter of 2016.
Enterprise Ethernet switching: Challenging quarter with mixed signals for the rest of the year
Enterprise routing: Good quarter for SOHO routers; Huawei #2 among enterprise players
Enterprise WLAN: Sales of 802.11ac access points keep rolling
“Last year was uneventful for enterprise WLAN vendors, both in terms of acquisitions and technological developments,” says Elena Szolgayova, a senior research analyst at IDC. “It was also a weak year in terms of revenues, and it is unlikely that we are going to see a dramatic revival this year.”
International Data Corporation (IDC) leads the ICT innovation discussion through events, research, and consulting. For nearly five decades, it has been giving ICT and business professionals data and insight for making strategic and practical decisions. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. Learn more at www.idc.com.
About IDC Trackers
IDC Tracker products provide accurate and timely market size, vendor share, and forecasts for hundreds
of technology markets from more than 100 countries around the globe. Using proprietary tools and
research processes, IDC's Trackers are updated on a semiannual, quarterly, and monthly basis. Tracker
results are delivered to clients in user-friendly excel deliverables and on-line query tools. The IDC Tracker Charts app allows users to view data charts from the most recent IDC Tracker products on their iPhone and iPad. The IDC Tracker Chart app is also available for Android Phones and Android Tablets.
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By Sue Williams
During the worst of the pandemic lockdowns, kitchens became king as families learnt to cook, bake, and eat together again – running lessons across the breakfast bench and working from the dining table.
Will the newfound enthusiasm for kitchens continue beyond lockdowns?
“Yes I definitely think they will,” said Selena Zwolsman of the Kitchen & Bathroom Designers Institute. “People are still at home, saving money from overseas trips, so they’re still putting money into kitchens and all the top appliances.
“So once they’ve made that investment, they want to use them rather than spend money on take-away. There’s now a general appreciation for having a nice environment at home and people want to eat at home
“They’ve set up special tea and coffee areas to drink coffee at home, and they’re working from home, so they don’t need to go out.”
Many people also introduced microwaves back into their home kitchens after realising how much they used to use them in their offices, which increased the popularity of home kitchens still further. Then there’s all the latest kitchen equipment making it easier to prepare food in advance, and ‘set and forget’ meals, Ms Zwolsman said.
Former psychologist turned-kitchen-designer Patricia La Torre, of OutsideInside Building Elements, says the back-to-the-hearth trend started even before COVID-19 hit, probably as a reaction to the fast pace of life and all the TV cooking shows.
Now, having spent more time at home during the waves of the virus, we’ve become more used to our own company and our new pursuits, Ms La Torre said.
“We went back to enjoying cooking and appreciating good ingredients. And that’s only deepened over the past year and a half,” she said. “We’re now loving experimenting with food and recipes and that’s going to continue way past this period. People have seen their inspiration ignited.”
Fellow designer Gavin Hepper agrees. So many people have redesigned their kitchens in the past 18 months around better hygiene, top-quality appliances, functionality and form, they’ll want to spend more time there in the future, too.
“It wasn’t a fad,” said the Concepts by Gavin Hepper founder. “It’s much longer term than that. I believe it’s now going to be with us for a long time.
“People have been investing more money in their kitchens than ever before and they’ve improved their skills and bought better cooking equipment and realised how terrible their kitchens were before – they’re falling in love with entertaining with family and friends all over again.”
Real estate agents are seeing potential buyers still placing a lot of emphasis on the size and quality of kitchens in the houses and apartments they’re inspecting, especially in Melbourne.
With the world’s longest lockdown, it might well be that there’s now an element of hesitancy about eating anywhere outside the home, believes Gary Ormrod of Kay & Burton South Yarra.
“I know myself, I don’t dine out anywhere near as often as I did before lockdown,” he said. “I think it will take us longer to adjust than for those, maybe, in Sydney. Besides, many of us learnt to cook during lockdown and that’s become a hobby for many.”
There’s still a chance that, in the long-term, we might return to previous behaviours of eating out regularly, believes Andrew Cocks, the managing director of Richardson & Wrench.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if we start to see some rebalancing of behaviour,” he said. “We could see people eventually revert to type, especially if they do end up going back to their offices. It might take two or four or five years, but I think it will happen.”


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COLORADO: Months after ordering tests to determine the potency of Colorado-grown pot, state regulators are zeroing in on another concern: How sick one can get from a bad batch?
Sometime in the coming months, recreational marijuana producers must begin testing for bacteria, fungus, heavy metals and solvents before their products reach store shelves. Four labs in Colorado will test for levels of E. coli, salmonella and aspergillus, a fungus that can cause allergic reactions and lung infections. They’ll also look for butane and other solvents used to refine marijuana into concentrated oils, as well as heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury.
Businesses that fail to meet purity benchmarks cannot sell anything from that batch.
But opinions differ on how prevalent, and how dangerous, such substances are in marijuana sold in Colorado’s burgeoning pot industry. The new requirements do not apply to pesticides, which aren’t subject to across-the-board testing. Nor is medical marijuana regulated for contaminants. And it’s unclear when the testing mandate will take effect.


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In a stunning logistical leap that has left onlookers breathless with admiration, JupiterResearch concluded in a new report that the penetration of iPods and the like into the collective consciousness has raised peoples' awareness of digital music in general. It's almost as if digital music and digital music players were actually related in some way!
Kidding aside, there are some interesting tidbits in the press release for the report:
- More people are creating playlists (58% of iPod users as opposed to 44% of users of other MP3 players)
- 25% of an unspecified group of people (computer users?) rip CDs
- Over 60% of MP3 player owners rip their own CDs
- Only 18% of adults have over 1,000 songs on their computers
- For most of the population, radio and music videos still drive music sales, but companies looking to target music enthusiasts should market to them online.


