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When Apple decided to make a truly bezel-less phone, it went all in to make a successful design. In no time, we were treated to the iPhone X, which, despite the notch, became a favourite among consumers. Now, the company might be looking at bringing this new design factor to other products in its portfolio.
Apple Watch and iPads are quite popular, even if they do not sell as much as the iPhones. With the new change Apple has in mind for the upcoming Apple Watch Series 4 and iPad Pro, the devices could potentially be the new head-turners in their respective categories.
Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, in his latest research note for investors, outlined the possibilities of seeing a major overhaul in two of Apple's popular products, Apple Watch and iPad Pro. According to Kuo, Apple could minimize bezels on Apple Watch Series 4 and accommodate larger 1.57- and 1.78-inch screens.
Based on these predictions, 9to5Mac created visualisations of how these new Watch models would appear when placed side by side with the Series 3 models. The visual representation is bang on, which shows the curved edges of the display essential to eliminate bezels just like in the case of iPhone X.
The renders also show larger displays fitted inside the same watch casing as the Series 3. This would improve the usability of the device and have more distinctive text and numerals, which will comparatively reduce the Digital Crown scrolling. The rest of the design is not reimagined, but we would know more only when Apple launches the Series 4 this year.
Besides, the bezel-less design form is also embracing the iPads, which generally have generous bezels around the display. That could change with the two new upcoming iPad Pro models.
As per Kuo, Apple could launch two new iPad Pro models, one with the 12.9-inch display to replace the current variant of the same size and a new 11-inch model.
Even though Apple could significantly trim down the bezels on its upcoming iPads, there is expected to be enough room for Apple to include Face ID sensors and front camera as we've seen in the iPhone X notch. This means the new iPad Pro models will have slimmer bezels without a notch, and the home button with Touch ID.
Other predictions laid out by Kuo include several upgrades to the entire Mac line of computers, a new and affordable notebook and mass production of AirPower and new AirPods.
With everything in the pipeline, including three new iPhones, it is going to be an interesting time for Apple. Stay tuned for more updates.

domain: news


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The current fever over Internet companies might be minting a new generation of Silicon Valley millionaires, but the restaurants that have opened there in the past year to cater to them and others have a decidedly downscale feel.
Of the 142 restaurants that have started up in Silicon Valley over the past year, according to review website Yelp, 80 are rated least expensive, meaning the average meal costs less than $10. An additional 56 are rated "$$," meaning meals cost between $11 and $30 per person. Only two restaurants rated $$$ opened in the last 12 months, and none rated $$$$.
The restaurants also have an ethnic flavor: Sixty-one are Asian, mainly Chinese; 33 are Latin American. The rest are mainly pizza, sandwich and burger joints.
"The boom in restaurants happens at the tail end of a boom" in the economy, said Dan Pulcrano, chief executive of the newspaper Metro Silicon Valley and the producer of Silicon Valley Restaurant Week. Much of the wealth being created now is still on paper, meaning people aren't yet in a position to spend it. Many high-end restaurants that opened last decade are operating below capacity now, Mr. Pulcrano said, and there isn't yet demand for new ones.
"One guy worth $5 billion can still only eat three meals a day," he said, adding that expensive places won't open en masse until employees start cashing out of their shares.
There is another factor: Companies are keeping a tight rein on spending, despite an improving economy. Silicon Valley felt the recession later than many other parts of the country, and businesses have cut back on the expense-account feasts that many upscale establishments rely on, said Daniel Conway, spokesman for the California Restaurant Association.
Low-price ethnic restaurants, on the other hand, are typically less expensive to open and operate, and don't depend on the expense-account crowd. Santa Clara County also has a high minority population: 30.2% of residents are Asian while 25.7% are Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Moreover, these restaurants are breaking out of their niches, said Mr. Pulcrano, with chefs coming up with innovative ways to fuse different cuisines, such as Thai burritos.
One of the few pricey places to open recently is Bon Vivant Café, a combination restaurant and art gallery in Palo Alto. It features fresh crepes, caviar and dishes like duck with sour-cherry jus. A typical meal costs between $35 and $50 depending on the wine.
"We went into the business because it was something that my wife had been dreaming of doing for many years," said Howard Rosen, a co-owner. "There seems to be much more activity in the lower end of the market. Hopefully we will be the beneficiaries of a rising economy."
Write to Ben Worthen at email@example.com


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Boston University has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple alleging the Cupertino company is using BU technology in its iPhone 5, iPad and MacBook Air. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.
The patent in question involves a method of making a gallium nitride thin film semiconductor device. It was granted to BU computer engineering professor Theodore D. Moustakas in 1997. The complaint does not detail how Apple is using this technology.
BU claims “[Apple’s] acts of infringement have caused and will continue to cause substantial and irreparable damage to the University.” Consequently, the university is requesting damages and interest on those damages. It is also asking for an injunction to stop the sale of infringing Apple devices.


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Moto company today on dated 8feb 2023 has being launch new smartphone moto e13. and this phone will be sale on flikart portal , this type all information moto company provide by self twitter handling.
As per company twitters and other online media, today 8th feb this smartphone will be launched but before launch all phone details has been out in market.
This smartphone will be come with 6.5” HD Display screen and latest technology based. IP52 water protection will be available in this phone. With which you can save your phone from water. It will come with Android 13 version operating system and UNISOC T606 processor is also given in this phone.
This phone has 2GB and 4GB RAM. 64GB of storage will be available with 2GB of RAM and 128GB of storage will be available with 4GB of RAM.You can increase 1 TB storage in the phone.
Battery is also an important part of the smartphone because because there is always something or the other people doing something on the phone, if the battery backup is not enough then there will always be a need for charging. Therefore, here the company is providing 5000aMh battery.
--Posted By : santosh


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Even as total worldwide retail sales declined by 3.0% in 2020, retail ecommerce growth boomed to 27.6%. Ecommerce growth will decelerate substantially in 2021 to 14.3% as brick-and-mortar sales recover.
This year, China will take a step in its digital transformation that once may have seemed almost unthinkable. We forecast that 52.1% of the country’s retail sales will come from ecommerce in 2021, up from 44.8% a year prior. That means that for the first time anywhere, a majority of retail sales for an entire country will transact online.
Despite a challenging year for retail in 2020, we estimate that worldwide retail ecommerce sales posted a 27.6% growth rate for the year, with sales reaching well over $4 trillion. This represents a substantial uptick from our mid-pandemic assessment that globalecommerce would decelerate to 16.5% growth and demonstrates the remarkable extent to which consumers transitioned to ecommerce last year.
Global retail ecommerce sales will decelerate to a 16.5% growth rate in 2020. Even as consumers transitioned en masse to ecommerce during the pandemic, the drag caused by multiple recessions internationally has reduced the overall outlook.


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Will your new Apple watch replace your cardiologist?
Apple fans are freaking out about the new Apple Watch Series 4. But someone that might not be too excited about the new wearable is your cardiologist. Susana Victoria Perez has more. Buzz60


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Snowmobiling, to many Townshippers, is one of the many enjoyable winter activities across the region. With the numerous trails that weave through the countryside connecting towns and rural areas, snowmobiling has deep history as both a pastime and a mode of transportation. However, recent changes have caused concern over the activity’s future.
One of the problems noticed recently is how expensive getting into snowmobiling can be.
“You can buy a new machine now for $20,000-$30,000 on the high end,” said Jeff Cheal, a local snowmobile enthusiast. “You can buy a pretty nice car for that amount of money.”
Of course, there are cheaper models and other second-hand options, but instability in the market has affected pricing. “Recently, the second-hand snowmobile market has become like the truck market,” said Cheal. “The shortage of chips in the market, as well as general supply being down has caused the prices of second-hand machines to go up quite a bit because more people want the machines.”
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TNW Conference is getting ready for its 2022 edition, hosted in Amsterdam on 16 & 17 June 2022. The Next Web Conference is where founders, investors, corporates, and governments unite to discover the future of technology. This event is organized by The Next Web, a Financial Times company based in Amsterdam.
This year, the conference features eight themes – from AI/ML to UI/UX design.
Boost, Growth Quarters, Futureproof, Impact, Neural, Shift, Sprint, Tech & Money
The speakers this year include world-famous cybersecurity expert Edward Snowden, Tim Berners Lee – Founder of World Wide Web, along with other C-Level executives from top companies of the world and industry experts.
Backed by industry-defining brands, this event has discussed hot topics of the time with industry experts since 2006.
After the global shape-shifting pandemic, people are eager to meet and connect with people in 2022.
Learn More: https://thenextweb.com/conference


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The annual meeting of the members of the Consorzio Produttori di Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena, the governing body which oversees the production of and sets the quality standards by which all traditional balsamics are measured, has confirmed the Board: Enrico Corsini (President) Vincenzo Ferrari Amorotti, Erika Barbieri, Leonardo Giacobazzi, Cesare Mazzetti, Carlo Piccinini, Ettore Agazzotti, Mirco Casari, Joseph Pedroni.
The meeting was held in the assembly hall of the Palatipico at Viale Virgilio in Modena. The Assembly also unanimously approved the budget for the year 2012. President Enrico Corsini, opening the meeting, acknowledged the 2012 as a horrible year for Emilia; in addition to the economic crisis, he said, we greatly suffered greatly from the earthquake of May, damaging many manufacturing companies.
Corsini then recalled the numerous consortium activities, especially for the promotion of the product to consumers nationally and internationally, thanks to the collaboration established with PalaTipico Ltd. which has just launched umbrella brand ‘Piacere Modena’, and Aicig, the Association of the major Italian DOP / IGP Consorzio. Corsini went on to point out the absolute necessity to fight strongly, at all levels, the growing issue of imitation of the DOP, particularly the terms used with the clear intention to compete unfairly with the protected product.
Nevertheless, the production volumes and financial results the Consortium showed encouraged Corsini to call the past year a “satisfactory improvement.”


