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The metaverse could be tech’s next trillion-dollar opportunity, according to Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook/Meta Platforms. The business world is obsessed with “the metaverse”: the concept of shared worlds driven by virtual products and digital experiences that are highly immersive and interactive.
We already have virtual worlds featuring live concerts and online games where players spend hundreds of hours — but metaverse enthusiasts see a future where entire societies thrive in an online realm inhabited by avatars of real people.
While the space is still in early days, the longer-term implications may not be trivial. Some users — especially younger ones — may eventually earn, spend, and invest most of their money in digital worlds. The metaverse could represent a $1T market by the end of the decade, according to CB Insights’ Industry Analyst Consensus.
The metaverse is a vision, not a specific technology. For enterprises, this ambiguity can make it challenging to figure out how to tap into the emerging trends the metaverse represents. Below are the companies making it a reality:
The metaverse requires compute and processing infrastructure that can support both big data flows and low latency. Tech emerging within categories such as chips & processors, 5G, cloud infrastructure, and edge infrastructure, will prove vital to creating a seamless, lag-free experience in the metaverse.
Chips & processors: Advancements in this space will support the intense computing and processing requirements of metaverse applications.
New metaverse-focused hardware — e.g., virtual reality (VR) headsets and augmented reality (AR) glasses — is being designed to support intense workloads related to high-fidelity graphics and artificial intelligence (AI) on smaller, lightweight devices. Qualcomm chips stand out in this arena — the tech giant claims its Snapdragon chips have been used in over 50 AR/VR devices, including popular VR headsets like Meta’s Oculus and HTC Vive. Qualcomm also recently announced the launch of its $100M Snapdragon Metaverse Fund, which will invest in the extended reality (XR) space.
Additionally, Intel claims that the metaverse will necessitate a 1000x increase in computational efficiency, including advancements in 5G and hybrid edge-cloud infrastructures. That said, new chips will also be required to power these critical low latency computing networks. In February 2022, the semiconductor company released details on new chips that will support high-power data centers and 5G networks.
5G & low latency networks: 5G wireless tech will power high-resolution metaverse applications — such as immersive worlds or gaming — by supporting reliable, flexible, and low latency networks for connected devices.
As of 2022, each of the leading telecom companies in the US offers a 5G network. Some are experimenting with 5G in gaming and AR/VR. For example, in April 2021, Verizon partnered with VR startup Dreamscape Immersive to build immersive learning and training applications on Verizon’s 5G network. Three months later, AT&T partnered with Meta’s Reality Labs to show how 5G could be utilized to generate more seamless augmented reality experiences.
Cloud infrastructure: Cloud infrastructure will enable metaverse companies, especially those hosting virtual worlds and experiences, to store and parse through the vast amounts of data they generate.
In 2018, Epic Games‘ Fortnite generated 5 petabytes of data per month (that’s equivalent to 2.5T pages of standard text). In order to store and make sense of this data, Fortnite runs almost entirely on Amazon Web Services (AWS), where it uses cloud computing to aggregate and analyze information from its otherwise unwieldy data stream.
Advancements in this space will also help people access the metaverse on devices that lack sufficient processing power for applications like high-res graphics and AI — cloud computing allows experiences to be processed on a remote server and then streamed to a device, such as a PC, VR headset, or phone. While this back-and-forth communication with an external server can lag, related developments in edge computing and 5G will help to reduce latency.
Edge infrastructure: Edge computing will be used for metaverse applications that depend on real-time responses, such as AR/VR and gaming.
Edge computing enables data from low-power devices to be processed closer to where it is created — i.e., at “the edge.” This can be particularly helpful when it comes to situations that require information to be processed in real time — such as utilizing hand-tracking sensors on a VR headset or processing commands during competitive gaming. In fact, edge infrastructure companies like Stackpath and Zenlayer list gaming and virtual reality among their main focus areas.
Edge processing is heavily interrelated with cloud computing. While cloud infrastructure handles workloads that do not require minimal latency, such as loading out-of-sight objects in a game, edge infrastructure handles inputs that need a very quick response, like player movements. Some companies develop blended offerings. For example, Akamai offers edge-cloud hybrid services to a number of high-profile gaming companies, including Roblox and unicorn Riot Games.
This layer includes hardware devices that allow people to experience the metaverse. While this category encompasses connected devices like mobile phones, PCs, and gaming consoles, it is predominantly centered around emerging technologies designed to enhance immersion in a virtual setting.
Haptics: Haptic startups are developing technology to bring the sense of touch into virtual worlds.
Some startups, such as HaptX and Sense Glove, are developing gloves that grant virtual objects tangibility. Bridging micro-vibrations, pneumatic systems for force resistance, and motion tracking, this technology can give the impression that digital objects have texture, stiffness, and weight.
In the future, haptic technology may extend well beyond a person’s hands. Scotland-based Teslasuit is developing complete bodysuits to provide whole-body haptic feedback and climate control in virtual environments.
Headsets (VR): These companies are developing VR goggles — currently considered the main entry point to metaverse applications. These devices provide visual and audio content to users to immerse them in a digital setting.
One of the most popular VR headsets is Meta’s Oculus, which saw a surge in consumer interest during the 2021 holiday season.
Startups have followed suit. Varjo, for example, uses lidar and computer vision to bring depth perception, eye-tracking, and hand-tracking to its VR headsets.
Holographics: These companies use light diffraction technology to project 3D objects into physical spaces. These holograms, like augmented reality, bring digital experiences into the physical world.
While holographic technology is still in its early stages, it has the potential to be applied to a wide range of use cases, from hologram-led set design and performances to product design and medicine. Base Hologram is using the tech to bring popular artists like Whitney Houston and Buddy Holly back to the stage, while Israel-based RealView Imaging renders holograms of a patient’s internal organs to help with surgical planning.
The technology has a long way to go before it sees widespread success, but companies currently working in the space have given us an idea of what to expect down the road.
Smart glasses (AR): Companies here are developing glasses or contact lenses with AR capabilities.
While not all applications of AR glasses are directly related to the metaverse — for example, AR tools designed exclusively to help engineers fix refrigerators do not revolve around shared experiences — the companies featured in this category are setting the foundation for a bridge between physical and virtual worlds.
As AR gains popularity, particularly for social purposes, the tech will evolve into a tool that more effectively blends virtual and real-world elements — such as interacting with someone’s metaverse avatar at an event — further blurring the line between consumers’ online and offline identities.
Currently, China-based Nreal is developing AR glasses equipped with web browsing and video streaming capabilities for the everyday consumer. Others, like Magic Leap, are developing AR headsets for enterprise use cases.