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Posted: Friday, January 15th, 2016. 12:02 p.m. CST
By Chrisbert Garcia: A tour business owner of Caye Caulker, Artemio Marin, reported on January 4th that his boat, “Baby Dax”, with outboard engine and other items had been stolen from the beachfront of that village, all to a total value of $49,930.
Belize City Police on Wednesday found the boat with its canopy in Manatee Lagoon, which is located about 20 miles outside city limits. The boat valued at $30,000, was found without its engine around 8:10 a.m., reducing Marin’s loss from almost $50,000 to less than $20,000.
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Email us at firstname.lastname@example.org for more information.


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TAMPA (FOX 13) - The foods you choose may not have much to do with what you see, but what you hear.
"Music affects our excitement level and our relaxation level which in turn affects our food choices," University of South Florida marketing professor Dr. Dipayan Biswas explained.
Dr. Dipayan conducted research on how music might affect food selections at restaurants and supermarkets.
He found certain kinds of music can have an impact on what foods we choose.
Louder music could steer you towards heavier foods.
"Loud-volume music agitates our physiological system so it makes us more excited, so it makes our bodies more excited, higher state of arousal, so higher excitement. Higher arousal makes us choose more indulgent foods," said Dr. Biswas.
Lighter music may mean lighter food choices.
"Low volume music makes us more relaxed so that makes us go for more mindful choices and different choices," said Dr. Biswas.
He said the same is true in the grocery stores.
"If they want to push more of the vegetables and foods at the supermarket, they are playing the low volume music. But if for some reason they want to push more of the red meat, they are amping up the volume," said Dr. Biswas.
But he added that the volume of music may not affect everyone the same way.
"If you're somebody who always orders salads or if you're someone who always orders pizza it doesn't matter, it doesn't make a difference," said Dr. Biswas.
So the next time you go out to eat, you may be listening to more than just your stomach.
"Retailers and restaurant owners can influence our choice behavior just by changing the volume level," said Dr. Biswas.


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Netflix continues to crack down on password sharing. New software is being tested to stop sharing accounts outside of your household.
In a recent blog post, Netflix’s director of product innovation, Chengyi Long revealed that new features are currently being tested in select regions. At this time, three countries in South America are participating, Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru.
The blog states that if a “subscriber” attempts to log in to a Netflix account outside of the household, they will be prompted to pay a service package. This charge amounts to 2,380 CLP (Chile), $2.99 USD (Costa Rica) and 7.9 PEN (Peru).
“We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account, with features like separate profiles and multiple streams in our Standard and Premium plans,” said Long. “While these have been hugely popular, they have also created some confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared.”
Furthermore, the software is also testing new features that will allow subscribers to transfer profile information including personalised recommendations as well as other profile data. This information can be transferred to a new account or an Extra Member sub-account.
Prices are going up, again!
The news of Netflix cracking down on account sharing arrives days after it was announced that the subscription cost is rising, again. In the UK, prices will rise from £5.99 to £6.99 (Basic Tier), £9.99 to £10.99 (Standard Tier) and finally, £13.99 to £15.99 (Premium Tier).
What are your thoughts on Netflix cracking down on password sharing? Let us know across our social media channels.
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Montgomery Inn is doing it again, and giving rib lovers a chance to indulge themselves, with all-you-can-eat ribs and Saratoga chips for $19.95 from Feb. 21 – 25.
Last year, when they offered the deal to celebrate the anniversary of the Boathouse, the Inn sold 19,450 pounds of ribs at their Greater Cincinnati locations. That’s almost 10 tons.
“We know from the huge response we received last year that this is a great way to say ‘thank you’ to our loyal customers” said Dean Gregory, Montgomery Inn Vice President.
This offer is available at all Montgomery Inn locations – in Old Montgomery (just north of Cincinnati), in Fort Mitchell on Buttermilk Pike, on the Ohio River at the Boathouse restaurant, and in Dublin at its newest location in the Shoppes at River Ridge.
Posted in: Restaurant News


