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|WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2020||COMPLETEMUSICUPDATE.COM|
|TODAY'S TOP STORY: Pan-European indie label trade group IMPALA has published a ten point crisis plan to help the independent music community across Europe cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The list of ten recommendations for national governments, European Union institutions and the wider music sector follow the creation last week of an IMPALA taskforce that brings together representatives of independent music businesses from across the continent... [READ MORE]|
IMPALA publishes ten point COVID-19 crisis plan
The music industry was immediately hit, of course, as the first social distancing measures were introduced in a bid to combat the virus. Those measures resulted in the live sector firstly curtailing its activities and then - within a few weeks, sometimes days - going into full-on shutdown. As those measures have increased, music retail, physical distribution, studio work and music education have all also been hit, as have music companies that sell services to people and businesses in all those areas.
Alongside its ten recommendations, IMPALA notes that "music was one of the first sectors hit by the crisis", and that the negative impact is particularly severe because the music industry is made up of "predominantly micro-businesses, self-employed workers and freelancers". With that in mind IMPALA's taskforce calls for "a swift and massive response to ensure music and other cultural sectors can weather through the storm".
It goes on: "The aim is for artists and freelance workers to preserve their livelihood, and for independent companies to stay in business and continue investing. European cultural and creative sectors account for 4.4% of EU GDP and twelve million full-time jobs. Diversity is their strength, but also a vulnerability in times of crises".
Different European governments have responded to the COVID-19 crisis in different ways and at different speeds. Both in the implementation of measures to restrict and delay the spread of the disease and in the announcement of economic packages to support individuals and businesses negatively impacted by those measures.
With that in mind, IMPALA's first recommendation is for more coordination and communication between European countries - both directly between governments, via EU institutions, and by reps of each European music industry sharing information about approaches and initiatives that have proven particularly effective.
In its three demands of national governments across Europe, IMPALA calls for clear unambiguous rules on things like social distancing and lockdown; comprehensive short-term economic packages to mitigate the immediate negative impact of the crisis on all individuals and businesses; and sector specific compensation plans for those industries particularly hard hit, such as music and the wider creative sector.
IMPALA's crisis plan then has three specific recommendations for the European Union, including increased EU loan guarantees for cultural sectors and the creation of a specific crisis fund for smaller cultural businesses. It also says that the EU should "monitor national action and integrate culture in general EU decisions".
With the former, it says that other societies should follow the lead of GEMA in Germany in setting up crisis funds for their members, with the focus on supporting smaller and independent labels, artists, publishers and songwriters. They should also make available advances and interest free loan facilities.
As for the streaming services, they too should "introduce crisis funds for small businesses", while also "making faster royalty payments, passing over a higher percentage of revenues to rightsholders, providing advances to all rightsholders who need them, boosting local music and artists with playlists, and supporting local social media campaigns".
There have been increasing calls from other players in the music community for the streaming services to instigate measures to support artists struggling in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, with various different options proposed, some more realistic than others.
Those calls escalated last week after Netflix announced it had set up a $100 million fund to support those in the TV sector who had lost employment after the productions they were working on were put on hold. A lot of that money will go to support those who had been specifically working on productions for Netflix itself, although it will also help fund support for the wider TV production community.
In the US, various digital firms that utilise music - including Amazon, Apple, Spotify, Tidal, YouTube and Pandora/Sirius XM - have put money into the special COVID-19 fund set up by the Recording Academy's MusiCares charity. Those donations have doubled the size of that fund from $2 million to $4 million. It remains to be seen if similar gestures are now made in other markets around the world.
As for more traditional music media, IMPALA's final recommendation says that they "should promote local music and artists with increased music programming, put more focus on independent and local artists, and promote new local releases as well as local social media campaigns".
Launching the ten point crisis plan this morning, IMPALA boss Helen Smith said: "This is a call for urgent action. Small businesses, artists and freelance workers all need support. A joined-up approach across Europe is vital. Incentives for future growth are also part of the plan. No one should get left behind".
Meanwhile Francesca Trainini, Chair of IMPALA and its COVID-19 taskforce - who is also Vice-President of Italian industry association PMI - added: "To help achieve an effective safety net, the EU should monitor what is happening at national level. We also need to map the results. Italy is just one example where the music sector is crumbling".
Harold Arlen estate dismisses its copyright lawsuit against Apple
Arlen wrote 'Over The Rainbow', 'I've Got The World On A String' and 'Get Happy', among many other famous works. His estate argues that an assortment of labels and distributors have uploaded bootleg versions of recordings of those songs to otherwise legitimate download stores and streaming services.
While the Arlen estate doesn't control the copyright in those recordings, the compulsory licence that covers the mechanical copying of songs in the US - of which the estate is a beneficiary - does not apply if a recording is not properly licensed.
The Arlen estate sued various digital platforms in America as well as the labels and distributors accused of actually uploading the unlicensed tracks. Other litigation followed, with the estates of Harry Warren and Ray Henderson also signing up as plaintiffs.
When the original lawsuit was filed, lawyers working for the Arlen estate said that "this case is about massive music piracy operations in the digital music stores and streaming services of some of the largest tech companies in the world. Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Pandora and their distributors have joined with notorious music pirates to sell and stream thousands of pirated recordings embodying copyrighted works owned by [the estate]".
But that original lawsuit has now been voluntarily dismissed by the estate. According to Law360, most of the companies listed as defendants on that litigation had already been removed, leaving only Apple. The estate then filed papers with the court on Monday requesting that the case be dismissed with prejudice, meaning that the lawsuit can't be re-filed with the court at any point in the future.
No explanation was given for why the lawsuit was being dismissed. Though it could simply be so that the estate can focus its attention on other related litigation in other courts.
Labels instigate social media campaign to support record shops during COVID-19 crisis
The people behind the initiative say that "with many of these stores now experiencing a catastrophic drop-off in footfall or having already closed their doors there are fears that some may not survive if something is not done urgently to stimulate sales". Artists and labels are being encouraged to take part in a social media campaign to help put the spotlight on music retailers, and to encourage fans to support those record stores online.
At the core of the campaign will be a series of videos featuring artists and celebrity music fans talking about their favourite independent music stores, and the acts, tracks and albums they discovered there. The videos will be used to encourage fans to continue to support their favourite and local record shops by ordering stock from their websites.
Jason Rackham, MD of [PIAS], who is leading what is being called the #loverecordstores initiative, explains: "Independent record stores have played a key role in supporting and developing artists and their music for decades, so now it is time for music companies and the artists they represent to step up and give something back".
"We must support these small businesses if they are to survive this crisis", he goes on, "and at the same time we can still play a big part in helping them to continue to introduce their customers to new music. By speaking directly to their audiences about the importance of record stores and encouraging music fans to continue shopping with them online, artists can play a big part in helping secure the survival of this vital part of our industry".
The boss of the Beggars Group, Martin Mills, is also supporting the initiative. He says: "I started life in a record store. Record stores are incubators for great music, and for musicians. In these incredible times they can still serve up what you need, so please 'visit' them online, patronise them, support them and help them survive. We'll need them on the other side".
Among the retailers welcoming the campaign is Laura Kennedy, co-owner of Piccadilly Records in Manchester, who says, "Piccadilly Records has been around since the late 1970s and over the years we have faced lots of challenges, but nothing on the scale of what we face at the moment. It's with a heavy heart therefore that we have closed our doors this weekend and it's going to be tough".
"Our website and mail order department are going to keep going as normal while the shop is closed and there are still plenty of records being released", she adds. "We've all got difficult times ahead but if we all stick together I'm sure we'll get through".
Ad regulator rules against StubHub's use of the line "guaranteed genuine tickets"
The sports-centric advert featured a woman shouting in excitement with her arms spread out against a backdrop of the StubHub speech bubble logo, with the headline "that knee slide along the platform moment". Under that were two more lines of copy - "guaranteed genuine tickets to the match can do that" and "that StubHub Feeling".
It was the "guaranteed genuine tickets" line that FanFair complained about. First because, as StubHub is simply the platform via which third parties sell tickets, it cannot actually guarantee that any tickets being sold are genuine. Plus, of course, there is the deliberately confusing use of the word "guarantee".
That confusing use of the "guarantee" word has come up a lot in the campaign against rampant for-profit ticket touting online, with StubHub's new owner Viagogo particularly known for employing this ruse.
When the resale platforms talk about there being a "guarantee", they mean that if tickets don't arrive or don't get a customer access to a show, they will refund the purchase price. But most consumers will assume that it means the ticket-holder is guaranteed access to an event when, in fact, promoters can and sometimes do cancel tickets that have been unofficially resold (in the UK this is allowed if the terms of the original purchase ban resale).
Responding to the complaint, StubHub argued that it had various systems in place to stop the sale of fraudulent tickets on its website, claiming that the seller fraud rate across its platform was under 0.1%. It also made the ASA aware of its FanProtect Guarantee, which ensures refunds are available if a ticket fails to get a buyer into an event.
However, the ad industry regulator agreed with FanFair that StubHub's choice of words would be taken by most consumers to mean tickets bought on the platform guaranteed access to an event, when - in fact - that is not 100% assured, because of the possibility of the touted ticket being cancelled.
In its ruling, the ASA states that it "considered that the claim 'guaranteed genuine tickets' would be understood by consumers to mean that should they purchase the advertised match tickets from the StubHub website, they would be certain to receive valid tickets that would arrive on time and allow them to gain entry into the relevant match".
After noting the specifics of StubHub's FanProtect Guarantee scheme, it adds: "Although StubHub appeared to offer a guarantee on customers receiving tickets, they were not able to guarantee that buyers would always be able to successfully gain entry to their chosen event. Because the claim 'guaranteed genuine tickets' suggested that consumers who bought StubHub tickets would be guaranteed to gain entry into their chosen match, when that was not the case, we concluded that the claim was misleading".
StubHub has already removed the offending ad, but the ASA's ruling states "the ad must not appear again in the form complained of", adding that the regulator has also told StubHub "not to use the claim 'guaranteed genuine tickets' where there was a risk that buyers might not be able to gain entry into an event".
Music Industry Therapists & Coaches launches free guide for coping with self-isolation
"It's been heart-breaking watching so many of our music industry clients lose work and grapple with the difficulties and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic", says MITC founder Tamsin Embleton. "Whilst we can't alleviate the current circumstances, we thought that we could, at least, offer advice, tips and resources for coping with anxiety and working from home".
The guide features anxiety information and support for both adults and children; breathing techniques to reduce feelings of anxiety; tips for home-working and self-isolation; nutritional advice; and fitness advice.
All members of the MITC collective have experience of working within the music industry - whether in live music, or at record labels, publishers and recording studios, or as artists and producers - prior to retraining as mental health professionals.
BTS teach fans to speak Korean in new web series
That said, this is not a response to the COVID-19 lockdown. Originally announced in February, the project came about after fans requested that the band's videos carry English subtitles. They apparently felt that it would be better if everyone could just speak Korean.
Launched yesterday on Weverse - a social media platform owned by BTS's management company Big Hit Entertainment - the series is split into 30 three-minute videos, focussing on different elements of the Korean language. Watch them all and you will definitely, definitely become fluent.
"There are only limited ways our fans could learn Korean with ease", says Big Hit Entertainment founder Bang Si-Hyuk. "Big Hit has created Korean learning media using artist content for a more rewarding and immersive experience for our fans".
Diplo's Mad Decent label has launched a new imprint in partnership with LA-based creative agency and streetwear brand Pizzaslime. The first release on Pizzaslime Records is TikTok viral hit 'Lonely God' by Marlboro Nights.
With this year's festival called off, Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis have donated medical supplies intended for the event - including thousands of litres of hand sanitiser plus gloves and face masks - to frontline emergency services and NHS workers.
The BBC has announced plans to fill the hole in its schedule left by the cancellation of Glastonbury. 'The Glastonbury Experience' will "bring the nation together and create a weekend of the best in music across radio, television and online with amazing performances for you to enjoy in the comfort of your home".
The BBC has announced plans to fill the hole in its schedule left by cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest. 'Eurovision: Come Together' "will feature classic Eurovision performances, a look at what would have been in 2020 and entertaining interviews, including this year's UK entry James Newman".
Lady Gaga has announced that she is postponing the release of her new album 'Chromatica'. It was due out on 10 Apr, a new date has not yet been announced. "While I believe art is one the strongest things we have to provide joy and healing to each other during times like this, it just doesn't feel right to me to release this album with all that is going on during this global pandemic", she says in an Instagram post.
Haim have announced that they are pushing back the release of their new album 'Women In Music Pt III' from 24 Apr to a new date still to be decided. "We feel this is the best thing to do in the current state of things", they say in an Instagram post.
Bright Eyes have released their first new song for nine years, 'Persona Non Grata'. Noting the strange turn that life has taken recently, the band say that they will still release a new album this year "no matter what", but they are obviously "reassessing" their touring plans.
Jarvis Cocker is moving the release date of his new Jarv Is... album - 'Beyond The Pale' -from 1 May to 27 Sep. Tour dates in May have also been postponed.
The Pretenders have announced that they are moving the release date of their new album, 'Hate For Sale', from 1 May back to 17 Jul due to retail and shipment restrictions in place around the world currently. They have also released the album's title track.
The release of Kelly Lee Owens' new album 'Inner Song' is being pushed back from 1 May to 28 Aug. "We had lots of plans to bring you this album that are now not feasible due to COVID-19", she said on Twitter, adding that the decision was "also out of solidarity for the thousands of record stores closing their doors to protect us".
Dirty Projectors have announced that they will release a new EP, 'Windows Open', this Friday, and have put out new single 'Search For Life' already.
Rosalía has released new single 'Dolerme'.
Zebra Katz has released the video for 'Moor' from his new album 'Less Is Moor'.
Squid have announced that they have signed to Warp, releasing their first single for the label, 'Sludge', at the same time.
Hinds have announced that they are postponing the release of their new album 'The Prettiest Curse' - originally scheduled for 3 Apr - to 5 Jun. In a statement, they said that while "we all need music now more than ever ... things are a bit scary in Spain and the coronavirus is something that is affecting a lot of our loved ones, so for right now we think all of our focus should be on staying safe and staying home, not promoting a new album".
Katie Von Schleicher has released new single 'Nowhere'. The song, she says, is about "the close and tight feeling of being alone". Her new album, 'Consummation', is out on 22 May.
Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily - updated every Friday.
Will.i.am releases new version of Bono's coronavirus song
Not only that, but he's gone and got Will.i.am involved too. I mean, he was already testing our resolve to not mock things like this given the current circumstances all over the world. But I mean Will.i.am is now involved. It's getting tricky.
In his Instagram video last week, Bono said of his new song, "I think it's called 'Let Your Love Be Known'". Turns out it's not, because the new version now sitting on Will.i.am's YouTube channel is called 'Sing For Life'.
As well as Bono and Will.i.am, Jennifer Hudson and X Japan's Yoshiki also appear on the new track - each of them working in isolation from their own homes. Appearing on 'Good Morning Britain' yesterday ahead of the track's release, Will.i.am revealed that he had heard the original version of the song before it appeared on Instagram after Bono shared it via some sort of celebrity group chat.
"I got really moved and inspired by it and I added to it and I sent it to him on the thread", he said. "We talked about creating a baton so people at home can participate - whether they're just listening to it or commenting or singing along or making their own renditions. There's lots of musicians out there in the world that can continue to spread awesome, productive vibes out there in these times".
Meanwhile, in the description on YouTube, Will.i.am writes: "This song was created to bring joy. In times like these, creative people must continue to collaborate. Whether you are a computer scientist, an engineer, a therapist or a teacher, just because we are self-isolating or in quarantine doesn't mean you are alone. The beauty of international connectivity is that nobody is alone on the internet! Use this time to be creative and collaborate remotely to solve problems. A healthy body also means a healthy mind".
Watch the video for the song here. Cynics out there can come up with their own disparaging remarks. Despite everything, our resolve remains strong!