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by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Oct 27, 2017
The United States on Friday imposed fresh import duties on Chinese aluminum, accusing exporters of dumping their product on the US market at prices below cost.
The move follows a Commerce Department decision in August that also imposed import duties to counteract alleged unfair Chinese subsidies in the aluminum foil industry.
President Donald Trump is due to visit China as part of an 11-day trip to Asia beginning next week.
The Trump administration has aggressively pursued trade remedies in commercial relations with Beijing -- investigating Chinese trade practices on intellectual property and for aluminum and steel on national security grounds.
Perceived Chinese misdeeds in commerce were a mainstay of Trump's populist campaign for the White House but since taking office he has refrained from labeling Beijing a currency manipulator.
Annually, the US runs a steep trade deficit in goods with China of about $350 billion.
In 2016, US imports of Chinese aluminum were estimated at $389 million, according to the Commerce Department.
In a statement on Friday, the Commerce Department said an investigation had reached the preliminary determination that Chinese exporters were moving product at dumping margins of between 96.8 percent and 162.2 percent.
As a result, the department had instructed US Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers based on those rates.
In August, the Commerce Department put preliminary countervailing duties of between 16.6 percent and 81 percent on Chinese aluminum foil imports from two of the same Chinese companies: Dingsheng Aluminum Industries (Hong Kong) Trading Co Ltd and Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials Co Ltd.
Countervailing duties are meant to counteract unfair subsidies of imported goods while anti-dumping duties apply to products sold at less than fair value.
A final decision is due in the countervailing case in December and in April for the anti-dumping duties.
Paris (AFP) Oct 25, 2017
France is seeking "climate veto" powers over the EU's landmark trade deal with Canada to ensure it does not undermine efforts against global warming, Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot said Wednesday. Hailed by the European Union as one of its most ambitious trade deals ever, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement went into force last month despite lingering concerns from environmen ... read more
Global Trade News
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Good news for you gamers fans of Assassin’s Creed. The latest series of the popular game will be back for the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii U.
Quoted from IGN, Friday (3/1), as the publisher and developer Ubisoft game plan will reveal the details of the [...]
Among users of Android smartphones again got good news. This time, an application that has been available only on devices with iOS platform, will also be present on the platform bearing the green robot.
Snapchat, an application that allows you to transmit [...]
An Iranian scientist has claimed that he managed to create a time machine.
Scientist named Ali Razeghi has filed a design called ‘Aryayek Time Travelling Machine‘ to the Centre for Strategic Inventions.
Quoted from Huffingtonpost, Friday [...]
Linux developers, Canonical, claims a new version of Ubuntu 13.04 or so-called Raring Ringtail more efficient.
According to the Canonical claim, Raring Ringtail has improved performance. Among other uses fewer resources, faster boot times, lower [...]
Computers are often problematic certainly very disturbing your busy day with work or just play using the computer.
Problems that occur on a computer is often assumed to be a problem we can not solve yourself, so you often bring the problematic computer [...]
Cooler Master Thursday (09/04) launches headphones aimed at people who love to travel, namely HC-300 and HS-500.
Both headphones are using HDSS technology, a breakthrough technology that eliminates the distortion that can move more freely.
Model HC-300 [...]
Map of Japan and Korea also did not show up.
Among users of Bing Maps in a number of countries, was shocked by the disappearance of the map of the three influential countries in the world, Japan, Korea and Israel from the map application.
Human skull intentionally shaped like alien heads were found in a 1000 year-old tomb in Mexico, according to the researchers reported as quoted by LiveScience.
Practice changing the shape of the skull has become common practice in Central America. But [...]
Given the importance to always be vigilant when surfing the internet, here are some practical tips from Microsoft Indonesia.
- Lock your computer and other accounts with strong passwords, as well as a unique four-digit PIN on the mobile phone.
- Do not [...]
The key features? iPhone
Every day the number and types of smartphones is increasing. Choose the one that suits the needs of each person, require adequate information about the technology, features, and operating system. Especially considering the price [...]
Electronic manufacturer Samsung Electronics continues to seriously working on portable computer market (notebook).
Despite playing for two years, Samsung has dared to issue a premium grade products at affordable prices.
Samsung Notebook Series 5 AMD [...]


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All-day McDonald's breakfast coming to the UAE (for a week, at least)
Those meaty dreams of afternoon McMuffins are about to become a reality.
Almost everyone’s been there: You’ve raced into McDonald’s a minute after 11am and tried to order a Sausage McMuffin, only to be netted with a whole lot of disappointment.
Well, as it turns out, tomorrow marks the day Egg McMuffin-lovers with a penchant for sleeping in have been dreaming of for years: McDonald’s is officially launching its all-day breakfast at UAE restaurants… for one week, at least.
You can finally eat me after 11am.
Running from Tuesday 14 March to Monday 20 March, National Breakfast Week is the first time breakfast enthusiasts in the UAE have the extended opportunity to enjoy iconic McMuffins throughout the day… and night.
Say goodbye to having to roll out of bed and hustle to your local chain before 11am, and hello to the days of ordering a hash browns at lunchtime.
Usually only served between 5am to 11am, McDonald’s breakfast items including Egg McMuffins, Chicken Muffins and Hotcakes have become firm favourites. Every day in the UAE alone, more than 8,000 breakfast meals are enjoyed around the country.
For ‘early birds hoping to catch the worm’, McDonald’s UAE will also be marking the occasion with breakfast based rewards. For meals bought during regular breakfast serving hours, customers will be treated to selected free breakfast items via a coupon redeemable between 5am to 11am during the special week.
For the late risers, a number of promotional bundle offers pairing selected breakfast menu favourites with fresh coffee for Dhs10, will be available throughout the day and week.
It’s about time (even if it’s only for a short time)!


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By a County Press reporter
Published on Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - 10:56
SMALL businesses have a vital role to play in decisions about the Isle of Wight’s economic future according to a councillor re-elected as chair of the Island branch of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).
Cllr Jones-Evans, who owns the Dragonfly shop in Nodehill, said the branch — which has around 900 members — was working with the Isle of Wight Council to ensure small businesses were fairly represented in decisions such as parking.
She added: "We are excited by our involvement with the new Island Business Forum, and thanks must go to Isle of Wight MP Andrew Turner, for his support on issues affecting how businesses operate and grow.
"It is vital that small businesses are involved in any Island economic decisions."
She added: "Working alongside Taste of the Wight and Visit isle of Wight at "Wightminster" showed how Island businesses can pull together, which gives me great confidence for continued growth in 2014."
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In a bid to consolidate oversight of its media and technology sales divisions, 24/7 Real Media
has upset several longstanding executive posts.
President of Media Solutions David Hills has taken on responsibility for technology sales in North America, and Jim Alla has joined as SVP of technology sales, replacing longtime exec Tom Capato.
“It has become apparent that both publishers and advertisers are most effectively served if the media and technology groups are aligned closely,” said Chairman and CEO David Moore.
Hills continues to be responsible for the company’s domestic media sales, including 24/7 Web Alliance and 24/7 Search. In addition, he will oversee technology sales. The company says the move is aimed at ensuring the divisions speak with a unified voice.
Jim Alla joins the company from IDG, where he was VP of business development, before which he led sales at Cambridge-based Newmediary. Reporting to Hills, he will head 24/7 Real Media’s tech sales and account management teams, including its flagship Open AdSystem product suite. Outgoing VP of tech sales Tom Capato had been in the post since before 24/7’s acquisition of Real Media in late 2001.
“Jim has an excellent track record and the right combination of skills, drive and knowledge to help keep us on the growth track we have established over the last two years,” said Hills.
Additionally, Ellen Kamor has been promoted to VP of account management in the technology sales group. She’s been with the company for four years, as a director of sales and account management.