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According to Zacks, “Core-Mark Holding Company, Inc.is one of the largest marketers of fresh and broad-line supply solutions to the convenience retail industry in North America. Core-Mark Holding Company, Inc.is one of the largest marketers of fresh and broad-line supply solutions to the convenience retail industry in North America. Core-Mark offers a full range of products, marketing programs, and technology solutions. Core-Mark services traditional convenience retailers, grocers, drug, liquor and specialty stores, and other stores that carry convenience products. “
A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CORE. Stephens upped their target price on Core-Mark from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. BidaskClub downgraded Core-Mark from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $31.40.
Core-Mark (NASDAQ:CORE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. Core-Mark had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 0.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Core-Mark will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Core-Mark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.40%.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CORE. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Core-Mark by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,291,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $89,486,000 after purchasing an additional 946,213 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Core-Mark during the fourth quarter valued at $18,772,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Core-Mark during the fourth quarter valued at $14,666,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Core-Mark by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 1,256,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,167,000 after acquiring an additional 217,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Core-Mark by 27.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 947,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,081,000 after acquiring an additional 204,930 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.00% of the company’s stock.
Core-Mark Company Profile
Core-Mark Holding Company, Inc markets fresh and broad-line supply solutions to the convenience retail industry. The company sells and distributes food products, including fast food, candies, snacks, and groceries, as well as beverages and fresh products, such as sandwiches, juices, salads, produce, dairy, and bread; and non-food products comprising cigars, tobacco, alternative nicotine products, health and beauty care products, and general merchandise and equipment.
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89% of Grocers Believe Optimizing Fulfillment is Key to Improving Digital Profitability
Recent research by Incisiv, conducted in collaboration with The Food Industry Association (FMI) and in partnership with RELEX, highlights the importance of strategic fulfillment in achieving digital profitability.
With 69% of grocery sales in 2023 being digitally influenced, the grocery shopping experience has now become firmly omnichannel. However, despite this digital boom, profitability remains a significant challenge, with a staggering $23 billion lost in digital sales due to unavailable or unsubstituted items in 2022.
The report, Increasing Online Profitability Through Strategic Fulfillment...
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2017 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Juro Special Edition – Video
Mitsubishi UK has just added a new special edition boasting more standard equipment to the Outlander PHEV’s range.
UK’s best-selling plug-in hybrid is now available in the limited edition Juro which is basically Mitsubishi’s way of throwing a free infotainment system with DVD, TomTom satellite navigation, smartphone integration and DAB radio in the GX3+ trim level. Oh, and there’s a new emblem with the model’s name on the bonnet too.
The new Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Juro also comes with host of other features as standard, including cruise control, 18-inch alloys, heated front seats and dual-zone climate control.
The powertrain remains as is, consisting of a 2-litre petrol engine and an electric motor mounted on each axle for a combined output of 200hp and 32 miles of pure electric driving range. As a result, the official combined fuel economy is an impressive 156mpg UK while CO2 emissions are rated at 42g/km on the European test cycle.
Since the model’s official UK launch, Mitsubishi has sold more than 25,000 Outlander PHEVs in the this market alone, paving the way for the company’s future plans that include a full SUV offensive, complete with electrified powertrains.
As for the Outlander PHEV Juro, price is set at £32,749 (including the UK government’s plug-in grant), which is exactly the same with the GX3+ trim level.


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January 10, 2007
The market for video and PC games has accelerated so rapidly within the past few years that this industry has now eclipsed Hollywood in both size and revenue. And with the increasing popularity of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) like Second Life, these entertainment mediums are attracting audiences of all age groups and demographics.
In this interview with Dr. Scott Rigby of Immersyve, we explore the underlying human motivations that have been driving this commercial phenomenon. Instead of automatically condemning video games as “addictive” or “time wasting,” we take the subject to a much deeper level – and we try to nail down what this really means to businesses in this market space.


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Resolution Digital has defended its ‘Agency of the Year’ title at the prestigious Google Partners Honours Program for 2020, held last Friday. The award recognises the achievements of the very best performance marketing agencies and providers across Australia and New Zealand — with more than 43 companies participating in the program.
“This is the fourth year of the Google Honours program, which has been a platform for us to showcase and celebrate outstanding performance marketing best practices. It's fantastic to see Resolution Digital take the top honour in 2020 and be named as ‘Google Honours Agency of the Year’ for the third year running!” said Aaron Boekestein, Head of Agency Partnerships, Google Australia & New Zealand.
The team submitted over 100 client case studies and completed 678 certifications successfully in 2020.
Georgina Wall, Head of Product said “I was so impressed with the entire team, last year was very challenging, with clients needing lots of support to negotiate the harsh competitive landscape. Somewhere, between all the craziness, we were able to showcase some of our extraordinary client revenue growth figures and ROI improvements during what was surely one of the toughest retail environments I have witnessed in my career.”
The awards were accumulated throughout the year. In addition to winning each of the 3 categories as an agency, many of the Resolution team excelled with their client specific submissions:
“Whilst 2020 was a challenging year, our paid media team continues to grow in the double digits each year, due to client growth and successes. We work hard to onboard our new starters and get them trained and certified across the extensive Google product range.” explained Phil Pollock, Resolution Chief Operations Officer.
Performance makes up one of the 4 pillars of the Resolution methodology, the other three being Brand, Experience, and Insights. The combination of these is what drives remarkable results for clients.
“I am very proud of the whole Reso Digital crew. Our client base has grown strongly as Australian marketers see value in our full service digital approach and our proven performance credentials” said Des Odell, Resolution CEO.
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In Australia and New Zealand, we serve our clients' marketing technology needs across the entire suite of Google Marketing Platform and Google Cloud Platform Suites.
Our extensive experience and ability to get the most out of Google technologies stems from more than a decade of hands-on experience in delivering technical solutions and value driving outcomes for our clients.
We are certified sales partners of Google Search Ads 360, Display & Video 360, Campaign Manager, Google Analytics 360, Google Tag Manager 360 and Google Cloud Platform.
We help marketers realise ROI by leveraging their technology investments across Google Marketing Platform, Google Ads Data Hub and Google Cloud.
Contact us to find out how we can help solve your marketing technology challenges.