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12 Sep Is it time for Virtual Reality and are #VR forecasts of 20B$ in sales realistic?
Google is investing hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece in virtual-reality films and programs, part of a plan to line up exclusive content for the debut of its new Daydream service in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.
Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.bloomberg.com
Bloomberg video interview that provides motivations for the explosion on VR in the coming years:
1- applications are numerous, with opportunities in different space, not only in gaming but in medical, movie, etc.
2- big players are lined up : Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc.
That being said, there have been multiple false starts for VR and #D (remember 3D TVs and google glasses?), so I remaining cautiously optimistic with both VR and AR. They may not be ready for consumer market but may expand into certain key niche applications and industries.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT
In that context, it is essential for digital transformation strategies to consider VR and AR in their roadmaps. There must be clear business needs to drive adoption of this relatively immature technology which requires a number of user constraint (least of which is wearing a headset which makes you look like a dork and prevents you from living in the moment). But there are multiple types of industries where professionals can find benefits in viewing things in 3D in a lifelike fashion: those should be prioritized.


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— Domain Holdings announces exclusive listing of HongKong.com and Taiwan.com domain names
DELRAY BEACH, Fla., March 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Domain Holdings Group, Inc. (http://www.domainholdings.com), an industry-leading domain name brokerage firm specializing in the representation and acquisition of premium domain names, today announced the super-premium domain names HongKong.com and Taiwan.com are now exclusively for sale by its brokerage team.
“HongKong.com and Taiwan.com are 2 of the most important domains to both commerce and tourism in Asia,” said Alan Dunn, Managing Director of Domain Holdings Group. “And today marks the first time in over 20 years these assets are available for sale.”
According to the Wealth-X and UBS World Ultra Wealth Report for 2013 Hong Kong has become the largest recipient from the diversification of assets by mainland Chinese Ultra High Net Worth individuals. The opportunity to own these domains has a very short window but the successful buyers will gain a global brand for two of the most valuable economies in the world.
“Over the last two years the China market has become a dominant investor in domain names and we expect these domains to fetch near record prices,” said Mark Daniel, Director of Business Development for Domain Holdings Group.
For more information, or if you are interested in HongKong.com or Taiwan.com, please contact Mark Daniel at +1-561-634-7349 or firstname.lastname@example.org.
About Domain Holdings
Domain Holdings Group, Inc. (DH) is an industry leading domain name brokerage firm specializing in the representation and acquisition of premium domain names.
Based in Delray Beach, Florida, Domain Holdings Group, Inc. was founded by a group of leading internet marketing experts whose domain industry experience dates back to 1995. The company’s award-winning, distinguished management team retains over 75 years of combined experience working with a multitude of industry-defining organizations including Advertising.com, Mail.com and America Online (AOL).
The Domain Holdings brokerage team has assisted company’s globally secure domain names, websites and other digital intellectual property. Clients include many well-known brands including Wickr, Mark Cuban Companies, Match.com, Liberty Tax, Astoria Federal Savings, Envivo Pharmaceuticals, Web.com and more.
In 2014, Domain Holdings brokered over $30 Million in transactions leading the industry in many key metrics including the amount of end user sales. For more information on the services of Domain Holdings, please contact us.


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The report by consumer company Which says that supermarkets are 'misleading' customers about their prices. It states that unit pricing is not clear enough making it difficult for consumers to compare prices.
Almost a quarter shoppers stated that they thought the reason for the increase in their weekly shopping bill was due to unclear pricing in supermarkets.
Morrisons has said it will take steps to create a clearer pricing strategy while Sainsbury's has also announced that it will trial a new labelling format, which will include clearer unit pricing.
More top news
The returns of Benedict Cumberbatch's detective and the X Factor judge were among 2014's most tweeted TV moments in a billion conversations.
A family has issued an appeal to help find their missing pet turkey - in case he gets gobbled up as someone's Christmas dinner.
The winner of X-Factor Ben Haenow has revealed how keen he is to have the Christmas number one.


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Nassau, Bahamas – An array of Bahamian food products is in store for patrons attending the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources’ third National Agribusiness Expo scheduled for March 3rd through 5th at the Gladstone Road Agriculture Centre.
Prime Minister Hubert A Ingraham will deliver the keynote address and Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes will present the awards.
Large contingents of food producers from nearly all the islands are expected to participate, said Agriculture an Marine Resources Minister Lawrence S ‘Larry’ Cartwright on Thursday. Provisions are being made for at least 150 vendors.
A wide variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, marine products, pastries, preserves, ornamentals, and handicrafts will be featured and offered for sale. Fifty-one agricultural science students will compete in root crop, fruits and vegetables categories.
There will be cooking demonstrations and culinary competitions utilising native ingredients, he said.
The linkages between agriculture and marine resources, and education, tourism, health and the manufacturing sectors will be explored.
“The Ministry of Agriculture and Marine resources continues to make great strides in meeting its mandate to enhance the ability of the farming and fishing industries to fuel economic development and improve the quality of life of Bahamians,” said Mr Cartwright.
“The sustainability, growth and development of the agribusiness sector are pivotal in our quest for achieving food security and making agriculture a strong pillar of our economy. These expos underscore our commitment to this mandate.
“For persons with interests in any aspect of agribusiness, the Expo will be the place to forge networks,” he added.


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New Gundam Work to Be Unveiled in June 13 (Update 2)
posted on by Egan Loo
The official Japanese portal site for the Gundam robot franchise confirmed on Monday that a new work in the franchise will be revealed via a live event on June 13 at 1:30 p.m. in Japan (12:30 a.m. EDT). The site promises that everything about the setting, story, mecha, characters, and more will be unveiled about the project. The event will also announce items from the Bandai Namco Group. (Sunrise, the studio behind Gundam, is a Bandai Namco Group company.)
An English Twitter account of Bluefin, Bandai's distributor in the United States, had retweeted a message last month that said, "A new Gundam series will be announced during the Tokyo Toy Show....about 3 weeks." However, the message has since been deleted. This year, the International Tokyo Toy Show will run from June 16 to 19.
[Via Tadashi Sudo]
Update: More background information added.
Update 2: Director Seiji Mizushima (Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Fullmetal Alchemist) emphasized that he has nothing to do with the new Gundam project, but added that there are many people involved from the Gundam 00 staff.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history


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PACKAGING: Warning Labels On Energy Drinks
Recent Western Cape Business News
IN an effort to enhance the public’s awareness of the possible harmful effects of energy drinks, the government will be placing more stringent requirements on the manufacturers of these beverages when it comes to the labelling of their products.
Government intends to amend the regulations relating to soft drinks, specifically those categorised as ‘formulated caffeinated beverage or cola beverage’, in terms of section 15(1) of the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act of 1972.
“In line with international standards, government wants to ensure that consumers are protected and properly advised so they can make informed choices for themselves and their families when it comes to buying highly caffeinated soft drinks,” says Hugh Melamdowitz, partner at intellectual property specialist law firm Spoor & Fisher. “Without adequate and prominent labelling, consumers are less likely to understand whether they are getting a little or a lot of caffeine. The new regulations simply balance the interest of manufacturers and consumers.”
According to researchers from Johns Hopkins University in the US, energy drinks should bear labels stating their caffeine content and warning of their potential health problems. Although some contain moderate amounts of caffeine, others have very high caffeine content, ranging from 50 to 505 milligrams of caffeine per serving. The American Beverage Association has stated that energy drinks are safe and they can be part of a balanced lifestyle when consumed sensibly.
In terms of the new regulations, ‘formulated caffeinated beverage’ means a “non-alcoholic, water-based, flavoured beverage which contains caffeine and may contain carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins and other substances or ingredients, for the purpose of enhancing mental performance”.
Where these ‘energy drinks’ contain more than 150mg/l of caffeine, the amended regulations require that these goods bear the following:
• A message on the main panel of the label, in bold capital letters not less than 3.0 mm in height: ‘High Caffeine Content’
• A clearly legible message in capital letters not less than 3.0 mm in height: ‘Not Recommended For Children Under 12 Years Of Age, Pregnant Women, Persons Sensitive To Caffeine And Not To Be Consumed As A Mixture With Alcohol Beverages’
• The label on the package will also need to include declarations on the quantity of caffeine per serving size and per 100ml, expressed in milligrams or ‘mg’
The public have until 13 August 2011 to comment on the draft amendment.
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Siemens becomes technology partner for Goodwood Festival of Speed
26 June 2019
Siemens will be showcasing a host of ingenious technology to help make the world a cleaner, greener, and digital place.
As a technology partner, Siemens supported by GeoPura, will be showcasing a new decentralised power source, the hydrogen fuel cell, which will produce up to 150kW of electricity and be responsible for providing power to the First Glance Paddock to charge the new electric vehicles (EVs) and EV supercars on display, as well as providing clean mobile phone charger points for visitors.
Siemens will also be presenting EVs that have been completely renovated and decarbonised to demonstrate the range of options that can help the UK move towards cleaner air. This includes the BULL-E, a converted VW camper van that is now purely electric, and the eChopper – a completely electric motorcycle which will (silently) be taking part in the iconic Goodwood hill climb.
Providing charger points for the EVs will be the brand-new Siemens AC22 – an electric charger ideal for fleet charging due to its high power and high speed.
In the FOS Future Lab, Siemens will be displaying the new electric battery for the latest Aston Martin – charged by the AC22 – as well as giving visitors the option to create a ‘Digital Twin’ of themselves using technologies Siemens uses to design and manufacture cars and components.
Juergen Maier, CEO of Siemens plc, said, “At Siemens, we champion ingenious technology that supports the way people live. Our technology will help people and businesses to become cleaner, greener and electric. Becoming a technology partner for Goodwood Festival of Speed allows us to showcase some of the incredible work and research we’re doing to support a more sustainable future, whether that’s alternative energy sources, supporting the move to electric vehicles or digital updates to manufacturing.”
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Bharti Airtel Africa Data Growth to Quicken on Smartphones
Bharti Airtel the Indian wireless company with operations in 17 African countries, said data usage on the continent will accelerate after more than doubling in the year through June.
“We do not expect this rate of growth to show any significant change in the short-to-medium term,” Andre Beyers, chief marketing officer of Nairobi-based Airtel Africa, said in an Aug. 23 response to e-mailed questions. “If anything, with the further increase in smartphone penetration, our continuous expanding coverage and some more exciting products, this growth rate might even further improve.”
Mobile-phone users in urban Africa are turning to data because of falling prices of Internet-enabled handsets, according to research by McKinsey & Co. About 25 percent of smartphone owners in Africa access the Internet daily and more than half at least once a month, the company said.
“We have seen tremendous growth in most of our markets, but the growth in markets such as Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Burkina Faso is really pleasing,” Beyers, 48, said. “Our efforts to increase the access to and affordability of data is showing good returns.”
Airtel’s African data-subscriber numbers jumped 65 percent during the 12-month period to 15 million customers, Beyers said, while data use advanced about 150 percent. Revenue from data services made up more than 5 percent of the African unit’s total sales for the first time, he said.
As part of plans to meet growing demand for data services among its customers, Airtel Africa has been deploying high-speed Internet capacity known as 3G across its African network and so far 14 out of the 17 nations have speeds of as much as 42 megabits per second, Beyers said.
Airtel Africa is the third-biggest operator in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, with 21.6 million customers as of June, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission. That compares with 18.6 million in April 2012. The company is the second-largest operator in Kenya behind Safaricom Ltd., a unit of Newbury, England-based Vodafone Plc.
Bharti Airtel, which started operating in Africa in 2010, made a net loss of $106 million on the continent in the three months through June, compared with a loss of $124 million in the same period a year earlier, the company said on July 31. Sales declined for the second consecutive quarter. Airtel is planning to reverse the trend by targeting a growing number of smartphone users in Africa to boost revenue per user and reduce dependence on traditional fixed-line services.
Bharti Airtel is India’s biggest mobile-phone company with more than 269 million customers across 20 countries in Asia and Africa, according to its website. The company’s shares fell 1.9 percent to 288.30 rupees by 2:47 p.m. in Mumbai, extending a decline for the year to 8.7 percent.