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Tokyo: Apple’s iPhone 5 hit stores in a festive global rollout on Friday, with long queues of devotees undeterred by a lukewarm welcome from experts and complaints about the smartphone’s new mapping system. The lines of eager fans outside stores looked set to make the latest generation iPhone another commercial smash for the trend-setting US company with Apple saying it had received more than two million orders online. Australians were the first to get their hands on the device. In Sydney faithful fans filmed the experience on their iPhones and iPads as staff inside clapped and cheered when the doors opened at 8:00 am (0330 IST). But the event was also hijacked by companies looking for free publicity, with the first dozen or so in the queue wearing promotional T-shirts and caps or carrying advertising materials.
“Seven of us are here from our company, since midday Tuesday,” said Todd Foot, 24, who was first in the line and works for an organisation that reviews mobile phones.”We’ve actually had telephone hook-ups with the first in the lines in New York and London. It’s been a bit crazy.” Compared to the iPhone 4S, Apple’s new smartphone boasts a bigger display, stronger battery and faster connection to the latest 4G networks. It is lighter and slimmer, and contains tweaks designed to improve the user’s experience.But many analysts say Apple has fallen short as other companies such as Samsung improve rival offerings powered by Google’s Android operating system.”Unless Apple ups its device innovation game, we may be seeing Apple’s iOS empire approaching its zenith,” Tony Costa of Forrester Research said.However, enthusiasm among early-bird shoppers was undimmed as iPhone 5 sales began too in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. The phone was later in the day to go on sale in France, Germany, Britain, the United States and Canada.Ryoho Yamashita, a 23-year-old student, had queued since midnight at a Softbank store in Tokyo and said there had been a celebratory atmosphere among those waiting.

