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Virtual reality: Will it replace smartphones in the future?
According to HTC China’s President, VR is going to last longer than the smartphone cycle.
Virtual reality (VR) is going to dominate smartphones within four years, says Alvin Graylin, president of HTC China. Speaking at Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Graylin said that VR is the upcoming disruptor that will dominate mobile phones. It took smarpthones five years to surpass the total unit sales of PC and now he predicts VR will do the same to Smartphones in four years.
“VR is going to take over, and I predict it will last longer than nine years,” Graylin stated. “It’s going to replace every screen, and users will enjoy a different way to experience things like live events.”
HTC plans to invest billions in the future of VR.
HTC, the Taiwanese consumer electronics company, recently launched a consortium that brings together 28 of the world’s biggest VC (venture capital) firms. This consortium is dedicated to investing $10 billion in the future of virtual reality.
Graylin said at the Mobile World Congress that the VR VC Alliance will not only invest in a VR future but also set the direction for where this immersive technology is headed. “Think about what $10 billion can do for this industry,” he stated.
Graylin boasts that HTC’s virtual reality hardware is far superior to its competition.
HTC has put a great deal of time, effort and money into its VR headset Vive. Graylin said that compared to the VR hardware of other companies like Oculus, Samsung and Sony, Vive is way ahead of the game in terms of providing both a higher quality experience and having far more content.
Currently, Vive already has over 300 titles and Graylin said that this is like to become a “four-digit number very soon.” The executive expressed that the success of VR also depends on great content.
HTC launched its $100 million Vive X fund program two months ago. The program is designed to jump-start development. According to Graylin, the company has already received 1,200 applications from companies across the globe. Half of the companies are from China.
As for its plans to spin off its virtual reality group, an independent company was recently approved by the HTC board to operate the Vive business.


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Philippine exports in rose unexpectedly in November, while imports fell for the 19th consecutive month, the latest figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
Exports rose 3% to $5.79 billion, mainly due to the 4.6% increase in electronics outward shipments.
ING Bank Manila senior economist Nicholas Mapa noted that the pickup in exports may be due to the strong outbound shipments to China and Taiwan, after both countries bounced back from the economic challenges due to the pandemic.
The United States contributed the highest export value during the month, followed by China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Consumer goods imports, however, posted a 24.5% dip amid business closures and layoffs.
Meanwhile, imports dropped by 18.9% to $7.52 billion, as businesses imported less items needed for construction.
“The sharp pullback in economic activity, in particular the plunge in capital formation, is mirrored in the decline of both durable equipment/machinery and raw materials used for construction,” Mapa said.
The trade deficit in November stood at -$1.73 billion, representing an annual decline of -52.6%, slower than the -50% in October and the -10.4% in November 2019.
“The current trend of modest gains in exports coupled with weakness in imports will likely continue for at least the first half of the year with the recent spike in COVID-19 cases likely to sap momentum from the recent pickup in global trade, leading to softer export growth,” Mapa said. – Rappler.com

domain: news


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The Air Cargo World team was treated this week to a behind-the-scenes tour of the cargo operations at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). There, the Port of Seattle’s Air Cargo team – Tom Green, senior manager for air cargo development, Ken Galka, air cargo operations manager, and Patrick Haley, air cargo facilities manager…
Currently, about 425,000 tonnes of cargo moves through SEA per year. That amount of cargo traffic is a good fit for the airport’s facilities, as Green said, “You like about one square foot per metric tonne of cargo handled,” and the airport’s current cargo facilities include about 425,000 square feet of space. Eventually, the cargo team would like to increase cargo handling capacity at the airport to about 750,000 tonnes, and development taking place at the airport indicates SEA is well on its way to increasing throughput.
One such development is the International Arrivals Facility currently under construction and scheduled to open during the fourth quarter of 2019. That facility will allow the airport’s development team to bring in new carriers to the airport, like Cathay Pacific, which is adding four-times-weekly service nonstop between SEA and Hong Kong (HKG) in April 2019. While the airport is always looking to add additional freighter service, a substantial amount of cargo also travels in the bellies of passenger jets like the A350-900s Cathay will use for its SEA-HKG service – making the addition of the new terminal another source of cargo moving into and from the airport.


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Asda to sell produce at discount in national trial starting end of January in drive to cut down on food waste
Jamie Oliver, who has led the campaign for improved school meals, is turning his attention to a campaign encouraging shoppers to buy "crooked" carrots, knobbly pears and wonky potatoes, in an effort to reduce food waste.
Misshapen but perfectly edible fruit and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste will be sold by Asda at discounted prices in a national trial starting at the end of January.
The retailer - the UK's second largest supermarket - said long-standing consumer resistance was about price and quality, but its research showed that 65% of its customers were now open to the idea of buying oddly shaped fresh produce, while 75% would definitely buy "wonky" if it was cheaper.
The initiative was triggered by an investigation into the scale of the UK's food waste carried out by the celebrity chef and farmer Jimmy Doherty. It features in the TV programme Friday Night Feast, which starts on Friday night on Channel 4.
In the first programme, the pair meet farmers who tell them that they were unable to sell thousands of tonnes of their fresh vegetables to supermarkets because they were deemed imperfect. They approached Asda to suggest a small trial in store - filmed for the programme - to gauge customer perceptions of wonky produce and whether they would be willing to buy it at a discount.
"If most Brits had half an idea of the amount going to waste, they'd be snapping up ugly veg by the trolley load," Oliver said. "There's no difference whatsoever in taste or nutritional value. This is perfectly good food that could and should be eaten by humans. When half a million people in the UK are relying on food banks, this waste isn't just bonkers - it's bordering on criminal."
Fruit and vegetables in Asda's new Beautiful on the Inside range will be bagged separately and sold for 30% less than their "perfect" peers, as the supermarket hopes to educate shoppers on the benefits of "buying ugly" while also supporting farmers. The campaign and dedicated range will launch in selected stores from 26 January, with a view to being rolled out nationally.
Shape up or ship out
In July 2009, a controversial EU ban on fresh produce (26 types of fruit and vegetables) that failed to match standard shapes and sizes - such as bent carrots, curled cucumbers and knobbly potatoes - was lifted. Up to that point, an estimated 20% to 40% of UK fruit and vegetables was routinely rejected before it reached the shops. But an expected deluge of wonky veg onto supermarket shelves failed to materialise.
The supermarkets blamed consumers for being obsessed with perfection, while farmers blamed supermarkets for sticking to rigid, high technical specifications. Retailers have gradually been relaxing these, and food banks and organisations such as Food Cycle have been grateful recipients of rejected produce. But successive reports on food waste in the supply chain show that much more could be done to make use of edible, if misshapen, foods.
Ian Harrison, produce technical director at Asda said: "Even if fruit and veg have some knobbles and blemishes, this doesn't affect the quality or taste - a carrot is still a carrot. Customers are simply looking for great-tasting, fresh produce at a value price. Our growers are savvy and already use a large percentage of this wonky crop for further processing, for things like ready meals and juicing, but we saw an opportunity to extend this even more."
In the first programme Oliver and Doherty meet farmers Olly and Kevin Hammond, who have been growing carrots and parsnips at Tattersett Farm in Norfolk since 1959. Doherty said: "Anything that doesn't make the grade gets chucked. It's a massive waste for farmers. Where 'A' grade carrots sell for £800 a tonne, they practically give the ugly ones away for animal feed for just £10."
The move is supported by the government's food waste reduction advisory body Wrap, which has said that loss and waste in the fresh produce supply chain averaged out at less than 10% but could be as high as 25% for apples, onions and potatoes.
Other large supermarkets such as Sainsbury's and Waitrose have relaxed their specifications to sell some ugly and imperfect produce, but this is the first initiative to clearly identify and separate them from the mainstream alternative. Emma Marsh, head of Love Food Hate Waste, said: "Buying misshapen or blemished fruit and vegetables doesn't mean you are sacrificing any of the taste. Food costs money and precious resources to produce, so we should value it."
Kiti Soininen, head of UK food and drink research at the market research company Mintel, commented: "It is clear that consumers are open to ugly produce, but where oddly shaped fruit and veg sits with mainstream offerings, it is at risk of going unchosen, even if subconsciously. Price comes across as a real consideration for many and positioning ugly fruit and vegetables as a tasty, low-cost option should help to reach this group."
Jimmy Doherty, Tinie Tempah and Jamie Oliver in Channel 4's Friday Night Feast. Photograph: Fresh One Tv/.


