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Americans now say they approve of free trade by 64%-27%, a margin of better than two to one. That's up from 57%-37% early in Trump's presidency, and 51%-41% near the end of...Politicsread more
Kudlow pointed to strong retail sales and low unemployment as signs that the U.S. economy remained strong.Marketsread more
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Disney wants to own a bigger piece of the streaming pie.
The company announced during its latest earnings report on Tuesday it intends to remove its movies from Netflix.
Instead, Disney plans to launch a branded direct-to-consumer streaming service in 2019 starting in the U.S. and expanding globally.
CEO Bob Iger told CNBC's Julia Boorstin Disney had a "good relationship" with Netflix, but decided to exercise an option to move its content off the platform. Movies to be removed include Disney as well as Pixar's titles, according to Iger. Netflix said Disney movies will be available through the end of 2018 on its platform. Marvel TV shows will remain.
The new platform will be the home for all Disney movies going forward, starting with the 2019 theatrical slate which includes "Toy Story 4," "Frozen 2," and the upcoming live-action "The Lion King." It will also be making a "significant investment" in exclusive movies and television series for the new platform.
The company will also launch its own ESPN video streaming service in early 2018. The platform, which will feature about 10,000 sporting events each year, will have content from the MLB, NHL, MLS, collegiate sports and tennis' Grand Slam events.
To power the services, Disney is buying a majority ownership of BAM Tech for $1.58 billion. Disney bought a 33 percent stake in the company, which was spun off from digital media company MLB Advanced Media, in August 2016.
"This represents a big strategic shift for the company," Iger said to CNBC. "We felt that having control of a platform we've been very impressed with after buying 33 percent of it a year ago would give us control of our destiny."
Netflix stock dropped more than 5 percent upon announcement of the news.


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The great feeding frenzy in pharma is slowly coming to an end. Drug opportunities for products going off-patent are expected to start sliding over the next few years. While Indian generic firms are angling to take the maximum share of the $29-billion pie in CY12, this is likely to dramatically plunge to $2 billion for CY2017, hence its moniker, The Patent Cliff. Given this scenario, Indian companies are putting in place strategies to counter the lack of exclusive opportunities.
Says Subrata Ray, senior vice-president and co-head (corporate sector ratings), ICRA: “To combat the impact of expected moderation in opportunities in the US, some of the leading Indian companies are focusing on limited competition products and plan to enter more complex segments like injectables, inhalers, dermatology, anti-asthma and even biosimilars.” One of the key areas of focus has been niche opportunities which include dermatology, oncology, ophthalmology and oral contraceptives.
Says Hitesh Mahida of Fortune Research, “The focus of companies should be on limited competition products as entry barriers (in terms of trials, manufacturing and approvals) are more stringent than normal generics. Given the high risk, high return nature of investments, not many pharma companies foray into niche, complicated products.”
|Niche segment||Market size ($ bn)||Leading Indian players|
|Dermatology||2.0||Sun Pharma, Glenmark, Ranbaxy, Lupin|
|Oral contraceptives||3.0||Lupin, Glenmark, Sun Pharma|
|Opthalmics||4.5||Lupin, Sun Pharma Wockhardt|
|Oncology||—||Sun Pharma, Strides|
|Controlled substances||—||Cadilla, Glenmark, Ranbaxy, Sun Pharma|
|Source: Fortune Research|
Among Indian companies, Glenmark Pharma says that it has a multi-pronged strategy focused on drug discovery, branded generics, and pure generics. Being a relatively late entrant (among Indian players) in the US (pure generics) market, the company stayed away from multi-billion dollar generics opportunities which are marked by intense competition and eroding margins.
Says the company’s CMD Glenn Saldanha, “We followed a strategy to capture niche and limited competition segments like dermatology, hormones (oral contraceptives) and oncology. Similarly, our strategy for Para IVs has been to focus on niche para IVs where we will be the sole first-to-file player. The strategy has been successful and we have been able to build a substantial scale for our US business (revenues of $250 million in FY12) in a relatively short span of time”.
Lupin and Sun Pharma, too, are looking at niche therapies such as oral contraceptives, to expand their base in the US. Lupin plans to launch around 10 oral contraceptives in FY13 and expects revenues to touch $100-125 million from the same.
Cadila has started filing for low-competition products with delivery system advantages. These include transdermal patches, nasal injectables and respiratory products and are focusing on developing a pipeline in these areas.
The second area which holds promise is that of biosimilars, but how much of this opportunity can Indian pharma companies capture is not certain, given the challenges.
Deepak Malik at Emkay Global believes that Indian companies will have to look at niche product segments, drug delivery systems and biosimilars to drive growth as the generic launch opportunities decline. He, however, feels that developing biosimilars will be challenging for Indian companies. Anubhav Aggarwal at Credit Suisse, too, observes that developing biosimilars requires high investments and is a time-consuming process. One can expect players to share investments, as was the case with the recently concluded Dr Reddy’s-Merck deal.
Though Dr Reddy’s has some limited competition products in the US, it is betting big on biosimilars with major investments and could reap benefits of the same over the next few years.
Biocon has also bet heavily on development of biosimilars. Wockhardt, however, has been one of the few players to have tasted success after developing insulin.
The focus on niche products is a part of the multi-pronged strategy adopted by Indian companies, who have also acquired facilities, brands and companies to boost growth. While Lupin has reaped benefits by launching products going off-patent, its growth in the US market has also been driven by the acquired brands like Suprax, that continue to contribute around 30 per cent to its US sales. Ramesh Swaminathan, president (finance and planning) says that they have a good pipeline of generics to be launched over next four-five years.
Companies such as Dr Reddy’s, Sun and Cadila have acquired companies/facilities in the US in FY12 to improve their position in that market. While Cadila’s acquisition of Nesher Pharma will improve its presence in the controlled-release drugs segment, Dr Reddy’s acquisition of GSK’s penicillin manufacturing facility will improve its presence in the anti-bacterial segment. Sun Pharma has made an acquisition of manufacturing assets for controlled substances in Cranbury, New Jersey, some time back.
The efforts of Indian pharma majors in the US market have helped improve share of key companies in the US generics prescription market with Lupin coming in at fifth, while Dr Reddy’s at the 10th position.

domain: news


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The economy's robust and improving pace of expansion further strengthens the argument for a third Fed Funds rate increase in January. Jerome Powell, President Trump's nominee to replace current Chair Janet Yellen said recently that the case for a rate increase next month was comng together.
Ms Yellen told Congress on Wednesday that "the economic expansion is increasingly broad-based across sectors," and that she expected that "the economy will continue to expand."
It is possible that the third quarter pace exagerates the overall stability of the expansion as the build in inventories, goods manufactured but not sold, contributed 0.8 percent to growth, revised from 0.73 percent. Absent this inventory addition the economy expanded at a 2.5 percent annual rate.
But it is also possible that businesses have judged the economic conditions correctly and the strong job market, healthy home prices and booming equities will provide consumerss with the rationale for inceasing spending and purchasing that inventory.


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Hearthstone fans finished with Curse of Naxxramas and anxious for a new single-player adventure don't have much longer to wait, as Blizzard has revealed that the Blackrock Mountain adventure add-on will be released on April 2.
A German basketball game was delayed for 25 minutes because the Windows laptop powering the scoreboard started installing updates. In the German Professional Basketball League, that's 10 minutes over the maximum delay time.
Until now, booking a private jet has been an archaic nightmare that resisted change due to one simple fact: Anyone with the cash to book one was too busy to care. But Victor CEO Clive James knew there had to be a better way.
You've probably heard of fighting fire with water, and even fighting fire with fire -- but what about fighting fire with sound? It might seem like the stuff of science fiction, but a pair of enterprising students from George Mason University have built a…
Automotive entrepreneur Henrik Fisker’s Thunderbolt Prototype car has come under fire from Aston Martin who claim it infringes on its patents. Aston views the custom car as an unauthorized copy, and has filed a federal complaint to stop its production.
The Walking Dead spin-off series, set to debut on AMC this summer and set in Los Angeles, has been given the official title Fear the Walking Dead. The show will exist in the same continuity, set slightly earlier than the original.


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Statistically, the cannabis industry is experiencing some of the highest growth in the world right now. Legislative efforts across the country have ...
BOULDER — An online cannabis marketplace that launched in California is expanding to Colorado to cover the Denver and Boulder markets.
Cannabis consumption at the workplace is not a bright idea. This, after all, is a recreational drug with known psychoactive effects. A study carried out in 2011 revealed that nearly 10 million workers in the U.S had abused drugs or alcohol in the preceding 12 months. Marijuana affects performance at the workplace; these effects vary […]
The legal cannabis industry in America is growing at a rapid pace. It is, in fact, the fastest growing industry in the United States. It is a growing industry and it needs manpower. If you are looking for a job in this sector then this is the right time. While researching about the field will […]
The demand for weed seems to be growing exponentially by the day. A report that has appeared in Marijuana Business Daily has stated that the demand for marijuana in America is to the tune of up to $50 billion. This is ten times more than the demand for ice cream in the U.S. The ice […]
If you’re planning to grow weed indoors, then you need to take the right steps and get things right the first time. This will save you time and money. A business planning to sell cannabis needs to operate efficiently. If you can incorporate economies of scale into the mix, then great but even otherwise you […]
Last-minute bargain hunters win the day at dispensaries on the cannabis holiday 420. A new report from the marijuana market data company Headset found that cannabis consumers like to do their 420 shopping when the festivities begin and not in advance. Then they get caught up in the fun and throw lots of new products […]
Jett Lucas, son of George “Star Wars” Lucas, and Jeff Krelitz, CEO of Heavy Metal Magazine, have joined forces to launch a publication in the “Windy City” that will offer edutainment on all things related to cannabis. The name of the magazine is, as yet, under wraps but will be revealed in due course of […]
If you have considered weed as a natural perfumery ingredient and wondered why all the delectable and beautiful scent profiles haven’t yet been captured in a perfume bottle, then you’re not alone. The good news is that you can now actually purchase perfumes created using marijuana. Xyrena, a cosmetics company that operates out of L.A […]