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Qualcomm Technologies recently joined forces with ESL Gaming to launch the Snapdragon Pro Series, which will serve as a new global mobile esports ecosystem. As part of this multi-year deal, both entities will fund the series’ prize pool which is worth roughly $2 million.
The Snapdragon Pro Series will have competitions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, China, North Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. The series is set to commence this coming April.
Beyond being a mobile esports ecosystem, the series will be a multi-genre mobile esports competition. It will be made up of “Open” and “Challenger” tiers which will be open to all players from the aforementioned regions. This deal will also see the development of a brand new tier called “Masters” which will be added to ESL’s mobile gaming ecosystem.
“The rapid rise of mobile esports is well-documented, and we’re incredibly proud of the role ESL has played in that to date. Our new collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies and its Snapdragon brand will elevate our mobile ecosystem to its fullest potential,” said Rodrigo Samwell, the Chief Commercial Officer of ESL Gaming. “We’re excited to transform the future of mobile esports for players and fans around the world, continuing to create a world where everybody can be somebody.”
The Profit‘s Take:
ESL was just bought by the Saudis, so I am surprised this is not a bigger prize pool. That would have been great. I suspect, if they’re going to bring it anywhere, they’re going to bring it to the Middle East. Forget India. Forget China. I want them to make a big splash in the Middle Eastern mobile gaming market.
(All information was provided by Esports Insider)


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Amesite (NASDAQ: AMST), a high-tech artificial intelligence software company, this morning announced that the company’s founder and CEO Dr. Ann Marie Sastry is presenting today at the Diamond Equity Research Emerging Growth Invitational. The presentation is slated to take place today, November 16, at 11:40 am ET. “I look forward to sharing our story with the investment community. Artificial intelligence is the future of online education and we are well-positioned to serve the large and growing global online learning market – expected to reach $370 B by 2026 according to Statista– and deliver more engaging, effective and accessible learning experiences for everyone,” Amesite CEO Dr. Ann Marie Sastry stated in the news release.
To register for the event, visit https://ibn.fm/uFPQg
To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/DzAN4
About Amesite Inc.
Amesite is an ed-tech, software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) company with the most advanced artificial intelligence-driven online learning platform in the industry, providing both content creation and a best-in-class infrastructure for the multibillion online learning markets in business and education. For more information, visit www.Amesite.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to AMST are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/AMST
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Amazon today announced the opening of its first development centre in Swansea, Wales, for newly acquired Veeqo as well as other Amazon teams. Veeqo is a multichannel shipping software company built to help ecommerce sellers across the UK and US. Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales, will attend the opening ceremony, together with Veeqo’s CEO, Matt Warren, and Amazon UK Country Manager, John Boumphrey.
There are two reasons this is notable. First Wales is a relatively small country and in the grand scheme of things this is a significant investment bringing well paid highly skilled tech jobs to the region. Second, Veeqo has been made free to use for retailers since it’s acquisition by Amazon so if you are currently assessing your business costs and wondering where you can save, Veeqo should be top of your list to check if it can manage your multichannel requirements. This investment by Amazon demonstrates their commitment to continue to develop Veeqo and make it one of the leading multichannel solutions available.
Veeqo, a Swansea-founded technology company, was acquired by Amazon in 2021, and its services are now available for free to the 85,000 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) selling on Amazon in the UK, as well as the nearly 500,000 Amazon sellers based in the US. The company makes ecommerce more efficient, effortless, and scalable for startups and small businesses by helping them fulfil their customers’ orders across multiple websites and stores, syncing their inventory and automatically providing low-cost shipping rates.
With Amazon’s support, Veeqo has grown its workforce by 50% in the last six months, including highly-skilled tech roles such as software development engineers, technical product managers, and knowledge engineers, as well as UX designers, product managers, and business analysts. Veeqo will continue to work closely with nearby universities, including the University of Swansea and The University of Wales Trinity Saint David, to provide placements for software and engineering students.
The new site marks the latest milestone in Amazon’s investment in skills and talent development in the country. Since 2010, Amazon has invested £1.7 billion in Wales and created 2,000 jobs across the country, according to its Economic Impact Hub. In addition, Amazon’s investment has contributed an estimated £1.7 billion to the region’s GDP since 2010 through the production of goods and services. The new development centre will join Amazon’s existing fulfilment centre in Swansea, which recently celebrated its 15-year anniversary.
Our new office in Swansea will be a hub from which Veeqo can build the services which make it easier for entrepreneurs and small businesses to sell around the world. I am proud that Amazon saw the value of our amazing team, and that we have continued to create highly-skilled tech jobs in Wales.– Matt Warren, CEO, Veeqo
Swansea has been a centre of tech talent and academic excellence for many years now, so we are delighted to open our first development centre in Wales, working closely with Veeqo to build the cutting-edge tools which will supercharge growth for its ecommerce partners, benefiting millions of customers. This is a major milestone for Amazon’s commitment to Wales, where we have invested £1.7 billion since 2010, and supported 2,500 small business sellers to date.– John Boumphrey, UK Country Manager, Amazon
The acquisition of Veeqo by Amazon is a vote of confidence in the tech sector in the region. It’s great to see the business attracting new investment and recruiting software developers and product designers. The investment in this new corporate office in SA1 by Amazon supports the regeneration of Swansea, creating sustainable employment on the waterfront.– Mark Drakeford, First Minister
Ecommerce companies can cut the cost and hassle of multichannel fulfilment with Veeqo’s free shipping software, which now includes improved inventory control and reporting, as well as the ability to help sellers pick, pack, and ship every order with a mobile device at www.veeqo.com.


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Bitcoin Copper Correlation 17 May 2020. During March and April 2020, the correlation between the S&P 500 index and gold was plus 20%. Gold and bitcoin have fallen at the same time as US equities,” Carol Alexander, a professor. Sign Up for the Copper Digest. Bitcoin Valentines Day Memes The 15 Most Powerful Cards, Ranked Aside from their
Bitcoin price looks shaky after dropping below $9.3K support but still remains in a general uptrend since March even if.
Bitcoin Valentines Day Memes The 15 Most Powerful Cards, Ranked Aside from their good looks, almost all of the show’s monsters pack some serious firepower, be it through pure strength, magical abilities, or some sort of powerful. The heightened tensions weighed on China and Hong Kong markets, but Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Indian equity markets. Arturas Karnisovas has
2 Apr 2020.
As many as 25 percent of Americans were still not familiar with bitcoin and as of 2019. While there are over 18 million bitcoins in circulation.
Crypto markets, non-existent in 2010, are now worth over $200 billion, having hit a.
at a dizzying pace, typified recently by Facebook's push to launch its Libra token and.
extend the boom: total ETF assets could hit $50 trillion in 2030, BofA predicts.
Total market cap of the 10 biggest cannabis companies in the ETFMG .
The monstrous compensation package for Tesla CEO Elon Musk is considered the largest of its kind in history, and it’s.
The recent surge in Bitcoin price led to rallies in Ethereum, Cardano, Theta Token and Band Protocol, can the upswing.
Musk’s compensation agreement with Tesla includes 12 "tranches" of stock options that become available only after certain.
9 Jan 2020.
This is larger than the sum of General Motors at almost $50 billion and.
bitcoin market cap topped out above $230 billion and at all time high.
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So last Thursday, while waiting for a flight to Nashville, I pulled up a popular.
For 15 minutes at the airport, I refreshed the price of bitcoin over and over,
Regulators have taken a hands-off approach to bitcoin in certain markets.
more than $200 million from a number of top tier venture capital firms.
28 Dec 2019.
First, it will increase the amount of interest in Prime, pushing customer.
Overall, Amazon should add at least $50 billion to its top line in North America alone. That's about 31% of the company's revenue in the region over the last.
7 Explosive Cryptocurrencies to Buy for the Bitcoin Halvening Feb 21, 2020.
26 Jan 2018.
The market cap of Ripple has dropped below $50 billion, and now holding at $48 billion.
Finally, $1.17 acted as a strong support level and also pushed the.
The pair dropped from 0.000133 BTC to 0.000108 BTC over the.
The crypto market’s capitalization is now pushing up against heavy resistance. If rejected here, some major altcoins post see.
Welcome to another edition of Bitcoin Today, where I, Satoshi Nakaboto, tell you what’s been going on with Bitcoin in the.


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The acceptance of MIR National Payment System cards has been announced in Tajikistan, opening up access to Russians who live in, or travel to, the country. Other countries where MIR... more
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The fast-growing pet food market continues to attract traditional processed foods companies, with J.M. Smucker agreeing to acquire Ainsworth Pet Nutrition for about $1.9 billion.
Two-thirds of Ainsworth’s sales come from its Rachael Ray Nutrish brand of premium dog food that generates about two-thirds of its sales.
Smucker said the deal announced Wednesday will “increase the scale and further accelerate the growth profile” of its pet food business, which includes such brands as Nature’s Recipe, Pup-peroni, Meow Mix, and Pounce. It will acquire Ainsworth from private-equity firm L Catterton.
“Ainsworth Pet Nutrition is an excellent strategic fit for our company, as the Rachael Ray Nutrish brand adds another high-growth, on-trend brand to our pet food portfolio,” Smucker CEO Mark Smucker said in a news release.
As Reuters reports, “Smucker’s deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions of pet food companies by traditional processed food makers and comes on the heels of General Mills Inc.’s purchase of high-end pet food maker Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc. for about $8 billion.”
Mars, Cargill, and Nestle have also recently added pet food companies to their portfolio as they compete for a share of the $30 billion U.S. pet food market. Retail pet food sales rose over three times as fast as sales of packaged foods last year, according to Euromonitor.
“Pet food and pet snacks has become the largest center-of-the-store category in the U.S. food and beverage market,” Smucker said.
The company said Rachael Ray Nutrish would “significantly expand” its presence in the premium dog food segment, complementing Nature’s Recipe. “While Nutrish has a relatively smaller presence in premium cat food, the brand is well-positioned for significant growth in this segment,” it added.
Pennsylvania-based Ainsworth was founded in 1933 and acquired by L Catterton in 2014.
“The J. M. Smucker Company, also a fifth-generation family company, is led by a like-minded family to our own,” Ainsworth Executive Chairman Sean Lang said. “We expect the combined horsepower of these pet care organizations to achieve great things.”