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People who made news this week-
Major events to look out for in October
Quick takes on major events that happened recently
Quick takes on major events that happened recently.
Events that made news in the past fortnight
PM Narendra Modi's Russia visit, Digital India Week and more.
Featuring: Narendra Modi's China visit, Takata airbag recall and more.
Also, Japan has become the biggest foreign creditor to the United States government for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, toppling, China.
Business Today brings you news digest and quotes from newsmakers this past fortnight.
Events to look out for in October
Events to look forward to in August and September
Events to look out for in August.
Featuring: Adani Mining, Taylor Swift, Tom Holland, Kamil Hamied and Kookaburra.
Your cheat sheet for what's made news this past fortnight and upcoming events in June-July.
Events to watch out for in the world of business in the coming weeks -
Business Today brings you important news and events to watch out for in the coming fortnight.
- Printing machinery maker launches UV system to disinfect everything from keys to shoes, fish, vegetables and even malls
- Indian manufacturers hail end to export curbs on paracetamol APIs
- Trump terminates US ties with WHO, imposes sanctions against China
- GST collections down 70% in April
- Biz EOD: India's GDP growth lower than 2009; core industries' output declines; credit card, MSME loans fall
- After Donald Trump silenced, Twitter and White House now fighting tweet war in full public display
- Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook should not verify posts, satire website declares him dead
- Facebook CatchUp is new group calling app, 5 things to know
- Motorola Moto G8 Power Lite sells out within 20 seconds in India on first sale
- Aarogya Setu link: Google Play Store removes MobiKwik, reinstates later


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Blockchain shares – who needs lawmakers?
The Swiss parliament will soon get to grips with merging the current financial system with new blockchain architecture. This is a bit like refitting your whole house to make sure the swanky new furniture and fittings blend in.
Switzerland has deliberately chosen to not to tear the whole house down and build it again in a new style. But the structure still needs a major re-fit by amending banking, corporate and financial infrastructure laws.
At present, the new kitchen cupboards don’t fit, the refrigerator door keeps banging against the hob and the chaise lounge blocks the fire escape.
What good are digital shares if they can’t be sold, a new system of book keeping that can’t be read or an alternative style of stock exchange that can’t trade? Why should people invest into all of this if they can’t be sure of retrieving their assets in the event of a bankruptcy?
Next year, lawmakers will decide on how to remodel the corporate and financial system to accommodate Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The blockchain sector has largely applauded the government’s proposals. This includes the growing number of firms that store cryptocurrencies for clients. At least four old military bunkers in the Alps have been converted into bitcoin vaults.
But it remains to be seen if their applause will be matched by parliament. And all of this may take some time – perhaps a couple of years, according to some observers. Other countries are also busy amending laws. The EU plans to make it it legal for banks sell and store cryptocurrencies – an amendment that Germany has been quick to act on.
In the meantime, the industry is busily erecting self-regulatory codes of conduct and formulating legal theories for converting traditional financial assets into blockchain-friendly digital clones.
The likes of the Swiss Blockchain Federation and the Capital Markets and Technology Association insist that companies do not have to wait for the laws to be amended before issuing digital shares. In fact, some companies have done this already in Switzerland while a financial consortium has proved that ownership rights can be transferred.
On my radar:
The Crypto Valley Association, the first industry organization of its kind in Switzerland, is spreading its wings from its base in canton Zug by officially launching operations in the French-speaking part of the country. One primary focus of activities is education and it’s becoming hard to spot a Swiss university that does not offer some sort of DLT course on its curriculum.
Switzerland launched a new category of Fintech banking license to much fanfare at the start of this year. But so far none have been awarded by the financial regulator. I’m told that at least four companies have applied for the license. I’ll be asking: “Why the hold up”?


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Yes, you have heard this before. The stock market under Trump is booming. This is also the first shopping season of the Trump administration and the people are very optimistic about their financial futures this year.
The Nasdaq composite climbed one-third of a percentage point, hitting intraday and closing records. Shares of Amazon rose 2.6 percent.
The S&P 500 also closed at a record high of 2602.42, a 0.21 percent gain. Shares of retail giants like Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Kohol’s all rose. Shares of Target fell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.14 percent, closing just short of its record high.
The DOW.NASDAQ and S&P are up 31%, 36%, 25% respectively.
Telegram.com has this data as to why things are up.
The 4.1 percent jobless rate is at a 17-year-low and consumer confidence is up from last year, leading analysts to project healthy sales increases for November and December.
The National Retail Federation trade group expects sales for that period to at least match last year’s rise of 3.6 percent and estimates online spending and other non-store sales will rise 11 to 15 percent.
The federation also estimated that of 164 million Americans planning to shop this weekend, 70 percent, or 115 million, would do so on Black Friday.
What a difference an election makes.


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Seoul-based company delivers first hydrogen-powered Tucson SUV to customer in California
Hyundai has delivered its first hydrogen-powered Tucson SUV and tipped the vehicle to play a key role in expanding the market for zero-emission cars. The South Korean manufacturer said the car is the...
Global risk management giant Verisk Analytics continues push into renewables market with latest acquisition
The former US vice-president and environmental activist said there was hope in the fight against climate change - but the world and the US had to act
Consumer goods giant says its 15 UK sites have been powered by Scottish wind farm since April
22MW battery system will store power from the 76-turbine Pen y Cymoedd wind farm in Wales to help stabilise the grid


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Android should get tracking protection like the future iOS. A “privacy sandbox” like the Chrome browser would be possible for the mobile phone operating system.
Google is currently discussing an alternative to Apple’s future tracking protection internally. With an upcoming iOS version, the apps will have to request user approval before they can access the device-specific advertising ID. Google is considering a similar data protection system for Android.
Apple iOS as a data protection pioneer
Apple recently revised its app store rules . In the future, apps will require the “explicit permission” of the user in order to track their activities. Apple’s new “App Tracking Transparency” interface blocks the previously free access to the advertising ID, a device-specific combination of numbers for every iPhone and iPad. In future, apps may only access them with the consent of the user. Every new app and every newly submitted app update must follow the extended rule at the beginning of spring 2021. The introduction will probably take place in conjunction with the release of iOS 14.5 in March or April.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Google is considering a corresponding alternative for its own smartphone operating system Android. Internally, the restriction of the data collection of the apps and the data exchange between the apps are being discussed. However, this should be less restrictive than Apple .
Google has to balance the different needs of the privacy-conscious Android user and its advertisers interested in personalized data. However, when asked, Google only said: “We’re always looking for ways to work with developers to raise the bar on privacy while enabling a healthy, ad-supported app ecosystem.”
App provider against iOS tracking opt-in
App providers like Facebook and the associated Instagram have already protested against Apple’s new tracking opt-in in iOS 14.5. You plan that a message should ask for tracking permission shortly before iOS displays the tracking opt-in dialog that will soon be required. Personalized advertising is much more interesting for app providers, as it can be sold to advertisers at higher prices.
Other apps want to do the same. Google itself advises developers to display their own message dialog in their iOS apps in order to get users in the mood for Apple’s tracking demand dialog. This is intended to obtain the appropriate permission, for example with the reference that personalized advertising enables the app to be offered free of charge.
Your own sandpit on Android?
It is still unclear how Google intends to integrate tracking protection into Android. One possibility would be the cookie successors in the Chrome browser, which are already in the test stage , with which the third-party cookies are to be replaced. So far, cookies have been stored in the browser, which are then used by advertising networks to create personal profiles and display advertising based on them.
With the new system called “Privacy Sandbox”, targeting is to be relocated to the browser. The browser history is processed directly on the user’s computer in order to then merge it into groups with common interests. Advertisers and networks could then no longer access individual user identities, but only address the group as a whole.
A similar system as in the Chrome browser would also be conceivable for the Android operating system or could be adapted accordingly. According to Bloomberg, this is now being discussed internally at Google.


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- Daily Zen
According to reports, Minneapolis-based retailer, Target Corp recently informed its suppliers that it didn’t want to put as much money and effort into promoting some of their packaged products as it did in the past and instead wants to focus on healthier options.
The move reflects the shifting taste of shoppers who are more inclined to buy healthier and fresher foods at the expense of bagged or canned products.
Brands like Kraft, Campbell Soup Co, Kellogg Co and packaged goods will no longer be promoted like before and Target intends to utilize the money to market fresh and healthy foods as per the buyer’s choice.
Sweet breakfast cereals and corn flakes seem to have lost out to granola, yogurt and eco-friendly organic products. Also, canned soups are not popular anymore and will be de-emphasized. Instead, Target will focus more on healthy and offbeat products such as sauces and oils.
Currently, canned and bagged food products face a long decline in sales since buyers are choosing products that do not trigger their health issues. The retailers move confirms the changing trends and large brands need to overhaul their product-line if they want to remain buoyant.
CEO Brian Cornell said that the company will focus more on baby, children, style and wellness and food products tied to those categories. These products will be called signature categories and will get outsize resources and attention.
Brands such as General Mills Inc and Kellogg Co would fall into the bottom and will be known as perform category. The products will continue to remain on the shelves but they will not be promoted as frequently in circulars or in stores. They will also likely face more competition from Target-branded products since the retailer announced large investments in its brands.
The perform products might have to face reduced shelf space, as newer products will catch buyers attention.
Target said that promoting canned and bagged food products was not profitable for the company any more since most other retailers did the same thing. To attract the young crowd, retailers have to be distinctive and promote healthy and organic brands, Target explained.
America’s second-largest discount retailer also said that it would invest in consumer research to create its private-label line of products, which may further harm its old suppliers.
Cornell further added that he was aware the move is unacceptable to suppliers but it was a much needed measure to return the company to growth.