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Australian Game Developer Awards 2020 Winners Announced--Moving Out Takes Top Prize
Co-op house moving game Moving Out and Armello studio League of Geeks took home the biggest awards of the night--here's the full list.
The Australian Game Developer Awards 2020 winners have been announced, with multiple different games and people winning across the 15 categories. The awards, which are handed out at the end of the Games Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP) conference every year, happened as a virtual ceremony for 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Game of the Year award for 2020 went to Moving Out from SMG Studio, an Overcooked-style co-op game about working for a moving company. The game has been praised for its focus on inclusivity and diversity, and studio Ash Ringrose provided a statement celebrating the team's win. "Aussie game developers have been creating amazing games of all shapes and sizes over the years," he said. "We are happy to contribute to that fantastic output and are proud of the enjoyment Moving Out has bought to people all over the world."
The Studio of the Year award went to League of Geeks, which launched Armello in 2015 and has since released numerous updates for the game. The studio, which has been growing and working on a new (currently unannounced) project, also released a statement through studio director and co-founder Ty Carey. "It’s such an honour for League of Geeks to be awarded Australian game studio of the year and for the team to be celebrated for their amazing work," Carey said. "We pride ourselves on our studio culture and the entertainment we create. LoG gives back to the industry and assists wherever we can, and we are thrilled to receive this recognition."
League of Geeks recently signed with Private Division, Take-Two's indie label, to publish their next game. It's been described as an "ambitious new IP."
The Adam Lancman Award, recognizing industry excellent, went to Queensland University of Technology's Dr. Jane "Truna" Turner, while the Game Connect Award, given to "an individual within the industry who has forged a path for others," went to Mighty Kingdom's Ella Macintyre. Mighty Kingdom received the Studio of the Year award in 2020.
The full list of winners is below.
Australian Game Developer Awards 2020 Winners
Studio of the Year
- League of Geeks
Game of the Year
- Moving Out (SMG Studio)
- Necrobarista (Route 59)
- Boomerang Fu (Cranky Watermelon)
- UNDER A STAR CALLED SUN (Cécile Richard)
- Audioplay: Alien Strike (Audioplay)
- RITE (Pond Games)
- Shooty Skies Overdrive (Mighty Games Group)
Best Serious Game
- Kana Quest (Not Dead Design)
Best Mobile Game
- Crossy Road Castle (Hipster Whale)
Best Ongoing Game (Game as a Service)
- World of Tanks (Wargaming Sydney)
Best Emerging Game
- RITE (Pond Games)
Rising Star Winner
- Meredith Hall
- Jarrod Farquhar-Nicol
Game Connect Winner
- Ella Macintyre
Adam Lancman Winner
- Jane Turner
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.


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Discover why Corinth Pipeworks placed its largest ever order to ArcelorMittal. Read more
by Anne-Laure Hettinger, Head of Sustainability,
ArcelorMittal Global Research & Development (Global R&D)
One of the key lessons from the first tests of the SI tool is that lightweighting is a direct way to reduce the environmental footprint of steel products at all stages of their lifecycle. The latest lightweighting project to be realised by ArcelorMittal is the introduction of two new packaging steel grades for three-piece aerosol cans.
By using these steels for all three parts of the aerosol, canmakers can achieve weight savings of up to 17 percent compared to existing solutions. The steels have very high strengths, allowing the downgauging of can components and reducing material use. Emissions from transportation are also lowered due to the lighter weight of the aerosol.
New aerosol grades introduced by ArcelorMittal cut the weight of three-piece aerosol cans significantly
Case study on 210 ml (brimful) / diameter 52 mm
Minimising material use impact is a key goal of the European Union’s Circular Economy Package which aims to make the region’s economy more sustainable. The Package also sets new recycling targets for common packaging materials and includes provisions to create closed material loops which save resources such as materials and energy and reduce carbon emissions. While the targets are challenging for some materials, steel for packaging is already achieving many, making it the model material for a sustainable economy.
Steel packaging meets circular economy goals to reduce material and energy use, and emissions
Recent figures released by APEAL, the European association representing producers of steel for packaging, show that the recycling rate for steel packaging has reached a new high of 79.5 percent in 2016 – the latest year for which full statistical data is available. This is just below the 80 percent recycling target the EU requires steel to achieve by 2030.
Recycling steel for packaging reduces the energy required to produce new steel by 70 percent and saves twice its weight in raw materials. Each item of recycled steel packaging saves over one-and-a-half times its weight in carbon dioxide.
“While there is still more work to be done, it’s clear that steel for packaging is already a model material for the circular economy. And although it is one of the oldest packaging materials, further cooperation and innovation will ensure steel is the packaging material that will meet the challenges of the 21st century”, concludes
Anne-Laure Hettinger, Head of Sustainability, ArcelorMittal Global R&D.


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The Hong Kong department of SEBA Financial institution has acquired an in-principle approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Fee (SFC) to supply digital asset buying and selling providers within the jurisdiction, the Swiss crypto-focused lender announced on Wednesday.
See associated article: Hong Kong to open crypto to retail traders, plans guardrails
- The SFC’s approval — when totally granted — will enable SEBA Hong Kong to supply regulated crypto providers together with over-the-counter derivatives, recommendation, and account administration.
- “SEBA Hong Kong commends the instance Hong Kong units for regulatory requirements worldwide, and values the function of this licence in increasing our regulated footprint throughout Asia Pacific,” Amy Yu, the Asia-Pacific Chief Government Officer of SEBA Hong Kong, stated within the Wednesday announcement.
- The in-principle approval granted to SEBA Hong Kong marks one other crypto milestone for the jurisdiction. In June, a brand new crypto licensing regime set out a regulatory framework for exchanges and commenced granting licences for retail buying and selling providers.
- SEBA Financial institution has a longstanding curiosity in Hong Kong. The Financial institution established its workplace there in November 2022 as a part of its Asia-Pacific growth efforts.
- Previous to SEBA Financial institution, native crypto exchanges HashKey and OSL received their very own licence upgrades from the SFC in early August. These upgrades made them the primary crypto exchanges permitted for retail providers in Hong Kong.
- Weeks after receiving the upgraded licence, HashKey launched its retail providers on Monday. The platform at present solely permits buying and selling of Bitcoin, Ether and the USDT stablecoin, though HashKey said it plans to introduce extra tokens relying on future laws.
See associated article: Global shifts in crypto capital are underway. Here’s where the money is going