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Local tourism boost as Uncover The Cotswolds project awarded recovery funding
By Sarah Wood | 9th October 2020
Cotswolds Tourism has been awarded funding from VisitEngland for its successful Uncover the Cotswolds project.
The project - encompassing the wider Cotswolds, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Forest of Dean and Wye Valley - is to benefit from year 5 funding from the UK government's £40 million Discover England Fund, administered by VisitEngland.
Since 2018, Uncover the Cotswolds has brought together authentic local experiences from across the wider region into a new travel trade website, to enable tour operators to have easily bookable products to choose from.
With the impact of Covid-19, the project will now refocus activity and support, to help businesses benefit from the domestic market, as well as plan ahead for reaching a wider global audience in the long term.
A key part will be encouraging businesses to get bookable via the local destination websites and Tourism Exchange Great Britain (TXGB), VisitEngland's new one-stop online platform which will help raise awareness of the range of products and help businesses increase bookings. Longer-term, the project is aimed at driving inbound tourism with a focus to attract visitors from the Nordic markets, Italy and Spain, dispersing visitors across the wider region and providing them with greater access to authentic local experiences
Sally Graff, project leader for Cotswolds Tourism, said: "I am delighted that we have secured this funding from VisitEngland and I would like to thank everyone involved in our successful bid. We will focus on encouraging all visitors to explore out of season, including our lesser-known places in the wider region such as Witney, Woodstock and Cirencester, as well as unique bookable experiences that can connect visitors, bringing the area to life."
Cllr Tony Dale, cabinet member for economy and skills at Cotswold District Council, said: "This money will help us appeal to a wider audience and encourage businesses to bring tourists in from new destinations such as the such as the Nordics, Italy and Spain. It will herald a new era of booking online and using digital products."
David Jackson, manager of Marketing Cheltenham, said: "This is a great opportunity for Cheltenham businesses to work together with other destinations across Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire to encourage more visitors to stay in the area. Cheltenham is already a popular gateway to access and explore the Cotswolds, so it's great to be able to build on this. It's also a really timely opportunity to provide additional, targeted support and guidance to businesses to help them through these challenging times and to continue to adapt to the changing market conditions."
Copyright 2020 Moose Partnership Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any content is strictly forbidden without prior permission.


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A recently published report based on a research by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PriceWaterhouseCoopers has registered a 4.2% growth of the UK Internet advertising spending, which reached £3.5 billion in 2009. IAB has also reported that between 2000 and 2009, the Internet marketing expenditure has grown by 2,200% going from from £153 million to £3.54 billion.
The three areas that have experienced the strongest growth in 2009 were (i) paid search, (ii) online video, and (iii) affiliate marketing. Here are the highlights in brief:
Paid Search – Grew by 9.5% reaching £2.15 billion, which represented 60.7% of all online ad spend in the UK.
Online Video – Represented “the real success story as spend saw a 140% increase year on year… generating £28.3 million.”
Affiliate Marketing – Spending on it rose by 38.2% (very good to see such a strong growth), reaching £72.6 million by the end of 2009.
Read more in this announcement on IAB’s website.


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Shopping at Shoprite in Greenacres‚ Port Elizabeth‚ was disrupted when about 40 EFF members staged a protest on Monday.
Community member Khanya Ngqisha was escorted out of Shoprite after he‚ along with a number of other community members‚ entered Shoprite at around 11:30am.
The group filled trolleys to the brim with various items and once at the tills called on Shoprite management to amend its policies.
Ngqisha called on Shoprite management to employ all staff who had been working for more than three months on a permanent basis‚ to transform the company’s management structure and to start a fund to help poorer communities.
Ngqisha was removed by centre security after standing for nearly an hour at the till point.
Ngqisha claimed he and the 40 others who were part of the protest had intended to pay for the items they had in their trolleys.
However‚ at least five trolleys full of various items were seen being taken back into the store where the items were packed back onto shelves.


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t a recent Friday event at blueFROG Delhi, Gaurav Raina, producer and one half of Midival Punditz, was a familiar face. This evening, he was there minus his partner-in-crime, Tapan Raj, to launch the album Grey to Silver as part of his debut solo ... The Sunday Guardian, 1 month ago
Bipin Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Dera Bassi, October 28 Throwing norms to the winds, private transport operators have been plying public carriers on the busy Kalka-Ambala National Highway-22 and other scheduled roads right under the nose of ...Chandigarh Tribune, 1 month ago
—Sohini Bagchi New Delhi, Oct 6: The growth in India's online retail market is spreading like wildfire with domestic retailers and foreign players all wanting a slice of the e-commerce pie, resulting in intense competition in this space. ...Channel Times, 1 month ago How Indian E-tailing Space Is Getting Bigger, Better CXOtoday, 1 month ago
on your WebpageAdd Widget >Get your members hooked!


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Hon Paula Bennett
Minister for Social Development, Employment & Youth Affairs
16 December 2010
Online job vacancies continue to increase
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says latest figures show online job vacancies increased by 2.6% over the last
“It's good to see jobs vacancies are still on the rise as winter ends and the holiday season begins,” says Ms Bennett.
Skilled job vacancies also rose by 2.7% during the three months to November.
Hospitality and tourism (up 7.5%), and IT (up 7.3%) were the best industry performers
Auckland (up 5.1%) and Christchurch (up 4.1%) continue to have the strongest regional growth in skilled job vacancies
for the three months to November.
Job vacancies online have consistently increased since midway through last year’s recession.
With total vacancies up by 47.0% and skilled vacancies by 43.6% since June 2009.
The Jobs Online indicator provides information on labour market demand by measuring data from online job advertisers, Trade Me Jobs and
The November Jobs Online report is available at: http://dol.govt.nz/publications/jol/report/


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Ongwediva Trade Fair cancelled again
The popular northern trade fair has been called off for the second year in a row.
01 July 2021 | Events
The Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair (OATF) has been cancelled for the second year in a row because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
After careful consideration of the health and safety of visitors, employees, exhibitors and all stakeholders, a decision was taken to cancel the OATF 2021, which had been slated for 26 to 31 August, the Ongwediva Trade Fair Society (OTFS) said.
The trade fair fundraising gala dinner scheduled for 3 July has also been cancelled.
“The heightening risks and overwhelming concerns about Covid-19 served as a scale for the OTFS not to proceed with the trade fair during such an unprecedented global situation.
“Although we are disappointed as organisers that this notable event could not take place for two consecutive years, we are convinced that the cancellation is the right decision based on the information and advice from our national health professionals,” town council spokesperson Jackson Muma said.
He added that they will explore the possibility of hosting a virtual exhibition on a date to be announced at a later stage.
Prior to the cancellation, the council had hoped to host 250 exhibitors on-site as well as 50 virtually.
With the possibility of going ahead with the virtual trade fair, Muma said exhibitors need to be guided and trained for the event to be successful.
“Our hope is for the situation to improve before the next conventional trade fair. New dates for the OATF 2022 will be announced as soon as it is available.
“Our firm commitment and willpower for OATF brand is intact towards the resurrection of economic growth through trade promotion,” he said.