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The publisher's partnership with Tapjoy will enable fans to earn credits to access digital comics.
Mass market comic book publisher Archie Comics, digital content distributor iVerse, and mobile advertising and monetization platform Tapjoy have teamed up to offer fans a new way to read digital comics for free.
Starting July 18, the Archie Comics app, which is available on iTunes and Google Play, will integrate the Tapjoy Mobile Value Exchange model in which consumers engage with advertisements to earn virtual rewards. By watching a video, taking a survey, or engaging with an ad, Archie readers will earn credits to unlock more than 2,000 comics via the Archie Comics app.
According to the Archie website, the Archie Comics app has over 11 million downloads and 650 pages of content.
Tapjoy says Archie is also the first comic book publisher to release digital comics the same day as the print editions.
An Archie rep did not respond to a request for comment.
"We're thrilled to partner with Tapjoy and embrace a new way for our consumers to get the comics they love," said Jon Goldwater, Archie Comics publisher and co-CEO, in a prepared statement. "Making our great content catalog available through a new free-to-own model establishes a new opportunity for how people read comics and will bring even more fans to the Archie universe."
According to Tapjoy, the new digital offering marks a shift in how publishers make premium content more widely available to consumers. It says Archie Comics will be the first digital comic publisher to utilize virtual rewards and the Mobile Value Exchange model to enable consumers to buy digital comics.
Tapjoy says it helps app developers and publishers monetize different types of mobile apps including games, movies, books, videos, and text messaging apps. It says this partnership expands its developer network in the publishing space and opens the door for further types of content publishers to offer their content to fans.
According to its website, Archie Comics has sold 1.5 billion comics to date and publishes in a dozen languages.
In addition to Archie, characters include Betty, Veronica, and Jughead.
What's more, Archie is asking fans to take sides between "best frenemies Veronica and Betty, who have been fighting over Archie for over 70 years" with #TeamBetty or #TeamVeronica on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. The effort promotes collections of Team Betty and Team Veronica digital exclusives, as well as a collection of both digital offerings and more than 100 pages of bonus content in Betty VS. Veronica, which will be released on July 19.
In addition to ClickZ and Search Engine Watch, Lisa's work has appeared in The Huffington Post, The Luxury Spot, LearnVest, MarthaStewart.com, GoodHousekeeping.com, amNewYork, and The Wall Street Journal. She's a graduate of Columbia's School of Journalism.
2015 Holiday Email Guide
The holidays are just around the corner. Download this whitepaper to find out how to create successful holiday email campaigns that drive engagement and revenue.
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Big data holds a lot of promise for marketers, but are marketers ready to make the most of it to drive better business decisions and improve ROI? This study looks at the hidden challenges modern marketers face when trying to put big data to use.
December 2, 2015
1pm ET/ 10am PT
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
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News & Insights
Blumberg Capital portfolio news, startup growth resources and industry insights
By Naomi Taylor
Gift card marketplace, Zeek has launched its first through-the-line marketing campaign, with a seven figure investment in television, OOH, digital and PR.
The website and free app allows users to buy and sell physical and digital gift cards at a discount, and was named by Forbes as one of London’s most exciting start-ups of 2016.


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MUMBAI: Vodafone Idea
) has increased prices of two post-paid family packs by about Rs 50 in some circles, according to company notifications on customers' apps.
The tariff changes are unlikely to impact the telco’s revenue or its competitors Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, but could indicate that price increases are likely soon, analysts said.
“Vi is testing the waters with high-end post-paid plans and it is the tariff hike in mass market plans – the 56- and 84-day plans – which will be the game changer,” said Rajiv Sharma, head of research at SBI Caps.
Vi’s family packs worth Rs 598 and Rs 749 will now cost Rs 649 and Rs 799, respectively. The telco did not respond to ET’s request for comment.
The company’s shares rose 2.45% to Rs 10.05 at the close on the BSE on Tuesday, while shares of Bharti Airtel advanced 3.46% to Rs 479.35.
ET reported in its November 16 edition that loss-making Vi is considering increasing tariffs 15-20% by the end of the year or early next year to recover financially and stem customer losses.
If Vi increases its prices, Bharti Airtel may follow, while Jio may calibrate its rates keeping in mind its target to reach 500 million customers.
The country’s three private telcos previously increased rates in December 2019, the first time they did so since the entry of Jio in 2016.
Vi’s average revenue per user of Rs 119 at the end of the September quarter still lags that of Bharti Airtel (Rs 162) and Jio (Rs 145).
Vi MD Ravinder Takkar has said the present tariff rates are “unsustainable” and it would not “shy away” from being the first to increase them.
According to Deutsche Bank, Vi remains highly leveraged with Rs 1.7 lakh crore in net debt and statutory adjusted gross revenue dues, which is about eight times the company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
Goldman Sachs said in a report that a tariff increase would help Vi as every Rs 10 added to ARPU leads to about $400 million of incremental cashflows.


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A week ago we discuss iRobot’s smart home ambitions are related to the company’s collaboration with Amazon. The company has gradually emphasized these plans over the past few years, hoping to unleash the potential of Roomba as a type of missing link in smart homes.
Today, the company has taken a slightly surprising next step with the acquisition of Aeris Cleantec AG, the best-known Swiss company for HEPA air purifiers. Indeed, this acquisition is in line with the company’s central focus on cleaning homes, about 20 years after the first robot vacuums were introduced.
“Today’s acquisition of Aeris is an important step in iRobot’s strategy, providing new ways for consumers to expand their addressable market, diversify their product portfolio and keep their homes cleaner and healthier. We will provide it, “said CEO Colin Angle in the release. “Especially because of the pandemic, which has raised consumer awareness of the value of maintaining a cleaner and healthier home, we are keen on the growth potential of Aerith’s products, and Genius Home. We are also excited about the potential to bring the iRobot experience to air purification by leveraging the Intelligence platform and the existing home robot ecosystem. “
We will publish a robot newsletter!Please sign up To put the actuator in the inbox As soon as the first issue is hit! For free!
It’s worth noting that most of iRobot’s successful non-rumba lines, as we did last week, came from acquisitions that included Braava and Root, which the company purchased in 2012 and 2019, respectively.
Air purification is definitely a topic that has come to mind for the past two years thanks to a pandemic. Even before that, the category was booming with the advent of connected smart home filters and the like. Both Aeris’ flagship products, Lite and 3-in-1 Pro, provide connected smartphone apps for monitoring device health and controlling multiple connected machines.
That last bit will give you a glimpse of iRobot’s bigger plans. Without its own smart speaker, the company is almost certainly looking for some kind of smart home device that can act as a connected beacon. This is expensive, but it can be provided by an air purifier. Perhaps in the future, you may see Aeris purification technology built into Roomba’s docking stations.
According to iRobot, the deal has already been completed and the company has paid Aeris $ 72 million in cash. “In addition to this initial cash consideration, the transaction has provisions to pay a modest performance-based revenue if Aeris meets certain goals next year,” the company said.
iRobot buys air purifier maker Aeris – TechCrunch Source link iRobot buys air purifier maker Aeris – TechCrunch


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TAIPEI--Taiwan's industrial output posted stronger-than-expected gains in December, driven by demand for the island's electronic components for new hand-held devices and stocking demand ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays.
The index--which measures output from domestic factories, utilities and mines--rose 7.33% year-over-year in December to 111.58, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Friday. The gain was above a median forecast of a 4.90% increase from eight economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. The index rose 6.72% in November.
Semiconductor output rose 25.22% from a year earlier, slowing from a 36.64% increase in November, the ministry said. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s (2317.TW) shipments of microprocessors to Apple, which started in late June, have added heft to the island's semiconductor production.
Output of personal computer and smartphone components also rose 18.01% last month, following a 12.15% increase in November. Recent growth came from robust orders for camera lenses by smartphone makers and renewed demand for personal computers after Microsoft Corp. phased out its old operating system earlier in 2014.
Industrial output rose 6.14% in 2014, the fastest pace since 2011. Industrial output gained 0.65% in 2013.
Taiwan's key exporters, many of which manufacture electronic components, are riding high on Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) release of new smartphones and the global rollout of faster fourth-generation mobile networks. Continued recovery in key export markets, particularly the U.S., is also helping to boost production.
Write to Fanny Liu at firstname.lastname@example.org and Jenny W. Hsu at email@example.com


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A New York-based business, Pairsys, has been shut down by a federal court after it sold spurious “security” software, among other programs, to consumers, the Federal Trade Commission announced.
A preliminary injunction, freezing the company's assets and requiring its websites and telephone numbers to be shut down and disconnected, was entered by a U.S. District Court in New York District on Oct. 9, an FTC release said. The company allegedly made $2.5 million since early 2012 selling bogus services to consumers, including freely available software and “scareware.”
The FTC also alleged that Pairsys workers posed as Microsoft or Facebook representatives when calling to deceive consumers.
“The defendants behind Pairsys targeted seniors and other vulnerable populations, preying on their lack of computer knowledge to sell ‘security' software and programs that had no value at all,” FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection director Jessica Rich said.


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MADE IN FREEPORT: From oven to car wash
Washing cars is an entirely new business for Frank Mazzarisi, the owner of Maria’s Pizza in Freeport.
Mazzarisi recently purchased and significantly improved the existing car wash business at 731 Midwest Court, located behind Midwest Bank on the city’s south side.
His investment has included new equipment, a new roof, new seal-coating, and a new vacuum that can also shampoo the carpeting of a car’s interior.
“I’m very excited about this. I’m learning something new every day,” Mazzarisi said Friday, April 17, 2009.
Frank’s Car Wash features six car and van bays, complete with new sprayers, new pumps, and a new water softener. Customers can self-serve wash for just $2 with all the equipment available in the bay. A seventh bay offers space for trucks and large vehicles.
The eighth bay is an automatic car wash, equipped with the latest “touch-less” sprayer system that completely washes the car, followed by a new dryer to knock off the water.
Friday, April 17, 2009, Mazzarisi was trimming trees, and overseeing new seal-coating on the blacktop.
He plans to hire an attendant who will work at the car wash and help customers with questions or other needs.
“Really, it’s all about customer service,” Mazzarisi said.
The self-service car wash will be open 24 hours a day; however, the hours of the attendant are still being determined, Mazzarisi said.


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20, December 2018
The Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) has finalized plans to harmonize laws governing trade in the sub-region, Fatima Haram Acyl, vice-president of CEMAC said on Tuesday.
“We are going to harmonize so we make sure that somebody that is trading in Chad, in Cameroon, Central Africa Republic or anywhere in CEMAC actually operates under the same law,” Acyl told reporters as trade ministers and economic experts from the CEMAC sub-region met in Cameroon’s economic capital Douala to adopt a legislation on competition and consumers protection.
She said the intention was to intensify integration in the sub-region that already has a single market and free trade zone.
“The CEMAC is one market. We have the same people, the same currency and free movement of people. So this exercise is very critical,” Acyl said.
The new legislation will attract more foreign investors and erase unhealthy competition and consumer exploitation that has retarded trade development in the sub-region for a long time, according to Acyl.
CEMAC is made up of Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea. With a total population of about 37 million, it was established to promote cooperation and exchange among its members.