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The Competition Council announced on Thursday that it gave out fines worth a total of RON 23.42 million (around EUR 5 million) to 33 companies and four associations in the security services sector, for illegally setting minimum prices and facilitating the setup of minimum prices on the market.
Five companies (Euroguard SRL, G4S Secure Solutions, RPG Security Center, Securitas Services Romania, Aramis-Ro SRL) have admitted to their involvement to the anti-competition practice and had a reduction in their fines. One of the companies also had a reduction of its fine due to its difficult economic situation.
The Council found that the members of the associations agreed to set a minimum hourly price for security services. The companies claimed that the deal was made because some market operators had lower prices than what would have been required to cover their minimal mandatory legal expenditures.
The investigation on the security services market was launched in 2015 and targeted the Professional Association of Security Companies and its members, and was extended in 2016 to the Security Services Federation and its members.
Upon applying the sanctions, Competition Council officials say that they took into account the market characteristics based on which the deal was made, a market that is characterized by a strong tendency towards tax fraud and working off the books. They also signalled the relevant authorities to the possibly illegal behaviours of certain competing companies.
By making a deal to apply a certain minimum price for their services, companies involved no longer independently determine their own commercial policy, which leads to the elimination of competition.
Following the investigation, the Council made a series of recommendation to the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police, the Territorial Work Inspectorate and the National Fiscal Administration Agency, based on their specific attributions.


text:
The Sony Xperia Z
caught everyone's eye at CES with that 5 inch, FHD screen, 441ppi pixel
density, and quad-core processor. But what really made show attendees stop was the way the phone was set up to show off its water resistant feature. We even shot a quick video to show you how the phone was dunked
and didn't miss a beat. Yeah, making your phone water resistant seems to be the new black for OEMs this year, and we were treated to an amazing display at the P2i booth
at MWC last month.
But perhaps the best way to display how water rolls right off the Sony Xperia Z was revealed by a T-Mobile store in Prague. Using both male and female swimsuit models, the store showed how you can even use the Sony Xperia Z in the shower. For those of you who wished they had the handset to use in the shower right now, we imagine it would be a long, cold one.
(translated) via XperiaBlog
The Sony Xperia Z shower test at T-Mobile, Prague


text:
Samsung Acclaim Android Phone for U.S. Cellular
May 14, 2010 8:32 AM –
U.S. Cellular will launch another Android smartphone along with the HTC Desire, called Samsung Acclaim. It features Android 2.1, 3.2 HVGA screen, full physical QWERTY keyboard in a side slider form factor, with plans to drop in July. We look forward to checking it out, what about you U.S. Cellular customers?


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Ports America, the largest stevedore and terminal operating company in the U.S., will terminate its lease with the Port of Oakland as it focuses its business strategies on increasing its West Coast presence through additional investments and expansion of services into new terminals. Areas of concentration include Los Angeles, Long Beach, the Pacific Northwest and western Canada. These regions have been identified as most suited to its realignment goals. Ports America’s long-standing joint venture partnership at West Basin Container Terminal (WBCT) and its recently acquired 30 percent ownership of International Transportation Services (ITS) are key locations for Ports America’s strategy. Accordingly, Ports America is active in planning its expansion and investment opportunities in its existing locations at both the Port of Tacoma and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Further, Ports America has been invited into the process for new opportunities in the Pacific Northwest.
Given this strategy, the JV partners in Outer Harbor Terminal, LLC (OHT) have decided to change the arrangement with the Port of Oakland by returning back to the port the OHT leased property. OHT is organizing this exit transition to ensure seamless continuity of services.
OHT will be coordinating closely with equipment suppliers and other vendors as it continues to provide vessel services for 30 days and then take an additional 30 days to transition out of the terminal. This West Coast strategy complements what Ports America already has accomplished on the East Coast by investing in equipment and infrastructure at Ports America’s locations such as Port Newark Container Terminal (PNCT), Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore and Miami, where, upon completion of the Panama Canal expansion, the markets will demand it.
Editors Insight: This Ports America announcement focuses on the investments the terminal operator is making far more than on the decision to exit the Port of Oakland. The company clearly is investing in those areas it deems make the best sense, but the decision to leave a major West Coast port must have something to do with the rising cost of accommodating larger vessels as container carriers consolidate.
From the shippers’ perspective, carrier rates remain low, according to a recent Wall Street Journal analysis. A slowdown in global trade is contributing to low rates.
The container rate pressure is one of several developments that favor shippers. Food Logistics reported last week that pressure on rail cargo volumes are at levels not seen outside of a recession.
The current scenario could change with progress in transnational trade agreements. 1-20-16 By Elliot Maras


text: As we have mentioned in previous Nike ACG posts, ACG or All Condition Gear has turned 20 this year. With that in mind, Nike isn’t throwing big celebrations for the line but has slowly released a number of ACG classics over the past few months. This includes retros of the Air Magma in black and purple, Air Magma Vintage, and now a tech upgraded Air Magma featuring Rip-Stop. Above is the yellow version that is a US exclusive, two other versions will be an Asia exclusive and one will be available worldwide. Both the yellow and black colorway is now available at Nike Sportswear at 21 Mercer in New York.


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The replacement for the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is under development, and it will not be called the Mercedes-Benz SLC AMG if a report from Autocar is to be believed. Instead, this Porsche 911-fighting sports car will be called the Mercedes-Benz GT when it debuts in mid-2014.
The 2015 Mercedes-Benz GT will be smaller than the outgoing SLS, with an aluminum spaceframe chassis and a body made of aluminum and composite panels. Power will reportedly come from a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 with similar architecture as the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder in the Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG. This new engine will also make its way into the next Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. Autocar says to expect output in the range of 500 horsepower, meaning that the GT would compete with the 520-horsepower Porsche 911 Turbo.
We spied a prototype of this SLS replacement testing at the Nürburgring earlier this year, and it appears to maintain the same long-hood, short rear deck proportions as the SLS but on a smaller scale. The gullwing doors from the SLS will not continue, though, as the Mercedes-Benz GT will adopt conventional doors for a broader consumer appeal. A coupe version will debut first, but there are rumors of a roadster version as well.
In other Mercedes-Benz news, Autocar is also reporting that the company is developing a lineup of new engines, starting with a straight-six that will result in new three- and four-cylinder units as part of a new modular powertrain architecture. These engines are expected to debut on the next-generation Mercedes-Benz E-Class which is likely to arrive in 2016. Reports surfaced about two years ago that Mercedes would reconsider straight-six mills for the next E-Class, an interesting decision given that the E-Class long ago abandoned gasoline inline-sixes in favor of V-6 engines.
Another rumor from Autocar concerning the next E-Class hints at a new technology called “Autobahn Pilot” which is described as an “autonomous driving assistant with an overtaking function.” This sounds to us like a more advanced version of adaptive cruise control that could also allow the car to pass slower traffic without driver input.
Keep an eye out for more news from Mercedes-Benz over the next few months about the upcoming 911-fighter and new engine technologies.


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MODEL AND musician Selah Marley, the daughter of former Fugees star Lauryn Hill and Bob Marley’s son Rohan, went a step further to prove that talent runs in the family after starring in a fashion shoot for i-D with her siblings.
“They are my world,” she said of her brothers and sisters.
As a kid, Selah’s family moved around a lot. Born in Miami, it wasn’t until she moved to South Orange, New Jersey, that she was finally able to put down roots. As a result, she’s incredibly close to her siblings.
“Truly the best project I’ve ever been a part of,” she said. “I got to do a shoot with my brothers and sisters (missing some), and show our family dynamic and love for each other. Truly, truly, I feel so honoured to have been given this chance to give my siblings this chance.”
Currently based in New York, Selah divides her time between schoolwork — her favorite subject is science — and building up her SoundCloud following.
“I strongly dislike putting myself in boxes,” she says, “but if I were to describe my music, I would probably say futuristic R&B. Or at least that’s what I strive for! Soothing, ambient tones with dope rhythms!”
Selah is also a model on the rise, having been shot for Vogue, starred in the new Miu Miu lookbook, and even walked for Yeezy Season Four and Five.
“My mother exposed me to fashion before I even knew what fashion was,” she recalls. “I would go on runs with her assistants to Alexander McQueen and brands of that caliber. Not to mention our basement, which is basically a couture museum.”
Most recently, she was revealed as the face of Ivy Park — Beyoncé’s sportswear label — for its spring/summer 17 campaign. “I always admired Beyoncé growing up,” Selah states. “I’d always be inspired by her videos and found her freedom of expression so beautiful and empowering.”