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Intel has finally spoken publicly about the Metaverse, the latest push from Meta (previously known as Facebook) toward a digitally-interconnected world. As the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, Intel is a natural player in this science-fiction-meets-reality story.
Its technological solutions, whether local (on your PC) or distributed. Are the backbone of computing (in the cloud). Intel, on the other hand, appears to believe that its biggest efforts in enabling and supporting the idea for a future Metaverse area will not come from the hardware domain. Instead, Intel is concentrating on software’s elegant hell.
Intel has taken giant’s steps since the introduction of the semiconductor
This is the main gist of the situation. Since the development of the transistor, Intel has made huge strides in improving available processing performance.
These advancements result in improved chip performance. As well as simultaneous advancements in cloud infrastructure that can now broadcast interactive experiences to a low-power, local device. However, these devices are increasingly capable of driving their own experiences.
The CPUs in our mobile phones are now more powerful
Our phones’ CPUs are now more powerful than those found in the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. Additionally GPUs are following suit.
Raja Koduri, the chairman of Intel’s accelerated computing systems and graphics department, told Quartz in an interview that “[Personal computers] are improving; the phone is incredible these days; you have a two-teraflop GPU in the phone… Then there’s the cloud.
There has been significant progress, but it is insufficient.” While it may appear impracticable at this time, businesses are attempting to bring enough graphics horsepower to phones to facilitate ray tracing — and it will happen eventually.
The majority of these gadgets, as well as those with inbuilt processing power, are left idle. The question then becomes. Imagine a network architecture that made it possible to pool available computing resource. Regardless of manufacturer, and used to achieve a common purpose in a smooth and transparent manner? Koduri appears to believe that this is a necessary component for a full Metaverse experience.
We have always known that the computing infrastructure required for Snow Crash is inadequate. As we imagined in Ready Player One, the experiences we would deliver would be a thousand times better than what we now have.”
Intel is currently developing such a software solution
Intel is currently developing a software solution that will pool computing resources according to demand.
Of course, resource pooling across networks — even across enormous swaths of physical distance between your home and Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud render farms, for example — necessitates the coordination of a number of components.
Consider turning on your laptop in your bedroom, starting a game, and your system turning on other devices on your network, such as gaming consoles or a PC with one of the greatest graphics cards.
“The computation required to produce a photorealistic image of me or your surroundings must continue regardless of location,” Raja Koduri said. “That implies that your PCs, phones, edge networks, compute-enabled cell stations, and cloud computing all need to be working together like a symphony to create that type of gorgeous metaverse. It will take some time.”
It’s unclear how much time will pass, but Intel is already working on a solution. While software will surely play a significant role, don’t discount the importance of hardware. Regardless of how optimistic Meta and Intel appear to be, I have a feeling we won’t be able to join the Metaverse on current-generation smartphones and PCs.
Meta Reportedly Defeats FTC to Receive Court Approval to Acquire Within
Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, has reportedly won court approval for the acquisition of VR fitness app Supernatural’s maker, Within, after the Federal Trade Commission attempted to block the deal.
A US district judge, Edward Davila in San Jose California, “denied the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction to block the proposed transaction” in a sealed decision on Wednesday, reported Bloomberg, citing a source familiar with the ruling.
Meta’s plan was to acquire Within and Supernatural back in October 2021, but it was blocked by the FTC’s complaint file to stop the deal. The FTC’s complaint was justified by saying Meta already owns a “virtual reality empire.”
Following the news, shares of Meta were slightly positive on Wednesday afternoon.
Facebook and The FTC also declined to comment with Bloomberg’s query citing the sealed nature of Davila’s decisions.
Push for Metaverse
The reported victory in this case may boost Mark Zuckerberg’s push towards the Metaverse. Zuckerberg’s Meta Quest 2 is arguably the best VR headset, even after a massive hike in its price last year.
Meta Quest Pro for $1500 and Meta Quest 3 are also in the company’s VR line-up, which has already developed VR spaces for work and play.
The Supernatural, developed by Within, was one of the first subscription-based services on the original Meta Quest.
Supernatural, a fitness app that features video instructors and motion-tracked workout routines, carries similarities to Meta’s successful fitness VR music game Beat Saber. Beat Saber was also acquired by Meta in 2019.
A trial before the FTC’s administrative judge will start on Feb. 13. The FTC will also decide if it will continue with the case. Lina Khan, the chair of the FTC, was appointed by US President Joe Biden to bolster antitrust enforcement as a key principle of his administration’s economic policy. Hence, if this order stands, this loss to Meta will be a significant setback for Khan.
The FTC sued Meta back in July, arguing this acquisition would expand its dominance in the consumer VR market, highlighting its purchase of Beat Saber three years ago. The agency even emphasized that the addition of Within would even eliminate a “beneficial rivalry” between the two companies.
At the time, “the case was) based on ideology and speculation, not evidence, the idea that this acquisition would lead to anticompetitive outcomes in a dynamic space with as much entry and growth as online and connected fitness is simply not credible,” said a Meta spokesperson in a statement.
It’s still to be decided whether this will be the end of this story or not, as the FTC has declined to comment.
“Out of respect for the court’s orders, the FTC is not in a position to comment at this time,” FTC director of public affairs Douglas Farrar told The Verge.
Within would be the third start-up acquired by social media giants over the last decade if this case ends here and Meta purchases one more VR start-up. Previously, Meta acquired Oculus in 2014 before purchasing Beat Saber in 2019.
How AI Can Accelerate Metaverse Development
Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to accelerate the creation and development of the metaverse, with multiple companies including Nvidia, Google, and OpenAI creating AI-powered 3D tools.
The public is already familiar with chatbots and AI-image generators, both of which can be leveraged to speed up development cycles for the metaverse. Text-to-3D generators, among other type of 3D generators, accelerate that process still further, and empower enthusiasts to channel their creative urges in new arenas.
The filling the metaverse problem
In the earliest days of the internet most users passively consumed the world wide web as they surfed from site to site. The emergence of social media empowered users to share their own content, and the internet experienced a cambrian explosion of information.
Filling the metaverse means learning the lessons of the early internet all over again argues Rev Lebaredian, VP for omniverse and simulation technology at Nvidia. This time, however, ordinary people will need greater levels of assistance to create the content.
“We’re able to fill the internet with interesting stuff because everybody is capable of taking a picture, recording a video, or writing words,” said Lebaredian on January 27. “If we are going to create a 3D internet, then you absolutely have to have the people who are participating in it creating content as well, and the only hope we have of making that happen is if AI can help us.”
Nvidia holds the belief that AI and the metaverse are intrinsically linked, and that both rely heavily upon each other.
“Just as AI is crucial to the expansion of the metaverse, so too is the metaverse to the expansion of AI,” explains Gavriel State, director of the system software team at NVIDIA.
“Digital twins in the metaverse are providing physically accurate virtual environments that allow developers to simulate and test AI,” says State before concluding, “Generative AI is key to scaling these digital twins and virtual environments that will usher in a new era of AI and the metaverse.”
The here and now
Sean Ellul, co-founder of the 3D development studio Metaverse Architects, is a big believer in transformative potential of AI-generated content.
In a recent interview with TIME Ellul revealed how his own firm has incorporated ChatGPT into a multitude of everyday tasks including brainstorming creative ideas, writing code and composing texts for decks and emails.
“I can’t stress how helpful this has been to us,” says Ellul who has gone all-in on AI, using it as regularly as most internet users use Google.
Ellul also takes the process one step further by prompting MidJourney to create floor plans for buildings which he can then use a template for 3D models. It’s a process which would undoubtedly be a little too complex for the average person, but it’s a powerful time-saving technique for Ellul and his team.
Case in point, the following floor plan was created from the Ellul prompt: “create a floor plan sketch with measurements and dimensions of a house plan built on one floor including two bedrooms three bathrooms kitchen and living and a garden. Include furnishing.”
Ellul also uses MidJourney to help him create virtual non-player characters (NPCs). In one example Ellul used 9 different female faces to create a composite image with MidJourney. The resulting image produced a fresh-faced nordic female with blonde hair.
Ellul then returns to ChatGPT to find out who this young woman is. Ellul prompts ChatGPT to “generate a backstory for a 24-year-old woman from a tiny village in a fantasy setting who works at an inn.”
ChatGPT suggests that the woman is named Elspeth, and that she, “worked as a farmhand, a blacksmith’s apprentice, and even as a barmaid in a bustling city town. But no matter where she went, she always felt like something was missing.”
Tools to make it happen
The challenge for AI is to transform a character such as Elspeth from a 2D image and chatbot-inspired biography into a fully realized character in three dimensions
The field is not short of competitors who are creating tools to make that dream reality.
In November Nvidia announced Magic3D, a high-resolution text-to-3D image generator. According to Nvidia the tool is capable of transforming a text prompt into a fully-realized 3D model in 40 minutes.
At the moment there remain limits to what these tools can accomplish on their own with significant human intervention and expertise in the fields of 3D modeling. The question, therefore, is how long until that is no longer true.
According to Nvidia’s Lebaredian a future in which every person can create their own virtual worlds with the help of AI assistants is not too far away.
“I would say ten years from now, I’m fairly certain that most people are going to be able to create high quality 3D content just by talking to the computer,” says Lebaredian. “And I’m bullish that it’s going to happen much earlier.”
Hiroshima Adopts Metaverse in Education
The use of the metaverse is continuously increasing in different sectors, and now it has become a part of university classes in the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The universities of Hiroshima are using this technology as extracurricular activities and part of the classes as well, Japan Times reported.
Also read: Jobs In The Metaverse, Now and Tomorrow
The metaverse allows its users to create avatars to represent themselves while communicating with people from all around the world. Metaverse makes the user feel as if they are talking by looking into each other’s eyes, unlike Zoom and Teams.
Hiroshima universities use the metaverse for classes and extracurricular activities. By creating avatars, students can communicate and socialize with others from far away. #Metaverses
— Sanjar (@sanjar_mohamed) January 30, 2023
Solving Absence Problem
Having such unique features, it has also become the solution for students who are absent from school but still want to attend classes.
“I was feeling distressed and depressed as I only had the chance to speak with my family during my absence from school,” said Noa, a 16-year-old first-year high school student from Hiroshima.
But the time has changed, she was able to participate in a program even while being absent from school through the use of a virtual setup.
— Q.E.D (@wizcap) January 30, 2023
“I could spend quality time while feeling relaxed,” she said after taking part in a program held last fall in a metaverse to support absentees from school.
Three people attended that program organized by a local group to make up for absent students.
Noa entered the metaverse as a female avatar with cat ears and travelled with other attendees to hear high school students share their experiences of being absent from school.
The virtual world, also offers a solution for those who hesitate to speak up in reality. It provides a platform where individuals can communicate without psychological barriers, as they feel more comfortable with others in the virtual world.
“Students who were silent at first could make a presentation on a (virtual) stage in the end,” said Kenichi Okamura, 23, head of the group that organized the program. “I really felt the potential of the metaverse.”
The Hiroshima Prefecture board of education has partnered with the non-profit organization Katariba in Tokyo to offer metaverse-related activities as a learning option for students, per Japan Times.
University Classes in Metaverse
Not, just the bridge for the school absentees, metaverse has also became the topic of university classes in Japan.
“By looking ahead with neofuturistic perspectives, I wanted to try and see how the classes can be expanded,” said Hiroaki Kanoe, a professor of science education at Hijiyama University in Hiroshima, who taught parts of some classes in the metaverse last year.
Kanoe asked third-year students about how the metaverse can be utilized in education during his virtual seminar with them.
The potential of #Metaverse in education is limitless!
Imagine immersive experiences, interactive lessons & boundless opportunities for students.
— Vladimir Radu-Radulescu (@VladimirRadu_R) January 30, 2023
Kanoe was intrigued when his student became deeply involved in the discussion surrounding the use of metaverse in education. They even proposed having a virtual environment open during summer holidays, which could potentially reduce absenteeism.
“Compared with online classes, you can feel the presence of others as if you are in a classroom,” said Soko Hamaen, 21, a third-year student who attended a class in metaverse.
“I hope to explore the uses of the metaverse while making clear the purpose of what to do with the technology, instead of jumping at it only because it is new,” said Kanoe.
With the value of the industry estimated to be worth $13 trillion by 2030, the metaverse is being expanded into different areas of livelihood.
Elon Musk Takes His Transparency Wars to ‘Unwanted’ WEF World Government
AI and Big Data Tokens Are Exploding with Fetch.ai (FET) Soaring More than 200%
Robot Lawyer Stunt Cancelled After Human Lawyers Objected
AI Could Kill Everyone, Researchers Warn MPs
Gmail Creator Says AI Will Replace Search Engines Like Google in 2 Years
30% of College Students Use ChatGPT
Medium to Allow AI-Generated Articles
AISat 4 Feb 2023 08:10 GMT
Microsoft Warns Employees Not to Share Sensitive Data with ChatGPT
BusinessFri 3 Feb 2023 20:30 GMT
China Catches Up On Quantum Computers, Makes 1st Delivery
FeaturedFri 3 Feb 2023 17:30 GMT
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FeaturedFri 3 Feb 2023 14:45 GMT
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BusinessFri 3 Feb 2023 10:55 GMT
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AIFri 3 Feb 2023 08:32 GMT
Gmail Creator Says AI Will Replace Search Engines Like Google in 2 Years
AIThu 2 Feb 2023 16:20 GMT
OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Plus for $20 a Month
AIThu 2 Feb 2023 10:05 GMT
‘AI Will Affect White Collar Jobs too’