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It's been 11 months since the LG V35 (also known as the LG V30S that AT&T was willing to sell to its customers which is also known as a lightly modified V30) received its Android 9 Pie upgrade. It's well beyond time that phone got Android 10, huh?
AT&T has published details for that very update. The file, which brings Android 10 with April's security patches on build QKQ1.191222.002, sizes up at 1.65GB.
As the V35 launched with Oreo, this marks the last OS change for the phone. It comes in lockstep with Android 10 for the G7 in the U.S. — that one was apparently a step ahead of the schedule the company put out early this year.


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Smartphone Sales to Rise Only 3.1% in 2016
Research firm IDC cuts its growth forecast from 5.7% and predicts a steeper decline in iPhone sales than originally expected.
Lenovo Posts First Loss In Six Years
Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said integration efforts related to the company's past acquisitions "did not meet expectations."
Apple’s Q2 Results Miss on iPhone Sales Drop
The company suffered its first quarterly revenue decline in 13 years as its flagship smartphone appears to be nearing saturation point.
Foxconn to Acquire Japan’s Sharp for $3.5B
The Taiwanese firm uses Sharp screens in the iPhones it manufactures, and the deal could increase its leverage with Apple.
U.S. Export Curbs Deal Blow to China’s ZTE
Commerce said ZTE had planned to use shell companies 'to illicitly reexport controlled items to Iran in violation of U.S. export control laws.'


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That may not be the case, according to a new report, which also states that all-wheel drive may be offered on the Mazdaspeed 3 for the first time. Speaking with Mazda 3 deputy program manager Takeo Mariuchi, Australia's Drive has learned that all-wheel drive was possible as the Mazda 3’s platform is shared with the all-wheel-drive CX-5.
The newspaper postulates that all-wheel drive would help alleviate the torque steer that afflicted the outgoing model, leaving the door open for engineers to add even more power. The turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine of the outgoing model delivered 263 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque.
Such a move would give the new Mazdaspeed 3 the performance to take on more serious performers such as the Subaru WRX, Volkswagen Golf R and new Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG. It would also make the Mazdaspeed 3’s performance more accessible/appealing to a wider range of buyers.
However, based on further comments from Mariuchi, it sounds as though Mazda is yet to commit on a final configuration for the new Mazdaspeed 3.
"We have had many questions regarding the MPS [Mazdaspeed],” Mariuchi said. “We need to watch the market requirements.”


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Of greater concern to Rollet is the environmental degradation that could result from more aggressive quinoa cultivation. His and some other quinoa merchants require an organic, rotational grazing system in which llamas are pastured on fallow fields, which helps stabilize the soil—and ensures llama meat on peasant tables. (Reportedly, it goes really well with quinoa.)
This isn't to say there are no growing pains as the worldwide demand for quinoa continues to increase. There have been squabbles over land and water. Farmers have been screwed by middlemen. And the environmental impacts of larger quinoa operations are troubling.
Those hit hardest by the rising price of quinoa are probably quinoa eaters that live in urban areas, since they must pay higher prices for the grain, but don't reap the economic benefits. This is especially true for those who have moved to the city from the countryside, and are used to having access to quinoa but can no longer afford it. The Times article included interviews with several urban dwellers who could no longer afford to eat as much quinoa as they used to.
At the same time, rising quinoa prices are drawing many urban refugees back to the countryside, where it's now possible to make a living from farming. As supply and demand seek equilibrium, there will be shockwaves.
In her analysis, Banks points out that while quinoa farming has for years received state support in Peru, in Bolivia it's largely been a grassroots effort, with producers organizing and collecting the necessary equipment to process seeds and bring back quinoa real, the most commercially viable variety of quinoa. "The quinoa boom greatly benefits farmers in spite of little state support," she wrote.
The UN has declared 2013 the International Year of Quinoa, saying it has the potential to advance food security around the globe and prevent malnutrition. In fact, quinoa is so nutritionally complete that NASA has considered it as astronaut food for long space rides. It's a favorite of vegetarians because it's so high in protein, and because it's a rare plant-based food that contains a full complement of amino acids. Interestingly, the Guardian story seemed as much a hit-piece on vegetarians and vegans as on quinoa eaters. ("Britain excels in producing meat and dairy foods ... However, a rummage through the shopping baskets of vegetarians and vegans swiftly clocks up the food miles, a consequence of their higher dependency on products imported from faraway places.")
While attempts to grow quinoa haven't worked out in Britain, locavores in the United States can take heart in the fact that farmers in Oregon and Colorado are figuring out how to grow it. That said, domestic quinoa sells out quickly after every harvest, so for the time being quinoa lovers will be importing most of theirs from the altiplano. And that's a not a bad thing. Wherever it's grown, concerns about buying imported quinoa are overblown.
The Guardian calls it "... a ghastly irony when the Andean peasant's staple grain becomes too expensive at home because it has acquired hero product status among affluent foreigners."
There is, in fact, a ghastly irony here. It's when media stories discourage people from buying imported quinoa in the name of solidarity with the locals. But instead of helping, such reports threaten to kick the legs out from under one of the most promising industries in one of the world's poorest places.
This is a Web-only exclusive of Flash in the Pan, a nationally syndicated weekly food column by Ari LeVaux.
Slate’s coverage of food systems is made possible in part by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.


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2015 BEST Literary Series
Boston Book Festival
Who said the Internet would bring the death of print? Clearly no one at the 2014 Boston Book Festival, where traditional media and information-age innovation collided. While crowds converged on Copley Square to attend panels and keynotes with such international luminaries as Herbie Hancock, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Norman Foster, last year also saw the unveiling of the “Books Come Alive” series, which connected readers and writers through streaming chats. Authors signed hard copies of their works, while the “One City One Story” selection, Jennifer Haigh’s “Sublimation,” was distributed as a free download through the BBF website. There’s no longer any need to oppose the Kindle. We can all live together. Happily.


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UK food producer Dairy Crest, whose product range includes best-selling cheese, butter and milk brands, will use £60m of maturing cheddar to reduce its pension fund deficit.
Under an agreement with its pension fund trustees, in the event that the company becomes insolvent the trustees will become owners of 20,000 tonnes of cheese and have the right to sell it.
Dairy Crest typically has around £150m worth of maturing cheese in its warehouse. As stocks are replenished, the pension fund trustees will retain floating ownership of £60m worth of stock. The company, which has felt the impact of a price war between the UK’s major supermarkets and blockades by farmers demanding improved payments for milk in recent months, had a pension fund deficit estimated at £84m last September.
The deal echoes a similar arrangement reached by spirits group Diageo in 2010, when it agreed to transfer 2.5m barrels of maturing whisky, with an estimated value of £500m, from its stocks to close a £862m deficit in its pension fund. Truly, the deal gave a new meaning to the term liquidity.
Far and away, the largest financial market on the planet is the foreign exchange currencies market, where on average individuals and organisations trade more than $5 trillion daily. In the FX world, the ability to master the market isn't considered a luxury for treasury officers–it's a necessity.
Treasurers are more interested in cross-border payments and automation than real-time payments, as they are consistently asked to do more with less, argues Rick Burke, head of corporate payments at TD Bank in an exclusive interview.
On the third day of the Singapore Fintech Festival conference, there was a focus on specific applications of fintech innovation. One was trade finance, which is clearly is ripe for a revolution.
The EU and US’ shift in accounting standards may bring balance sheet losses and increase credit risk, according to James Elder, director of risk services at Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global.