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Coffee lovers deprived of their favourite caffeine fix at cafes have turned to the internet to purchase beans online with a major surge in sales across Ireland.
Well known Cork barista, Rob Horgan of Cafe Velo, says that over the last month his online coffee sales have matched the entire volume he sold throughout 2019. This represents a 1200pc increase in sales.
Mr Horgan also has a contract with Aldi supermarkets nationwide.
Sales of Cafe Velo products there have risen by almost 80% since the lockdown was introduced by the company last month.
Such has been the demand that Rob has had to source extra coffee bean supplies from Columbia and Brazil.
Meanwhile, Dunnes, Supervalu, Lidl, Centra and Marks and Spencer have also seen their coffee sales go upwards in recent weeks.
Rob says that Irish people really miss their favourite cafes.
"I think it is one of the things that Irish people miss most about the current pandemic restrictions is the inability to go to a cafe for a cup of coffee or tea with their family, friends or even workmates," Rob said.
"The chat over a cup of coffee or tea with friends and workmates is a key part of Irish weekly life.
"With a lot of people now working from home, they now brew their own each day and sales have soared as a result.
Rob’s own business Cafe Velo in Cork city centre is currently closed because of the pandemic.
"It was a tough decision to make because we could have tried to stay open for takeaway coffees. There were a large number of offices still operating around our premises.
"But it was the right decision to make both for the health and safety of our staff and our customers.
Horgan and his team are kept going with the online demand.
"We have our own roast house and we have had to increase roasting sessions just to keep pace with the demand for beans.
"The global food supply chains are working fine and we have a major shipment of coffee beans due to be delivered in Dublin next week.
"Most people love to start their day with a good coffee or tea. I think it is a reminder of the normal life we all miss so much and look forward to getting back to."


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Second Lockdown to Bring Price Cuts at the Pumps.
Fuel prices look set to fall by up to 5p per litre over the next two weeks – as lockdown number two causes a case of déjà-vu for drivers.
According to latest RAC Fuel Watch data, wholesale unleaded prices tumbled by 4.62p to 82.26p through October due to the falling oil price – and discounts should follow on the forecourts.
Pump prices remained virtually the same during October, but on Wednesday November 5, Asda cut its petrol price by 2p per litre (charging no more than 108.7p) and 3p on diesel (no more than 111.7p), with other retailers likely to follow.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “It’s likely to be a case of déjà-vu for drivers this month as once again fuel prices are starting to fall just at the point when we’re all driving less as a result of a coronavirus lockdown.”
While prices are unlikely to fall to March levels, which dropped below £1 a litre, “any driver needing to fill up later in November should be greeted by the sight of lower prices, if retailers do the right thing,” Mr Williams said.
Fuel Watch data suggests retailers have been overcharging motorists for almost two months now, as diesel prices at the pumps remained significantly higher than petrol despite cheaper wholesale costs, between the middle of August and the middle of October.
Mr Williams said: “Diesel drivers have reason to feel particularly hard done by, as arguably they have been paying over the odds for the fuel for two whole months now. We strongly urge retailers to lower the price of diesel, both for businesses and the country’s 12m-plus diesel car drivers.”
The cost of filling up a 55-litre family car with petrol at a supermarket is now £2.65 less than the UK average (£60.29 per tank, compared to £62.94), and £2.24 less to fill with diesel (£62.56 per tank, compared to £64.80).
Although the roads aren’t expected to be as quiet during the second national lockdown, fuel sales should fall in the coming weeks.
“We’re concerned some retailers may choose to only cut by a few pence, or not at all, which would be bad news for drivers,” Williams added.
“There is perhaps a cruel irony for motorists here in that the route to cheaper prices is cheaper oil, yet the main reason the oil price is lower is because so many of us across the world aren’t travelling.”


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Ink is going global with its Russian animated series “Masha and the Bear” and extensions for the digital game “Subway Surfers,” including an animated series.
Following success in its home territory, "Masha" has been picked up by broadcasters worldwide. Ink is now taking the brand into consumer products, where it already has a roster of partners in Russia including Kinder, Egmont, Orkla and Ferrero.
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Ever since the dawn of mankind, as defined as since the release of FarmVille, Zynga has had the number one app on Facebook in terms of daily average users (DAU’s) until now.
Zynga still dominates the Facebook charts, Zynga is not number one on Facebook should give hope to other developers that you can succeed on Facebook without spending tons of marketing dollars and actually compete with Zynga based on creating a fun, viral game.
As Kim-Mai Cutler of Techcrunch points out, however, the fact that the number one and two game apps on Facebook are actually mobile games that use Facebook Connect to sign in (hence counting as a DAU) does not bode well for Facebook and its gaming business.
Facebook does not collect a transaction fee on iPhone and Android devices. In the case of the iPhone, Apple does.
The sad part of this story is that everywhere this news is reported or discussed, someone in the comments makes a joke that Zynga is probably working on Drawing with Friends to copy Draw Something as we speak.
The thing is, this joke is probably close to the truth.
Based on Zynga’s pattern, they probably are offering to buy OMGPOP as we speak. If OMGPOP says no, Zynga will work on a similar game and it’ll probably be called Drawing with Friends.
Draw Something is a social version of Pictionary (just like Words with Friends is social Scrabble, there I said it). So when Zynga does create their own very similar version they will rightly claim that they are improving on an existing game mechanic.
Still, with all of Zynga’s talent, aspirations, and money, it’d be nice to see them ahead of the curve.
As for OMGPOP and Draw Something, they are the current king of the Facebook hill so they should enjoy the view while they can. Drawing with Friends is probably in development and given how volatile the games market is on Facebook and mobile devices, it’s only a matter of time before another big hit game pops up the DAU charts. Hopefully, for Facebook’s sake, this next number one game on Facebook in terms of DAU’s will actually be played on Facebook and not a mobile device.


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Automotive giants Renault, Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors have launched a venture capital fund that will invest $1 billion in advanced car technologies with a strong presence in Asia.
The program, known as Alliance Ventures, will operate via bases China, Japan, France and the US. Nissan and Renault will each control a 40% stake, while Mitsubishi will hold the remaining 20%. Alliance...
Private equity firms present attractive partnership opportunities for corporate investors in Southeast Asia as both public and private companies seek to augment their existing strengths and fuel growth strategies.
Golden Gate Ventures was founded in order to bring much-needed support to Southeast Asia’s fledgling start-up community. The firm has found success by promoting an entrepreneurial culture within its team
TPG Capital has led a $100 million Series D funding round for Bigtree Entertainment, an India-based ticketing services company best known for its aggregator service BookMyShow.
OfBusiness, an India-based financial technology company focused on smart financing services has received an INR2billion Series C funding round led by Creation Investments and Falcon Edge.