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Snooping search giant Google has come up trumps in a survey of "The World's Most Attractive Employers 2010".
In a survey of 130,000 career seekers, with a business or engineering background Universum found Google still managed to keep the number one position, but warned that it faced growing competition from four auditing firms, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Deloitte.
Universum said that this was because 2010 had been a good year for the auditing industry.
"We're witnessing the auditing firms and FMCG companies reconquering their talent group after a brief love-affair with the IT industry," said Michal Kalinowski, Universum's CEO.
In the engineering category IT-sector companies are also doing well as the most attractive places to work with Google, Microsoft, and IBM-maintaining top positions from last year.
The company said the notable changes were Sony at number four andApple also came in as a new entry. We didn't see any Foxconn entry.
German car manufacturer BMW is still the most powerful employer brand in the automotive industry, while in the top 10, where American corporations dominate, praise must also be given to Siemens for its 8th position.
Companies in the Banking and Investment industry, Management Consulting, and Oil and Gas, now encounter the problem of being perceived as less attractive employers.


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NEW YORK CITY -- The first cruise to sail from a U.S. port in more than a year is set to depart June 26.
The luxury ship Celebrity Edge will depart Fort Lauderdale with the first and only American female captain, Kate McCue, at the helm.
The 7-night Caribbean cruise was given the green light by the CDC after meeting updated health standards for guests and crew.
The ship Celebrity Edge is owned by Celebrity Cruises, part of the Royal Caribbean Group.
Nine of the 15 ships in the Celebrity Cruises fleet are expected to return to sailing this year.
Earlier this week, Royal Caribbean received CDC approval to run test cruises.
The approval is a significant step forward for the cruise industry, which has not been able to operate in the U.S. - its most lucrative market - since March 2020 after virus outbreaks and deaths on several ships.
Back in March, Royal Caribbean announced its first "fully vaccinated" cruises would depart Israel and sail to the Greek Islands starting this month.


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The GST Council has almost agreed to increase the revenue threshold for availing the benefit of the composition scheme to Rs 1 crore from the present Rs 75 lakh, Uttarakhand Finance Minister Prakash Pant, said today on the sidelines of a crucial review meeting, ahead of a formal briefing. The council is almost in agreement on increasing the limit under the composition scheme to Rs 1 crore from Rs 75 lakh, as all the states have said the same, Prakash Pant told reporters outside the meeting venue in Hindi, adding that the final decision on it will be taken today itself.
This will bring big relief to many more small businesses, who will have the convenience of paying a flat rate of 1%, 2% or 5%, and avoid a lot of paperwork. Albeit, this might also come as a disappointment to many, as it was being widely speculated that the limit would be raised to Rs 1.5 crore in today’s meeting.
As the 22nd meeting of the GST Council is underway in New Delhi today. The meeting is third since the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax in July this year. The council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, is likely to provide wide ranging relief to consumers and business owners alike by taking measures to simplify processes, reduce compliance burden and recalibrate tax rates.
The council is expected to heed the call by small businesses to lower the compliance burden by allowing them to file returns only once in a quarter instead of once every month as is required at present. Further, for exporters reeling under tight liquidity conditions due to tax refund claims aggregating to Rs 65,000 crore stuck with the government, the GST Council may take immediate steps to speed up the refunds or relax the working capital requirements, in addition to introducing e-wallet facility as well.
In other measures to further simplify the compliance requirements, the GST Council may also approve suspension of reverse charge till March 31, CNBC TV18 reported earlier today citing unidentified sources. Reverse charge mechanism shifts the liability to pay the tax on the buyer rather than the seller. Under this mechanism, large companies are required to deduct taxes while sourcing goods from MSMEs to pay to government. But MSMEs tend to lose out on business since the large companies do not want to buy from them to avoid additional compliance burden.


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FDA savages Chinese API maker in warning letter
The FDA has savaged a Chinese API maker in a warning letter for a long list of violations, including hiding questionable products, lying to inspectors about products made at the Beijing plant and systemic data manipulation.
The warning letter issued Oct. 19 to Beijing Taiyang Pharmaceutical, and posted today, gives the company an action plan for comprehensive improvements that the FDA says will be required of it before it can free itself of an FDA ban imposed on the plant last spring.
The warning letter indicates the inspection last year started out badly and got worse. The letter says that when FDA inspectors first visited the plant in November 2015, they could see through a window of a warehouse numerous drums bearing the company’s label. But employees refused to let inspectors in that day and didn’t have a “reasonable explanation” for why. When inspectors returned the next day, many of the drums had been removed, but the company had no explanation of why they were gone.
The company also was slammed for “systemic data manipulation” at the facility. Employees repeated batch tests until getting acceptable results and deleted from computers those results that didn’t measure up. They didn’t investigate out-of-spec data the the company and the company then “relied on these falsified and manipulated test results to support batch release and stability data,” the letter says.
Plant officials also said the company had discontinued manufacturing a certain API in September 2015, but then inspectors found batch data in November about that API. There was missing and backdated data for at least 40 batches, the FDA said.
This is just the latest in what has become a steady stream of Chinese drugmakers to be issued warning letters after the FDA upped is presence in China. Last month it issued a warning letter to Yangzhou Hengyuan Daily Chemical Plastic in Yangzhou for many of the same problems. China accounts for half global API market and saw its exports of pharma products to the U.S. market increase 4% last year despite ongoing manufacturing problems.
by Eric Palmer | Nov 1, 2016


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One of the oldest Instant Messaging service ICQ Mobile will finally make a debut on the Microsoft's Windows Phone platform.
One of the decade old instant messengers - ICQ (I Seek You) will soon arrive for the Windows Phone 7 mobile platform finally. The Russian Mail.ru Group has finally announced that the ICQ Mobile for WP7.x based devices will soon be made available from the Windows Marketplace. The ICQ Mobile client is already available for iOS, Android, Symbian, BlackBerry, Java and even through mobile web-app platforms.
The ICQ messaging services allows users to send offline messages, SMS, group chats, resumeable file transfer, greetings, multi-player games and much more. The ICQ Mobile app has been available for several leading mobile platforms but Windows Phone. Finally since the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango is available to all users, Mail.ru Group has announced their plans to bring the ICQ Mobile for Mango devices.
The ICQ Mobile for Windows Phone 7.5 will support multiple accounts of different services like Google, Classmates and other to let the users have one messenger for all their contacts. The ICQ Mobile application would be available as free for Windows Phone 7 users.
The ICQ Mobile will join the several Instant Messaging applications available on Windows Phone platform but being one of the oldest applications, it does have the leverage of large user base.
Besides the most talked about Xiaomi Mi4i and Asus Zenfone 2, several lucrative smartphones were also launched this week.
The Lenovo K80 also offers a huge 4000 mAh battery.
Compatible SIM cards can be brought from Airtel stores in Delhi and Mumbai.
The world's first smartphone with 4 GB RAM is now in India, which will sure to give a headache to Mi 4 as well as OnePlus One.
The OnePlus 2 will be launched in the third quarter and will be offered through invitation model.
Post the deal with Microsoft, Nokia is restricted from using the Nokia brand name on smartphones until the last quarter of 2016 and on feature phones for 10 years.
Both the LG G4 and Sony Xperia Z4 will have high end features, few of which are known right now.
Last week, HTC led from the front with four smartphone. Desi companies like iBall and Lava too launched their new devices.
With 4G connectivity, you can have superfast internet connectivity.
Xiaomi has slashed prices of both its 16 GB and 64 GB models