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Find a hotel tonight, book easy, secure and free, pay at the accommodation with our "Hotel Post-Pay" – ebooking.com.
Jan 8, 2020.
HotelTonight is an app that specializes in finding last-minute hotel deals. They partner with hotels in a host of cities around the world, helping.
Hotel Revival announced this week it will distribute free produce and bagged lunches Saturday to those in need amid the.
HotelTonight, San Francisco, California. 337324 likes · 61 talking about this. Amazing hotel deals for tonight, tomorrow and beyond.
Feb 7, 2017.
“Since then, it's become this iconic feature of HotelTonight,” Shank says. “We now say, three taps and swipe to book a hotel tonight.” This kind of.
Hotels in Texas could get back to business this week, but some locals in rural parts of the state worry an influx of tourists.
New Delhi, Apr 29 (PTI) India’s hotel industry is estimated to face a whopping business loss of Rs 90,000 crore during this calendar year, as all hotels are closed due to nationwide lockdown to.
Travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other. Airbnb’s business has been significantly impacted by the pandemic, and several mutual fund managers believe it has hurt the. Worldwide hotels, car rentals, airfares, vacation reservations plus community social groups,
The Hotel Tonight app promises great discounts on last-minute stays. But does it live up to the hype?
Polish hotels and shopping malls will reopen on May 4 and pre-schools will have the option to open on May 6, Prime Minister.
Jan 15, 2015.
But while HotelTonight may be one of Silicon Valley's darlings,
With its network of 585,000 hotels all over the world—yes, even in.
The corporate director of marketing for Paséa Hotel & Spa Giovanni Prada joined us live to talk about the office zen rooms.
Best Rewards Programs Discover U.S. News' picks for the best credit cards. Compare types of credit cards and learn expert strategies to save money while growing your business. Amex, Capital One, and other issuers are making it easier to earn welcome bonuses or enjoy card benefits with new, non-travel. Apr 22, 2019. Best Rewards Programs. These days, it
Luxury Hotel Products For Your Home — Part One – Five-Star Hotel Sheets From Frette. Who doesn’t love high-thread-count luxury linens from Italy? Say “Ciao!” to H by Frette’s.
Sep 20, 2016.
Following in the footsteps of Hotel Tonight, Standard International, owner of the Standard hotels, is unveiling an app that will allow customers to.
De Blasio said he would move 1,000 more homeless New Yorkers into hotels this week and was prepared to move 1,000 more “going.
Apr 12, 2012.
The much-lauded hotel booking app HotelTonight, as the name suggests, is designed for same-day bookings and promises savings up to 70.
The Palms Hotel and Spa, Circa 39, South Seas and Richmond Hotel in Miami Beach, as well as the Hard Rock Café in Miami,
HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) – The body of a 52-year-old woman has been found in a western Michigan hotel room. Ottawa County sheriff’s deputies were called to the Holland Township hotel about 1:45 a.
Some Hawaii hotels say they need more guidance about how to enforce a 14-day quarantine on travelers, including what to do if guests refuse to comply or how to participate if they still use physical.
French hotel company Accor – one of many in the tourism sector to have been hit hard by the impact of the coronavirus – said.
Feb 1, 2018.
Hotel Tonight (HT) is a mobile-only marketplace that brings together hotels with travelers. HT started in 2010 as a mobile app that helps.
A Denver-based hotel management company said the Covid-19 pandemic had "crippled" its business, requiring a mass layoff at a.
The start of Phase 2 depends on how fast or slow the coronavirus continues to spread — Baker said he is closely monitoring.
Universal Orlando plans to reopen its hotels to guests, more than two months after they were closed to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Dec 3, 2014.
What got my attention was the Black Friday offer of $7 rooms on Hotel Tonight ( my favorite mobile travel app). Important: Before you read this.
A driver lead the LAPD and CHP on a pursuit before abandoning the car near a Marriot Residence Inn by LAX Thursday night.
Connecticut’s second phase of reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic is being met with a mixture of excitement and.
An employee of a hotel in Nellore was arrested on Tuesday for beating a female colleague following a verbal spat, the police.
"This is a building that was once slated for demolition, and now has the chance to become a focal point of our city".
HotelTonight is ramping up mobile bookings by rolling out the Tonight +1 feature, which allows customers to add a second discounted night to their stay with the.
Discounts average $28 off with a HotelTonight promo code or coupon. 50 HotelTonight coupons now on RetailMeNot.
The hotel’s policy prohibiting “actual or potential” conflicts isn’t all that unusual save for the fact that Trump’s DC hotel.
Three floating laptops displaying HotelTonight website designs.
We came alongside Hotel Tonight at a pivotal point in their growth and delivered a design.
Forbes granted Tilman Fertitta’s hotel a double five-star rating, earning five stars for both the hotel and the spa. The Post.


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It's the day before opening day at Apple's new flagship store on Fifth Avenue (right by FAO Schwartz). The media peeked inside this morning, but as the afternoon wears on, the buzz continues to build...
1) Beyond our cameraphone stylings, more hot photos to peruse. Check out the Flickr photoset from kumaw of the covering coming off the cube under darkness last night; davidjschloss snaps cool architectural angles including the staircase view seen here. Apple Insider also serves up two gorgeous big pics. [Flickr/kumaw; Flickr/davidjschloss; Apple Insider]
2) The Fifth Ave. Apple Store opens to the public tomorrow at 6pm, so naturally the first person got in line at 12:15am last night. Joining the sleepout on the sidewalk tonight? These guys'll be your pals. [ifoAppleStore]
3) Obligatory mainstream media coverage: the WSJ's Nick Wingfield writes on how Apple's retail strategy "beat the odds." Bonus: Apple press release! [WSJ, PRNewswire]
4) About that street party we reported on yesterday, MacWorld picks up on the rumor. Seems it won't be U2 performing, but something's definitely going down... [MacWorld, Curbed]
· Inside the Apple Store (Really!) [Curbed]


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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- About two dozen people protested outside a Burger King in South Buffalo Monday against the proposed merger between Burger King and Canadian company Tim Hortons.
Under the merger, Burger King would move the new, parent company headquarters to Canada, allowing them to pay a lower corporate tax rate than they would in the U.S.
"This increases the tax burden on regular, hardworking Americans," Andy Reynolds, the communications organizer for the Coalition of Economic Justice, said.
In a statement about the merger, Burger King said, "Our headquarters will remain in Miami where we were founded more than 60 years ago and business will continue as usual at our restaurants around the world."
An article in Politifact however noted the statement is "at odds with reality" because the new parent company will be headquartered in Canada.
As part of the merger, Burger King will still pay U.S. taxes on what it makes in the U.S., but it will lower its overall tax burden.
In addition to their outrage over the proposed merger, the protesters also rallied in support of raising the minimum wage. On Monday, President Obama called for a raise in the minimum wage.
"We're talking about companies that are highly profitable, making billions of dollars a year. They can afford to pay their workers fairly," Reynolds said.
Opponents of a raise in the minimum wage say it would hurt small businesses and prevent them from hiring.