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Sheffield-based bakery group Fletchers is looking for opportunities to expand after negotiating a £22 million refinancing package.
The five-year deal gives the Wadsley Bridge group an additional £4.5 million to invest in growth.
Paul Devlin, group finance director, said: “This is a significant step, allowing us to strengthen our balance sheet and pursue strategic options for the future.
“Over the last two years, Fletchers has invested more than £14m in facilities and creating new capacity.
“We have also had to make some hard decisions to rationalise non-profitable parts of the business.
“Facing these difficult challenges has strengthened the company substantially.
“We look forward to the future and the opportunities for further development across our three current businesses and potential new investment opportunities, underpinned by the new banking facility.”
Recent developments include closing a loss-making Barnsley facility, investing £7m in a Sheffield production facility and a £4m expansion of food manufacturing facilities in London.
Fletchers was established in Sheffield in 1895 and has grown to become a prominent manufacturer of fresh and frozen bakery products.


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The complaint named the parent company BASF SE, its North American branch, and DIEM Labs, which according to the complaint had entered into a marketing relationship with BASF. The complaint concerns two BASF products, Hepaxa and Hepaxa PD.
Hepaxa is a highly concentrated form of fish oil that provides 460 mg of EPA and 380 mg of DHA omega-3 fatty acids per serving. The products debuted in the US in 2018 and launched in Europe a year later. Both were marketed as products that “could help ten million patients treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.” The PD product was aimed at children.
BASF has agreed to pay a $ 416,000 fine and stop its allegedly false and misleading claims that, in the case of NAFLD, could significantly reduce liver fat. The company had its claims a study published in the journal Nutrients in 2018.
FTC does not agree with the statistical basis of the study’s conclusion
This study, which included 176 subjects and stretched over 24 weeks, found that liver fat decreased roughly the same in both the placebo and fish oil arms of the study. But it used a statistical technique known as regression analysis to link the highest red blood cell omega-3 levels achieved by the subjects in the experimental group to a trend toward liver fat reduction.
“The patients’ liver fat levels were significantly reduced in both the placebo and intervention arms, masking any effects of omega-3 on liver fat levels. . . . In a post-hoc analysis, significant placebo-adjusted reductions in liver fat were observed in subpopulations with a high FLI (Fatty Liver Index), ”the study concluded.
The FTC didn’t buy the idea that the post hoc analysis supports a “clinically proven” claim of reducing liver fat in NAFLD patients.
“BASF and DIEM have failed to make serious claims about how Hepaxa capsules would help adults and children with liver disease,” said Daniel Kaufman, acting director of the FTC’s consumer protection office. “Companies can’t pick out data and need to know about the science behind – or not behind – their products.”
FTC said the fine will be used to reimburse consumers who may have purchased the products. The website for the product has been removed and Hepaxa products are listed as “out of stock” on several sales portals.


text:
America hit by first slump in industrial production in more than year
Seal of approval: 35 business leaders, including Marks & Spencer's Stuart Rose signed a letter in support of George Osborne's austerity measures
Industrial production fell in the US last month for the first time in more than a year, triggering fresh fears about the global economy.
American factories, mines and utilities dropped 0.2 per cent in September, the first fall since the end of the recession in 2009, according to the Federal Reserve.
Manufacturing helped drive the US recovery but signs that it is flagging are a worry for the country and key trading partners, such as Britain.
‘Growth rates will be lower over the next few months,’ said Harm Bandholz, chief US economist at UniCredit in New York. ‘The pick-up in global growth has started to slow down.’
The data was released as David Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, said Britain faced a new slump due to public spending cuts.
‘We are desperately in danger of a double dip and the last thing you do in a recession is make things worse,’ he told Bloomberg.
Blanchflower said the austerity measures to be outlined by George Osborne in tomorrow’s spending review will be ‘a terrible mistake’.
He was speaking as 35 business leaders – including Marks & Spencer chairman Sir Stuart Rose – signed a letter in support of the proposals.
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Is Windows 11 released?
Windows 11 is due out later in 2021 and will be delivered over several months. The rollout of the upgrade to Windows 10 devices already in use today will begin in 2022 through the first half of that year. That being said, new devices running Windows 11 are still expected to release this year. Moneycontrol.comWindows 11 RTM release date: Intel's support document may have leaked it
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On Friday, the company's DirectX team walked that OS restriction back.
"Microsoft is committed to ensuring that when game developers adopt a new API, they can reach as many gamers as possible," DirectX Program Manager Hassan Uraizee writes in explaining that the upcoming DirectStorage API will no longer be Windows 11-exclusive. This statement comes alongside Microsoft's launch of a DirectStorage preview program that will let developers immediately begin testing this feature in intensive 3D software. The API, among other things, redirects I/O calls for 3D graphical assets directly to a computer's GPU.
Uraizee's post says that one other previously announced DirectStorage pillar, a jump to higher-speed SSD storage, has also moved into "optional" territory. Essentially, Microsoft is now claiming that developers can expect any game-loading pipeline built on DirectStorage to scale down to lower-performing computers while still benefiting from OS-level tweaks like decompressing assets via the GPU—aided largely by DirectX's Agility SDK, which can be dropped into various Windows versions (Win10 version 1909 and higher) and work without expected conflict with other OS elements. Even so, Windows 11's "storage stack upgrades" will be exclusive to that OS, and thus Uraizee says that gamers will want Windows 11 to access the "full potential" of DirectStorage.
But one of DirectStorage's implied sales pitches is the ability to design real-time 3D worlds that revolve around a revolutionized I/O approach—one where wide-open landscapes and detailed elements no longer have to be hidden by mid-game trickery (i.e., waiting in an elevator or crawling through a thin passageway). Uraizee's brief explanation doesn't draw a line in the sand regarding how DirectStorage and its Win10 and Win11 variants will or won't factor into such ambitions for PC games.
Either way, this is a big walkback from Microsoft's previous announcements about DirectStorage. Perhaps Microsoft noticed how many interested gamers' PCs failed last month's Windows 11 compatibility test—due either to a lack of solid-state media or a motherboard that failed checks for Trusted Platform Module (TPM)—and scrambled to guarantee that its DirectX 12 Ultimate ambitions aren't further limited. Already, DX12U requires more modern GPUs, including Nvidia's RTX 2000 and 3000 families and AMD's RDNA 2 line, and in a chip-shortage universe, uptake to compatible GPUs has been slow.
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20 July, 2021 - 08:11pm
Windows Latest reported that Intel referred to Windows 11 as the "October 2021 Update (21H2)" in the release notes for DCH GPU driver 22.214.171.12484. That naming convention follows the same pattern as major updates to Windows 10, with the Windows 10 May 2021 Update also being known as the 21H1 release, for example.
Intel also clarified that it wasn't referring to an upcoming version of Windows 10 by identifying the operating system as "Microsoft Windows 11-64." Microsoft could still release a noteworthy update to Windows 10 in the second half of the year, of course, but Intel was specifically targeting Windows 11 with this driver update.
There have been other signs that Microsoft plans to release Windows 11 in October even though it's officially set to launch during the holidays. Various widgets, messages, and user interface elements in the company's promotional materials reference October. That's either an Easter egg or a very late April Fool's prank.
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20 July, 2021 - 08:11pm
It’s rolling out to a subset of Insiders at first
The rollout of all of the promised features will happen over time, Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc said in a blog post. “In this first stage, you’ll be able to sign in, add contacts, and connect via individual and group chats,” he said. “Over the coming weeks, we will enable audio and video calling, meetings, screen sharing and other capabilities.” He also noted that Chat will roll out first to a “subset” of Insiders. To get started, click the Chat icon on the taskbar and sign in with your Microsoft account.
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20 July, 2021 - 08:11pm
Windows 11 has changed most of the features that come with the operating software, but now it has been revealed that it may even change the look of what you see by default when it is released. Microsoft Windows 11 release date is expected in October, according to some reports. Instead of the bright and shiny interface that you are used to, Upon downloading, Windows 11 will show something that is entirely different, something that has benefits way beyond cosmetic.
What users may get to see by default on booting up Windows 11 is the colour black being splashed across your screen! Yes, the dark theme will come with Windows 11 by default in some versions (SKUs), according to Windows Latest. However, that will happen on a clean install of Microsoft Windows 11 or if you are setting up a new computer.
While this will be a first for Windows 11, other tech companies have already ventured into this field on both smartphones and laptops.
The reason behind it is a healthy one. Staring at very bright screens is not good for the eyes, they need more soothing colours and the dark theme is an ideal way to go. It has been widely argued that the dark theme is much more restful for the eyes than the bright mode. Not just health, it also has a wider environmental impact. It will reduce power usage on your devices and that can only be good. A double whammy of goodness is just what the doctor ordered in this fraught era when contagious diseases are on the rise and extreme environmental events are increasing.
However, for those who just cannot tolerate the dark theme and need their screens to be bright and shiny all the time to put them in the right mood, Microsoft Windows 11 has provided that option too. The light mode is just a few clicks away on Windows 11.
However, since both the options will in any case be available to users at the click of a button, there is always the option of switching between both, time and again, if that is not too much of a bother. Of course, you could do yourself, and the environment a favour, by consciously picking and sticking to the dark theme.
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19 July, 2021 - 12:20pm
John Cable, the VP of Program Management for Windows Servicing and Delivery released a memo stating the blatantly obvious; a large percentage of the ~1.3 billion monthly active Windows 10 devices out there will not be eligible to run Windows 11. Microsoft seem to have also realized that the last long term servicing branch of Windows 10 was the elderly 2019 version. In order to address the way that their actual customers do business Microsoft have come up with a small concession named Windows 10 21H2, which should not in any way be confused with Windows 10 21H2.
The Windows 10 21H2 you may see in your feature preview is different from the Windows 10 21H2 just announced, as the latter will be the new LTSB version, while the former will be pushed to everyone. This offers an interesting choice for those interested in staying on Windows 10 for the foreseeable future. The 2019 version will have, at least at the moment, a full decade of support and will delay the necessity of adopting a new OS until 2029. The new Windows 10 21H2 will only get five years, so opting for the newer version will mean you have to look at upgrading in 2026.
If Windows licensing has been driving you a bit mad over the past decade or so, it is about to get even more byzantine. That is before you even think about Microsoft 365’s Windows as a Service offerings. There were no changes mentioned on the consumer side, you can still expect to see that version of Windows 10 21H2 supported for either 18 or 30 months, depending on the version you use.
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It’s been nearly a month since Microsoft officially announced Windows 11, and if you’re a Windows Insider, you can test it out now. All the company has said about when it will be publicly available is that it’s coming this holiday season. However, there have been various hints that Windows 11 is coming in October.
For example, there was part of the event where the time and date in Windows 11 was set to October 20, 2021, at 11:11am. There was also a message shown from Stevie Bathiche, saying “Good luck today, Panos! Excited to turn it up to 11…can’t wait for October!”
Let’s break this down a bit. It makes sense that Windows 11 is listed, since the driver was officially the first to support the new OS. We’ve also known for some time that Windows 11 is going to be version 21H2, just like this fall’s version of Windows 10. However, it’s unlikely to be called the October 2021 Update, because frankly, it’s a new operating system. It’s not an update to anything.
It’s a lot more likely that Windows 10 version 21H2 is going to be called the October 2021 Update. After all, that’s how Windows 10 updates are usually named, just like we saw with the Windows 10 October 2020 Update and the Windows 10 October 2018 Update (the 2019 fall update was in November; you can probably guess what it was called).
So, did Intel spill the beans that Windows 11 is coming in October? Maybe, and maybe all of the other hints are true as well. However, it seems more likely that this is just a typo. Perhaps, whoever was writing up these release notes took Windows 10 version 21H2 and Windows 11 version 21H2, and accidentally combined them into the same line. We’ve reached out to Intel for comment.
While we know that the first shipping version of Windows 11 will be version 21H2, we don’t know about future updates. Unlike Windows 10 – which got updated twice a year, Windows 11 is getting annual updates. It makes sense that Microsoft might shed the ‘H1’ and ‘H2’ in favor of just using the two-digit year. Perhaps in 2022, instead of Windows 11 version 22H2, we’ll just get Windows 11 version 22.
Time will tell on that one, and time will tell on the official date that Windows 11 launches. Honestly, when the OS was announced on June 24, Microsoft probably wasn’t even ready to commit to a specific month. After all, we’re now in the second half of June and some major features aren’t even in testing yet. Teams integration isn’t there, and even more notably, Android app support isn’t there. These have to be ready for public testing, and then they have to be good enough to ship before release.
October is just two and a half months away at this point. You can expect a lot to happen in the world of Windows news between now and then.
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Heineken has unveiled a coffee-machine style home appliance it claims will bring the perfect’ draught beer to living rooms in the hopes of pushing its lesser-known brands into new drinking occasions.
The high-end appliance, dubbed Sub for the way it pressurises beer similarly to a submarine’s environment, is shaped like a barrel on its side and has been developed with industrial designer Marc Newson. It is loaded with replaceable 2 litre kegs of beer that can be kept in the refrigerator.
The kegs will be sold via a dedicated online portal for the brand, Heineken’s first ecommerce platform, as well in premium department stores before eventually being rolled out to supermarkets. The first brands to be available include Heineken, Affligem, Desperados, Birra Moretti Baffo d’Oro with more planned. It will also offer seasonal beers.
Heineken first hinted at the product last month and says it has been developed over the last three years in response to consumer demand for a more premium at-home drinking experience. It is also planning to use the product to lift the profile of some of its smaller world beer brands.
François-Xavier Mahot, senior director for innovation at Heineken, told Marketing Week it is targeting gadget-focused men with the product, which it it believes can match the success of the coffee machine. The aim is to create a “quality” experience discerning drinkers can associate with the Heineken brand at home, he adds.
It is not the first time the brewer has attempted to crack the home keg-tapping market with previous product launches stemming from its BeerTender tie-up with manufacturer Krups. Mahot says Sub represents the next-generation appliance from the ongoing partnership adding it has the potential to create a new battleground for rivals.
He adds: “Draught beer is the unique proposition of beer as a category in terms of how it is marketed to customers and what we’re doing is a step forward in terms of enjoying that experience at home. If you look at what Nespresso is offering customers, it’s a variety of coffees you can enjoy at home that is even bigger then what is on offer in any café of restaurant. When you have guests over it can be something that is the centre of a social occasion where discussions about the product and the heritage of our brands can take place.”
It will roll out globally from 2014, starting with France and Italy – countries the brewer says are steeped in design heritage. A global marketing campaign, riffing on the brand’s submarine moniker, will support the launch in each market and includes outdoor, print, PR activity alongside an online video that could be aired on TV.
The brewer refused to rule out further extensions around the Sub brand claiming it “rarely invests in one-off projects” it cannot develop for the long-term.
Heineken expects the product to accelerate attempts to generate 6 per cent of sales a year from new products. The brewer is banking on innovation to help patch haemorrhaging sales across Western Europe. Volumes fell 8 per cent year-on-year across the region in the first half of the year.