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The SD card and the vintage video game revolution
A conservative estimate puts the value of the entire Neo Geo library of games – all European, US and Japanese variants – at around a quarter of a million dollars. Some of the games are so scarce that they come up for sale only once a decade. In October 2009, for example, an anonymous buyer paid $55,045.64 for the European versions of the fighting game Kizuna Encounter and the football game Ultimate 11 (as if guided by a scriptwriter’s pen, the buyer carried a custom-made briefcase to meet the seller, to ensure the games remained pristinely cosy on the flight home). There are, it is estimated, fewer than ten copies of each game in existence. Even for the wealthiest game fanatic, then, there is almost no opportunity to play these games anywhere outside of a PC emulator.
All this changed last year when a group of Spanish game enthusiasts released the NeoSD, a cartridge manufactured to look exactly like one of the chunky Neo Geo originals. As the name implies, the device, whose insides are studded with chips that replicate every foible of every game in the Neo Geo library, houses an SD card that can be loaded with a digital imprint of the entire Neo Geo collection (all 4.4 GB-worth of it), and slotted, with that pleasing, yielding clunk, into an original console. It takes around 30 seconds to load a ROM into the Flash memory, at which point the cartridge becomes utterly indistinguishable from the original.
At 435 Euros, the Neo SD is more expensive than a brand new PlayStation 4 Pro – and that’s before you track down an original Neo Geo console on which to play the games. But despite the price-tag, the device sold out almost immediately. As four million sales of Nintendo’s SNES Mini as well as the recent chart-flying success of Shadow of the Colossus show, the appetite to revisit old games and consoles has never been greater. We have entered the nascent stages of a vintage video game revolution, one fuelled by older video game players who are willing to pay stratospheric prices for products that both exhume and invigorate the past.
Original Post By – Eurogamer


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Social Enterprise Committed to Environmental Stewardship
ROCKVILLE, MD — Goodwill Industries International has been re-certified as a green business through the Montgomery County Green Business Certification Program. The program recognizes businesses and other entities that have voluntarily taken steps to protect, preserve and improve the environment on behalf of the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection and the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce.
As a certified green business, Goodwill® continues to demonstrate its commitment to environmental stewardship, conservation of energy and water, carbon footprint reduction, waste reduction and recycling, and environmentally responsible purchasing. Goodwill received its original certification in 2011 and was recertified at the beginning of 2014.
“For more than a century, Goodwill has been an entrepreneurial leader and environmental pioneer,” said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. “Goodwill is committed to preserving the environment and strengthening communities, and we will continue to place an emphasis on sustainable building and operations practices across the enterprise.”
Goodwill strives to lower energy consumption, reduce waste, and increase recycling and environmentally responsible purchasing. To reduce water consumption, Goodwill Industries International installed automatic faucets in its restrooms, minimized water use for landscaping, posted educational signs and monitored for water leaks. In November of 2013, water use was 31 percent less than the baseline month of June 2010.
“As a re-certified green business in the county, Goodwill Industries International continues to expand its commitment to sustainability,” said Doug Weisburger, Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection. “Goodwill is inspiring its members to promote social and environmental leadership and to partner with vendors to have greater environmental impact.”
On a yearly basis, Goodwill diverts more than 3 billion pounds of clothing and textiles from landfills by recovering the value in people’s donated material goods. Through its Reconnect computer-recycling program with Dell, Goodwill has diverted more than 324 million pounds of electronic equipment from landfills since the program’s inception in 2004.
As part of its re-certification, Goodwill is listed among other certified businesses in the Certified Green Business Directory. To learn more about the Green Business Certification Program, visit www.mcgreenbiz.org.
About Goodwill Industries International
Goodwill Industries International is a network of 165 community-based agencies in the United States and Canada with a presence in 14 other countries. Goodwill agencies are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that fund job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in nearly 2,900 stores and online at shopgoodwill.com®. Goodwill also builds revenue and creates jobs by contracting with businesses and government agencies to provide a wide range of commercial services, including packaging and assembly, food service preparation, and document imaging and shredding. In 2013, more than 9.8 million people in the United States and Canada benefited from Goodwill’s career services. Goodwill channels 83 percent of its revenues directly into its programs and services.
To find a Goodwill location near you, use the online locator at www.goodwill.org, or call (800) GOODWILL. Follow us on Twitter:@GoodwillIntl, and find us on Facebook: GoodwillIntl.


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Disco Elysium Out Now on PC
ZA/UM’s Disco Elysium is now available on PC via Steam and GOG.com, priced at $39.99/£34.99/€39.99. A new seventy-second launch trailer for the game, which puts players in the role of a disgraced police lieutenant in the seaside town of Revachol, is viewable below.
Disco Elysium features one massive open-ended case, which players can approach in many ways and in any order, alongside numerous side investigations. The game includes twenty-four skills to upgrade, alongside many items of clothing, and a dozen tools, as well as a soundtrack from the band British Sea Power.