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The mandate grants the digital marketing solutions firm the responsibility of designing and implementing a social media blueprint for the three brands that fall under the Pragati Group - Pragati Warehouster, Pragati Infra Solutions and Pragati Group itself.
The digital duties envelop complete digital transformation by employing strategic brand management, creative digital representation and content creation for the brands on both their platforms-Linkedin and Facebook.
Also read: WPP goes into open conflict with former CEO Martin Sorrell
Abhayjeet Yadav, assistant vice president - facilities and marketing, Pragati Group said, “We have chosen Verve Media for taking care of our social media management due to a variety of factors which mainly include a superior team efficiency and attentive responsiveness. We are looking forward to utilizing their other services in the near future as well.”


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Scott learns even more about Azure Automation from Beth Cooper. Beth shows some... more »
Seven cities, dozens of stories and one central message: BIRT is best for building winning customer experiences.
OS X 10.10 Source
We’ve heard many personal stories this week of how people in our industry have experienced... more »
After months of rumors, Microsoft has announced a new health-focused wearable device called the ‘Band.’


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July 28, 2011 BY Aaron Hope / 0
The Nike Air Presto hasn’t been released in nearly as many styles this year as standby models like the Air Max 90, but this Alpha Project veteran has indeed enjoyed one of its best years since the initial run. A huge set of OG-blocked white-on-color releases dropped for summer and were followed by a blacked-out model and two new pairs just last week with a different palette distribution. This new Air Presto in black and Volt with a white midsole is closest to the last ones mentioned, though they stand out from pretty much every Presto we’ve seen over the last decade-plus thanks to the hiking boot-ish ticked laces. Click through to see more of this wild and slightly rugged look and pick up a pair from a Nike Sportswear retailer like Titolo.
Nike Air Presto
Tags: Nike Air Presto


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There aren’t many events in the automotive aftermarket – or in any market, really – like National Performance Warehouse’s (NPW) Million-Dollar Dinner. For the ninth time, the annual black-tie affair was held in Miami the weekend of Jan. 28 to honor the company’s suppliers who’ve reached at least $1 million with the auto parts distribution business.
This year’s dinner featured a record 41 million-dollar vendors, up from an inaugural nine charter members from 2012, doing business with the family-owned NPW. As has become tradition, vendors were treated to cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, a surf-and-turf dinner and bananas foster for dessert. Held on the 40th floor of the EAST hotel in the Brickell section of Miami, attendees were treated to an eagle-eye’s view of the Miami skyline and Biscayne Bay.
This year marked the return of the annual Million-Dollar Vendor dinner following last year’s hiatus due to COVID-19.
“Yes, there have been challenges in the supply chain, but at the end of the day we’re in this together,” said Chris Pacey, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NPW. “We’re getting through this together. We want to be here in the future, we want to keep growing, and we want you to keep growing with us. At NPW we speak a lot about family, and that’s near and dear to our hearts. Some of you have been here since the inaugural year, some of you are new to the family … but we stay as a family and we grow as a family.We do it together.”
This year, NPW also recognized individual suppliers at the $5 million, $10 million and $15 million levels as well.
“In spite of all the supply chain issues we’ve all had, it’s been a phenomenal year,” said Steve Berman, CEO of Dorman Products, which hit the $10 million mark. “Next year if it isn’t a $15 million-dollar club we’re in I’ll be really disappointed.”
DRiV led the pack as a $15 million partner for 2022.
“In this room, two years ago at the last dinner we said we wanted to be the first vendor to be at $10 million. Now, I’m honored for our team to be at $15 million, and we look forward to being the first group to hit $20 million in 2023,” said Jeff Koviak, vice president and general manager of DRiV, to a reaction of friendly, competitive shouts and applause.
Larry Pacey, CEO of NPW, said the vendors in attendance added up to more than $250 billion in revenue worldwide.
The complete list of 2022 Million-Dollar Vendors:
(* indicates a vendor’s inaugural year)
• Alliance Parts Warehouse
• Baldwin Filters
• BBB Industries
• CARDONE Industries
• Cific Auto*
• Dorman Products ($10M vendor)
• Driv ($15M vendor)
• Edelbrock Group ($5M vendor)
• Energy Suspension
• Engine Pro*
• First Brands ($5M vendor)
• Gates ($5M vendor)
• Hastings Piston Rings*
• Highline Warren Distributing*
• Holley/MSD ($5M vendor)
• Melling Engine Parts ($5M vendor)
• Motive Gear*
• Plews & Edelmann*
• Standard Motor Products ($10M vendor)
• Truck Hero
• Silv-O-Lite/United Engine & Machine Co.*
• US Motorworks*
• Warren Distribution*
• Wilmar Corp.
“Having the chance to come back in 2021 to get re-acquainted with your family and renew business relationships – that has been the best part of the evening,” said Jeff Blocher, vice president of sales at WIX.
“Overall, we couldn’t be more happy with our relationship and partnership with NPW, and we’re excited about the future,” added Colby Florea, senior director of sales at Gates, following dinner.
John and JC Washbish, president/CEO and vice president of sales and marketing for the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance, respectively, served as keynote speakers for the event, and following dinner, Larry provided guests with an update on NPW’s growth over the past year. He said last year’s CAGR was 22% and this year’s was 24%.
Two major NPW accomplishments were featured during the presentation: The acquisition of Engine Performance Warehouse Inc. (EPWI), and NPW moving its warehouse headquarters to a new, state-of-the-art facility in Hialeah, located in Miami-Dade County in Florida.
NPW acquired EPWI, which Larry said is the largest engine distributor in North America, in December 2020. NPW has already merged EPWI’s Anaheim operation into NPW’s Gardenia, Florida, location, as well as EPWI’s Phoenix location into NPW’s Phoenix operation, and is currently working to integrate the rest of EPWI’s business into its own. With the
acquisition, Larry said NPW now operates in four time zones.
“Our goal is to be next-day UPS to any zip code in the United States. We’ve pretty much got the country filled out, but we have some holes, so that’s where we’re trying to fill in 2022,” Larry said.
NPW signed the deal to move into the new warehouse, which is about 200,000 square feet (12,000 square feet of office space) last January, and Larry said he anticipates having about 120 employees when the location is fully operational. The building features a state-of-the-art conveyor system and loading/shipping dock design, and the company hopes it will be completely moved into the building by the end of Q1 2022.
The fun didn’t stop after Friday’s dinner, as events in Miami continued Saturday evening with the FAST Expo Customer and Vendor Awards, headlined by professional drifter Kelsey Rowlings and Discovery Channel stars Farmtruck & AZN, who will have been on the air for 10 years as of Feb. 1.
“We are forever grateful for what you guys have created; you’ve paved the path for guys like us … to have a television show, and for people to connect to it is truly a blessing,” AZN said. “We just hope the blessing never ends for us or y’all.”
The FAST Expo Customer and Vendor Awards winners include:
National Sunshine Auto Parts (Traditional)
PowerSource Motorsports (Performance)
Clegg Engine (Engine)
Hi Tech Auto Parts (Traditional)
Race Fittings (Performance)
Valdivia Auto Parts (Traditional)
Bullfrog Performance (Performance)
Kam Auto Parts (Traditional)
Cabrera Auto Parts (Traditional)
Speed & Truck World (Performance)
Westside Auto Parts (Traditional)
New Jersey Auto Parts (Traditional)
Vendor of the Year
Holley Performance (Performance)
Rep of the Year
Chick Capoli (Traditional)
John Iannote (Performance)
NPW’s weekend of events continued through Sunday, when an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 people attended the NPW FAST Expo Trade show. The trade show featured more than 150 exhibitors, headlined by Kelsey Rowlings and Discovery Channel’s Farmtruck & AZN. Giveaways included TVs, a money booth and discounts. The trade show also featured a car show.
Editor’s Note: Stay tuned…this Saturday’s AMN People e-newsletter will feature a photo gallery from this year’s weekend of events.