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LG Electronics is set to unveil the most advanced model of its G Pad tablet series at the coming IFA 2015 in Berlin.
Following its official debut, both LTE and WiFi versions of G Pad II 10.1 will become a
Eurostar Group, a leading digital and consumer technology innovator in the Middle East, has launched Asianet Mobile TV Tablet and App for the GCC – a bouquet of 20 popular Malayalam television channels that could be watched on the go.
Abu Dhabi’s Department of Finance showcased its new customs inspection app for tablets, which will soon be implemented by the General Administration of Customs - Abu Dhabi at the recently concluded 2015 Smart Government Exhibition.
Ancient artefacts dating back thousands of years have been unearthed in Bahrain Fort.
A clay tablet bearing ancient cuneiform script dating back to between 503BC and 504BC was discovered during a seven-week excavation in the south
The number of consumers who will purchase a wearable fitness monitor by 2020 is expected to rise by 28 per cent, said a report, highlighting a trend for new intelligent devices.
Accenture Digital Consumer Survey for Communications
Phablets - smartphones with a screen size of 5.5 inches and larger - are surging in popularity in the Middle East and Africa as customers increasing look for a mobile device that can fulfil the combine role of smartphone and a tablet, acco
Microsoft Corp has unveiled the new Surface 3, a tablet that can replace a laptop, but is thinner, lighter and more affordable.
Powerful and efficient, Surface 3 has been optimised to run full Windows and Office and features long
The retailers and suppliers at the ongoing Abu Dhabi Electronics Shopper (ADES) are expecting stronger sales especially in their latest smartphones and tablets, according to a report.
The four-day event will conclude tomorrow (Mar
UAE's leading telecom services operator Etisalat has announced the exclusive launch of the 4G-enabled Nexus 9 LTE by Google, the world’s first Android 5 Lollipop tablet, in the country.
It will available to customers on
Bentley Systems has launched its new ‘Bentley Map Mobile,’ which is enabling field workers to quickly access and redline large, up-to-date geospatial and business datasets on iOS and Android tablets.
The two most signi


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6 th September, Liverpool, UK
Liverpool, UK – 6 th September - Mobile games service provider and publisher, Thumbstar Games, are excited to announce a deal has been signed with Urbanscan Ltd, leading to the imminent release of a host of exciting new titles across iOS and Android, Smartphone and Tablet devices.
Urbanscan, established by industry veteran Ian Stewart, boasts an impressive portfolio of intellectual properties, including celebrated Gremlin titles Bounder, and ZOOL. The digital publisher and developer are also creating exciting new IPs.
Included in the upcoming releases is a bang up to date edition of the much-loved series, Premier Manager, which was first released 20 years ago and has been fully optimised, and developed, specifically for Smartphone and Tablet experiences.
In addition, other titles to be released in the near future are colourful action puzzler Gem Smashers, a re-imagined version of an 8-bit classic, Bounders World, and social puzzle creator JigAPix.
Of the partnership, Gareth Edmondson, CEO of Thumbstar Games commented “It’s fantastic to be working with Urbanscan. Their gaming heritage is second to none and to be involved in bringing this collection of classic IPs to market globally is very exciting for Thumbstar and the continued growth of our publishing division.”
About Thumbstar Games
Thumbstar is a mobile games service provider representing more than 150 developers and providing in excess of 3500 titles through 200 channels globally, including the UK and Europe, S.E. Asia, the Americas, the Middle East and Australasia. Thumbstar originally started out in 2008 as an aggregator / publisher of mobile games for J2Me, Windows Mobile, RIM BlackBerry and Symbian. Since then Thumbstar has also moved into mobile games publishing for iOS and Android and expanded its business offering to become a digital developer, distributor and publisher of mobile entertainment lifestyle applications, wallpapers and themes.
About Urbanscan Ltd
Urbanscan is a digital publisher and developer established by industry veteran Ian Stewart to exploit a portfolio of intellectual properties owned by the company, including historic Gremlin titles such as Bounder, ZOOL, Premier Manager, as well as creating exciting new IPs.