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Piscina & Wellness Barcelona is preparing an event defined by growth
Piscina & Wellness Barcelona is preparing its next edition, which will take place in Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via area from 17 to 20 October 2017, with a good outlook for growth in line with the revival in demand in the Spanish market.
With 10 months to go, the show has already reserved 70% of its planned area and the presence of more than 130 companies from 12 countries has been confirmed.
With space being hired at this rate, the organisers expect to bring together more than 310 exhibitors at the show and to occupy a net area of 13,500 sq. m.,10% more than in the previous edition.
Figures in 2017:
● Over 13,000 visitors are expected
● Over 300 exhibitors
● Around 500 brands will be represented
● 13 500 sq. m. of exhibition space
10 multilingual editions per year + of 70.000 specimens distributed in worldwildLast editions


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| Apr 26, 2013
| 7:54 AM
Michelle Rodriguez, co-starring with Vin Diesel in "Fast and Furious 6," appears on the cover of the May issue of Cosmopolitan for Latinas, and says inside that she can make any style sexy. "I'll wear a leather jacket with nothing underneath," she said....
| Jun 7, 2013
| 7:57 AM
Sarah Jessica Parker, who brought the shoe-loving Carrie Bradshaw to life on "Sex and the City," is reverting to type: She is launching a shoe collection in collaboration with George Malkemus, longtime head of Manolo Blahnik. “In a silly way, I...
| Mar 1, 2013
| 2:30 AM
"Anything can be rehabilitated if John Galliano can be rehabilitated," says Mickey Boardman, the head of the fashion magazine Paper. (Mickey was referring to the revival of the dreaded UGG boots.)
But the remark was in recognition of Galliano's alcoholic...
| Jun 5, 2013
| 6:00 AM
In a Vanity Fair interview, fashion designer John Galliano tries to explain himself publicly for the first time since Dior fired him as creative director two years ago after several instances came to light of him going on anti-Semitic rants. (He was later...
| Jun 6, 2013
| 8:19 AM
Looking at the 2013 CMT Music Awards red carpet Wednesday, I was struck by how eclectic the stars and attendees are at country events. I mean, there were Taylor Swift, Kristen Bell and Nicole Kidman in flirty short dresses, Carrie Underwood in turquoise...
| Feb 12, 2013
Pink has entered into a committed relationship with wedding gowns.
Blushing bridal gowns marched down the aisle as far back as 2002 — an eternity in the annals of celebrity marriage and fashion trends — when Gwen Stefani married Gavin...
| Feb 13, 2013
| 9:36 AM
NEW YORK -- “Schmuck.”
That was the headline the New York Post ran Wednesday with a cover photo of disgraced designer John Galliano wearing a black hat and curls that appeared to make fun of traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing.
| Feb 17, 2013
We saw a record-setting snowstorm, a disgraced designer given a second chance and Santa Cruz cited as a fashion inspiration. New York Fashion Week, which wrapped up Thursday night, was as crazy as ever.
Here are the week's big takeaways about coming...
| May 8, 2013
| 7:11 AM
Beyonce has been to four Met Galas and has learned how to make the most notable entrance. On Monday night, in her Givenchy gown, she made the grandest entrance of all, becoming, says Charlotte Cowles at the Cut, "a human grand finale" of the evening's...
| May 10, 2013
| 7:46 AM
Workers clearing rubble from the scene of the multistory garment factory that collapsed in Bangladesh killing more than 1,000 workers at last count and injuring around 2,000 more found a woman alive and rescued her Friday, 17 days after the tragedy. The...
| May 2, 2013
| 7:34 AM
Director/producer/writer Baz Luhrmann must be pretty proud of his latest offering, "The Great Gatsby," due out May 10. At least it looked that way Tuesday night in New York at Prada's cocktail reception kicking off the SoHo store's exhibit of the movie'...


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Our booking data shows that global travel is beginning to bounce back, and new research has identified a series of trends that will shape travel in the months to come. People want to travel locally with more affordable options and unique personal experiences, prioritising cleanliness and private spaces. From the overall industry standpoint, we believe, the industry will recover in a phased manner over a period. Domestic travel will recover faster than outbound. And in domestic tourism, for all the reasons that we know, city tours and day-drive tours will be the first to recover. States will look to ease rules, making local travel a shorter-term option. We believe that when it is safe, many will venture out again, and our hosts are more committed than ever to welcome guests back. Ninety two per cent of the hosts interviewed on our platform said that they plan to host as often as before, or more often, once the effects of the pandemic are less severe.
From May 17 to June 3, there were more nights booked for domestic travel on Airbnb globally than there were in the same time period in 2019. In India, 51 per cent of our business comprises domestic bookings (Indian who travel within the country). In addition, search trends and ‘wish lists’ by Indian Airbnb users indicate that long lockdowns have only piqued interest and aspirations to travel. Key domestic markets for Airbnb are Goa, New Delhi, Rajasthan, Mumbai, and Bangalore. But we are seeing a surge in searches for stay options in nearby cities, especially closer to metros, like Alibag, Lonavala, and Panchgani near Mumbai. Domestic tourism will see a big boost as international borders may take time to open up. India has a lot to offer domestically, and we look forward to working with state tourism boards to ensure that we are able to showcase amazing Indian locations and homes to our community. The most common words in recent Wish Lists’ by Airbnb users are ‘beach’ and ‘summer 2020’ and, in India, 70 per cent of visitors to the platform are searching with dates in the near future (starting July 2020).
In a recent survey commissioned by Airbnb, over half of the respondents said they will prefer to stay within a day’s drive for their first trip. We recently launched our ‘go near’ initiative to support economic growth through domestic travel in India. With our newly launched ‘nearby getaways’ on our platform, we are helping our guests navigate and book nearby experiences. While some might be keen to travel and venture out, sanitisation and cleanliness are going to be top priority. We have engaged the former US surgeon general, Dr Vivek Murthy, to help develop an industry standard-setting ‘enhanced cleaning protocol’ for hosts on Airbnb. The protocol is now available to hosts in the United States, and will be available to other ones in the weeks ahead.
The sector requires a brand-new vision and strategy involving partnership between stakeholders—public and private—to mitigate any challenges into opportunities. While recovery will be a long path, our host community and global Airbnb family eagerly anticipate the future of travel. It will take the combined strength of stakeholders— communities, governments, industry, and travelers—to contribute to the sector’s rapid revival and long-term health. We remain committed, now more than ever, to economically empower communities, drive travel to lesser-known places, and support environmentally sustainable travel. The ministry of tourism has set up a task force to address the issues, and the task force is helping in assessing the needs of the tourism sector at national and regional level, and coming out with effective recommendations for revival. We have seen encouraging signs of recovery. We believe, once tourism within other regions starts to recover, it will quickly become the catalyst for the revival of other affected sectors linked to the industry.
(As told to Jyotika Sood)
Amanpreet Bajaj, India Country Manager, Airbnb. (Views are personal)