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Trinity Shopping Centre
In celebration of the opening of Leeds Trinity Shopping Centre, the centre required an exciting visual display to attract public and media attention.
In the centre of the just-opened shopping centre, Richard was involved in managing the construction of a giant sealed box. As anticipation for the big reveal increased, more than 130,000 excited shoppers gathered, filling the shopping centre on all three floors. Accompanied by acrobatic performers, the reveal began. As the lid was lifted off the box, Collette Morrow, former principal artist of Cirque Du Soleil was revealed. This stunning centre-piece performer was then suspended up towards the ceiling, revealing her 15-metre-long specially commissioned Henry Holland dress.
The gigantic sculptural display generated a showpiece for the event, gaining mass media attention and celebrating the well-anticipated launch of Trinity Shopping centre.


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Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray is putting her sentimental items up for auction. All proceeds will go directly to the country’s funds for mass testing.
In a social media post, Gray gave her fans a peak at some of the preloved pieces that are up for bidding. These are available on the Shop and Share Store, an initiative launched by Angel Locsin and Anne Curtis.
“The MU pin in particular is super sentimental to me as it secured my sash as I competed in the Preliminary competition of Miss Universe 2018,” Gray wrote on Facebook. “But I’ve decided to dedicate it to a cause. All proceeds go towards aiding the government in their CoVid Mass Testing efforts.”
Mass testing is expected pinpoint the areas that the virus has contaminated. It is distinguished as a vital step in ending the pandemic in the country.
As of press, Gray’s most expensive item is the Miss Universe 2018 pin that was initially priced at ₱20,000 and now has a current bid of ₱250,000.
Photo Source: Facebook/catrionaelisagray


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13:34 07th Jul, 2022
Meta Gets into Another Scrap over Data Hegemony | TechTree.com
Meta Gets into Another Scrap over Data Hegemony
What's interesting is that the lawsuit comes barely a few months after a US court had ruled such scraping to be within legal limits
Is data scraping legal or not? Looks like Facebook's parent company Meta thinks it isn't - this in spite of a US court recently reaffirming an earlier ruling that web scraping was permissible. So what if the world and their elderly aunts now talk about data sovereignty? In the world of Meta, data belongs to the one who hogs it first.
Meta announced that it was suing the US subsidiary of a Chinese technology company over an accusation of offering data-scraping services for Facebook and Instagram. In case you've heard this before, don't be surprised as the social networking giant is a sworn enemy of web scrapers. This time Meta is suing an individual for setting up automated Insta accounts to scrape data.
What's with the timing?
The cases have been filed in the US District Court for Northern District of California. This comes barely three months after the US Ninth Court of Appeals ruled in a case involving LinkedIn that scraping publicly available data was permissible. The case was sent back by the US Supreme Court last year for a review.
The Ninth Circuit's reaffirmation of its original decision that scraping data wasn't in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFFA), was seen as a big win for archivists, academics, researchers and the media who use tools to mass collect data that is publicly accessible.
Of course, the decision would also raise the hackles of privacy and security activists, given that only recently we faced the ignominy of a facial recognition company Clearview AI cleaning off billions of social media profile pictures that resulted in lawsuits. So, there's always a need for safeguards to be plugged in post such judgments.
What's Facebook saying now?
Internet companies have long questioned the data scraping by pegging it to the user's privacy matters. Meta now seems to be seeking legal recourse against a company called Octopus Data, which is a subsidiary of a Chinese national enterprise. In addition, the suit names a Turkey-based individual for allegedly publishing scraped Instagram data to their websites.
So, instead of targeting the entities under the CFAA, Meta's lawyers are going after the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which is more concerned with intellectual property and copyright than the actual act of hacking.
In other words, Meta says Octopus charges a fee for a software product called Octoparse to get such data from numerous sites. “Our lawsuit alleges that Octopus has violated our Terms of Service and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, by engaging in unauthorized and automated scraping and attempting to conceal their scraping and avoid being detected and blocked from Facebook and Instagram,” Jessica Romero, Meta’s director of platform enforcement and litigation, wrote in a blog post.
Readers may recall that Meta had managed to get the law on its side in another data scraping case against an Israeli company called BrandTotal that collected Facebook user data through a browser extension.
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Filter articles on this page
Interview with René Venner: A new role within the SEKISUI family
René Venner is Production Manager at SEKISUI POLYMATECH EUROPE – the newest member of the SEKISUI Group in Europe. He is not an unknown face though. Before joining the new company being built up in Roermond, René was working for SEKISUI S-LEC. We talked with him about the change of position and his daily business life.
SEKISUI in Europe at a glance: Regional website now live!
In Europe, SEKISUI consists of 10 companies offering a variety of outstanding products for industrial applications. The new regional website provides a comprehensive overview on the European business of SEKISUI and serves as central information platform.
SEKISUI companies in Europe: Interview with Makoto Sambongi (Managing Director SEKISUI POLYMATECH EUROPE B.V.)
As a group of companies, SEKISUI in Europe provides a vast array of innovative products and services, engages around 1,000 diverse employees and combines the strength of various great companies.The newest of these companies is SEKISUI POLYMATECH EUROPE – with its Managing Director Makoto Sambongi. We met him for a personal interview to talk about the newly established company in Roermond, his position as well as the cooperation amongst SEKISUI companies in Europe.
SEKISUI TODAY 2020
In 2020, the SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group has launched a new long-term vision aimed at 2030. This vision expresses the company’s will to continue to innovate and to contribute to sustainability, aiming to double its business by “business growth, reform and creation, centered on ESG management”. The first phase of that vision is the new medium-term management plan called “Drive 2022”. Learn more in the new corporate video “SEKISUI Today 2020”.