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This just in: business leaders blame rigid systems and technologies as well as broken or inefficient processes for creating execution gaps that damage their business performance. This is according to Celonis’ 2021 State of Business Execution Benchmark Report.
The report is based on an independent survey of 2,000 business leaders commissioned by Celonis across six countries and eight different industries. It found significant execution gaps between average and best-in-class performance in the core business functions of Accounts Payable (A/P), Accounts Receivable (A/R), Procurement and Order Management.
Based on the report analysis, these could be costing companies hundreds of millions of dollars in missed opportunities.
Those surveyed called out broken or inefficient processes as one of the top three obstacles for Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Procurement. In fact, in Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable, respondents cited rigid systems and technologies as the biggest obstacle to performing at their full execution capacity — the maximum level of performance a company can achieve with its available time and resources.
The other root causes of execution gaps identified in the research include:
Rigid systems and technologies (41%)
Broken or inefficient processes (39%)
Organizational silos (37%)
Rigid systems and technologies (42%)
Fragmented data landscape (40%)
Broken or inefficient processes (40%)
Lack of executive sponsorship (41%)
Fragmented data landscape (41%)
Broken or inefficient processes (39%)
Lack of flexible logistics networks (46%)
Lack of visibility into processes (42%)
Lack of visibility into supplier performance (41%)
“You can’t run a top-performing company in today’s digital world without perfecting business execution,” said Alexander Rinke, co-founder and co-CEO of Celonis. “Too often, the promises of digitization fall short because the core transactional systems that companies have relied on for years are fragmented and rigid. The best companies realize they must move from analog operations to intelligent execution and unlock more execution capacity in their businesses.”
Despite millions spent to transform their business operations, companies continue to face costly execution gaps. By identifying and eliminating these gaps, they have the opportunity to maximize their execution capacity to reach that of the top-performing companies.
Key differences between average and top performers highlighted by the research include:
On average companies pay on time only 50% of the time, compared to 77% for top performers
Processing a single invoice costs $17.42 on average, while top performers reduced this cost by more than half to $6.84
Invoices, on average, are 30 days delinquent in being paid for typical companies, while the best ones reduce average days delinquent to just 8 days.
The average company scores a collections effectiveness index of 57%, compared to 84% for top performers
Only 54% of the time do supplier deliveries arrive on time for the average company, compared to 83% for the best-in-class performers
A single purchase order costs $15 for an average company, more than 10 times the cost for the most efficient companies, which spend $1.35 per purchase order
A single sales order costs $29.31 each to process for the average company, about three times the cost versus the best performer who spend an average of $9.94 per sales order
Just over half (56%) of orders are touchless for the average company, while the leaders reach touchless order rates of 80%
The financial impact of closing execution gaps can be substantial. Based on the report’s analysis, companies could free up as much as $567 million in working capital, and save $105 million on average.
Costs savings can come from reducing the cost to process a purchase order in Procurement or reducing the cost of a sales order in Order Management to the best-in-class performance found in the research survey. Working capital can be maximized both by improving days payable outstanding in AP and by shifting days sales outstanding in AR to best-in-class performance, benchmarked from JP Morgan’s Working Capital Index 2020.
The financial impact was based on an analysis of an average $5 billion-revenue company with an average order price of $1,500, 3.3 million in sales orders, 3 million purchase orders and a total supplier spend of $2.4 billion.
The full report surveyed over 2000 business leaders across six countries, eight industries, and four different lines of business to build benchmarks that accurately represent the state of business execution today.
Dive into the analysis to understand:
The biggest challenges facing Procurement, A/P, Order Management and A/R
How these departments are performing across key KPIs
The financial impact of avg. vs best-in-class performance
How each department can maximize its execution capacity
And if you’re curious about the financial impact calculations, or want to see them applied to your own business, get in touch.


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The Swedish pavilion will be located in Expo 2020’s sustainability district.
Months of planning have successfully led to the final piece of Al Wasl dome being lifted into place after an intricate and complex construction operation. The dome’s huge steel crown was positioned
As we step into the New Year, I am excited, because I have been eagerly awaiting the World Expo 2020, since Dubai was announced as the host. It is one event I don’t want to miss.
The exceptional “World Government Summit- Expo 2020” will be the biggest gathering yet since its inception with expected attendance of over 10,000 high-profile officials, 30 international organisations and 600 experts and scholars.
Established pursuant to Decision No. 04 of 2002, DMCC is dedicated to enhancing the flow of commodity trade through Dubai. According to the new Law, the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority will be responsible for supervising DMCC.
The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has ramped up its preparations ahead of implementing the ban on importing any type of waterpipe tobacco (known in Arabic as ‘Mu’assel’) and electrically heated cigarette plugs unless they carry the ‘Digital Tax Stamps (DTS)’ as of March 1, 2020.
The United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia strengthen their economic partnership to enhance the trade and create opportunities for the businesses and people in both the countries.
The foreign investments in India increased to $443 million in the financial year 2019 from $224 million in financial year 2018. Poised to be the third largest consumer retail destination in the world, India is now an attractive investment destination for retail.


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In a 1959 essay, Capote noted how Avedon seemed to capture ‘every hard-earned crow’s foot’ in his subjects – perhaps not realising that he would one day be photographed …
Issey Miyake’s clothing is both theatrical and practical. The Japanese designer has died aged 84.
The Chandigarh-based model, who is pursuing her master's degree in public administration, was crowned by her predecessor Andrea Meza of Mexico, who won the pageant in 2020.
Kanye West, Gigi Hadid, Justin Timberlake and Hailey Bieber are among stars who have paid tribute to Louis Vuitton's first African-American artistic director.
While some celebrate Saudi Arabia's broadening media landscape, human rights organisations fear that imprisoned women's activists and government critics are being neglected.
Kamala Harris’ decision to wear a white pantsuit was a nod to suffragists and political leaders that came before her.
Exploring real options for sustainable clothing choices, thrift shopping and our unhealthy obsession with staring at clothes on fashion apps.
Climate activists are engaged in a fight against the throwaway mentality of the textile industry that Spanish fashion giant Zara has perfected over the years. For the company itself, …
Today’s red carpet scene is as exciting as it is uninteresting.


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Antitrust enforcement agencies should reject a proposed US$45.2 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable by Comcast, because it would give the combined company huge market power in the broadband and cable TV industries, a handful of consumer and digi...
Several consumer and digital rights groups applauded the U.S. Department of Justice's opposition to AT&T's proposed acquisition of rival mobile carrier T-Mobile USA, with critics of the deal saying it would have hurt consumers.
Ninety-eight percent of U.S. residents would have access to high-speed mobile broadband service within five years under a plan that President Barack Obama detailed Thursday.
57 per cent of likely voters in the U.S. don't support any Internet regulation by the federal government, according to a new survey released by Broadband for America, an advocacy group with members including AT&T and Verizon Communications.
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With demand for bicycles soaring due to the coronavirus, Dick's Sporting Goods Inc.
is Bank of America's "solitary leisure" pick. With consumers shifting their dollars from entertainment like movies and amusement parks, analysts note a 103% year-over-year spike in dollars spent on bicycles in May, based on debit card activity. Despite states beginning to reopen, June sales remain up 68% compared to last year. Bank of America analysts led by Alexander Perry also note a rise in downloads for the Strava app, which offers GPS tracing to cyclists and runners. Dick's offers a variety of bike brands and a large percentage of its bikes are priced less than $500. Bank of America channel checks suggest a high number of out-of-stocks, however, analysts say the athletic retailer will raise inventory. Other factors that will give Dick's margin upside include a likely uptick for baseball gear, with the season delayed by the pandemic, and increasing favor from Nike Inc.
due to Dick's capabilities both online and in stores. Bank of America also thinks Fox Factory Holding Corp.
will benefit thanks to its mountain bike business. Bank of America has a $50 price objective on Dick's Sporting Goods, and $90 on Fox Factory. Dick's Sporting Goods stock has fallen 17% for the year to date, Fox Factory has rallied 25.4% and the S&P 500 index
is down 1.7% for the period.