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Uber Green Pushes EVs in India
Uber is entering the electric vehicle (EV) market with Uber Green. This upcoming service will allow users in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru to book hybrid taxis from June. As part of this effort, Uber plans to introduce 25,000 four-wheel electric vehicles and 10,000 two-wheel electric vehicles in these cities.
By promoting electric vehicles, Uber Green promotes sustainable transportation and reduces emissions. This effort is in line with the global trend towards cleaner and greener modes of transport. By adding electric vehicles to its fleet, Uber is helping to reduce air pollution and supporting the electric vehicle market growth. This is done through increasing demand for electric vehicles. The move is also in line with the growing focus on sustainable mobility and the promotion of electric vehicles as a viable mode of transport.
It is worth noting that the success of this effort will depend on factors such as charging infrastructure availability and accessibility, EV reliability and performance, and consumer acceptance of EVs.
Joining hands for the dream ;
To make their dream of ‘Uber Green’ in India possible, Uber has established many partnerships with different companies in different sectors. Uber has established partnerships with the following companies:
Lithium Urban Technologies & Everest Fleet Private Limited:
Uber is partnering with these companies to roll out four-wheel electric vehicles. In addition to these partnerships, Everest Fleet Private Limited and Lithium Urban Technologies will contribute their fleet management expertise.
Uber has also partnered with Moove to roll out a fleet of four-wheel electric vehicles. Vehicle-as-a-Service (VAAS) is at the heart of Moove’s mobility solution offering.
Uber has partnered with Zypp Electric, a Gurugram-based company that provides last-mile delivery and shared e-mobility solutions for its two-wheeled EV fleet.
To develop an electric vehicle charging infrastructure Uber has joined forces with Jio-BP, a joint venture between Reliance Industries Limited and British Petroleum. This partnership ensures convenient access to charging options for Uber Green electric vehicles.
GMR Green Energy:
Uber has partnered with GMR Green Energy, a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Limited, to deploy EV charging infrastructure in select locations. The partnership will expand the charging network and make Uber’s electric vehicle fleet more accessible.
Uber is partnering with the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to fund electric vehicles. This partnership provides financial support to drivers and vehicle owners who want to switch to electric vehicles. This is part of Uber’s efforts.
By building these partnerships, Uber aims to leverage these companies’ expertise, resources, and infrastructure to ensure Uber Green’s successful implementation in India. These collaborations cover various aspects such as fleet deployment, fleet management, charging infrastructure, and funding. In this way, Uber will be able to develop a robust and sustainable electric vehicle ecosystem.
How management sees it ;
Uber’s senior vice president of mobility and business operations, Andrew Macdonald, said “India is a vital country for global companies. India’s huge land mass and electrification momentum have made the country a priority for Uber,” he said. “Today, we take the largest step towards that goal with the launch of Uber Green. And this is how the company fights climate change and pollution through sustainable transportation,” he said.
Prabhjeet Singh, president of Uber India and South Asia, said “The transition to all-electric vehicles will be difficult and the economic burden of the EV transition must not weigh heavily on drivers. With these industry-leading partnerships, we combine our commitments and actions to help drivers accelerate their transition to EVs and drive sustainable change in the ridesharing industry in India,” he said.
Uber has set an ambitious goal of becoming a zero-emission mobility platform. European and North American milestones are expected to be reached by 2030 and global milestones by 2040. Uber’s goal is to significantly reduce emissions by moving to electric vehicles (EVs) and contribute to a more sustainable transportation ecosystem by moving toward EVs. As part of that effort, Uber has aggressively increased the number of electric vehicles available on its platform. By 2022, the company will more than triple the number of electric vehicles on its platform year-over-year. The expansion will give passengers better access to environmentally friendly transportation.
For the latest electric vehicles news,
follow electricvehicles.in on
and our YouTube Channels


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• PBA category set to grow to £1bn by 2020
• The trend for premiumisation is still growing with the PBA category attracting 500,000 more shoppers (7% increase y-o-y)
• PBA category has delivered a 12% growth in both volume and value vs the beer market, growing at 3.2% value.
• Consumers named PBA as the ‘most innovative category in drinks’ – ahead of both wine and cider
• Hobgoblin named the top recruiter and most shopped brand with a staggering 20% growth on last year
• Bottled Ale is a £55m retail opportunity in convenience
The Marston’s Premium Bottled Ale (PBA) Report, launched this week reveals that the category has a potential worth of £1bn by 2020. Last year’s report laid out the five year target to double the size of the category to £660m by 2018, this year’s report clearly outlines that current results are well above the target of this original mission – with the value of the category already increasing by £90m to £420m.
To reach the coveted target by 2020, Marston’s outlines that three areas are pivotal to future success:
• Shopper engagement (£210m)
• Retailer environment (£280m)
• Innovation (£90m)
Customer behaviour has shown a leaning toward premiumisation, with PBAs raking up a further 500,000 shoppers over the last twelve months and beating the beer market growth (+3.2 value) delivering a +12% growth in both volume and value.
Head of Take Home & Export at Marston’s Beer Company, Carl Middleton said: “This continuing trend of premimumisation shows that consumers are happy to pay a fair price for quality, variety and taste that the PBA category offers them.
“The category has been allocated more space by retailers this year which has paid off dividends, delivering an incremental £29m value – we are delighted that the growth of the category continues to exceed that of the beer market in general and we are confident that it will continue to do so.”
In the report: NPD, beer styles, packs and marketing are all outlined as key contributing factors to the growth of the category. Hobgoblin is definitely a clear winner in the off trade, with a 20% growth Y-O-Y – crucially being cited as the ‘most shopped ale brand’ and it also retains its crown as the ‘biggest recruiter brand’ for the category.
Convenience stores are also uncovered as presenting a big opportunity to further expand the category – Bottled ale currently makes up 2.9% of beer sales in convenience, in comparison to the off trade market average of 5.7%.
Carl adds: “To bridge the gap, convenience stores could stock more of the top ten beer brands and also merchandise in the chiller to meet the shopper mission of ‘immediate consumption’, in addition capitialising- on the trend for mixpacks and event led sales such as Halloween and Christmas – which both drive recruitment for the category.”
PBA drinkers are cited as being experimental by nature and consumers now recognise that the category delivers more innovations and new products than any other. In terms of sales formats – mixed pack sales are growing by 78% and mini kegs have also added £2m incremental value over the last twelve months.
Carl chips in: “The fastest growing overall beer styles in the bottled ales are once again golden and blonde beer varieties- and our recent product launches; New World Pale Ale and more recently, Hobgoblin Gold will continue this trend which recruits new drinkers to the category.”


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The unveiling of a new growth strategy and ambitious cost savings targets sent shares in tour operator Thomas Cook (TCG) 18% higher to 102.5p today. The £775 million cap also cheered with an upbeat outlook statement, saying 'summer trading is progressing well with improved margins.'
Thomas Cook, which will return to the FTSE 250 on Monday, is looking to turn around its fortunes through a focus on the provision of 'personalised holiday experiences through a high-tech, high-touch approach'. The travel company announced an additional £50 million of identified cost savings today, taking the 'total profit improvement actions identified already to £350 million' before the end of FY 2015.
Investors breathed a sigh of relief as the update contained no update on a potential equity issue or refinancing. As Investec Securities' James Hollins points out in his note today, 'there appears to be an implication that the identified cost and strategy focus could negate the requirement for a rights issue.'
The 172-year old group's travails over the past couple of years have been well-documented. Falling sales have prompted the need for Thomas Cook to renegotiate credit facilities as well as sell off aircraft and retail outlets.
Only last week (6 Mar), a consultation process was initiated that could see Thomas Cook's UK workforce reduced by 2,500 full-time roles, mostly in back-office functions and its retail network. Thomas Cook, which currently employs 15,500 workers across the UK and Ireland, is reducing its exposure to the embattled High Street at a time when the internet now dominating the mainstream travel market.
Chief executive officer (CEO) Harriet Green's strategic update is nothing if not ambitious. Cost saving targets of £350 million aside, the group plans to generate £500 million in new product revenue as well as increasing web penetration by at least 50%.
Analyst reaction to Thomas Cook's strategy update have been mixed. Panmure Gordon reiterated its 'sell' recommendation and 13p price target. The broker recently (08 March) issued the cautionary comment that 'unfortunately travel companies have a poor track record of cost savings being delivered to the bottom line and hence we think it is only right to be conservative when assessing how much of these should be included in profit forecasts.' Hollins at Investec on the other hand is more sanguine, sticking with his 'buy' recommendation and 120p price target.


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Bring your run down refrigerators and your old tires - Norwood’s annual “Fall Recycling Day” has been scheduled for Sept. 29 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
This year, the town will collect the following items: tires, batteries, freon appliances, kitchen and laundry appliances, microwaves, televisions, monitors, other electronics, fluorescent light bulbs, propane tanks, mercury thermometers, thermostats, and scrap metals, a news release said.
No hazardous waste, building materials, or garden clippings will be accepted on that day.
Styrofoam that has the recycling symbol “6” such as packing peanuts, take out containers, and coffee cups, will also be accepted.
Residents should bring proof of residency when dropping off items at the Sept. 29 event which will take place at the town’s composting facility off Winter Street. Also note that the prices for dropping off items range from $3 for off the rim tires to $10 for freon appliances such as refrigerators.
More information is available on the town website, www.norwoodma.gov.
Natalie Feulner can be reached at email@example.com.


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Shares in Twitter jumped 13 percent on Tuesday after the social media company reported quarterly revenue above analyst estimates, which executives said was the result of weeding out spam and targeting ads better.
The outerwear and adventure sports brand has announced the upcoming release of a limited-edition parka inspired by the jackets worn by members of the cast and crew of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
As China held its annual "Singles Day" online sales event on Sunday, shoppers could still find cheap imitations on Alibaba's Taobao app despite the company's efforts to curb sales of counterfeit goods.
The brand group announced on Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the majority of the North American licensing business, which has a portfolio including Disney, Calvin Klein and Under Armour.
At the Baselworld luxury watch fair -- which runs until March 27 in Basel, Switzerland -- Swiss watchmaker Breitling launched its "Squads" initiative, creating teams of ambassadors who all excel in a specific field.


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Wall Street Journal: Written by Annie Gasparro.
Food makers are racing to find acceptable alternatives to sugar. But it’s hard to replace a taste that so many Americans have grown to love.
Traditional sweeteners—from sucrose, or table sugar, to high-fructose corn syrup—are an increasing concern to consumers and lawmakers, who see them as a key culprit in America’s obesity and diabetes epidemic.
Now researchers at food giants, startups and universities are looking for new ways to make foods sweet without putting people’s health at risk. Some are testing out natural zero-calorie ingredients like monkfruit and South American root extracts that are so intensely sweet that they can add flavor without calories. Others are manipulating granules of sugar to make them taste sweeter. They’re also developing new ingredients that will block bitter taste receptors and make food seem like it has more sugar than it does.
Continue reading "The Search for Sugar Substitutes"


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"So, I want to take this opportunity to ask for your help. If you face significant call drops in your locality, can you help us find a location for a mobile site in the vicinity?," Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Airtel, said in personalised letters to the customers.
"We are also committed to making requisite investments in additional sites to leverage this spectrum. But we have to physically install these sites," Vittal said.
Also read: Debate, don't spread falsehood: Airtel on Net neutrality
"While we already make every possible effort to make this happen, placing sites has become a serious problem in most cities due to misplaced fears of the impact of sites and air waves," he added.
He also mentioned the fact that India operates under the strictest norms for mobile towers. "Our emission standards are one tenth that of global averages - and much more stringent that even Europe!"
He added: "We have invested heavily behind spectrum. In the last two years, we have invested over Rs.50,000 crore on spectrum to ensure you enjoy a great network experience. We will continue to augment any additional spectrum needs as and when an auction takes place."