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Volkswagen’s Czech automaker Skoda Auto needs to boost its capacity in Europe by 400,000 cars annually from the start of the next decade, CEO Bernhard Maier was quoted as saying on Wednesday. The automaker could increase capacity at its Czech plants along with at other VW plants, Czech news agency CTK quoted Maier as saying
Trade unions at Volkswagen’s Czech unit Skoda Auto on Thursday declined any idea of shifting some of the production of its premium sedan model Superb to German plants. Talks about moving some production to Volkswagen’s Emden plant have started again under the parent company’s management, the unions stated. “The (unions’) committee categorically declined the possibility
Union representatives at Volkswagen-owned Skoda Auto stated on Friday they had accepted management’s offer to increase wages by 12 percent, averting a strike at one of the largest manufacturing plants situated in the Czech Republic. The leadership of the Kovo union, which represent industrial employees, prepares to vote on the proposal next Wednesday, which would
Unions at Volkswagen’s Skoda Auto have withdrawn from a deal on flexible working shifts, they stated on Wednesday, increasing pressure on the Czech automaker as they look for a double-digit pay raise and threaten strikes. Union leaders stated more shift agreements could be dropped if wage talks broke down. Unions have stated they could call
Volkswagen’s Czech automaker Skoda Auto reported a 14.3 percent increase in global deliveries in February, handing more than 92,800 vehicles, the most ever in that month, it stated on Monday. Skoda stated sales were driven by a 30.6 percent increase in China and 17.6 percent in Germany along with significant gains in Russia and Turkey.
Trade unions at Volkswagen’s Czech automaker Skoda Auto have turned down the company’s latest wage increase offer, the unions stated on Wednesday. Unions said recently that they were beginning preparations for a possible extended strike, a rare occasion in the main European nation whose economic development is moved by the car sector. With strong development
Tata Motors has announced the finalizing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a long-lasting collaboration with Volkswagen Group and Skoda Auto, to check out tactical alliance opportunity for joint advancement of products. The contract has been signed by Guenter Butschek, CEO & MD of Tata Motors, Matthias Mueller, CEO of Volkswagen AG and Bernhard


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Children in developing nations who receive the XO laptop from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation can exercise their imaginations and build their own cities with the original “SimCity” video game.
Electronic Arts (EA) announced Thursday that it has donated the game, originally released in 1989, to the OLPC Foundation for the organization to include on its laptops, which sell for around US$200 each.
The non-profit’s mission is to design, build, manufacture and distribute inexpensive laptops to children in developing nations. Providing these children with laptops, the OLPC believes, will help give them the opportunity to receive a “modern education.”
Including “SimCity” on the XO laptop will help young users become familiar with their new computer while at the same time giving them a creative outlet that can help them develop their decision-making skills, according to EA.
“‘SimCity’ is entertainment that’s unintentionally educational. Players learn to use limited resources to build and customize their cities. There are choices and consequences, but in the end, it’s a creativity tool that’s only limited by the player’s imagination,” said Steve Seabolt, vice president of global brand development for the Sims label.
“The game should prove to be an incredibly effective way of making the laptop relevant, engaging and fun, particularly for first-time players. We are thrilled to be making this contribution to OLPC to help meet their goal of educating the children of the world.”
“SimCity” was the first in a large franchise of “Sim” games, which grew into simulations for building everything from ant colonies to entire planets. In “SimCity,” players assume the role of mayor of a new municipality. They are responsible for building and maintaining their cities so their citizens can work and live happy lives. Mayors must make choices such as choosing the best power sources taking into account consequences like pollution.
Town leaders also have to exhibit an understanding of the economics involved in leading a city. Taxes cannot be raised too high or business growth will stagnate and the citizens will leave town. In the event of a natural disaster such as an earthquake, flood or fire, they must be able to immediately respond to the situation and minimize fallout from the catastrophe.
S.J. Klein, OLPC director of content, put the call out last March at the Game Developers Conference asking game developers and publishers to help create games that will help inspire children to explore what they can do.
“Kids without games can certainly learn, but the first way children learn is through gaming by seeing how things work and remaking their world,” he said.
“It would have raised a few eyebrows if they had included something like ‘Grand Theft Auto’ but something like ‘SimCity,’ I can understand that,” said Mukul Krishna, global manager of digital media practice at Frost & Sullivan.
“You can build a municipality, and it’s like day-to-day things that people in developing countries are much more aware of than people in other countries.
“Trying to teach young very impressionable minds technology skills in an interactive and fun way, you’re able to help them with complex decision and so on,” he told TechNewsWorld. “They learn not only how to make decisions but also have some limited exposure to what it takes to build a city they want.”
EA will have to be careful, however, that the XO-version of ‘SimCity’ is adapted to take into account the cultural and political differences in countries buying the laptop, Krishna noted.
“Players should be able to relate [to the game]. If you’re somewhere in Africa, China or South America, you may have a different form of government, it could be a socialist government and a different way of interacting. EA needs to tailor the game to make it relevant for everyone.”
Heeding the Call
Although OLPC has developed or puts its own spin on a number of games, EA is the first major publisher to donate a game, in particular one that was such a huge seller.
“This is the first time a major game company has completely given away a game. Granted, it’s a very old game, but still this is an amazing aspect of OLPC that they are able to get major game developers to open their software to be put on the XO,” said Wayan Votan, editor of OLPCNews.com.
“[That EA has created an open source version of the game] is an amazing concept, and they have actually done a lot of work to make it work on the XO,” he told TechNewsWorld.


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The 12th edition of Restaurant & Bar Design was held virtually on October 15, due to the health crisis. This year, Intramuros joined the privileged partners of this global event.
The Restaurant & Bar Design Awards is an international competition dedicated to the design of hospitality spaces. Beyond bars and restaurants, it covers every imaginable reception area, from ships to airports, museums to hamburger vans, and revered Michelin-starred establishments to the fleeting dynamism of pop-ups.
Judged by a jury made up of some of the most influential figures in the world of design, hospitality and lifestyle, this annual edition of the awards has attracted more than 900 participants from 65 countries.
Restaurant Design Award 2020
Conçu par MUDA-Architects
Garden Hotpot, a restaurant in Chengdu, China designed by MUDA-Architects and INNS Bar, a bar in Chengdu, China designed by Wooton Designers are the winners of the 2020 Restaurant and Bar Design Awards. The other 42 category winners were revealed during the virtual awards ceremony, which took place online on October 15. The awards ceremony was attended by top designers from across the UK and around the world and their clients responsible for designing the most innovative dining spaces. In addition to presenting the 248 shortlisted projects and of course announcing the winners, the host of the awards ceremony – Harry Mckinley, interviewed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and designers Martin Brudnizki, Lazaro Rosa Violan, Roisin Lafferty, as well as a selection of this year’s judges. The video of the ceremony is to be found here .