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9 things to know about cryptocurrency such as Cardano .
Bitcoin stays without a doubt the largest cryptocurrency in regards to market capitalisation, as well as that can quibble about its 300% cost gain in 2020? However that’s absolutely nothing compared with smaller sized cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Chainlink, Polkadot and Cardano which valued by an amazing 500% to 700% over the in 2014. Have a look at the adhering to table of the leading 10 doing cryptocurrencies over one year: Source: Revix These may appear like phenomenal returns and also they are when compared to more traditional investments like stocks and bonds yet in crypto terms they aren’t unusual.
The cryptocurrency asset course has actually been hands-down the Best Cryptocurrencies-performing investment classification you might have picked over the last decade, ending up an amazing 39 583% return over that duration. You check out that. It means that a R10 000 investment in the wider crypto market 10 years earlier would deserve R3.
While Bitcoin is taking pleasure in expanding support from institutional capitalists and big corporates, with Tesla being the current blue chip to get a document breaking $1. 5 billion (R22. 4 billion) due to its regarded function as electronic gold and also hence a hedge versus rising cost of living the various other cryptocurrencies revealed over have totally various pressures powering their rates.
My 2 Best Cryptocurrencies to Buy and Hold
Bitcoin continues to be by much the largest crypto in terms of market cap, numerous altcoins (a terms made use of to define any cryptocurrency that is not bitcoin) have significantly outshined Bitcoin over the last year. Ethereum is up 630% over the last year, Chainlink 697%, Cardano 533%, and Polkadot 428%.
“This remains in component many thanks to the eruptive rise in decentralised money [De, Fi], which is a subsector of the cryptocurrency industry where business owners are developing automated trading as well as borrowing systems atop blockchain networks that don’t need any middlemans like banks or brokers,” claims Sanders. One way to obtain broad direct exposure to these arising cryptocurrencies is by purchasing one of 3 diversified ‘crypto packages’ used by Revix.
Those who intend to possess a more comprehensive spread of cryptos can acquire the Top 10 Bundle, which spreads their investment equally over the 10 largest cryptos and also automatically updates their holdings on a monthly basis. There’s additionally a Repayment Package for those who want direct exposure to those cryptos that are aiming to become digital money (like Bitcoin or Litecoin).
This Month’s 3 Best Cryptocurrencies To Buy Right Now
You can additionally acquire USDC on Revix, a ‘USD stablecoin’ totally backed by the United States buck along with Pax Gold which is an asset-backed token backed 1:1 by physical gold bars kept in London Brinks Vaults. Below’s exactly how these packages carried out over the last year to day about Bitcoin: While lots of financiers in typical properties have actually stayed mindful about diving right into cryptos, believing either that it is a bubble waiting to burst or that it has currently run too expensive, a little historic point of view might help.
Those warnings are merited, offered its severe volatility. After striking $20 000 in December 2017, bitcoin drew back greatly by 84% prior https://blog.kivvi.com.tr/three-romantic-best-cryptocurrencies-ideas-2/ to resuming its impressive recovery. What’s different this time around is the access of solid purchasing assistance from both retail capitalists and establishments like Tesla, Pay, Pal, Black, Rock, Integrity, JP Morgan, Micro, Method, Harvard’s endowment fund and also Twitter creator Jack Dorsey’s firm, Square, as well as billionaire investors like Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller.
It marks an important shift in the public’s assumption of cryptocurrencies: instead than being seen solely as a speculative property for those looking for eye-popping returns, cryptocurrencies currently maintain a much wider allure. Bitcoin will likely continue to be king of the cryptos for the direct future, yet interest is moving to the financial investment capacity of smaller sized cryptocurrencies like ether (or ETH, the coin that makes service feasible on the Ethereum blockchain), Cardano, Chainlink and others.
These Cryptocurrencies Are Best For Long-Term Investment
While Bitcoin will only ever have 21 million coins in problem, ETH has no ‘tough cap’ and is expanding its coin issuance by about 2% a year. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is established to debut its brand-new futures contracts on ETH this week, which will create extra buzz around the coin.
This is the fast-growing globe of De, Fi and ETH is the money that greases the system. The Ethereum blockchain is being updated to manage larger quantities at speed, and also even more ETH coins are being held instead of traded including a potential component of scarcity of the kind that has driven bitcoin to such heights.
“Cost modifications are an all-natural component of any kind of investment market as well as are particularly all-natural in the crypto environment. But something is clear: crypto has arrived and the time to prosper of crypto’s mainstream outbreak is starting to run brief.” If you’ve been watching this year’s crypto boom from afar, and also intend to purchase Ethereum, Bitcoin or a diversified crypto basket, now’s your chance to get going by enrolling in a free account at Revix.
Top cryptocurrencies to buy in 2021
Read More about
Bitcoin alternatives: the most important other cryptocurrencies
The minimal financial investment is R500, and while you may think that crypto rates have actually fled from you and dirlex.com.br it is also late to capture the crypto bullet train, many customers disregard the cost activities as well as simply spend a little on a monthly basis recognized as buck price averaging. Revix fees no regular monthly account or membership fees, but instead a straightforward 1% purchase charge for both buys as well as sells and also a 0.
04% a year) on the total package value held (this charge is not levied on single cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or the Pax Gold token). Given you by Revix. To find out more, check out. This post is intended for educational purposes only. The sights expressed are not as well as ought to not be construed as financial investment advice or suggestions.
You ought to not spend greater than you can pay for to shed, and prior to investing please consider your level of experience as well as financial investment goals, as well as look for independent financial advice if required.


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Self-balancing scooters, a.k.a. those «hoverboards» or «balance gliders» everyone has been zooming around on, are bound to be this year’s hottest gift. But according to several major U.S. airlines, that’s exactly the problem.
Delta, United, Southwest, JetBlue, and American have all announced that the scooters will no longer be allowed to fly as carry-ons or checked luggage due to reports of the scooters’ combustibility.
RELATED: 10 Tiny Travel Gifts That Make Great Stocking Stuffers
The problem is with the powerful lithium ion battery. The average scooter takes two hours for a scooter to charge, and a fully charged scooter is able to travel up to 10 miles. According the US Consumer Product and Safety Commission, there have been at least 10 reports of fires caused by the scooters, although executives from companies selling the most expensive versions of the scooters argue that it’s the cheap knock-offs that pose the real danger. In fact, Swagway scooters were


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New Accountable Healthcare Model Promises Better Care at Low Costs
A recent report has been claiming that consumers, who have been maneuvered by accountable healthcare's new model, are likely to actively look for participating providers.
The new model, as per the findings, vows better-coordinated care in reduced costs. Better quality is being touted as a principle of accountable care. It is being said that doctors are paid properly so that patients are kept healthy and not for treating them during sickness.
It has been found that some programs are such that the providers would be penalized in case of too many hospitalizations. They would be charged even when they would show failure to keep overall costs down.
Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act has been driving the changes. The same necessitates experimentation, when it comes to cost-cutting for Medicare.
As per the findings, if an accountable care organization is to be defined in most restricted way, it is one on a list of 250 official partakers of a Medicare pilot program. Nonetheless, they are all at different stages of implementation. Also, a large list of others is there, who would adopt the model.
"It's like having a personal trainer or coach. Nothing seems to be too small for him to talk about", said Dennis Chitwood, 71, a retired salesman from St. Louis.
New Zealand News
- Tesla Model Y Performance becomes little bit more expensive to order in China
- Porsche’s recently unveiled Mission R Concept previews electric race cars of future
- Chinese manufacturer GAC’s Aion V e-SUV can charge 0-80% in just 8 minutes
- Oshidori International exits Japanese casino race, citing serious ethical irregularities
- CATL and LG Energy account for nearly 54% of global xEV battery market: SNE Research
- Italian motorcycle racer Valentino Rossi enters e-bike business with VR46 MTB range
- Micro Mobility shows off production version of Microlino 2.0 and 3-wheeled e-scooter
- Chinese electric motorcycle maker Evoke Motorcycles to set up shops in Spain
- TenneT adds more electric BMWs to study use of EVs to support power grids
- Italy’s ASPI announces plans to install cross-country ultra-fast EV charging network


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Gun sales are a big topic in America today. That’s because, over the past several years, Americans have bought more guns than at any time in history.
The pandemic and global instability, together with an unpopular and oppressive government, led to an increase in weapons sales. Cities just aren’t safe anymore, and citizens feel better having their own form of protection with them so they don’t only have to rely on the police.
Although, now and then, somebody walks into a gun shop and the owners can tell something is just not right. That’s what happened recently in the south of Chicago.
No Ammo For You
Eagle Sports Range is a gun shop in Oak Forest, Illinois. It’s in the suburbs of Chicago and near its south side, which isn’t exactly known for being a safe place. However, Eagle does good business and doesn’t generally have problems.
However, early Sunday morning, a young lady walked in asking to buy a 9mm box of ammunition for her handgun. She was behaving quite suspiciously, and kept unholstering her gun and playing with it. She was also talking on the phone in what Eagle’s owner described as an “agitated” way.
This isn’t the way you want someone to be acting when you’re about to sell them a 50-pack of bullets for their firearm.
That’s why shop owners told the young lady, Ketura Wilson, that unfortunately, they would not be able to sell her the bullets for her gun on this day.
Eagle has a store rule that if someone is acting strange or threatening, you don’t sell them weapons or ammo. That’s just the way it works, and it’s a good thing they didn’t sell her the ammo because later that day, something very bad happened.
POLICE SHOOTING: Ketura Wilson, 21, was shot to death by Oak Forest police officers after an exchange of gunfire on April 3, 2022. This shooting happened inside a Food-4-Less grocery store located in the 5500 block of 159th in Oak Forest. pic.twitter.com/F3X5ymcoFu
— LEGAL HELP FIRM ⚖ (@lhfirm) April 3, 2022
Wilson Gets Into a Gunfight
It turns out Wilson wanted more ammo because she was in trouble with the law, or at least spoiling for a fight. Shortly after coming into Eagle, she drove her car off the road. When the police came, Wilson started shooting at them near a grocery store.
The Oak Forest cops were worried about the state of her mental health, since she was acting insane. One of their rounds struck her in the gunfight, however, and by the time she’d run to a nearby location, she collapsed and died.
"We did the right thing."
Oak Forest gun store says Ketura Wilson was there Sunday morning.
She wanted a box of 9mm ammo.
They come 50 rounds in a box.
— Megan Hickey (@MeganHickeyTV) April 5, 2022
The Bottom Line
Footage online showed what happened in the gun shop before Wilson got into the fight with cops and died. Eagle’s Manager Ali Abdallah calmly tells the woman they won’t be able to make the sale, due to store policy, and she gets angry.
It turns out to have been the right decision because nobody wants to help arm a mentally unstable person who shoots at cops.
Abdallah said he’s “really proud” of his workers for following their training and standing up to Wilson. He encouraged other gun shop owners to also be careful about who they sell to.