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House of Spices (India), packaging products under MDH brand names, is recalling various lots of “MDH SAMBAR MASALA” because of the risk of Salmonella contamination, according to a recall notice posted on the FDA’s website.
The recalled product, produced by R-Pure Agro Specialities and distributed by House of Spices (India), were sold in retail grocery stores in Northern California.
The implicated product comes in a box weighing weighing 3.5-oz (100g) with red and white MDH Logo with the UPC code “6291103750327”. Consumers can look for the additional product information described below:
No other best-by dates are being recalled.
According to the recall notice, these items tested positive for Salmonella through FDA testing in a certified laboratory; “The recall was initiated after it was discovered by the FDA that the Salmonella contaminated products were distributed.”
There have been no consumer complaints or reported cases of Salmonellosis in connection with these products to date.
Consumers are urged to see if they have any of the recalled products in their home. Recalled products should be thrown out or returned to the store where they were purchased for a full refund.
Consumers with questions contact House of Spices India at 718-507-4600.
About Salmonella infections
Food that is contaminated with Salmonella bacteria usually does not look, smell or taste spoiled. Anyone can become sick with a Salmonella infection, but infants, children, seniors and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of serious illness because their immune systems are fragile, according to the CDC.
Anyone who has eaten any of the recalled product and developed symptoms of Salmonella infection should seek medical attention. Sick people should tell their doctors about the possible exposure to Salmonella bacteria because special tests are necessary to diagnose salmonellosis. Salmonella infection symptoms can mimic other illnesses, frequently leading to misdiagnosis.
Symptoms of Salmonella infection can include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food. Otherwise healthy adults are usually sick for four to seven days. In some cases, however, diarrhea may be so severe that patients need to be hospitalized.
Older adults, children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients, are more likely to develop a severe illness and serious, sometimes life-threatening conditions.
It is possible for some people to be infected with the bacteria and to not get sick or show any symptoms, but to still be able to spread the infection to others.
(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)


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FRANKFURT, 28 Oct (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) briefly became the world’s biggest company by market value on Tuesday, as short sellers continued to pile into the stock on weekend news Porsche had bought up much of VW’s remaining free float.
Shares in the German car maker hit an intraday high of 1,005.01 euros, valuing the company at 296.06 billion euros ($370.4 billion) based on ordinary stock, more than that of worl’d number one company Exxon Mobil Corp’s (XOM.N) $343 billion market value at Monday’s closing price.
The shares later eased back to stand 25.4 percent higher at 652.00 euros at 1103 GMT, after tripling in the previous session.
Porsche PSH_p.DE said on Sunday it held over 74 percent of VW, prompting a panic among short sellers who had sold VW shares in the hope of buying them back at lower prices.
German regulator Bafin saud it was looking at the VW share movement to see if any insider trading or market manipulation had taken place.
“Each and any short seller in the world is trying to close up their position and there is no way they can do it except for trying to buy like mad,” said FrankfurtFinanz analyst Heino Ruland.
“Someone is selling it at a rather interesting and rich price -- it is about 10 times as much as it should trade.”
Analysts and traders said the stampede was historic for German large caps.
“We were joking before about the share price hitting 1,000 euros, and all of a sudden, it was there,” said one Frankfurt-based trader. “This is perverse.”
VW shares could continue to rise, or stay at current historic levels, experts said.
“The problem is, from a fundamental point of view, shares are really overvalued. But when the short squeeze comes to an end, there are not enough shares available to bring the share price back down,” said one Frankfurt-based analyst.
Despite the massive rise in VW shares and talk of little free float remaining, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange said it did not plan any changes in the German blue-chip DAX index .GDAXI.
It has said in the past that if the free float in Volkswagen’s ordinary shares were to fall below 5 percent, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s index revision committee would automatically replace them in the DAX index with the top-ranked stock measured by free-float market capitalisation and trading volume.
Germany’s financial regulator said it was looking at the VW share movement for possible insider trading or market manipulation, but had not yet launched an official examination.
Porsche (PSHG_p.DE) said on Sunday it held stock and options equivalent to 74 percent of Europe’s biggest carmaker and aimed to push through a domination agreement next year that would give it management control and capture VW’s mighty cash flows.
This will almost certainly meet objections from VW’s home state of Lower Saxony, which controls just over 20 percent. [nLQ46943]. In return for losing their dividend, minority investors would get an annual cash payout set by Porsche.
Analysts questioned Porsche’s motives in announcing its holding, and suggested the company may have wanted to cash in one last big jackpot at the expense of unsuspecting investors.
Tim Schuldt, an analyst at Equinet, said Porsche’s announcement seemed like an invitation for hedge funds to pile into the stock and cover their shorts. He said the problem was that there was only a free float of around 5.8 percent, and many of these free floating shares were actually held in index-tracking funds and other portfolios.
“For Porsche we don’t know their real intentions ... it could be that if they managed to cash in at these levels obviously that would be extremely positive for their share price, for the value of their company,” said Schuldt.
Shares in Porsche, who was not available for immediate comment, was up 6.8 percent.
For a chronology, of Porsche’s takeover of VW please double click on [nLQ622493].
Reporting by Sarah Marsh, Tim Hepher, Tyler Sitte, Alexander Huebner and Sabine Wollrab; Additional Reporting by Annika Lehmann, Christiaan Hetzner; Editing by Andrew Callus


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Walmart and P Diddy label linked to factory where 112 died in inferno
Walmart has revealed that the garment factory in Bangladesh where a recent fire killed 112 people was making clothes for the retail giant – apparently without its knowledge. Campaigners say items for the clothing line of rapper P Diddy were also produced there.
The US company said that the Tazreen Fashions Ltd factory was no longer authorised to produce clothes for its range, but that work had been sub-contracted by a supplier "in direct violation of its policies". It said it had now ended its relationship with the supplier. "The fact that this occurred is extremely troubling to us, and we will continue to work across the apparel industry to improve fire safety education and training in Bangladesh," Walmart added in a statement.
The retailer and P Diddy are just the latest in a series of Western brands to have been linked to the factory, located in the Dhaka suburbs. Carrefour, Ikea and C&A clothes were also produced there, according to reports. There was no immediate word last night from Sean Combs, aka P Diddy.
The fire on Saturday was among the deadliest of a number of blazes that have broken out in garment factories in Bangladesh in recent years. With small profit margins, the producers often skip safety and health regulations as they rush to fill orders for European and US markets. Survivors from the fire have told reporters that an exit door was locked and that extinguishers did not work.
Campaigners yesterday appealed to Sean Combs to demand better working conditions after releasing images that appeared to show dozens of images of the clothes' labels from inside the destroyed factory. "We found clothing of ENYCE [the rapper's label] and Faded Glory [a Wal-Mart range]," said Kalpona Akter, director of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity.
Yesterday, Bangladesh held a day of mourning for those who were killed. Up to three million factory and government employees were given the day off. The Associated Press reported that demonstrators blocked a major highway, threw stones at factories and smashed vehicles as police continued to search for the owner of the factory, who has fled.
Tahmina Rahman, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Federation, said the government needed to do more to punish factories when there were such accidents. "The owners go unpunished and so they don't care about installing enough security facilities," she said. "The owners should be held responsible and sent to jail."
Firefighters recovered at least 100 bodies from the premises of the factory while another 12 people died at local hospitals after jumping from the building. Some of the dead were so badly burned that they could not be identified. They were buried on Monday in graves located outside the capital.
Walmart said in its 2012 Global Responsibility report that it had stopped working with 49 factories in Bangladesh in 2011 because of fire safety issues.
Bangladesh has some 4,000 garment factories. The country earns about £12.5bn a year from exports of garments, mainly to the US and Europe. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said it would stand by the victims' families and had offered around £800 to each of them.
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Coleman Memorial Park will be transformed into a German-style Christkindl market, or Christmas market, on Saturday with more than two dozen organizations selling crafts and tasty treats from festively decorated booths.
The all-weather event is free and will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the park located at the northwest corner of Lebanon off Route 72.
Taking part will be many church groups and nonprofit organizations, each selling crafts and food specialties that make perfect Christmas gifts. There will also be live musical entertainment and activities for children, including an Elf School where kids can earn their Elf diploma by making certain crafts.
The Christkindl market tradition dates back more than 700 years when many German villages set up a street market during the four-week Advent season prior to Christmas.
The idea to do something similar in Lebanon came to Friends of Light's Fort President Sandy Jones two years ago when she and her husband, Ken, visited many villages with Christkindl markets on a boat trip along Germany's Rhine River.
"Christkindl markets goes back to the 12th and 13th centuries," Sandy Jones explained. "In the late 1800s they fell out of favor or they just weren't doing them anymore, but they revived the tradition about 30 years ago. So many towns have them now. But their's go on for two weeks. The towns own the stands and rent them to the people who decorate them and sell all these wonderful German products and food. It was just a really wonderful time."
When the Joneses returned from their trip Sandy brought the idea of holding a Christkindl market to Friends of Light's Fort Vice President Pam Tricamo, thinking it might serve as a fundraiser for the organization, which is refurbishing the historic 260-year-old fort at 11th and Maple streets.
A handful of others joined to form a Christkindl Market Committee, and the idea sprouted when it was suggested that it could be held at Coleman's park and include other nonprofits, Tricamo said. The committee has been planning the event for the past 18 months and hopes to make it an annual event, she said.
"The idea is we want to get the churches involved because they were involved in Christkindl markets in the beginning, going back to Munich in 1310," Tricamo said. "We also thought it would be a good opportunity for nonprofits to raise funds at a time of year when they are normally not doing anything."
Participating organizations paid a $50 fee to secure a booth, and those proceeds will benefit Coleman's Park.
Among the vendors will be Friends of Light's Fort, which will offer a non-alcohol variation on a German mulled wine and homemade stroopwaffles. Also participating is the Lebanon Arts Council, which will have Father Christmas posing for photographs, and Christ Presbyterian Church, located at the park's entrance, whose members will be offering tours and selling breakfast and lunch dishes.
Adding to the festivities will be musical entertainment, including a violin concert by the Harmonia Music Association Inter Gs; performances by the Lebanon Singing Cedars; and handbell choirs from Jonestown Elementary School and St. John's United Church of Christ.
A complete listing of vendors and what they will be selling can be found at lebanonchristkindlmarket.org