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Britain's formula milk industry has faced down a new wave of
criticism from senior paediatricians, who accused it of dodging a
ban on direct advertising by snuggling up to doctors and health
Sheep's milk has a higher content of essential vitamins and
minerals than cow's milk and could be used to cater to consumers'
appetite for healthy products. But presently it seems only
small-time producers are sizing...
Nestlé has finalised arrangements for a new fund that will invest
in food companies producing for the health, well-being and
nutrition sectors, as part of the group's drive to stay on top of
consumer health trends.
Sales of a DHA-fortified children's yoghurt launched last month in
Canada are already exceeding expectations, with parents keen to
improve their children's brain development through nutrition, says
manufacturer Danone Canada.
Cows on healthier diets produce milk that is healthier for humans,
says new research, improving our understanding of how dairy
processors could naturally increase the health positioning of their
Soy milk has been Western Europe's fastest growing 'dairy' sector
over the last six years, presenting new challenges to dairy firms
via consumer health trends and new fears over lactose intolerance,
reports Chris Mercer.


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The 194-room resort was formerly the Citadines Kuta Beach Bali, which offers 182 studio hotel rooms, nine one-bedroom villas and three two-bedroom suites. Guest facilities also include an all-day restaurant, rooftop pool and bar, fitness centre and conference facilities for the MICE industry. A formal name for the company’s new Indonesian property has not yet been formalised.
Early next year, the property is expected to be formally rebranded and a timeline for refurbishment established in order to bring it in line with the Ovolo philosophy.
As the company plots further expansion in Southeast Asia and Australia, today’s move cements its intentions into new markets, with the company previously flagging intentions to grow into the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand.
Ovolo Group Founder and CEO, Girish Jhunjhnuwala, said the company was looking forward to bringing a new style of hospitality to Bali.
“This acquisition demonstrates our vision to become a truly global hospitality company, offering guests unrivalled effortless experiences across our hotels, bars and restaurants.
“We look forward to being able to reinvent this hotel and it’s food and drink concepts in true Ovolo style.”


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Huawei Moves into the Mobile Banking Market
Published on: 6th Jun 2014
Note -- this news article is more than a year old.
Huawei has announced the launch of a stand alone Mobile Money (MM) solution as the company seeks to tap into the growing demand for mobile banking services.
The software offers a range of services, from mobile banking and payments to a mobile commerce service.
Huawei has already deployed mobile money services with Vodafone, as the M-Pesa supplier in a number of countries.
"Mobile financial services are a blue ocean market. We believe in
reliability, high performance, fast integration capabilities, flexible business
processing and safe and convenient user access as key factors for CSPs to
successfully establish a competitive advantage in this ecosystem. We are
confident that our MM solution is an ideal opportunity for us to work with CSPs
to create a win-win ecosystem in the digital economy", said Mr. Tang Jie,
Director of Huawei Revenue Management Consulting in a statement.
Other than that they have launched the product, no other details were on offer at the moment.


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The Belgian intimates group ended the first half of its fiscal year with a sales drop of 2%, 112.8 million euros (124.8 million dollars), compared to 110.9 million euros (122.7 million dollars) last year.
Van de Velde continues the low. The Belgian intimates group ended the first half of its fiscal year, ended June 30th) with a drop of its benefit of 11% compared to the same period last year. Earnings of the group were 13.4 million euros (14.8 million dollars).
The company, owner of brands like PrimaDona and the Spanish Andrés Sardá, registered in the first half of its fiscal a revenue of 108.5 million euros (120.1 million dollars), 2% less than the first half of 2018. The ebitda of the group was 29.4 million euros (32.5 million dollars), compared to the 26.5 million euros (29.3 million dollars) one year earlier.
Sales drop of Van de Velde are because of the descent in its mono-brand channel, that lowered 6.7%. However, its multibrand channel remained stable. By regions, Europe’s revenue dropped 5.6% while in United States was down 9.1%.


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National Noodle Day is tomorrow and Honeygrow has released a new menu item just in time for the occasion.
Starting today, all Honeygrow locations have the new and delicious Miso Garlic Chicken Stir-Fry on their menus.
Need a reason to try the new dish? Honeygrow is launching a BOGO deal in all stores and on the app. Use code NOODLEDAY for a buy-one-get-one-free deal on any menu items.
Justin Rosenberg, CEO and Founder of Honeygrow stopped by PHL17 this morning to make the new dish.
Honeygrow is a fast-casual restaurant with 36 locations around the U.S.


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John Legend is heading to the O2 Arena as part of his Darkness and Light Tour.
The singer songwriter will perform in London on September 12.
The UK tour will stop off at nine venues across the country and it will be his first headline dates in a number of years.
The tour will be in support of his recently released album of the same name which featured the single 'Love Me Now'.
Since his career began he has won 10 Grammy Awards and collaborated with some of the world's biggest artists including Kanye West and Ariana Grande.
More recently he starred in and co-produced the hit movie 'La La Land'.
When do John Legend tickets go on sale?
There will be an O2 priority sale at 9am on Wednesday March 29 for O2 customers .
Meanwhile a Live Nation presale on Thursday March 30 at 9am for account holders, which is free to sign up to on the website.
Where can I buy tickets?
You can get them from Ticketmaster here .
How much are tickets?
They're are priced between £58.25-£85.45, plus booking fees.
When do tickets go on general sale?
If you miss out or are unable to access the presale you can get tickets in the general release on Friday March 31 at 9am.
Meanwhile VIP packages are also available at various prices.


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The rise of astrology apps: why entrepreneurs are betting millions on ‘astro-tech’
Does the word astrology still conjure up a vision of Mystic Meg? Have you used the term “Mercury in retrograde” — and meant it?
If your answers to these questions are yes and no respectively, you may be surprised to learn that the “mystical services’’ market (valued at $2.1 billion in the US alone) is the latest boom area for tech venture capitalists looking for new ways to invest.
“If you factored in other territories, that figure would become much bigger,” says Ross Clark, the chief executive and co-founder of Sanctuary, an astrology app that launched in March. Alongside more traditional horoscope content, it is unique in offering subscribers live, in-app chart readings (consisting of 15-minute text exchanges where users can talk to an astrologer)


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In looking back on 2012, if encouraging BYOD adoptions throughout the organization was a necessary evil for CIOs to embrace with positive outcomes how should CIOs look to evolve their mobile strategies in 2013?
In 2012 CIOs realized they wanted more productivity from your knowledge workers so they joined the BYOD revolution and embraced "the consumerization of IT."
During 2012 many CIOs realized the following:
Encourage employees to access the company's resources through their personal devices rather than via company issued devices and products while at work.
Encourage employees to be productive at home or on the road by using their devices to connect with the company's systems.
Do not let the fear of cyber attacks or of compromised security stall BYOD initiatives because security issues can be resolved with the proper security team and policies.
In 2013 CIOs should realize the following:
1. Embrace the tablet. Tablets are increasingly used to perform business functions across the enterprise. Employees in the sales and customer service roles are experiencing the strongest growth for tablet use. Tablets are also being rapidly deployed with field services employees when larger screens are required for inspections and reports.
IDC reported 27.8M global tablet unit shipments in Q3 of 2012, up almost 50% over Q3 2011. Samsung showed 325% global growth of tablet sales in Q3 2012 over the same period last year, with 5.1M units shipped.
According to Gartner in a November 2012 report, “Tablets will be the key accelerator to mobility. Gartner estimates that in 2012 purchases of tablets by businesses will reach 13 million units and will more than triple by 2016, to reach 53 million units.” CIOs must see the explosive growth of tablet use and encourage deployment throughout the organization where it makes most sense.
2. Big data repositories will grow faster with mobilized employees.
Enterprise CIOs have learned from experience that Business Intelligence and analytics are valuable tools that help to efficiently process big data to more effectively spot trends, opportunities, and potential crisis.
What became clear in 2012 is how mobile workers with tablets and smartphones began to add serious volume to the deluge of enterprise data – and the volume is only going to grow.
In Q4 this year, Gartner research related to big data, social computing, cloud and mobile workers, estimates that by 2015, 4.4 million global IT jobs will be created to support big data.
So the logical conclusion for the CIO is to acknowledge that now is the time of employee mobile empowerment. There are valuable lessons to be learned from the BYOD (bring your own device) and BYOA (bring your own app) phenomena.
Encourage those managers of work groups that operate under the IT radar to mobilize their teams with non-sanctioned apps. Innovation and discovery can come from all levels and work groups in the organization, not just the IT department.
CIOs who thought they had their BI strategy already implemented, are now realizing that mobile workers with smartphones and tablets are contributing a high volume of very valuable real-time data. As a result, the enterprise CIO must now adapt and have a more proactive, mobile-friendly BI strategy to capitalize on this ability to transfer data in real time and leverage it as an asset.
Lastly, custom building solutions is an important function of IT but only for very select and unique business requirements. CIOs now realize that a growing number of packaged apps may be customized for business apps can meet multiple requirements of an enterprise, and at a fraction of the cost of a custom developed solution.
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Albany-based Coastal Farm and Ranch has bought three Big R stores in Oregon, those at Klamath Falls, White City and Redmond.
The Klamath Falls Herald and News reports (http://bit.ly/1dXITn3) all three were owned by Rock Tyrholm. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Rob Miller, manager of the Klamath Falls store, said the purchase would mean the store will be called Coastal Big R and expand its product lines.
Coastal Farm and Ranch was founded in 1963 and now has 15 locations in Oregon and Washington state.