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Social Media Addiction, defined as compulsive and excessive use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter etc., is not a formal clinical diagnosis and it is fair to say that many people spend far too much time on social media. This year, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff compared Social Media Addiction to Smoking and said that companies like Facebook should be regulated “exactly the same way you regulated the cigarette industry,” putting the safety of consumers before the financial gains of companies.
To address this kind of addiction, Facebook has launched a new time management tool which will allow users to keep a track on how much time they spent on the social network’s mobile application. Users can also pre-define the time limit and they will receive alerts when they cross the specific time limit.
Now it will be possible to check the amount of time they have spent in a week on the Facebook mobile app. The data can be found in the “Your Time on Facebook” section of the application’s menu, under “Settings & Privacy”.
To access this feature, launch the app on your Android or iOS device, tap the hamburger icon on the top right corner, and scroll to the head to your Settings & Privacy section. Then, tap ‘Your time on Facebook.’
In an addition to time tracking feature, you can also set a reminder to alert you whenever you crosses a daily time limit that you specify.
For example, if you want to spend more NO more than 5 minutes per day on Facebook, a notification will be sent to alert you each time you exceed this daily limit. However, the limit can be changed at any time.
Facebook also offers a shortcut to various newsfeed preferences, allowing users to tailor their experience with options such as prioritizing posts from certain friends or unfollowing people to hide their posts without unfriending them.
To Read Our Daily News Updates, Please Visit Inventiva Or Subscribe Our Newsletter & Push.


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NewsActivision says it hopes to have "everything up and running" for the troubled Call of Duty Elite social and stat-tracking service by December 1, as work continues on the delayed PC version. Since its console launch alongside Modern Warfare 3 earlier this month, Elite has been plagued with service problems that have led Activision to extend memberships by 30 days. Activision's Daniel Suarez told G4TV that the team hopes to have those problems behind them by the time that 30 day extension is over, and that "come December 1 the goal is that we'll have everything up and running." Suarez also reconfirmed to G4 that Activision is still working on the PC version of the Elite service, despite earlier, erroneous reports that it had been cancelled. The team needs more time to work on that version because the PC is "an open platform [which is] more prone to cheats and hacks," Suarez said. "We're trying to prevent them as much as possible, but that platform isn't as secure ... we don't want to create a situation where the service itself becomes invalidated by people having crazy stats because they've been able to do something to the game." A planned mobile version of Elite should be ready by the end of the year, according to Suarez.
Activision Aiming To Have Console CoD Elite Fixed By December 1
Activision says it hopes to have "everything up and running" for the troubled Call of Duty Elite social and stat-tracking service by December 1, as work continues on the delayed PC version.


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Mikhail Prokhorov's purchase of the Nets is already having an effect. "We’re off to the best start in new season-ticket sales in team history," Brett Yormark tells Sports Business Journal, "in large part because our fans see how committed ownership is to winning and because we have such a compelling story to tell." Yormark didn't provide details.
Prokhorov's face already adorns the team's latest media buy, "Meet Our New Big Man" and Wednesday's press conference in Manhattan is expected to be a major media draw. Meanwhile, SBJ reports no wholesale management changes are initially expected under the new ownership.


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Open wide for some dining guides! Today marks the debut of the new editions of the Zagat guide and the prestigious NYC Michelin restaurant guide (more on that later). We turn first to the more proletarian Zagat, which covers 2,115 restaurants, slightly more than last year, rated online by 40,569 respondents. Here's what's new and noteworthy:
- In a stunning upset, Boerum Hill's Mile End overthrew perennial winner Barney Greengrass in the Top Deli category.
- Eric Ripert's restaurant Le Bernadin is the first restaurant to score an unconditional 29 for food since the original Bouley in 1996.
- More Bronx restaurants are featured in Zagat this year, up to 30 restaurants in the borough are included, compared to 24 last year.
- Brooklyn is also booming, scoring more top cuisine winners than ever. Zagat surveyors say NYC's best barbecue is in Williamsburg (Fette Sau), and Pacificana in Sunset Park is the best Chinese restaurant.
- The No. 1 rated newcomer of the year is Maialino, located in the Gramercy Park Hotel. (This is also the place we sent a lucky Gothamist reader to dinner for two!)
- Zagat added a new category this year: Food trucks. And according to surveyors, the top three trucks are Wafels & Dinges, Street Sweets and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream.
- The average price of a meal in NYC dipped 5 cents, to $41.76. It's a negligible decline, but the first of any kind since 2002.
Unsurprisingly, the economy is taking its toll on dining. 27% of surveyors report that they are eating out less than they were six months ago, while only 11% say they are eating out more. The Zagat survey also covered the etiquette of using a mobile device at the table. 81% of surveyors "feel it's acceptable to take pictures of their food," 64% say it's "rude and inappropriate" to text, e-mail, tweet or talk on a mobile phone at a restaurant. An exception must be made, of course, for those using the Zagat iPhone app! And as Tim Zagat warns, "You're not going to tell a young person not to text at a meal, and if you do, you're likely to lose a client for life." And they'll write a mean tweet about you, too, and you will be ruined.
83% say they approve of the Health Department's letter grading system; and 42% feel the government should require restaurants to reduce the amount of salt in their dishes. And when asked where they'd like to have their last meal, the top three restaurants were Per Se, Daniel, and Peter Luger, which was rated the best steakhouse in the city for the 27th straight year.


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Vision Petlon Polymers Limited has completed the purchase of selected customer and product technology including the worldwide Beetle® engineering thermoplastic brand and certain manufacturing assets from Teknor Apex..
About Visionscape Group
AN ENVIRONMENTAL UTILITY GROUP
The Visionscape Group is a multifaceted group of companies providing specialized solutions in diverse sectors of major industries across the world.
Each subsidiary specializes in providing products and services in key sectors ranging from the provision of turnkey environmental solutions in the areas of waste management, sanitation, and wastewater treatment for governments and municipalities to resource recovery, recycling, and, manufacturing.
As part of the Group’s commitment to social impact investments, our business strategy is deeply rooted in building a sustainable business that does good by operating circularly within a closed loop system.
Targets and Strategy
Visionscape Group, an environmental utility company, today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire UK based thermoplastics...
Dubai, UAE | Sep 17 2017 – Visionscape Group announced that it has completed the purchase of business and assets of Vision Gelpack, a leading manufacturer of polyethylene films, liners and sacks to the food processing..
LYDNEY, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK, April 28th 2016: Vision Petlon Polymers Limited, the UK’s largest independent custom compounder of engineering thermoplastics announces the successful completion of a £1.3m investment program at its Lydney UK operation.


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Ford to Hold Driving Skills for Life Demonstration
The carmaker is promoting this initiative through its nationwide Ford Driving Skills for Life (FDSFL) program. The aforementioned special FDSFL event will take place, in fact, on the eve of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Distracted Driving Summit.
These training methods are designed to help teens recognize and avoid driving distractions such as manually dialing a phone or texting. The initiative comes soon after Ford became the first automaker to endorse a federal ban on manually sending text messages on hand-held devices while driving.
“Adults treat distractions much differently because, with experience, they’ve come to understand that the driving environment can change quickly and dramatically while you’re looking away from the road,” said Jim Graham, community relations manager, Ford Motor Company Fund. “That’s why we believe it’s important to help teach these skills earlier before kids face this in the real world.”
“A growing number of drivers are using hand-held wireless communications and music-playing devices while driving,” said Dr. Louis Tijerina, Ford senior technical specialist. “Research clearly shows that manual operation of those devices that takes the driver’s eyes from the road for extended times creates the kind of distraction that causes accidents.”
“Our studies show that teens, particularly 16- and 17-year-olds, are much more willing to take risks while driving, such as manually dialing on a mobile phone in situations that demand greater attention,” said Jeff Greenberg, senior technical leader, Ford Research & Advanced Engineering.


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Brazil Retail Sales Disappoint as Impeachment Process Advancesby and
Brazil’s retail sales fell more than analysts expected in March, underscoring the economic challenges Vice President Michel Temer will have to face if he takes over the nation’s top job following an impeachment vote later on Wednesday.
Sales contracted 0.9 percent in March after a revised 1.1 percent jump the prior month, the national statistics agency said Wednesday. That was worse than the median estimate from 38 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, who forecast a 0.6 percent fall. Sales plunged 5.7 percent in March versus the same month in 2015.
Consumer confidence plunged in April to its lowest level on record as joblessness rose and the nation was gripped by an impeachment process that has steadily advanced toward toppling President Dilma Rousseff. Shoppers’ sentiment has weighed on retailers’ earnings and further depressed economic activity, with Latin America’s largest nation on track toward a two-year recession that will be the deepest on record.
Swap rates on the contract due January 2018 fell 14 basis point to 12.6 percent in early morning trading.
Sales of food, beverages and tobacco products at hypermarkets and supermarkets fell 1.7 percent in March, after a 0.8 percent increase the prior month. Sales of furniture and appliances fell 1.1 percent after a 6.1 percent leap.
Retailer Via Varejo’s net income in the first quarter was just 3 million reais, down 99 percent from the same three-month period of 2015, the company said Tuesday. Sonae Sierra, another retailer, reported net income fell 3.1 percent year-on-year to 18.7 million reais.
“We believe retailers will have a challenging year ahead, particularly taking into account the effects on the economy of the shaky political situation,” the company said in a statement.
The floor of Brazil’s Senate is scheduled to start voting on Rousseff’s impeachment Wednesday, with only a simple majority required to kick off a trial. It is widely expected Rousseff will be unable to rally the support she requires after more than two thirds of the deputies in the lower house voted in favor of impeachment last month. The trial would last up to 180 days.
Brazil’s economy contracted 3.8 percent in 2015 and will shrink by even more this year, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by the central bank. Family spending fell in every quarter of 2015, with the fourth-quarter drop compared to the same period of 2014 the worst on record.
Broad retail sales, which include cars, car parts, and construction materials, fell 1.1 percent from February, and 7.9 percent versus March last year, according to the statistics institute.