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Palcohol, or powdered alcohol, is expected to hit the shelves this summer as it just received approval from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
But many states have already banned Palcohol over fears that it will make alcohol abuse too easy. Some critics are saying the ability to conceal the powder into venues, schools, colleges as well as snort it could lead to extreme abuse of the substance.
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“As a parent, it’s one thing to patrol for cases of beer or bottles of booze,” said ABC News chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser, who is also a pediatrician. “But having to look for little packets, I worry that it could lead to more underage drinking, making it easier.”
He said he wasn’t happy with the federal approval and explained there isn’t much the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can do it about it right away. The FDA can only take products like this off shelves if they find a problem, he said, which is what happened with alcoholic energy drinks called Four Loko.
Here are a few questions ABC News viewers asked Besser on Twitter:
How do you use it?
You stir a packet of Palcohol into six ounces of liquid, according to Lipsmark, the company that owns Palcohol. To dissolve, it takes a minute of constant stirring, so it wouldn’t be easy to spike someone’s drink without them knowing, according to the company.
What’s the point?
Lipsmark says Palcohol was dreamed up for people who love the outdoors but don’t want to travel with heavy alcohol containers — such as people who are going camping.
Does it come in flavors?
Yes. It comes in vodka, rum, cosmopolitan, “Powderita” (a margarita flavor) and lemon drop. All but lemon drop were approved this week.
How about the calorie content?
It’s 80 calories per bag, but some are sweetened, Lipsmark said. So a completed drink’s calories depend on the mixers added to it.
Is anyone against it?
Yes. Several states, including Alaska, Louisiana, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia want to prohibit the sale of powdered alcohol.
Can you sneak it into sports and concert venues?
Critics fear that people will sneak the packets into sporting venues, concert halls and schools.
But Lipsmark says the 4-by-6 inch packet would be larger than a small bottle of liquid and therefore harder to sneak in. But they acknowledge when there’s a will, there’s a way — but that’s the case with any alcohol, not just the powdered variety.
Can you snort it?
Lipsmark says the potential to snort Palcohol has been one of the complaints it’s heard, but that Palcohol would be hard to snort. Not only does it have the burn of alcohol, but it would take an hour to snort a “shot” of vodka, according to the company’s statement this week addressing concerns about the product.


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Rackspace Technology, an end-to-end, multi-cloud technology solutions company, announced today the launch of v2, a new Cloud DNS API that provides several enhancements to the Rackspace Technology Cloud DNS v1 API, which will continue to be available to developers.
This week, customer engagement company Urban Airship released a beta SDK for iOS in advance of the public release of iOS 12. The SDK offers full support for Grouped Notifications, Critical Alerts and Provisional Authorization, three new features that are meant to give users more granular control
PubNub this week announced a partnership with IBM through which its software will be integrated with the Bluemix cloud integration platform. This partnership, along with PubNub's recent announcement of an SDK for the Internet of Things, shows the company's increased emphasis on IoT.


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Quickteller, a leading payment services provider, has commenced its music talent hunt show namely Quickteller Bars and Notes.
Quickteller Bars and Notes is an attempt by Quickteller, the interswitched-powered company, to unveil talented artistes, who are aspiring to excel in music business, personal branding as artists, music production, marketing, among other useful experiences that will boost their career.
Interested participant should in their entries before March 28, 2022, which is the closing date.
Participant stand a chance to work with top celebrity producers, release an EP, and showcase their music to the world for FREE with Quickteller.
To send in entries, “first follow @Quickteller on instagram, then post a video of you singing your original song, using hashtags #QuicktellerBANTS #QTBarsAndNotes”
Speaking on the launch of the talent show, Tomijogun Ogunlesi, the Group Head of Brands and Communications at Interswitch said that the show aims to reveal the process of music-making, as well as utilise opportunities in the music industry.
“We have been sitting on this idea for a while now, and we are excited to be finally sharing it with the world.
“With Quickteller Bars and Notes, our hope is to show the world the process of music-making, what it entails, and how best to optimize opportunities in the industry.
“To make this possible, we have partnered with a number of notable names in the music business who will be working alongside the successful participants, delivering valuable insights and providing support along their journey on the show.
“Music enthusiasts are encouraged to use this opportunity to send in their entries to partake in the show,” she said
Geeky Nigeria reports that Quickteller recently held Interswitch One Africa Music Fest in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where 15 lucky winners were selected, through a raffle draw, to watch their favourite artists perform live.


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Apple will close some stores again amid coronavirus spikes
Closures will impact stores in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Alexandra GarrettAssociate Editor
Alexandra is an associate editor on CNET's Performance Optimization team. She graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, and interned with CNET's Tech and News teams while in school. Prior to joining CNET full time, Alexandra was a breaking news fellow at Newsweek, where she covered current events and politics.
plans to temporarily close some of its retail stores again because of spikes of coronavirus cases in some states across the US. The closures, earlier reported by Bloomberg, will impact 11 stores across Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.
"Due to current COVID-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas," said an Apple spokesperson. "We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation, and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible."
Watch this: Vaccines, antibody tests, treatments: The science of ending the pandemic
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.


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What does a ‘new normal’ look like for small businesses?
From bushfires and floods to the ongoing economic and social impacts of COVID-19, 2020 has demanded Australian businesses become more resilient than ever.
For some that’s proved extremely difficult, others have managed to adapt their businesses to meet the challenges.
Unfortunately, the pressures Australian businesses and households are currently facing won’t ease anytime soon. The passage to a ’new normal’ will be a challenge for many businesses, regardless of size and industry.
In today’s podcast I speak with Isaac Rankin, Managing Director of Commercial Banking here at ANZ. Isaac has a long history in banking, both at ANZ and internationally and - like me - recalls the lessons learned from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).
“It's been a long time in Australia since we've had prolonged downturn or a recession here,” Isaac says. “Even in [the] GFC the recovery was quicker than people expected. We didn't actually go into recession technically and normally recession follows boom conditions. So, this is a bit different.”
Go with the cash flow
Right now, businesses have support from government and banks. Initiatives like JobKeeper assist businesses to keep staff employed and ready to work once restrictions ease. Banks across the board have also offered business loan and mortgage deferrals, allowing businesses or home owners to defer payments for up to six months.
“This really kept cash in the pockets of businesses but took some of that pressure away. If you're not paying the staff, if you're able to reduce and defer some rent… that's given people time to respond,” Isaac says. “It doesn't fix the fundamentals but it just keeps cash in your pocket and pushes it out later.”
Since the original support package was announced in March 2020, ANZ has provided repayment deferrals on more than 100,000 home, personal, small business and commercial accounts.
ANZ has already begun the process of working with each of its impacted customers to assess their ability to begin repaying their loans.
For customers that continue to face financial hardship due to COVID-19, ANZ will work with them to restructure their loans and in some circumstances will provide an extension to loan repayment deferrals of up to four months.
Customers on existing loan repayment deferrals who have not been financially impacted by COVID-19 will be required to begin making normal repayments at the conclusion of their six-month deferral agreement.
Customers who are yet to apply for loan repayment deferrals are still able to access the original support package.
You can find out more about the decision behind the deferral here.
Playing to your strengths
The current situation does provide businesses and industries with an opportunity to make changes they otherwise might not have had the chance to make. A few weeks ago when I spoke with Shane Delia, a prominent Melbourne chef and restaurateur, he had some interesting insights for where the hospitality industry was and where it needed to get to, and he’s helping to make changes not only for his business, but others too.
Just like Shane has thought about his business, every business owner has the chance to reflect on where their business is positioned right now and where they could be. Some businesses are currently in a good position and their products are facing increased demand. Others are going to have to make changes to better service customer needs, which might be in different ways to what they've done in the past.
In the podcast, Isaac spoke about businesses who’ve successfully adapted. “We've seen businesses who have pivoted their business by saying ‘We manufacture garments, we now can do some PPE [Personal Protective Equipment],’” he says. “That looks initially like a very short term play, but more local content might be required on an ongoing basis.”
“We're seeing some of that with particular markets or supply lines which had just stalled and now they're thinking about how they would change that to make the business more robust. But it's actually opened up some new ideas about products which are adjacent to what they do now that can provide more diversity.”
Planning for the future
Now is the best time for business leaders to have conversations and see what opportunities or potential setbacks may be headed their way.
“Get advice, from your accountants or from your financial advisor - whoever you take financial advice from - sit down with them and get really on top of the numbers,” Isaac says. “Certainly speak to the bank about your liquidity requirements, what the bank can do. Get things sorted before the urgency to extend the deferrals in place.”
Talking to advisors and your bank isn’t the only important conversation. In the last month I’ve spoken to many business leaders and experts and they all agree it’s imperative we communicate with our teams and ensure they feel supported.
Isaac agrees: “It's really important that people are looking after their teams and looking after themselves and their families. It's not only physical health, but mental health and mental wellbeing is so important. We've had a very stressful time, but I think business conditions are going to be pretty tough for the next year or two.
“It's important that people take time to think about how they personally navigate through so they're in the best position they can to make sound and balanced decisions as how the economy opens up.”
Listen to the podcast above to hear the full conversation.
For more stories from ANZ small businesses and how they’re managing COVID-19 visit ANZ News.
For the latest information on COVID-19 and how we can support your business, visit anz.com/covid-19.
Opening the door to new opportunities