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The Wall Street Journal scored an "exit interview" with Steve Ballmer, in which the retiring Microsoft CEO lays out his reasons for stepping down several years earlier than he originally planned.
According to the story, it was Ballmer himself who decided that Microsoft needed a radical transformation last fall, and he and the board of directors have been driving through major changes like the May reorganization into "One Microsoft," the decision to buy Nokia, and the end of Microsoft's "stack ranking" employee evaluation system, in which every group had to choose a set percentage of low-performing employees to receive bad reviews. The board pushed him to change things even faster, but there is no hidden actor. Bill Gates isn't playing puppet-master.
The story has some great anecdotes drawn from multiple interviews with Ballmer, including how he he met Ford CEO Alan Mulally with a sack of smartphones at a Starbucks last Christmas Eve to discuss simplifying Microsoft, and how Ballmer secretly drafted more than 40 retirement letters.
But perhaps the most telling part comes when Ballmer tries to change the way he works with his senior reports. Instead of setting one-on-one meetings as he had done for years, he gathers them in a circle and has them summarize their recent activities. Qi Lu, who was in charge of Bing and now leads up all Microsoft's online services, gave him a 56-page report, full of the kinds of charts and data that Ballmer usually liked. Ballmer made him take it back and do a three-page version. Lu said, "But you always want the data and detail!"
Soon after, Ballmer realized his own larger-than-life presence was standing in the way of change. Even if he said he wanted people to do things a new way, they weren't sure they believed him.
Here's the thing: Ballmer's approach was well-suited to the way Microsoft did business for decades. But now, consumerization is in the middle of transforming the tech industry. Products from consumer-first companies like Apple and Google have fewer features and fewer adjustable settings than older software, particularly enterprise software. They hide complexity. They aim to please users, sometimes at the expense of features IT departments want. They update themselves frequently, and often silently.
Now we're starting to see a whole new breed of enterprise companies, from Box to Workday, taking the same approach. Even Yammer -- which Microsoft acquired in 2012 -- draws its approach to software development from consumer web companies like Facebook, trickling out updates on a weekly schedule and doing real-time user testing rather than saving everything for a handful of service packs and one humongous release every three years.
In short, the industry is changing in a way so that Ballmer's strengths -- like an amazing grasp of complexity and reliance on detailed data -- are no longer what the company needs. Instead, it needs a leader who can simplify, and move fast -- echoing the simplicity and speed of change that characterize the products challenging Microsoft's years of tech industry dominance.
As Simon Bisson wrote for CITEworld in August, the big changes happening in technology made it the right time for Ballmer to step down. The question now: Who among the rumored candidates -- or even the wild-card contenders nobody is mentioning -- can apply this kind of speed and simplicity to a huge and complicated organization like Microsoft?


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The management of Morris Motors Ltd., Oxford, have been asked by shop stewards to withdraw notices warning the workers that continued restrictions on output will cause the closure of the departments concerned.
The notices, signed by Mr R. E. T. Couch, director and general manager, told the employees: “Those of our employees who take part in such restrictions are in breach of their conditions of employment – . . and their contracts will be terminated forthwith.”
The notices were posted after two unofficial strikes in the paint shop which lasted only a day each but seriously hindered production of new models. Mr L. Davies, chairman of the Amalgamated Engineering shop stewards in the factory, said this weekend that the notices bad caused strong resentment.


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Many of those films, including The Godfather trilogy, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Hugo, are now available to Internet users in the U.S. and Canada. Others will be rolled out over the next few months, says Google.
Forty-eight hour rentals cost between $2.99 and $3.99 for the standard-definition version, and a dollar more for the HD (720p) edition. You have 30 days from the time of purchase to begin watching a movie, and 48 hours from the time you begin to finish watching it.
Viacom-owned Paramount was one of the last big "gets" for the tech giant's movie rental service: five of the six major film studios, along with ten independent studios, have now agreed to rent films through YouTube and Google Play, bringing the total rental catalog to 9,000. The last holdout? 20th Century Fox, which is owned by News Corp. All six studios — Paramount, Disney, Sony, Warner Bros., Comcast Universal and 20th Century Fox — sell films through Apple's iTunes service.
There's still no word about whether Google will begin selling as well as renting films, as Apple does. Rumors indicate that studios are pressuring Google to begin selling films to help make up for declines in DVD sales.


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Among the millions of apps available on the Apple and Google marketplaces, you can find an app for just about everything. But only a few are recognized as so-called super apps. These apps have many functions, such as financial transactions, ride hailing and ordering food, and they’re especially popular in Asia.
One of these catch-all apps is Grab. It lets users book a ride, order food, get daily essentials, send packages and more. It’s operated by Singapore-based Grab Holdings, a company founded as a ride-share startup 10 years ago in Malaysia by Anthony Tan and Hooi Ling Tan, two Harvard Business School graduates.
Previously known as MyTeksi and GrabTaxi, Grab Holdings quickly gained millions of users, added services and expanded overseas. It went public on the Nasdaq Stock Market after closing a SPAC merger in which it was valued at $40 billion, and as of Q2 2022, logged more than 30 million monthly transacting users. Grab now serves users in 480 cities across eight different countries.
At Rakuten Optimism 2022, Grab Holdings President Ming Maa sat down with Yasufumi Hirai, Rakuten Group Executive Vice President, CIO & CISO, to chat about the company’s mission to create economic empowerment in Southeast Asia for small and medium-sized businesses.
Super apps are products that provide the most relevant daily services within a 3-kilometer radius of a user, according to Ming. However, Grab aims at much more than providing convenient services. It wants to improve the lives of millions of people.
“The way we create this economic empowerment is by creating a platform that provides for effectively all of your local on-demand services,” said Ming, who oversaw SoftBank Group’s investments in Grab before he joined the company himself. “Millions of consumers are using Grab to order breakfast, they’re ordering lunch, booking a ride for work, purchasing online using our digital wallets, they’re ordering groceries and paying for their utility bills.”
Grab operates three super apps targeted at consumers, drivers and merchants that include services ranging from food delivery to micro insurance. These were the result of a learning process, Ming explained. As Grab provided a solution for one need, it learned about more needs. For instance, many of its ride-hailing customers lacked access to banking and many preferred to get delivered food instead of waiting in traffic to get to a restaurant.
The model has proven successful, in part because Grab’s engineers are focused on problems that people face in real-life settings, or genba in Japanese. The company has helped millions of users open their first bank account, offered micro-loans to hundreds of thousands of its driver-partners, and helped grow their earnings on the Grab platform over time.
“The best way is to go on the ground and feel the pain of the people we serve, to go to the genba,” said Ming. “For example, our Grab Maps team does immersions in Jakarta to better understand how different roads are in Indonesia to the roads in Singapore, and that informs our engineering and how they develop our routing technologies. Going to the genba really gives us a lot of unique insights that you can’t get sitting in the office and staring at spreadsheets.”
Ming attributes Grab’s success to what he described as a combination of the Japanese notion of kaizen, or continuous improvement of services, and a corporate culture enshrined in “the Grab Way,” emphasizing the Four H principles of honor, heart, humility and hunger as well as servant-leadership. The company also tries to empower its own staff to make decisions in the spirit of the Grab Way, and this is what allows them to help empower customers.
“We constantly find and learn new things that are unexpected, and constant experimentation really helps us to improve ourselves, product or services, and hopefully our marketplace,” said Ming.
Touching on Rakuten Optimism 2022’s theme of “tech and green,” Ming noted that Grab plans to be carbon-neutral by 2040. To accomplish this, it is building an electric vehicle ecosystem targeting middle- and middle-lower class populations, setting up charging stations, giving drivers the option to use low-emissions vehicles, and letting customers opt out of receiving plastic cutlery with their food orders, saving 774 million sets’ worth of plastic.
“Our carbon-neutral target is very ambitious but we hope that putting greater attention and a larger spotlight and collaboration with everyone in the ecosystem will accelerate that green economy,” said Ming. “The key for us is about driving social economic impact and really helping individuals evolve from the informal economy to the formal economy…It’s really about creating economic impact that requires us to tackle the three aspects of income, financial inclusion and upskilling.”


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Valve’s first of three announcements is out this week, and it’s the new Steam Operating System. It’s designed to work in tandem with a Steam device and use of Big Picture to stream your games from your home PC to your television, and it’s completely free!
With the gaming library, Valve also wants to bring streaming music, TV, and movies to the system in the future. The recently announced family sharing options will be expanded on, with the ability to tailor what games each user of the device can see, most likely in the form of a profile or user log in system.
Valve has a great amount of pull in the gaming world, but making the move into other media such as movies won’t be easy. It will put them up there competing with Apple and Amazon in terms of content, but if they can pull it off by providing popular titles, it could end up being the deciding factor on whether people will adopt the Steam OS or not.