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Credit card transfers high despite crunch
Hundreds of thousands of credit card customers are still trying to transfer their balances every month despite the credit crunch.
Keep on trying: balance transfer customers have been undeterred by the credit crisis
Over 700,000 people try to transfer approximately £1.1bn a month between cards, according to Sainsbury's Finance, despite the fact that a recent study by price comparison website MoneyExpert.com found that 500,000 people have a credit card application rejected every month.
The data suggests people have significant debts tied up in high-interest borrowing, the costs of which they are trying to reduce through 0% deals.
However it seems credit card providers' stricter lending criteria may be scuppering the plans of a significant proportion.
The average balance transfer is around £1,555, but one in ten of those intending to transfer plan to switch over £4,000.
The majority of people are interested in transferring only small amounts, less than £500, although a significant proportion also hope to transfer between £1-2,000, according to the Sainsbury's study, which was based on a survey of 1,000 people.
This is despite the fact that the average interest-free period on the market is approximately nine and a half months.
But there are several good deals on the market that buck this trend: Egg and Virgin Money both other 0% balance transfer deals of 15 months, while Barclaycard Platinum offers 14 months and NatWest and RBS both offer 13 months.
Sainsbury's follows these best deals with a 12-month offer, although it does have an attractive additional 0% APR for 12 months on Sainsbury's purchases and 0% for three months on non-Sainsbury's purchases.
Donald MacLeod, head of cards for Sainsbury's, said: 'There is a significant market for cards offering balance transfers as our research indicates that 40% of card holders think it will take longer than one month to clear their current balance.'
There were also regional differences in credit card customer's interest in moving their debt. Some 15% of people in the South West intend to transfer balances, which is the highest percentage for any part of Britain, compared with 5% in Wales and Scotland, which is the lowest.
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An Australian retailer recently listed South Park: The Fractured But Whole for the Switch.
We see accidental listings like this all the time now and while this doesn’t ALWAYS mean that an announcement is imminent or the game is definitely coming to a platform, it’s usually a pretty decent indicator that news is inbound.
No box artwork was provided for the listing but the release date was listed as March 13 2018 so we shouldn’t have to wait long to find out for definite if the game’s coming to everyone’s favourite new console.
The move would certainly fit with the wider trend of Nintendo pushing for third party games on the console and since the game is published by Ubisoft (who Nintendo trusted enough to give rights access to Mario) there’s a history there. It would also fit with the trend of Nintendo bringing games (such as DOOM) onto its platform that would historically not have been allowed to associate with the games company’s hardware.
That being said, Ubisoft previously commented that they would not be bringing the game to the Switch. When we know anything more about Fractured But Whole coming to Switch we’ll let you know, but in the meantime check our review.


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January 03, 2014, 12:24 PM — Has Linux lost the desktop forever?
I bumped into an interesting column via Reddit today that looks at why Linux failed to take over the desktop.
Even though there was a point back in 1994 in which Linux passed Mac OS to take the number two spot in the client operating system market, Linux didn't hold onto that spot for long. In the long view, Linux didn't win on the desktop, but is that really the end of the story. Other forces came into play that has reduced the influence Microsoft's Windows has in the lives of end users.
As we know, the world has been changing rapidly and this certainly is an important factor to consider. Desktop and Laptop systems are no longer considered the only way to use applications. Smartphone and Tablets are increasingly seen as the platforms for applications customers are using.
Hat Tip: Reddit
I've run into these Negative Ned stories about Linux failing on the desktop before, and they always seem fixated on the market share of Windows. I reject that kind of thinking as it was never necessary for Linux to "beat Windows" on the desktop to be successful.
What Linux needed to do was provide a viable alternative to Windows and other operating systems on the desktop. And it has done that over and over again for years. Any Windows user who wants to dump Microsoft can do so today, and can move to Linux for his or her computing needs. So how we define the success of the Linux desktop really does matter.
Mobile devices are obviously an entirely different matter. Android and iOS completely dominate the mobile landscape while Windows-based mobile products languish in market and mind share. Microsoft lost that battle a long time ago, and the best they can hope for is to carve out some middling bit of market share over the next ten years.
The story also does not take into consideration the growing sales of Chromebooks and how that product has Microsoft spooked in a big way. As I write this, the two bestselling laptops on Amazon are the Acer C720 Chromebook and the Samsung Chromebook.
So it's far too early to say that Linux has permanently lost the desktop to Windows. As more and more people experience Android on mobile devices, Chromebooks, and desktop Linux distributions such as Linux Mint, it will be harder and harder for Microsoft to keep users locked into the world of Windows. Once the Windows-only mindset is broken, users seem to have little or no loyalty to Microsoft.
Could the Chromebook kill Windows?
Speaking of Chromebooks, ZDNet has an article that examines the possibility of Chromebooks killing off Windows eventually.
NPD, a retail market analysis company, reports that sales of Chromebooks exploded from zilch in 2012 to more than 20% of the U.S. PC market in 2013. This helped push overall notebook PC growth up by 28.9%.
Meanwhile, Windows notebooks sales were as flat as a pancake, and Mac sales shrank by 7%. At the same time, overall PC sales declined in 2013 by a record 10.1%.
Why is this happening? There are many reasons. Microsoft's flawed Windows 8.x continues to be as popular as hot chocolate in July. And OEMs are feeling less loyal to Microsoft, which alienated its hardware partners by competing with them with its Surface line of devices.
So much for the invulnerability of Windows on the desktop. The article points out the power of a cloud-based operating system for many users, and Windows is nowhere to be seen.
More Chromebooks on the way in 2014
CNet thinks that we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg in Chromebook offerings.
As Chromebooks gain in popularity, device makers are gearing up for new entries in 2014.
Both Asus and Toshiba will enter the market, according to a report on Friday from Digitimes.
That report is backed by plenty of supporting evidence. The Toshiba Chromebook leaked when a review was posted prematurely. And the Asus Chromebook has been rumored for a while now.
I suspect that there's quite a bit of hand-wringing and quiet sighs of desperation in Redmond these days. As if Android and iOS mobile devices weren't enough of a headache, Microsoft now has to contend with an onslaught of new Chrome OS based laptops that undercut Windows on price and push people to Google's cloud-based services.
2014 is shaping up to be a great year for Linux on the desktop.
What's your take on all this? Tell me in the comments below.


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Atlas Fallen has released to somewhat mixed reviews, and developer Deck13 has acknowledged that in a new update.
“We read and compile your feedback and reports already, and are working on our side to bring improvements to the game,” Deck13 said. “If you encounter any issue with the game, please submit a ticket to our support center.”
They added, “We’ll do our best to help you there, and it will help the team to fix the issue faster for all players. Once again, thank you so much for playing Atlas Fallen. Be sure that the team is working hard on compiling your feedback to release updates quickly!”
Players have complained about Atlas Fallen feeling just a little undercooked when it comes to its combat mechanics, so it’s good to see the developers acting so fast.
Atlas Fallen is now available across Windows PC (via Steam), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.


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Here’s something astonishing.
Supermarkets – those food emporiums where staffers keep a smile while asking “paper or plastic?” 3,000 times a day – deviously mark up their merchandise.
Yes, they buy T-bones for one price and sell them for more. It should make us sizzling mad.
That’s not all. Service stations buy fuel at wholesale prices, then post higher pump prices. It’s unfair, especially at self-service spots where we do all the work and the staff seldom smiles.
The list of business rip offs goes on. The auto industry? Wow. It’s a cabal of about 40 different brands in the U.S. Every one of them builds vehicles for X dollar amount and charges people Y, with Y being greater than X. That’s X-rated.
And then there are auto dealers who sell those cars. You guessed it. They, too, charge more than they paid the factories for what’s on their lots.
It doesn’t stop there. Buckle up for this. Dealers get compensated for arranging and facilitating consumer car loans. About 80% of the time, dealers act as middlemen between vehicle buyers and lenders that finance a purchase averaging about $32,000 these days.
Dealers can help find the best consumer-loan rates, work through credit issues so a customer doesn’t become a loan reject and perform an array of front-end work for the lenders. The latter includes collecting credit-bureau histories, verifying financial information and finally submitting applications to the dealership’s portfolio of lenders to see who offers a loan with the best APR.
Dealers not only expect to get paid for doing all that, they do get paid. But they don’t annually make $26 billion a year from it. Yet, that is what Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) keeps saying as part of a whatever-it-takes campaign to end a long-standing part of dealer-assisted financing.
Consumer advocacy is cool. Not so hot is invoking untruths in the pursuit of truth, justice and the American way.
Sen. Warren in speeches and public appearances decries dealers and campaigns to “keep that $26 billion a year in the pockets of consumers where it belongs.”
She’s wrong in two ways. First, that $26 billion figure is bogus. The Washington Post, a newspaper that’s hardly the mouthpiece of auto dealers, did a step-by-step truth-test analysis telling how that oft-quoted amount came about and how erroneous it is.
The headline: “Warren’s false claim that ‘auto dealer markups cost consumers $26 billion.’”
The figure comes from an extrapolation based on an earlier extrapolation drawn from a narrow and small sample group of subprime borrowers. I took one statistical analysis class in college. Just about the first thing we learned was not to misuse data like that, lest sampling flaws telescope into kooky conclusions.
Yet that’s precisely what was done to get to $26 billion. Now, the bad data is cited during public-policy discussions. And Sen. Warren arguably is the worst offender.
It amazes me that smart people such as Warren, who taught law at Harvard, could say such dumb things, even after Washington’s hometown newspaper and others have set the record straight.
I mentioned my bafflement to an executive of the American Financial Services Assn. “She knows exactly what she is doing,” he said of Sen. Warren. “She’s smart enough to know that what she says resonates with a political base. So she keeps saying it. This is politics, after all.”
Thanks for the reminder.
It’s not just the $26 billion amount that’s way off. So is the base claim that dealers unfairly jack up the cost of a car loan.
Here’s what apparently confuses some people, or else they’re feigning fogginess:
The so-called buy rate is the wholesale financing rate lenders offer to dealers for doing the work tied to processing a consumer loan.
The lender is not offering the buy rate to the consumer, any more than wholesale rates are on price tags at retail establishments. It’s false to say the buy rate is what borrowers would get for car loans had not dealers elbowed their way in.
Dealers typically add a percentage point or two to the buy rate. The average add-on is 0.9%, according to the National Automobile Dealers Assn.
The trade group is quick to add that consumers are free to A) negotiate the rate or B) find a better one on their own. Most people don’t exercise option B because dealers typically offer lower competitive rates, NADA says.
Sen. Warren was the first person to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a creation of the Dodd-Frank Reform Act. The bureau has tried to muscle lenders into abandoning dealer reserve and replacing it with the likes of a flat fee. That effort has fallen flat.
I could argue either side of flat fee vs. dealer reserve. If put to it, presumably so could a trained attorney such as Sen. Warren. But let’s agree on this: Be honest about it.