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From creative programmatic and targeted content to emerging technologies like virtual reality and artificial intelligence, the sheer variety of ways to communicate with consumers makes 2017 an exciting time to be in marketing.
Unilever chief marketing and communications officer Keith Weed, however, would go a step further. Speaking at Advertising Week Europe last month, Weed argued that the rapid pace of innovation, coupled with the plethora of methods available to engage with consumers makes 2017 not only exciting, but actually the best time to be a marketer.
“I genuinely believe this is the best time to be in marketing and advertising, because so much is changing and it’s so exciting. I’ve never done a job this long before, but I’m not doing the same job as I was doing seven years ago. It’s radically changed,” he explained.
“To me the exciting thing is there have never been so many ways to engage with people in a two-way conversation. Making sure you’re on top of innovation and working out what’s going on is tremendous. I can’t believe there is anything more exciting just now.”
Exciting yes, challenging definitely. This is the era of fake news, ad fraud and dubious metrics. So far in 2017 high profile advertisers from McDonald’s to L’Oreal have pulled spend from Google and YouTube in fear their adverts might appear next to extremist content.
Consumers are also more engaged with brand messaging then ever. This proved to be the downfall of Pepsi’s latest campaign, which was pulled after a matter of days following a savage social media backlash accusing the drinks giant of co-opting the Black Lives Matter global protest movement.
The “always on” nature of the digital age has given consumers the tools to make their voices heard and have more control over content, notes Sulinna Ong, vice president of artist marketing at music streaming site Deezer.
She believes in 2017 any marketer worth their salt must understand how to utilise all the digital tools at their disposal to create meaningful engagement, which then gives them the opportunity push innovation and creativity up the agenda.
“New technology and the continued rise of social media have dramatically increased demand for authentic and exciting conceptual work, producing creative 360-degree campaigns that may otherwise have been flagged as “too risky” in the past. Now – more than ever before – the appetite for experimentation drives innovation,” says Ong.
This opinion is shared by Creative England marketing manager Rachel Graye, who believes the digital age has broadened marketers’ ability to build relationships with consumers.
“Digital advancements definitely make marketing more exciting. I see it as an advantage to have even more tools at our disposal to get closer to the consumer. Social and influencer marketing, for example, allows us to connect with people in a more meaningful way,” she explains.
READ MORE: Is digital an effective mass market medium?
“It also allows marketing teams to work more closely as different expertise needs to come together for it to work as a whole. Content marketing forces us to be more creative, which is a challenge and an opportunity to create something new and re-write the rule book – what’s more exciting than that?”
Marketing effectiveness is under the microscope like never before, putting teams under increasing pressure to deliver tightly defined KPIs that directly impact the bottom line.
It is for this reason 2017 brings with it more complexity and accountability, says Dixons Carphone commercial marketing director Jonathan Earle. He argues short-term thinking in the boardroom means marketers are not even given enough time to hold their nerve if the numbers are not coming in.
“It’s got to be immediate response rates and that can also add pressure, because campaigns could be launching new products or services, and it takes time to drive into people’s psyches what you’re doing. Sometimes the ROI has got to be immediate otherwise it’s a failure.”
That being said, Earle believes making marketers accountable for driving real business growth can only be a good thing, as it shows marketing is being seen as a revenue generator not a cost centre.


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(King of Prussia, PA) – Quench, a leading provider of filtered water solutions for businesses and dealer partners across the United States and Canada, announced today that it has acquired Pure Planet Waters, a provider of point-of-use drinking water systems and ice dispensers in the New York City metro area. Founded in 2016, Pure Planet Waters is a Wellsys dealer.
“We are excited to welcome Pure Planet Waters’ customers to the Quench family and to expand our presence in the important New York market,” said Todd Peterson, COO of Quench. “This acquisition is our 18th in 2021. It is also the 10th this year that originated from our dealer network and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to our dealers from start-up to exit.”
“Our customers will be delighted with Quench’s industry-leading products and customer service,” said Denise Piccolo, owner of Pure Planet Waters. “The Quench team’s dealer-friendly reputation is well-deserved; they were thoughtful, thorough, and easy-to-work with throughout the sale process. .”
More on Quench’s acquisition process can be found at https://quenchwater.com/acquisitions/ or by contacting Quench’s acquisition team directly by email at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Quench USA, Inc. offers bottle-free filtered drinking water solutions for healthy and environmentally conscious consumers outside the home, through direct sales and independent dealers across North America. Our bottle-free water coolers, ice machines, sparkling water dispensers and coffee brewers, purify a user’s existing water supply to provide reliable and convenient filtered water to a broad mix of businesses, including government, education, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and other large commercial customers, including more than half of the Fortune 500. Headquartered in King of Prussia, PA, Quench has sales and service operations across North America to serve our 60,000+ customers, and a network of over 250 independent dealers selling products under the brand names Pure Water Technology, Wellsys and Bluline. Quench is a Culligan Company. For more information, please visit https://quenchwater.com.
Founded in 1936 by Emmett Culligan, Culligan is a world leader in delivering water solutions that will improve the lives of its customers. The company offers some of the most technologically advanced, state-of-the-art water filtration and treatment products. Culligan’s products include water softeners, drinking water systems, whole-house systems and solutions for businesses. Culligan’s network of franchise dealers is the largest in the world, with over 900 dealers in 90 countries. For more information visit: www.culligan.com.


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Ocado and M&S begin their online grocery shopping joint venture this week in a move that M&S hopes will revitalize the brand. Online shopping has doubled its share of the UK market to 14% since the virus outbreak and Ocado expects that figure to reach 30%.
The two companies had different fortunes since the Covid outbreak with Ocado registering sales growth of 40% during the lockdown, whilst M&S is moving to cut 7,000 jobs after merchandise sales dropped almost 50% year-on-year.
The launch of the joint venture had to wait until September 1st due to Ocado’s existing arrangements with Waitrose and boss Tim Steiner fired a parting shot at the company ahead of the new launch.
Steiner said: “They have done an advert saying ‘we’ll take it from here’ or something. Well, they can’t take it from here because they don’t have the technology, the infrastructure, or the systems. To put it bluntly, they don’t understand the online market like we do.”
M&S paid £750m last year for a 50% stake in Ocado and the path to further market share will be tougher once the lockdowns and virus fears disappear.
Ocado Technical Outlook
The Ocado share price is up over 100% since the March lows and the stock has broken higher out of a price channel, before finding support for the next leg higher. The 2247 price is now the first meaningful support for Ocado, but another test of that level could see the top of the price channel tested again at 2000.


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BDO Pakistan has been named runners-up MENAPak Agency of the Year 2018 at Dubai Lynx. The Lahore-based agency picked up a total of 12 trophies - including four Golds, one of which was for Creative Effectiveness.
Universal McCann Pakistan has announced two big wins for the agency. One with Turkey-based Hayat that will see Universal McCann tasked with handling both conventional & the digital media.
The highly-effective campaign was awarded Silver by the WARC Media Awards for Effective Use of Partnerships & Sponsorships in 2017. The award recognizes communications planning which has made a positive impact on business results.
Mawra Hocane stars in ad for Bonanza Satrangi."Our strategy was, let's see feminity as a strength rather than a weakness," said Askari. "Because obviously, we wanted to give it some cultural context. In our society, women face a lot of roadblocks in their lives.
Khan joined the IT company in 2011 as an associate consultant, earning six promotions over the course of seven years from sales to upper management.
Branding in Asia recently had a chance to sit down for a talk with Naved Qureshi, the General Manager of Ogilvy & Mather in Pakistan.
We recently spoke with Ishtehari co-founder, Umair Kazi for his insights on the campaign and, how they sought to, as Kazi put it, create an ad campaign that doesn't look like an ad campaign.
On International Human Rights Day, BBDO and Proximity Pakistan collaborated with Asia Pacific Transgender Network to bring a crucial issue to the forefront with the launch of a campaign called #ChangeTheClap - to raise awareness about the hardships faced by transgender people in Pakistan, help fight transphobia and advocate equal opportunities for them.
Zain Suharwardy has resigned from his position as Managing Director with the e-commerce company Daraz in Pakistan.
dcom Leo Burnett has appointed Fahad Bombaywala a Creative Director for Pakistan effective the first of November.