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Xpeng (XPEV), no (NIO) and Li car (LI) are preparing to report Chinese electric vehicle sales for July ahead of the US stock market opening on Monday. Chinese EV giant BYD (BYDDF) also reports July sales in early August amid hopes for another big month.
Nio stock and its startup peer Xpeng reversed higher on Friday’s subsidy news. According to a CnEVPost report late Friday, a State Council meeting confirmed a renewal of the VAT exemption for electric vehicles. The exemption should expire at the end of 2022. Beijing had strongly hinted at such a move in recent months.
Sales of electric vehicles in China are expected to more than double
Retail sales of so-called new energy vehicles (which include all-electric hybrid plug-ins and fuel cell EVs) in China are expected to reach around 450,000 units in July, up 102.5% year-on-year based on preliminary estimates by China Passenger Car Association.
But July sales would be down 15% from June’s record. Reports in early July spoke of a Covid outbreak in Anhui province, where Nio and BYD are conducting major operations. More recent reports suggested that intense heat in July weighed on store visits and test drives.
Strong sales in June capped a volatile second quarter for Chinese electric vehicle makers. Li Auto said in June that parts suppliers have gradually resumed production but have yet to fully recover from a chip shortage and other bottlenecks that hit sales in April.
The latest Chinese media reports suggest that the electric vehicle supply chain is stabilizing.
IBD Live: A new tool for daily stock market analysis
China EV shares reverse higher
Nio shares rose 1.2% to 19.73 on Friday, closing at daily highs after falling as low as 18.66. Xpeng also turned higher, closing on session highs and up 0.7%. Highly rated IBD-50 stock Li Auto fell 0.3% on Friday but held above its 50-day moving average. BYDDF shed 2.2%, off session lows but below the 50-day price.
US-listed Chinese EV stocks have fallen below their 50-day moving average and their relative strength lines are lagging behind. Most rallied in May and June, but they tumbled again in July amid renewed fears of being delisted from the US.
In contrast, Tesla stock is well above the 50-day moving average and its RS line is improving. TSLA shares rose 5.8% on Friday to 891.47. Shares rose 9.15% for the week after rising 13.4% the previous week on strong second-quarter earnings.
The once-hot Chinese EV stock and its peers are facing a high bar for July sales. Check the results again.
In the second quarter, Nio sold 25,059 electric vehicles, up 14% year over year. That included 5,074 EV deliveries in April, 7,024 in May and a record 12,961 in June, up 60% year-on-year. EV deliveries in Q2 were slightly above guidance but slightly below Q1.
Shanghai-based Nio has been hit particularly hard by Covid lockdowns.
Nio will release two new models in the third quarter.
In the second quarter, Xpeng sold 34,422 electric vehicles, almost doubling year-on-year. That included 9,002 EV deliveries in April, 10,125 in May and 15,295 in June, the best month since December and more than doubling from a year earlier. EV deliveries in Q2 were slightly above guidance but slightly below Q1.
Xpeng will release a new electric SUV later this year.
Li car stock
In the second quarter, Li Auto sold 28,687 electric vehicles, up 63% year-on-year. That included 4,167 EV deliveries in April, 11,496 in May and 13,024 in June, up 69% year-on-year. EV deliveries in Q2 were well above guidance but well below Q1.
Li Auto will begin deliveries of its premium L9, its second hybrid SUV, in late August.
market rally after turning point; 3 flash buy signals from Giants
In the second quarter, BYD sold 355,021 NEVs, up 256% year over year and 24% above the 286,329 in the first quarter. That was well above Tesla’s 254,695, although the US EV giant is still the leader in all-electric vehicles.
A resurgence of Covid-19 hit Chinese supply chains and electric vehicle manufacturing earlier this summer. It’s unclear what the current status of the recovery is, although local media reports suggest the situation is stabilizing.
Amid the challenges, the startups continue to grow EV sales at a robust pace. But the most impressive gains continue to come from BYD, which is backed by investment legend Warren Buffett.
On July 29, BYD launched the Seal EV, designed to rival the Tesla (TSLA) Model 3. China is the world’s fastest growing electric car market. The seal is reportedly undercutting the Model 3 in price, starting at RMB209,800 ($31,130) versus RMB279,900 ($41,502) for Tesla’s small sedan.
The rivalry between Tesla and BYD will intensify. Both Chinese auto giants and startups are expanding their EV product range and international presence.
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We don’t come across many events that are tailored exclusively to the forum industry, however we are pleased to announce our involvement with ForumCon. ForumCon is an annual event was launched just a few years ago with the goal of bringing together the industry’s leading forum owners and experts to discuss growth, management, and monetization strategies for forums.
This years I’m pleased to announce that MyBB will be among a select group of media partners who will have a presence at the show. We are hoping to have at least two team members attending, and we may have a couple of tickets to give away to lucky members of the community.
ForumCon SF will take place on June 12th at the Hotel Kabuki in the heart of downtown San Francisco. The event will kick off at 9am and conclude with a cocktail hour for networking / conversation at a restaurant / lounge nearby.
More information on location as well as how to get tickets can be found here.
- Kris Jones, author of SEO: Your visual blueprint for effective internet marketing will show you how to better leverage Google Search, Mobile, News, +, to generate more traffic to your forum.
- Tyler Tanaka of PostRelease will share best practices for content curation & creation that will wow your community members and keep them coming back.
- Steve Dodd of Boardreader will lead a panel of social media experts, and forum owners that have successfully leveraged social media, to discuss ways forum owners can successfully leverage Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites to drive traffic to their sites (rather than away from).
- A panel of monetization experts (representing all types of forum monetization options — images, banner ads, content, link insertion, data, video) will answer all your questions on how to EARN MORE from your forum.
- And much more, to be shared within this thread as the information become available.
Jack Bafia, ForumCon co-founder and Chief Monetization Officer of VigLink, shares why he started ForumCon in the short video below.
I really hope MyBB.com staff group will introduce MyBB 2.0 in the ForumCon 2012. I want to get 2.0 as soon as possible to build an italian support site forums!
@darkpowa95 – MyBB 2.0 is a long way from being released. I can assure you it’s not going to be released any time this year.
Will the new version be released at ForumCon? I really hope to see the founder and staff of mybb.com there.
@JadeMehboi – MyBB 1.8 will not be released at ForumCon. It’ll be a few months at least before it will be released as stable. One of our public relations liaisons, Imad Jomaa, will be attending ForumCon on the day. I’m afraid Chris won’t be able to make it though – sorry!


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We recently reported that Sprint was going to cut costs of $1 billion dollars by switching to new towers as well as a few other things. Now it looks like one of those other things is laying off 2,500 people.
Based on the major wireless carrier ads that are running during this afternoon’s NFL game, it takes some balls to compete in the market. The latest carrier to jump in the mix is Sprint which released their own version of ads currently running by Verizon and Sprint. Read more
Nextbit proudly announced earlier this month that its first phone, the cloud-powered Robin, would begin shipping to Kickstarter backers on February 16. Backers that were not among the first wave on Kickstarter were told to expect their Robin ship near the end of February; however, Nextbit didn’t provide any status of the CDMA model beyond saying they have been “working on a date.” It was originally believed that this model, destined for a carrier like Verizon, would come in February or March, but Nextbit is disappointed to clarify that neither month is possible.
The CDMA model of the Robin will likely ship in the second quarter of 2016 following the delay.
MetroPCS, a subsidiary of T-Mobile, has announced another promotion geared at snagging Sprint customers, which is set begin at 9:00 AM on Thursday, January 21. As part of this new deal, current subscribers of Sprint’s Family Share Pack will be given a discount on their monthly bill and a free phone, up to the value of $50, when they switch their line over to MetroPCS and sign up to one of its affordable prepaid tariffs.
As part of a network overhaul dubbed “Next Generation Network” by Sprint insiders, the company hopes to also overhaul its business in an effort to end six years of financial losses. Reports from sources familiar with the effort indicate Sprint hopes to save $1 billion per year through a combination of moves directly tied to the performance of the network. These moves include the relocation of radio antennas to new towers and cutting ties to the AT&T and Verizon “backhaul.” Read more
This past Thursday, Canadian wireless carrier Telus published a tentative distribution schedule for Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates to devices on their network. Included on the list were the HTC One M9 and HTC One M8 slated to get the update starting on Monday January 18th. That date was validated for the HTC One M9 for several Canadian wireless carriers by HTC’s Mo Versi. Read more
Sprint has announced the addition of the Samsung Galaxy J series of devices to the lineups for a couple of their subsidiary carriers, Virgin Mobile USA and Boost Mobile. The first device to be offered will be the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) which is a slightly updated version of the Galaxy J3 that launched in China last fall. Read more
Sprint announced today that it has added support for 36 new countries and destinations to its Open World and Global Roaming programs. With these new additions, Sprint now offers its international services at 110 destinations.
Karma recently introduced a new set of unlimited data plans, called Neverstop. These plans had download speeds capped at 5Mbps, but that wasn’t enough to deter some people from using the unlimited internet to run their home networks. Now Karma is investigating how they can slow the speeds down a bit more to keep people from abusing the unlimited plans to suck up hundreds of gigabytes of data. Read more
The downfall of two-year contracts began when T-Mobile did away with them a few years ago. Verizon and AT&T then joined in by nixing those nasty long-term commitments as we entered 2016. And now Sprint will be apparently being following the same path.
Sprint customers purchasing tablets can still sign two-year contracts, though, while phones are no longer being subsidized. The Wall Street Journal actually reported back in August that this decision was coming.