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Weekly Market Update - June 23, 2020
Posted by Holbrook Wealth Advisors on Tue, 06/23/2020 - 12:26
May’s retail sales report was released this week. Sales blew away expectations, increasing by 17.7 percent against forecasts for an 8.4 percent increase. This rebound shows consumers were more than ready to get out and spend as states started reopening. Car sales were a highlight during the month, increasing by more than 40 percent from April; however, even core retail sales, which strip out the impact of auto and gas sales, rose by a better-than-expected 12.4 percent. All things considered, this was a positive report that indicates the economic recovery may be swifter than originally anticipated.
Weekly Market Update - June 16, 2020
Posted by Holbrook Wealth Advisors on Tue, 06/16/2020 - 12:30
Rates took a bit of a roller coaster ride last week, as the 10-year Treasury yield spiked to as high as 0.93 percent following the previous week’s sell-off in the bond market. In fact, most of last week’s rates came back down just about as fast as they spiked the week before. The 10-year opened at 0.66 percent on Monday. The 30-year reached a high of 1.75 percent over the same time frame, falling to 1.40 percent as of Monday morning. The 2-year, which reached a recent high of 0.23 percent, opened at 0.18 percent.
Weekly Market Update - June 9, 2020
Posted by Holbrook Wealth Advisors on Tue, 06/09/2020 - 12:25
This week finished with the release of May’s employment report, which came in far above economist estimates. About 2.5 million jobs were added during the month, against expectations for a loss of 7.5 million jobs. This caused the unemployment rate to drop to 13.3 percent from 14.7 percent in April, significantly lower than economist estimates for a rise to 19 percent. It will almost certainly be a long road back to a full economic recovery, but this report showed we are moving in the right direction.
Market Update for the Month Ending May 31, 2020
Posted by Holbrook Wealth Advisors on Fri, 06/05/2020 - 12:31
Much of the economic data released in May was backward looking and showed the massive impact anti-coronavirus efforts had on the economy. With that said, there are signs the worst of the economic damage may now be behind us.
Weekly Market Update - June 2, 2020
Posted by Holbrook Wealth Advisors on Tue, 06/02/2020 - 11:52
Global equities rallied last week, as investors grew optimistic after Dr. Anthony Fauci said a vaccine could be available by November or December. For the second week in a row, value continued to outperform as the positive news saw beaten-down value stocks bounce back. U.S. and China trade tensions picked up again as the U.S. suspended Hong Kong’s special tariff rates following the proposal of a new national security law there. Emerging markets understandably lagged the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average for the week, while international markets outperformed amid European reopenings. The top-performing sectors were financials, industrials, REITs, and utilities. Underperforming sectors were communication services, energy, and technology.
Weekly Market Update - May 19, 2020
Posted by Holbrook Wealth Advisors on Tue, 05/19/2020 - 15:50
Global equities moved lower this past week. Jitters surrounding the restart of the economy as well as increased tensions with China were potential reasons for the sell-off. Trade tensions with China flared as the U.S. placed new export restrictions on semiconductors and Huawei products. Beijing responded with threats to place restrictions on Qualcomm, Cisco, and Apple. The top-performing sectors on the week were health care, consumer discretionary, and communication services. The worst performers included energy, REITs, and industrials. Hotels and airlines were particularly notable pockets during the sell-off in REITs and industrials.
Weekly Market Update - May 12, 2020
Posted by Holbrook Wealth Advisors on Tue, 05/12/2020 - 14:13
The extremely weak employment situation will likely serve as a headwind against further improvements to consumer confidence, unless large-scale progress is made in returning Americans to work. Consumer confidence will be a widely followed metric over the coming months. Hopes of a swift economic recovery largely rely on a rebound in consumer confidence and spending.
Weekly Market Update - May 5, 2020
Posted by Holbrook Wealth Advisors on Tue, 05/05/2020 - 13:16
With the start of the new month, we will receive numbers from April, which will give us a better idea of the effects of the quarantine. Interest rate markets have priced in some of the predictions but seem to be waiting for more economic data.
Market Update for the Month Ending April 30, 2020
Posted by Holbrook Wealth Advisors on Thu, 04/30/2020 - 11:51
Equity markets saw a swift recovery in April, as progress toward slowing the spread of the coronavirus gave hope to investors.
Weekly Market Update - April 28, 2020
Posted by Holbrook Wealth Advisors on Tue, 04/28/2020 - 12:59
Read the latest market insights, news, and the outlook for the week ahead.


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It is the 50th anniversary of the moon landing of Apollo 11 and Omega has released a brand new Speedmaster special edition to pay tribute to the symbolic moment.
Innovation is the key point of the success of Apollo 11 50th anniversary limited edition. The 42 mm Omega Speedmaster fake watch has been equipped with the Moonshine™ gold ring and black ceramic bezel with Omega Ceragold® tachymeter. All the hour markers, vintage logo and hands are made of the Moonshine™ gold.
Buzz Aldrin wore the Speedmaster, making it become the world’s first watch on the moon. The sub-dial at 9 o’clock which is made of the Moonshine™ gold has been adorned with the pattern of the image that Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon, paying tribute to the legendary history.
Moon watch movement
Omega has improved its moon watch movement to a new grade, so the calibre 3861 was born. This new Omega copy with steel case has been equipped with calibre 3861 which also offers greater resistance to the magnetic field.


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Beijing chooses targets carefully as it goes on offensive in US chip wars
When Washington launched expansive controls in October limiting chip and tools exports to China, Beijing accused the US of “bullying” its tech sector and “violating the spirit of co-operation”.
Such responses, amounting to little greater than verbal bluster in response to a gradual strangling of semiconductor provides, mirrored its trade’s reliance on overseas chip know-how and the necessity to tread rigorously with any retaliatory measures.
However 10 days in the past, Beijing lastly went on the offensive, with the Our on-line world Administration of China asserting an investigation on nationwide safety grounds into Idaho-based reminiscence chip producer Micron Expertise. The CAC stated it could assessment imports of Micron’s merchandise to make sure the safety of its info infrastructure.
Business insiders say that Micron, which generates 11 per cent of its income in mainland China and one other 5 per cent in Hong Kong, was an apparent first goal for Beijing, as a result of its tech can be extra simply changed with rivals’ chips if China finally determined to ban it. The US group had additionally been downsizing a few of its operations on the mainland whereas growing funding within the US.
Nonetheless, trade consultants imagine any additional retaliation will probably be restricted, given Chinese language reliance on synthetic intelligence chips made by Nvidia and different processors manufactured by the likes of Intel and Qualcomm.
Mark Li, senior semiconductor analyst at Bernstein, stated “reminiscence chips are standardised, so it’s straightforward to alter suppliers from US to non-US”, including that South Korean teams Samsung and SK Hynix would mop up most of Micron’s orders in China.
Beijing views Micron as having performed “an unfriendly position within the nation’s semiconductor trade”, stated Wang Lifu, a chip analyst at Shanghai-based analysis agency ICwise. He pointed to Micron’s authorized motion towards Chinese language rivals for mental property theft and its perceived position in “lobbying Washington to impose sanctions towards China”.
Paul Triolo, an professional on China tech at consultancy Albright Stonebridge, stated Micron was seen as “supporting particular controls” that “severely restricted China’s reminiscence leaders YMTC [Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp] and CXMT [ChangXin Memory Technologies] from acquiring semiconductor manufacturing gear to stay aggressive within the reminiscence sector”.
Final 12 months, the US put restrictions on the export of know-how to fabricate Nand reminiscence chips with 128 layers or extra — the extent of YMTC’s most superior chips.
Shares of Chinese language reminiscence chipmakers rallied this month following information of the Micron probe, however analysts say home rivals is not going to obtain a lot of a lift from the investigation. “There is no such thing as a Micron equal in China. There are solely small reminiscence firms which make lagging and area of interest merchandise,” stated Li.
“We’re in communication and co-operating absolutely with the CAC,” stated Micron in a press release. “Product shipments, engineering, manufacturing, gross sales and different capabilities are working as regular. Micron is dedicated to conducting all enterprise with uncompromising integrity and we stand by the safety of our merchandise and our commitments to prospects.”
Carolyn Bigg, head of legislation agency DLA Piper’s cyber safety group in Hong Kong, stated that “launching a cyber safety investigation into an organization in reference to different underlying points is a well-trodden path for Chinese language authorities”.
The CAC investigation might culminate in Micron having its operations curtailed in China. Not like in Europe, the place firms are hit with a advantageous in the event that they breach cyber safety guidelines, in China, they may additionally “lose their working licence or have their platforms taken offline”, she stated.
Analysts say the industrial influence on Micron can be restricted if it was reduce out of the Chinese language market. “Micron can simply redirect elsewhere. Reminiscence chips are standardised, so chips for instance reserved for Lenovo might simply be redirected to Dell,” stated Li.
Final 12 months, Micron shut down a Dram chip design unit in Shanghai, with its engineers reportedly being requested to relocate to the US or India. It additionally introduced a $20bn funding in a brand new US chip manufacturing facility, in a big rebalancing of its international manufacturing that can see its most superior manufacturing transfer again to the US.
Nonetheless, the corporate nonetheless has a employees of about 3,000 in China, most of them working at an meeting and take a look at facility within the metropolis of Xi’an in central China.
In the long run, trade insiders say this can be a clear sign from Beijing for its tech trade to speed up efforts to de-Americanise its provide chains. “Persons are speaking a couple of chilly conflict. It’s clear that Chinese language tech firms haven’t any alternative however to seek out totally different sources of provide the place they’ll,” stated one senior govt at a Chinese language synthetic intelligence group.


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Vodafone is the latest to secure Apple's iPhone
Wednesday 30 September 2009
You wait two years for a rival operator to sell the iPhone, then two come along at once. Just one day after Orange secured the right to sell Apple's iconic device – after two years of exclusivity with O2 – Vodafone announced it had landed a similar deal.
Vodafone signed the agreement with Apple late on Monday night, announcing yesterday that the two companies "have reached agreement to bring iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS to the UK and Ireland". The group had attempted to battle the iPhone's dominance in the UK with smartphones including the BlackBerry Storm and the Nokia 5800, but they did not prove as popular. Vodafone has yet to unveil its pricing policy, tariffs and availability – as has Orange – but the move to open up the device from its exclusive contract with O2 is expected to spark a price war among the operators. Vodafone will not have the iPhone on sale in time to challenge Orange and O2 for Christmas, but it will be on sale from early next year. John McPate, an analyst at Evolution Securities, said the delay was "probably because Apple are struggling to meet demand".
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