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By better integrating its Inbox software with calendar apps, Salesforce says it aims to make it easier for sales and marketing professionals to access customer data during meetings and on the go.
While Salesforce isn't shouting from the rooftops about its decision to acquire the "living document" platform provider Quip, it clearly sees big potential in integrating Quip's offerings into its own.
New offerings for multichannel commmunication and marketing-focused email management from Zoho help firms build better relationships with customers who communicate in many ways.
In its continued push to offer more cloud-based services, software giant Oracle is buying NetSuite, calling it the very first cloud company, and saying the plan for the two companies is to "coexist forever."
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As well as potential job losses, it is yet another prominent name leaving the town. A company spokeswoman said the store would close its doors next month.
She said: “Unfortunately, we are unable to continue to trade viably from this location and the decision has been taken to close the store in May when our lease terminates.
"As one of the largest supporters of the UK high street, we are disappointed to be losing our presence in Lanark.
"We would like to thank all our customers for their support and for shopping with us.
"We are also extremely grateful for the commitment of our in store colleagues who we will support with this transition and redeploy to nearby stores, where possible.”
Antonia Pompa, manager of Discover Lanark Business Improvement District, said it was “very disappointing”.
She continued: “First and foremost, we must think of the impact on the members of staff who are an important part of the town’s business community but also on the store’s many loyal customers.
“The loss of any business is a big challenge and the pandemic has been very tough on the High Street’s big names, with many store closures.
"In the short term, encouraging new businesses into the town will not be easy. Over the last 12 months we have faced a series of lockdowns with minimal footfall in the town centre and almost no visitors.
“The staged reopening of businesses is positive news for the town and we need to build footfall back up safely. That means starting with local people who are loyal to the town and its businesses.”
To support this, Discover Lanark will be launching a marketing campaign in early summer. It also plans to build on last year’s successful Space @ Hyndford Place outside seating area and a family themed trail to encourage locals into the town during the school holidays.
Lanark Community Development Trust hopes another tenant can be found for the hole left by WHSmith.
Chairwoman Sylvia Russell added: “We’re very sorry to see another business close its doors.
"WHSmith is a large shop which means another empty property in a prominent place on our High Street.”


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A FINAL push is being made to stop Marks and Spencer deserting a Rhyl's high street.
Over 3,000 signatures have been gathered on a petition in a bid to save the retail giant from leaving Rhyl.
The “community lynchpin” has been the key draw for shoppers in the town for more than 80 years.
M&S bosses are currently considering granting a stay of execution until its new store opens in Prestatyn in 2013. That would mean up to an 18-month period of grace for the shop, currently set to shut next January.
Next week, Vale of Clwyd MP, Chris Ruane will hand over the petition to the store’s chief executive.
Rhyl town councillor Pat Jones who spearheaded the campaign, said: “When I first heard about the threat to the store, I stood outside and managed to get 500 signatures in just a few hours.
“People feel so strongly about keeping M&S in Rhyl, it’s very touching to see how much it means to the town. To lose it would be absolutely devastating and I strongly feel that if it goes, it will be the end of the road for Rhyl because many more shops will follow suit.”
A Save M&S Rhyl Facebook group, set up after the bombshell, has attracted hundreds of members. The page features dozens of photographs of campaigners young and old.
One of them is 11-year-old Jack Arnold, who says: “I really wanted to sign the petition as I love M&S dinners. My gran buys them for me as a treat. She suffers from bad legs and won't be able to get to Prestatyn to buy them for me.”
And 84-year-old Margaret Norgrove said: “Please don't close our M&S. It is the shop that I trust. I won't be able to go to Prestatyn as I'm deaf and blind as well as daft.”
Reams of comments have also been left on the Daily Post Denbighshire Facebook page about the demise of the high street, after family-run store Listers Interiors announced they will be moving from Rhyl to Wrexham, following the sale of their building just two doors down from M&S.
Already, the town has lost big names including Mothercare, Ethel Austin, Woolworths and Top Shop, leaving one-in-five stores empty.


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With Halloween just around the corner, this is the time of year when many people begin to reflect on the scarier things in life. Children and adults alike love to make their worst fears and nightmares come alive by dressing up as monsters, ghosts, vampires, and other spooky creatures for one exciting night.
“Shipping transport” isn’t usually the first phrase that comes to mind when Halloween lovers consider what costumes to buy or how to decorate their houses. When you think about it, have you ever seen someone dressed up as the Bermuda Triangle? We’re going to go ahead and guess, “No.” But to do our part to maintain the holiday spirit, we’ll bring the spookiness to you. From environmental disasters to dilapidated ships to dangerous waters, here is our shipping “Beware of…” list for this Halloween.
Treacherous Trade Routes
1) The North Sea
Located between the British Isles and the Scandinavian countries, the North Sea has long been thought of as one of the world’s more dangerous trade routes. It is also one of the “most intensively sailed areas in the world,” according to the International Business Times, and is home to more than 120,000 ship movements every single year. Because of all the traffic in the region the risk of accidents and environmental disasters is high, and is expected to rise as the global fleet continues to expand. Plus, the seriously cold weather is seriously scary!
2) The South China Sea and East Indies
This area between China and Australia, sometimes called the “Coral Triangle,” currently holds the title of the world’s most dangerous trade route. As a top accident area, there have been nearly 300 shipping accidents there in the past 15 years alone – that’s 20 accidents a year, or approximately one accident every three weeks! Environmentalists are especially nervous about the threat these accidents pose to the wildlife of the region, where over 75% of the world’s coral lives.
3) Japan, Korea, and the Mediterranean
Other accident-prone “hot spots,” as the World Wildlife Fund has dubbed them, include the Japan and Korean Seas, as well as the East Mediterranean and Black Seas. These are all high-traffic areas that attract cargo ships both delivering and removing goods from Eastern Asian countries, as well as the many nations all along the rim of the Mediterranean.
For ship captains and logistics managers, their dreams aren’t haunted by goblins and ghouls, but dangers of a different variety. One of the biggest threats to ocean shipping is the existence of “hot spots,” as we have already discussed, but shippers also need to be on the lookout for vessels over 10 years old. These vessels might be badly maintained or simply operate less efficiently due to their age; either way, they drastically increase the potential for negatively impacts on the marine environment, damage to goods, or even loss of human life. Many of the ships in this category are general cargo vessels, and are responsible for 42% of all vessel types lost at sea.
Coming up in second behind general cargo vessels are fishing vessels. These ships are responsible for nearly a quarter of all accidents in the global fleet. It really makes you reconsider how scary you think fish are!
Poorly performing flag states are another big threat to ship safety, and might as well be on the album cover of the next version of “Monster Mash.” A flag state is simply the country where the ship is registered, and also the country that has the authority and responsibility to enforce regulations on the vessel. Data from the WWF suggests that there are still a number of states that don’t do a very good job of enforcing international regulations or keeping ships up to code. In many cases, these nations are trying to avoid conforming to the latest IMO conventions, but in doing so they drastically increase the risk of shipping accidents worldwide.
Some Frightening Vocabulary
When it comes to ship terminology, there are two words that we in the logistics industry never want to hear: foundering and grounding.
Sinking due to rough weather, leaks, or breaking in two, but not collisions. Foundering causes an incredible 50% of all annual ship losses, and is devastating to shippers because in many cases, all the cargo is lost.
Wrecks and damage caused by a vessel striking the sea bottom, shore, or other underwater wrecks. Grounding is actually the second most common form of ship loss, and also comes with the added consequence of potentially damaging the marine environment – especially in areas like the South China Sea, where coral reefs thrive.
What’s a Poor Shipper to Do?
Now that we’ve sufficiently scared you, there is some good news! Some of it, unfortunately, is out of our hands. For example, the WWF recommends that the shipping industry needs to enact stronger regulations and put more pressure on poorly performing flag states. While LILLY + Associates may not have regulation power, we can protect our individual customers. This is why it is so important to have cargo insurance! By financially securing your shipments against damage, loss, and other accidents, we can help put your shipping nightmares to bed.
We’ll also point out that the WWF has criticized some businesses’ attempts to benefit economically by reducing the size of their shipping crews, employing fewer officers, rushing through the ports, or skimping on safety precautions. LILLY is one company that, while we understand the importance of expedited shipping and affordable rates, won’t cut corners. We are of the opinion that you should spend your Halloween thinking about the fun spooky stuff, like zombies and werewolves, not the very real threats that could tank your business!
Have an exciting – and safe – Halloween!