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Steve Jobs would be angry. AT&T has partnered with Flipswap to accept your old iPhones as a trade in for the iPhone 4S.
The concept is great, the execution is flawed. Read the fine print. Flipswap and the AT&T representative said they would pay $275 for my ‘like new’ iPhone 4 32GB. Fair enough.
I was then given the contract to sign that said Flipswap could offer a lower price upon receipt of the phone and I had to accept it. They would not return the phone and the price was no negotiable. I understand they want to review the phone but what I did not understand was that they made a unilateral decision that I was forced to accept. Don’t do it. Read the agreement. You can do much better selling the phone on EBay or Craigslist.
They just turned a value added benefit (cash for phone) into a customer service issue (confused or angry customers).


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By Sinead Carew NEW YORK (Reuters) - Anxious investors sought shelter in gold, Treasuries and the yen on Tuesday after reports that Syrian warplanes dropped barrel bombs on rebel-held areas a day after the United States said their use could lead to further ... Sify, 2 weeks ago
By Ginger Gibson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called tax code revisions a critical way to boost the nation's economy as he kicked off a White House meeting with chief executive officers of Target Corp, Best Buy Co Inc and ...Sify, 2 months ago Trump meets with retail CEOs to talk taxes, imports Sify, 2 months ago
By Dion Rabouin NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar rebounded from its weakest level against six major rivals since mid-November on Thursday, while world equity markets were mixed as investor concerns about the Trump administration's aggressive posture offset ...Sify, 2 months ago
By Dhara Ranasinghe LONDON (Reuters) - Inflation has a habit of creeping up on you. Just ask historians. From rates below zero less than a year ago, inflation across the developed world has risen in recent months towards central bank targets, largely driven ...Sify, 2 months ago
on your WebpageAdd Widget >Get your members hooked!


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Sky has announced the launch of‘Sky Connect, a new entrant in the UK B2B telecoms market focused on partnering with small businesses to provide them with a better broadband experience.
Sky’s entrance to the business broadband market follows its success in residential broadband. With over 6 million customers, Sky Broadband is the second largest residential provider in the UK, and over the past ten years Sky Broadband has, on average, received fewer complaints to Ofcom than anyone else.
Sky Connect plans to bring this best-in-class service to small businesses, including professional installation, backed by a customer charter featuring a 30-day money back guarantee, simplified billing, no in-contract price rises, and no hassle cancellation fees. Sky Connect will provide superfast broadband with built-in malware & phishing protection; VoiceEdge – a modern digital voice service with 24 call management features, and Connection Pro – which provides business-grade 4G back-up, and much more.
Package prices start from £39.
Stephen van Rooyen, EVP & CEO, UK & Europe, Sky, said: “Covid-19 has had a huge impact on small British businesses, with many moving online to survive. We’re launching Sky Connect now, and plan to create up to a thousand new jobs across the UK, because we know British businesses will come out fighting and we want to be there to help. Small businesses are the growth engine of our economy and we believe they deserve better – better products and technology; clearer contracts, and exceptional customer service.”
The launch of Sky Connect has already led to the creation of 200 new jobs, including over 100 in its Leeds contact & operations centre, and will lead to the creation of up to 1000 more in sales, service and in head-office over the next few years.


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At last week’s mHealth Summit held at the Gaylord National Resort, the director of Partners HealthCare’s Center for Connected health, Joseph Kveder, questioned whether or not 2015 would be the breakout year for digital health. Kveder is certainly still a proponent of the beneficial differences mHealth can make for patients and healthcare providers, but he brings ups few issues that must be overcome before digital heath care and patient engagement with mHealth apps is fully embraced.
With recent advances like Apple’s coming-soon smart-watch and Google Fit, Kveder reasoned that users must want to engage with these technologies and they must be easier to engage with–or mHealth and its benefits will risk being passed over as just another tech bubble.
What is most critical in making sure these technologies really begin to help patients is to ensure that full engagement actually modifies behaviors. Whether wearing a habit-tracking smart watch, or logging daily food intake and exercise, consumers must be able to see the benefits of electronic health technologies, and health professionals must stand behind these advancements and promote their benefits to patients.
While consumer engagement is relatively low at this point, both physicians and patients are interested in the prescriptive nature of mobile health apps. A recent study found that 89% of physicians would prescribe an app to patients and 44% of patients said they would use an app if it were prescribed by a physician. As physicians and consumers both become more familiar with mHealth functionality and see measurable results, engagement from both parties is sure to rise.