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If you’re looking to market your business to people browsing on mobile devices, a new study from Adobe says tablets are where it’s at.
According to Adobe’s new report, The State of Mobile Benchmark, in the last three years tablets have overtaken smartphones when it comes to web traffic. Internet users are viewing 70 per cent more pages when browsing on their tablets compared to their smartphones, behaving much more like they would behave when using a PC.
Not much Canadian data was broken out of the global report, but when it comes to mobile browsing traffic share by country, Canada does well. According to the data, 8.7 per cent of Canadian web traffic comes from tablets, and 6.8 per cent from smartphones. That’s in line with the U.S. figures, although the UK leads with 12.2 per cent of its browsing traffic coming from tablets. Interestingly, in Asia, smartphones remain the mobile browser of choice.
The decision on what device to browse isn’t just about device preference, though. It’s also influenced by where they’re browsing to. For shopping on retail and e-commerce sites, tablets get the nod, while smartphones are favoured when visiting telecom and media/entertainment sites.
Digging a little deeper, the report found that iOS and Android account for nearly 90 per cent of all smartphone traffic in their global sample. RIM’s strongest remaining footholds are in the UK and China (Canada was not measured in this category). Marketers will want to plan their app and web site development accordingly.
When smartphones are measured by manufacturer, Apple and Samsung gained more than 10 per cent market share over the last year, while all other remained stagnant or declined. And when it comes to tablets, Apple’s iOS was dominant with 77 per cent of traffic.


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2020 Mazda Rx5 Price – 2020 mazda rx5
The next-generation MG GS will acceptable action a seven-seat alternative and will be launched by the end of the decade, according to aggregation executives.
2020 mazda rx5
Speaking with Australian media in Shanghai aftermost week, accepted administrator for MG Australia, Zhu Chao, said the next-generation GS will acceptable spawn a three-row adaptation that will alternate the average and ample SUV segments, agnate to the Mitsubishi Outlander and Nissan X-Trail.
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Back To 2020 Mazda Rx5 Price


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AI is the hot new thing in tech right now. But it’s also the most ambiguous term yet. What is it? How do you use it? And what can it do for your business?
On Friday, Apple announced they will begin scanning U.S. individual’s iPhones/iPads for images of child abuse, prompting major privacy concerns.
With technology today, it’s easy for our devices to turn creepy. Today, we help you regain control of what your devices and apps know about you.


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Pallavi Singh, Utsav Malhotra, Anirban Roy Choudhury (LR)
In its initial phase, social media marketing goes the way of discovering its target group on social media channels. Credibility and reliability are two fundamental factors to keep moving forward so brands last longer. Now the consumer’s comfort zone is also a priority. In a fireside chat moderated by Anirban Roy Choudhury, Associate Editor – Special Initiatives, ETBrandEquity.com, Pallavi Singh, Head-Digital and Consumer Services – Emerging Mobility Business Unit, Hero MotoCorp and Utsav Malhotra, Chief Operation Officer, Noise emphasized customer behavior and – preferences, as the golden classic marketing adage goes, you go where the customer is, you go to those platforms and start talking to them because that’s the key to attracting consumers.
Malhotra said: “All these clients are driven by the three E’s, they are engaging with social media for education and entertainment and in some cases they are looking for solutions that we call engagement. Brands are constantly trying to connect with consumers, educate them and give them a reason to stay on these platforms.”
“We are uncompromisingly a brand built on social media. Because people are willing to engage, people today are willing to interact with the brand in an environment that is conducive to them. You’re not asking them to step out of their comfort zone, but in a way you can be a seamless part of their lives where the brilliance really lies!” he added.
Malhotra stressed the importance of communicating through ads on these platforms. Then magic really happens, was his submission.
He pointed out that if someone feels an ad is intrusive, the right question to ask is how many of you managed to see some of those ads and actually complete a transaction?
He mentioned that this is the process of discovery, for a marketer this is the moment of truth. This has become a discovery platform for most brands.
It is crucial that the consumer in this environment not only seeks dialogue, but also wants to build trust through credibility and reliability. Understand the purpose of the brand’s existence while engaging with you and this is what brands need to know.
Speaking about using social media, Singh shared her take on the fact that it’s not just you who buy something, sometimes your whole family, whether it’s a scooter, a motorbike or a car, especially when it’s a foursome cyclist. It’s very different. The social media in this category play more of a community role.
She pointed out that companies needed to better understand the platform and create nuance and content that would potentially lead to trading over time, which is becoming increasingly difficult.
Singh said: “Unless you get a smooth communication or conversation going, you’re not reaching the right consumers. So it’s a challenge. But I think today marketers aren’t all about making great ads and creating good content. But it is about what can lead to commerce.”
“That’s why there are creative studios today, whether it’s Facebook or Google today, they tell you how you should use platforms and improve your communication with the user. It’s a whole different ball game when it comes to using social media for brands versus for consumers. It’s more evangelism and advocacy than just using these platforms for conversation,” she added.
Regarding the changing landscape on social media, Singh points out that the landscape is now changing every three months as consumers change, their behavior changes, circumstances change and a financial crisis looms.
She emphasized that when things change around the world, it not only affects people’s minds, but also everything we converse with. If there’s an amazing display but it hasn’t changed any readings, it didn’t really serve a purpose.
Malhotra continued his perception: “Video has become a mainstay today, short format films have of course taken a much higher share, that’s obvious. The whole idea was that people’s attention spans are decreasing.”
“People are willing to watch content for six or ten seconds, in reality you spend a lot more time watching these ten-second videos. If you understand the nuances of changing consumer behavior, you can mediate and implement some of these interventions in changing consumer behavior,” he added.
Singh emphasizes the success of social media and highlights the ubiquity of WhatsApp in our lives, and as such it is actually driving so much more for brands that enjoy the most. Because smaller groups are created, conversions actually happen from there than on any other platform.
Singh emphasizes: “From a measurement point of view, it’s very simple if I said what really drives. Every euro spent must lead to something, it must not lead to sales. And that’s how we track it, it can’t lead to sales, but it either has to lead to someone endorsing your product, which has an impact.”
She continued, “Perhaps the second most important thing is to consider an upgrade. Third, of course, you buy a new product. But it’s very hard, because most people who use social media are actually to be scolded. You will never find a customer who has had an amazing experience, go on Twitter and say, ‘Oh my god, this brand really helped me solve my problem!’”
She further added: “We don’t look at how many bad tweets have come and how many good tweets have come. But if there’s a particular trend that’s coming, we have to attack it. I think it’s about a trend towards attack and moderation that won’t happen again. I think marketing is about making business, not making more ads. I firmly believe in that.”
In another discussion, Malhotra stressed that a frugal mindset of looking at the return on a dollar spent helped them build the business.
Malhotra said, “I think you just don’t have to be on a platform to be fair to a platform, you have to look at platforms that work for your business and then look at the metrics that justify some of those platforms, because otherwise you’re just subordinate to platform presence and not really what works for you as a business.”
Regarding the consistency of brand expression on social media, Malhotra points out that consistency doesn’t work. He explains that each channel has its own nuances and you need to tailor your communications to what suits that channel.
Malhotra said, “I think more than content, context is more relevant to marketers today. The content you create needs to fit the context in which it is published.”
“When you post a message on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter, they are meant for different purposes. There is a channel that serves as a visual interaction channel, there is a conversation channel, there is a B2B vs B2C divide,” he added.
Addressing the insignificance of the age-related slant of social media platforms, Singh talks about three Ps, namely Product, Price, Promotion, which have expanded to six including three Cs, namely Content, Context and Commerce.
Singh points out, “It’s not like a 50-year-old just looks at Facebook, maybe TikTok. Someone who is 13 years old and will only be on TikTok and will not use LinkedIn. Today children are much more developed.”
“That’s why today Facebook says it’s one in seven, if a customer has seen a piece of content three times, I won’t show her that again because she won’t respond to it. The landscape has changed,” Singh added.
Malhotra said, “I think initially all the targeting filters were demographic driven. It’s only when you start getting a lot more data signals that you realize there were smarter ways of targeting and that basically meant interests, what are you going to put your time into contextually.”
“Because of the fact that we’ve evolved, I think you need to look at your customers through psychographics, not demographics,” he added.
Singh also mentioned, “Look at the data first and then create it because then you can actually be objective about it and not emotional about it.”
Addressing the challenges marketers face, Malhotra points to two major challenges, one of which is getting the targeting wrong and not looking at the data enough, thus targeting the people who see the ad don’t want to see. The second bit has to deal with the mess.
Malhotra pointed to the fact of a manic obsession with refreshing content and a desire to produce truckloads of it.
Malhotra mentioned, “What we don’t realize is that the bottom line is really effectiveness. If you can just make these tweaks, I believe this is a channel to stay and grow and businesses can be built. We are living proof of that.”
Singh added, “The biggest challenge isn’t clutter, it’s authentic storytelling. It’s always about the experience you want to hear that it was great driving that car or that bike or that scooter but that person helped me.”
“That helps us sell 100 more units than maybe a particular ad that’s running on social media,” Singh concluded.
DigiPlus Fest 2023: How WhatsApp connects companies
During a session at ETBrandEquity’s DigiPlus Fest, Ravi Garg, Head of WhatsApp for Business, explained the importance of WhatsApp’s simplicity, security and reliability in connecting brands and customers without compromising on WhatsApp’s core principles.
Updated February 20, 2023 at 7:35 am IST Most Read in Digital
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OriginTrail is developing the first purpose-built protocol for supply chains based on blockchain
Blockchain technology has huge potential to decentralize trust in supply chains and bring enormous benefits. To unlock this potential OriginTrail protocol was designed to tackle the prime challenges limiting the exchange and integrity of data in product supply chains. With supply chain data getting increasingly fragmented as well as the poor scalability and cost-effectiveness of current decentralized solutions, the need for OriginTrail becomes evident. OriginTrail is a unique protocol enabling IT providers in the supply chain industry quick implementation of blockchain supported data sharing in multi-organizational environments.
It is a missing puzzle that helps build transparency beyond the “one step down, one step up” principle, increase the integrity of data and save money for stakeholders in supply chains. The first version of OriginTrail is currently in use in the food industry with the upcoming open source version being applicable to any product supply chain.
OriginTrail’s pilot project with the Chinese online organic food marketplace Yimishiji was awarded by Walmart Food Safety Collaboration Center in 2017 and admitted to its Innovation Pipeline.
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More Than 5M Watch Women's World Cup First Look At DFL Media Rights Tender German Broadcasters Voice Complaints English Cricket Upset Over Made-For-TV Plans Media Notes More Than 2.5M Watch World Cup Match Media Notes Study: Wimbledon Top Social Media Slam Tebas Calls Telefónica's Offer Inadequate Wimbledon To Stay Loyal To BBC
Enter amount in full numerical value, without currency symbol or commas (ex: 3000000).
SBD Global/August 29, 2012/Media
Media Notes: SevenOne Media Acquires Marketing Rights For Bundesliga.de
Published August 29, 2012
BRIT ROUNDUP: Telecoms company BT is understood to "have started approaching possible ad sales partners," including ITV, ahead of next year's launch of its football channel showing EPL matches. BT is believed to be "planning to talk to a number of possible partners and there is no suggestion that ITV and BT have begun an exclusive process" (MEDIAWEEK.co.uk, 8/28). ... Chocolate brand Cadbury is "planning to mirror its social media Olympic activity with a similar push supporting the Paralympics," after claiming that its Olympic sponsorship has won it millions of new social fans. Kraft, which owns Cadburry, claims that its social media activity "has been a success." It was able to add 2.5 million fans and followers to its U.K. social media channels on Facebook, Twitter and Google+, which are dedicated to the Games, since the start of the year (MARKETINGMEGAZINE.co.uk, 8/27).