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864 CRE Execs Told Us How The Coronavirus Will Impact The Industry. Here's What They Said.
Bisnow surveyed 864 commercial real estate professionals to find out how the industry is responding to the coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19.
The majority of survey respondents, or 70%, said they were concerned that the coronavirus could affect the global markets and lead to a recession.
Coronavirus has been moving quickly, throwing the world off guard, and making impacts hard to track. Bisnow’s survey responses were collected between March 3 and 8, and as the coronavirus outbreak has developed, answers to those 22 questions may have shifted.
Stock market volatility, travel concerns, event cancellations and quarantine lockdowns in some countries have resulted in an uncertain global business environment, which is starting to trickle down into the commercial real estate sector.
Colliers International Senior Vice President Tom de Jong told Bisnow more CRE investors may hold off on major investment decisions.
“Two weeks ago, we were at all-time market highs, unemployment at all-time lows, everything was sailing along beautifully, and then this virus comes along and throws a monkey wrench in everything,” Jong said.
Last week, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development issued its interim outlook report, noting that output contractions in China were being felt around the world, and that global growth prospects remain uncertain. In the same week, the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by half a percentage point to mitigate the anticipated economic effects stemming from the coronavirus.
“Nobody really knows the full extent of where we end up on the other side,” Jong said. “In the meantime, I think people are going to be very cautious in their decision-making processes and possibly put things on hold.”
Jong is based out of the Colliers International San Jose office in California, but works on national transactions for investment properties that are designed for self-storage assets.
If market uncertainty continues to delay business deals, that could lead to a recession — not directly because of the virus itself, but because people have decision-paralysis, he said.
Only 37% of survey respondents said the coronavirus had already impacted their business. However, nearly half of respondents, 47%, said there had been internal discussions at their company about how to prepare for the financial impacts of the coronavirus.
Similarly, about 45% of respondents said there had been discussions at their business about how to manage client expectations and ensure business stability if the coronavirus becomes more of an emergency in the markets they serve.
Disruption to business travel has already affected some CRE professionals. About 32% of respondents said they had changed travel plans as a result of recent news reports, while another 18% said they might cancel travel plans if the situation continues.
The reasons for canceling travel varied, with 32% of respondents indicating that their companies had restricted travel, while 26% said that an event or client meeting was canceled by somebody else. Twenty percent said they canceled plans because they were personally concerned about getting sick.
Jong had planned to attend the Self Storage Association Spring Conference next week in San Antonio, but said the conference was canceled because of coronavirus concerns.
“I have several listings that I was scheduled to pitch to potential investors at this conference, and obviously with the conference canceled, we need to figure out if we’re going to do face-to-face meetings, or if it’s going to be maybe a webinar — I don’t know yet,” Jong said.
At the corporate level, Jong said Colliers International restricted travel for employees. But at the local level, individual offices haven’t implemented strict policies around business activity or travel.
Eagle Development Group President Mike Ziegler said last week he attended the International Council of Shopping Centers Mid-Atlantic conference in D.C.’s National Harbor, which had strong attendance in line with past years.
“You saw a few people bumping knuckles or touching elbows as opposed to shaking hands, but a lot of it, quite honestly, I believe was followed by a laugh afterwards, so it looked like it was in jest, for the most part,” Ziegler said.
Great Falls, Virginia-based Eagle Development Group builds small retail centers in the Midwest and Southeast, typically adjacent to big-box or grocery-anchored retail centers.
Though Ziegler has registered for another ICSC regional conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the end of March, he has not made any travel preparations. Ziegler is also holding off on registering for the ICSC RECon event in Las Vegas in May, which typically draws tens of thousands of global attendees each year.
Based on Bisnow's survey, the CRE industry is split on whether it will restrict business travel in the future. About 29% of respondents said they hadn’t decided whether to reduce business travel until the spread of the coronavirus slows, while 25% said they would travel as usual. Only 10% said they would not travel until the coronavirus is contained.
The majority, 53% of respondents, said that a slowdown in business travel would not affect their deal flow or other metrics of success for their company. While 36% said the reduction of business travel could have a small effect on their business, 10% said the impact would be significant.
Ziegler anticipates that the disruption to daily workflow will be minimal to his business.
“We’re unique in many ways, in being a small business and being one with just a few people involved, in that we are very adept at working remotely already, and are used to doing most of our business via phone, email and laptop. The threat of the coronavirus hitting our particular business won’t disrupt us,” Ziegler said.
However, Ziegler has reached out to his insurance company to see how business interruption insurance will cover Eagle Development Group in the event that his retail tenants are affected by decreased business, and face difficulty in paying rent.
“We do feel that this is not a permanent situation, we have to manage our way through this much like we would if there was a small fire in a building or any other loss that occurred with damage to the property,” he said.
Circle Industrial principal and founder Patrick Maloney said that so far, the industrial real estate market has not seen any material disruption, but his company is monitoring the broader economic impact on customers and tenants.
“Industrial should be well-positioned, relative to other real estate assets. We are at the foundation of goods movement, which is relatively necessary. In some manner, higher use of e-commerce might benefit industrial,” Maloney said.
Los Angeles-based Circle Industrial has a strong presence in Southern California, as well as a broader portfolio of properties spanning from Texas to Delaware. Right now, the company is mostly working on standard improvements for vacancies and minor office modifications.
Maloney said that the company instituted an office rotation and work from home policy, but that there has not been a negative impact on the business.
“We are doing it as much for drill as due to any concern,” Maloney said.
The availability of construction materials is also expected to be affected. In the survey, 62% of respondents said that while they haven’t seen an increase in the cost of materials, they are expecting one. Another 21% said the disruption is already happening.
Half of the respondents said that the spread of the coronavirus would make construction materials more difficult to obtain, which in turn is expected to delay construction projects.
About 32% said they expect the coronavirus to impact their company’s typical supply chain, but that they would source materials elsewhere, and that there will be little disruption.
HST Construction Director of Operations Eric Brock said that at the moment, he has not seen an impact on business, with no issues affecting personnel or material deliveries.
The general contractor is based out of Bellevue, Washington, and focuses on commercial interior projects, including office, medical and retail spaces. Brock said the company is keeping an eye on the situation at large, and is making plans for how to deal with potential disruptions.
“At this point, it’s difficult to anticipate or have expectations for what the effects will be as the news changes daily. Because all of our projects are tenant improvements, our business is tied to the commercial real estate market in the Puget Sound,” Brock said. “As the COVID-19 outbreak affects the local economy, we will feel its impact.”
The coronavirus outbreak appears to have caught the industry off-guard. To this point, 54% of respondents said they didn't have a contingency plan.
Just shy of half, 49%, of respondents are not planning to spend money on additional resources to prepare for a coronavirus emergency. Only 19% said they are investing in additional resources, while 30% said they would consider it, if the situation continues.
Brock said the company’s contingency plans involved providing employees with technology to work and collaborate remotely.
Washington state has been one of the most afflicted regions for coronavirus in the U.S., with more than 140 cases reported as of Monday afternoon, ranking only behind New York.
Overall, the commercial real estate industry seems optimistic that any pain will dissipate quickly. In Bisnow’s survey, 44% of respondents said the effects of the coronavirus are short-term, and that the market will rebound quickly. About 22% said that the virus will have a lasting impact on smaller or weaker businesses, but will not have a long-term, broad economic impact.
While 20% said that the economy could see long-term supply chain changes, 10% of respondents said they consider the coronavirus to be a black swan event, which will cause a recession.
The majority of survey respondents were based in California (13%), Texas (11%), New York (9%), Georgia (7%) and Illinois (7%).
We will be using data from this survey to inform reporting over the next few weeks and even months. Stay tuned!


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News Users of now-defunct Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX are requesting further information concerning the recent loss of 103 Bitcoins (BTC) during the funds' recovery. An unfortunate lossAs Cointelegraph reported in February, one of the Big Four accounting firms — EY (formerly b..
News Over two-thirds of enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region lack a solid understanding of blockchain tech and how to apply it, a new Ernst & Young (EY) poll reveals. The Business Times of Singapore reports on July 16 that the Big Four auditor consultancy firm conducted its poll during a live bl..


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Developer news items we found relating to mobile apps revenue
How the US Government shutdown could effect your app
Friday, January 11, 2019 by Richard Harris
The impacts of the US Government being offline are obvious to the daily operations of the National parks, security agencies, and other federally funded offices. But it doesn't stop there. Techcrunch recently reported how this shutdown (close to the longest running in history), is affecting IPO ready companies, and Karen Hao, a reporter for MIT Technology Review rece...
App Stores And App Distribution Drive The $700B Mobile Internet
Saturday, December 13, 2014 by Richard Harris
Mobile internet revenue are expected to more than triple to $700 billion by 2017 and app stores and app distribution are one of the main drivers to this area. Digi-Capital released results that over $19 billion has been invested in the last 12 months. There are currently 32 billion-dollar mobile Internet companies to date.Consumer apps were indicated to d...
How Game Developers Can Bank on “Found Time”
Monday, March 3, 2014 by Jon Jackson
to Nielsen Mobile, consumers spend more time using their mobile devices to play
games than anything else, and 80 percent of all mobile apps revenue generated
last year was from games.
Motivated by either a fear of missing something or found time,” consumers
pick up their phones hundreds of times a day at idle moments when they have
nothing to do...