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Even though 65% of U.S. consumers haven’t started their 2015 holiday shopping yet (as of 9/29/2015), retailers and marketers should have powerful research on their side to pave the way for as successful a holiday season as possible. During the 2014 season, CivicScience used its InsightStore™ platform to gather and analyze consumer sentiment, intentions, and stated behaviors for a wide range of shopping-related topics. Some of the highlighted findings are shared below to empower marketers this year — and you can view even more in an on-demand webinar we presented on September 16, 2015:
1) Early Birds vs. Procrastinators
Only 17% of consumers start shopping before the Fall season, while 28% of shoppers wait until the few weeks prior to Christmas.
The early birds tend to be women, more than half (59%) are over age 35, they pay attention to price, and they are more active than most on Pinterest and YouTube.
The procrastinators? Probably no big surprise that they are more likely to be employed men aged 25-54 who consumer a lot of their TV content online. This latter group may be highly persuadable toward online shopping.
2) Thanksgiving and Black Friday Sales Events are Falling Out of Fashion
Even with many stores opening their doors on the national holiday of Thanksgiving, 90% of U.S. adults in 2014 said they had no intentions of shopping on that day.
And Black Friday in 2014 saw less shoppers (and less sales) than 2013 – which was predicted by consumers’ stated shopping intent ahead of time:
3) Online Shopping Lights the Way
Rather than fighting the crowds in the stores, consumers increasingly favor shopping online. In 2014, 44% of U.S. adults planned to do MOST of their holiday shopping online. And they were trading the Black Friday in-store experience for online: 17% of U.S. adults said they would do all or most of their Black Friday shopping online (a 7% increase over 2013), and about 30% of U.S. adults planned to shop on Cyber Monday in 2014.
4) Know Your Different Types of Online Shoppers
Choosing to do your online shopping on store-specific sites (suggesting brand loyalty) or mass online retailers like Amazon.com actually reveals some key consumer differences. Online store-specific shoppers tends to be women in their middle ages (35-54). They are more active on Pinterest and Instagram, and feel they are addicted to their digital devices.
On the other hand, those who favor large web-only retailers don’t have much gender difference, but they do skew younger into the Millennial age group and also have higher incomes than average. They are more likely to value price over brand and price-compare at a higher rate.
5) The Grinch is Stealing In-Store Experiences
Most consumers avoid or minimize holiday shopping in stores, and online shopping is on the rise. Call it a coincidence, but it’s hard to tell whether it’s the store experience that’s driving e-commerce or the convenience of online shopping that’s turning people off to stores. Either way, the bricks and mortar world needs to take serious notice.
In 2014, CivicScience found that 63% of consumers are either shifting as much of their holiday shopping online as possible or minimizing their trips to stores because they “don’t like” or “tolerate” shopping in stores.
What are the top in-store turn offs? Crowds (32%) and lines (15%) are at the top, while another 13% say it’s the attitudes of other shoppers (frankly, those are all probably interrelated). Those earning over $150,000 per year are the most turned off by crowds, and crowd-haters are more likely to say they make only one big shopping trip to “get it all done at once.”
6) Throwing Stores a Little Holiday Cheer
21% of U.S. adult consumers in 2014 said they do love or mostly enjoy in-store holiday shopping. Surprisingly, it’s the younger consumers who are more likely to feel this way.
What do consumers like the most? 18% say it’s the holiday music and decorations – in other words, the festive atmosphere. These folks are more likely to make at least four separate holiday shopping trips. Stores would be wise to play up the “ambiance” factor, maybe even bring in local singing groups or DJs spinning holiday tunes, or get school children to contribute displays or craft items. Another 12% say they prefer to see and touch the products they plan to buy, while 10% say it’s the in-store deals that they like.
About this data:
This highlighting findings came from a collection of reports published by CivicScience from September 2014 – January 2015 as part of the retail holiday shopping season. The data were collected from our enterprise platform for real-time and trended consumer insights, the InsightStore™, using syndicated (non-client) polling questions, which allowed us to quickly view and analyze the results, including cross-tabulating the data with other response data in our massive database. Tens of thousands of consumers in total contributed to these findings. To access the full compilation of these 2014 season reports and to get more details about the collection samples, please visit: http://cs-marcomm.demandco.webfactional.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Insight-Report-Holiday-Shoppers-2014-CivicScience.pdf


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ContainerPort Group Inc. of Rocky River has acquired ASF Transportation Group LLC of Mobile, Ala., effective Jan. 1, the company announced in a news release. The combined company will operate under the ContainerPort Group brand.
The acquisition only involves ASF's intermodal/transportation businesses, and ASF Logistics and ASF Global will remain under their existing management structure, the release stated.
The combined ContainerPort company has 25 terminals and more than 1,300 trucks in its fleet to serve customer needs in "intermodal drayage, depot, truckload and brokerage operations," according to the release. That means the company oversees import and export shipment through ports and rail for customers, as well as handling container storage for major ocean carriers, said Michael Smith. Smith, founder and president of ASF Transportation, is now serving as president of ContainerPort Group.
"We began a search process nearly two years ago to retire the late Russ Graef, who was a veteran of our company for 45 years," said Fred Hunger, CPG chairman, in the release. "Michael brings exactly the type of hands-on, genuine, and no-ego type of management style which we were patiently looking to bring to the organization. His executive leadership from the transportation space, combined with his entrepreneurial spirit is a perfect combination to lead our now 1,300 plus strong fleet, and our Midwest intermodal depot locations."
Smith said he is currently splitting his time between the two cities, but ContainerPort Group will be headquartered in Rocky River. The cost of the acquisition is not being disclosed, he said.