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THE announcement of a Melbourne treatment facility was a highlight for Australian biosecurity treatment business, Steritech.
Steritech was set up in Brisbane’s northern suburbs but is looking to expand south, while also seeking to seize opportunities overseas.
Steritech is a contract sterilisation and decontamination processor specialist and during the past two decades has developed new means of phytosanitary irradiation.
Phytosanitary irradiation works by sterilising an insect, preventing it from breeding. Potential phytosanitary irradiation sources include Cobalt, E-beam and X-ray.
The latter two use electricity to generate the irradiation.
Ben Reilly, fresh produce business manager at Steritech told the Fresh Plaza publication irradiation’s greatest challenge was developing protocols fast enough for industry demand.
“We travel extensively visiting export markets to understand commercial and consumer needs,” he was quoted as saying.
“We also assist with addressing barriers to market access where it is yet to be achieved. When it comes to creating the new protocols, we work with industry and government to ensure technical requirements do not unnecessarily restrict ability to meet a market’s needs,” he said.
Mr Reilly told Fresh Plaza, irradiation was flexible when compared with chemical and heat-specific treatments.
Irradiation is said to be similar to microwaves or light and exists in the form of energy waves which are passed through a package and product before rapidly dissipating.
The fact there is no residual energy means the fruit is ready to be eaten immediately after treatment.
Proponents say it is effective at all handling temperatures, making it a healthy and fresh solution.
Mr Reilly is optimistic looking to 2018.
“We are forecasting growth based on new market access with the recent cherry protocol to Vietnam. There are also existing markets which we expect will continue to grow including table grapes to Vietnam and mangoes to the USA,” he told DCN.
Earlier in the year, it was announced Steritech would open a new X-ray treatment facility to boost export potential and provide Victorian producers with a major market advantage.
The project is to involve a 3396 square metre warehouse, buildings, and cool rooms at the Melbourne Markets.
Agriculture minister Jaala Pulford described the announcement as “a massive win for growers across our state, a boost for jobs, exports and a Victorian first”.
“The new facility will significantly reduce transport and handling costs and further boost Victoria’s growing $1.1bn horticultural industry,” Ms Pulford said.
Melbourne Market chief executive Mark Maskiell said securing Steritech was a significant step in expanding the Market’s role into other areas of the supply chain.
Meanwhile, the company says it is confident demand is increasing, demonstrated by the volume of trade and industry support for additional protocols.
“The existing irradiation protocols have created clear benefits for everyone from the farmer through to the consumer,” Mr Reilly told Fresh Plaza.
“It is important for these new protocols to be created with foresight to be effective for future trade.”
He added Australia’s diverse production regions and complex biosecurity scenario was both a challenge and opportunity – and the industry needed to have flexible, effective solutions in place.
“Trade relationships, biosecurity and technology are always changing and impacting each other,” Mr Reilly said.
He said phytosanitary irradiation was playing an increasingly important role in delivering trade and he was confident Australia was in a prime position to take advantage of the technology with world leading facilities, protocols and industry support already present.
Mr Reilly told DCN as protocols became available exporters had been quick to utilise them.
“In some cases the growers and exporters have waited a number of years for the market access negotiations technical requirements to be finalised with the trading partner country,” he said.
“The greatest uptake we see is when irradiation creates the first viable air freight pathway for a product, often complementing existing sea freight options.”
This is an edited version of an article by Matthew Russell first published by Fresh Plaza.
Additional reporting by David Sexton
From the print edition November 23, 2017


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Earlier today, Instagram announced that it is in the process of rolling out an update version 4.1 to its Android application. This is the first one since the release of Instagram video back in July.
With Instagram 4.1, you can now import videos directly from your phone’s gallery. Basically, you won’t have to rely on video capture to share your videos. In addition, an “auto-straightening” feature has also been added to the app which job is to fix your not so-perfect videos. Finally, Instagram video is now compatible with devices running Ice cream Sandwich aka Android 4.0 (wait does it still exist?).
The update is now available in the Play Store but not for everyone. Mine keeps saying “package file is invalid.” Hit the link below to try to grab it.


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Factual Wants to Put the Web in OrderBy
(This story was corrected to show that Factual raised $2.1 million this year, not $15 million).
Gil Elbaz recalls meeting with a prominent venture capitalist during the late 1990s to discuss his first startup, Applied Semantics. When Elbaz said the company could someday generate $100 billion in sales, the potential investor was dismissive. "He about threw me out of the room," says Elbaz. In 2003, Google (GOOG) bought Applied Semantics for $102 million. It became the foundation for the search giant's AdSense, which places relevant text ads on Web pages and in 2009 accounted for 30 percent of the company's $24 billion in revenue.
Elbaz commands more respect these days. Earlier this year a who's who of Silicon Valley power players invested $2.1 million in Factual, the company Elbaz formed after leaving Google in 2007. Factual, which opened its service to the public in October, is organizing bits of useful data strewn across the Internet. Every day, names, numbers, dates, addresses, and other pieces of what Elbaz calls "unstructured data" are added to the Web. Since it doesn't follow any standard formatting, this data is useless to most computers. Machines can't readily grasp concepts such as "middle school" or "junior high," let alone distinguish how they're related.
Factual aims to automatically find and sort this data, amassing a comprehensive collection of datasets that businesses will pay to incorporate into their websites and mobile applications. Inside Factual's Santa Monica (Calif.) office, a few miles from the old Applied Semantics facility that became Google's Southern California outpost, a couple dozen engineers train computers using principles from an academic field called ontology, which is the science of categorizing words and phrases. The algorithms are smart enough to know that junior high refers to 7th and 8th grade while middle school includes 6th grade as well. They're also smart enough to update the database when online information changes and verify its accuracy. "This is a very tough problem to solve well, even for Gil," says Elon Musk, the PayPal (EBAY) co-founder who went on to create Tesla Motors. "But it would be unwise to bet against him."
Factual is building databases on health, entertainment, and other topics, but for now its primary focus is on basic information about businesses and geographic points of interest. Individuals and small developers can use the datasets for free, but larger companies must pay if they want to integrate Factual's information into their own products. On Nov. 4, Facebook said it started using Factual's service to populate Facebook Places—a feature for its smartphone app that lets users broadcast their location to friends—with the names and addresses of points of interest in the U.K. and Japan. San Francisco startup Booyah plugs Factual's data about local businesses into MyTown, a mobile game that involves players visiting real-world bars, restaurants, and other hot spots. Navigating Cancer, a website that helps recently diagnosed cancer patients, displays a Factual-powered list of oncologists, including details on what type of insurance they accept and areas of specialty.
Factual has yet to turn a profit. The company charges businesses that use its data 50 cents for every thousand data requests. On average, such customers request about a million pieces of data a month, totaling $500. Some customers, including Booyah, get discounts for helping to keep Factual's information fresh by, say, verifying whether a business is still open.
The key to expanding the company is persuading software makers to farm out the work of data management, says Eva Ho, Factual's vice-president for marketing. "Their core competency isn't around getting data, organizing data, and keeping it fresh," she says. "Their core competency is around building a killer application. They should outsource the whole data management service to somebody like us to deal with the heavy lifting."
The area of data-as-a-service gained prominence in July, when Google bought Metaweb, a rival to Factual, but one that relies more on human editors to create and update its trove of data. Recently, executives at other Internet giants, including Yahoo! (YHOO), have expressed interest in building or acquiring data processing tools of their own. While Elbaz won't rule out a sale, he says for now he's focused on amassing data. "Would it be fun to get an acquisition offer from [Google] again?" Elbaz asks. "It would be flattering."
The bottom line: Factual organizes the Web's messiest data and sells it to corporate customers such as Facebook and Booyah.


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