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Get the latest tech trends & innovations — delivered daily to your inbox.
Unicode has approved 217 new emoji for implementation in 2021, assembled here by Emojipedia.
There are three new smiley faces, two new hearts, and two new bearded people icons. The vast majority of new emoji are gender and skin tone variations on couples in different poses, with hearts and kisses. They were all approved by the Unicode Consortium, which is responsible for defining which emojis make onto all platforms, including Apple iPhone's iOS, Android, and others.
These new emoji, part of the 13.1 rollout, probably won't be on devices until 2021. Unicode pushed back version 14 because of the pandemic, and most phones don't even have Emoji 13 yet.
Check out the new emoji here.


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Beyond the Footsie: Friday close
UPBEAT corporate news drew buyers to smaller company shares, allowing the sector to buck the weak broader market. The FTSE Small Cap ended 1.2 points firmer at 2550.2.
Interactivity Group was the major gainer, jumping more than 60% or 3/4p to 2p after it unveiled plans for a reverse takeover, though it has still to find a target. The firm, formerly MyVal.com, also posted narrower full-year losses, at £740,000 from £1.21m.
Speculative interest lifted software firm Comino Group 28% to 152 1/2p. It said Canada's Constellation Software had amassed a 5.9% stake. A return to profits in the first half lifted OnLine 11 1/2p to 55p. The group said its AdverWizard product, a digital advertising and marketing platform, was generating material sales and making a monthly profit. Financial internet group ADVFN.com rose 1/2p to 3p after it twinned first-half figures with upbeat comments.
Emess, the holding company for two units making and distributing consumer lighting, rose 3/4p to 5 1/2p. The business has moved back into the black and its finances were soon. Restructuring proposals would be put to investors soon, Emess added.
European Diamonds sparkled on news of a kimberlite breccia discovery in Finland. The stock collected 29p to 221 1/2p. CHE Group rose 3 1/2p to 17 1/2p, building on gains of the previous session when the hotels firm said it would simplify its share structure.
ReGen Therapeutics was the chief casualty of the day, dropping 5 3/4p to 12 3/4p. Dealers blamed profit taking as investors assessed positive news on clinical trials of Colostrinin, the firm's potential therapy for Alzheimer's disease.
Sports Resource Group fell 10p at 31p. After the market close it said there was 'absolutely no reason as to why this should have occurred with regard to the company's current trading, prospects or financial position'. Results for the year to December were in line with market expectations, it added.
Chloride dropped 6p to 50 1/2p after the power protection solutions group warned on full-year profits. Telematics group Toad shed 1 1/4p at 7 1/2p as it slid to a full-year loss.
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45 Years and Counting
BY CODY GERARD
Every week for the rest of the year, Our Town will celebrate our 45th anniversary by profiling a neighborhood business that has been around longer than we have. Know of a local business that should be on our list? Email us at email@example.com
On Madison Avenue, near 92nd Street, tucked into what is now a mostly residential neighborhood, is an Upper East Side fixture. Founded in 1929, at the start Great Depression, S. Feldman Housewares is a one-stop shop for pretty much anything you could need in your home, from hardware tools to pots and pans.
Sam Feldman, a Russian immigrant, started the business as five-and-dime and 25-cent store for people struggling during the economic collapse. More than 85 years later, the shop remains in the family, and is currently run by Sam Feldman’s grandson, Scott Goldsmith. Despite the neighborhood’s profound changes, as well as the economic turbulence and rising expenses rocking the city’s small businesses of late, the store has stood strong.
“It’s remarkably steady here,” Goldsmith said. “You don’t get rich in one day and you don’t go broke in one day. In 2008 things got worse here but we were still running profitably.”
Though S. Feldman remains successful, many nearby shops have been forced out, sometimes to oblivion, by rising real estate prices and skyrocketing rents. “Shopping-wise, a lot of businesses people used to depend on are all out of business,” Goldsmith, 58, said, adding that the last two stationary stores on Madison Avenue recently shuttered. Because of all the closures, Goldsmith said, “we try to have what anybody needs. If somebody asked for it before you, we probably have it.”
The key, he said, is simple: “We stand behind the merchandise.”
Goldsmith said that the future of S. Feldman lies in staying local. He wants to brand S. Feldman as a tourist attraction, a one-of-a-kind, only-in-New York small business. “We’re trying to get more business but it’s hard to get (tourists) to come up her without all the attractions,” he said.
Goldsmith said he’s never considered expanding. “I don’t want to get greedy, that’s when you go broke,” he said.
He hopes to keep the business in the family, and he might yet succeed: His youngest son, Jake, 22, is planning to start work in the store this summer.


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Singapore Sovereign Wealth Invests in Indian E-Commerce Flipkart
Singapore’s GIC Private Limited has joined existing investors Accel Partners, DST Global, Iconiq Capital, Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) and Sofina to invest a total of US$ 1 billion in Flipkart. This adds to the company’s existing US$ 770 million war chest raised. Flipkart is India’s biggest e-commerce company, competing against another Indian company called Snapdeal. Singapore’s other sovereign wealth fund, Temasek Holdings, invested in Snapdeal. Snapdeal and Flipkart are vying to be called the “Amazon.com of India.”
Flipkart has 22 million registered users and has the potential to grow as 250 million people are online in India. The capital raise reflects institutional investors’ heightened appetite in Indian e-commerce companies. The funds will be used to invest in other companies and make internal strides in mobile technology.
Flipkart co-founders, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, both went to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). The founders are not related to each other. Both Bansals worked at Amazon before creating the online bookstore in 2007.
Amazon countered Flipkart after the company announced a capital raise. Amazon is investing US$ 2 billion in its Indian operations – to open up five additional warehouses.
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Artistic Milliners is expanding its presence in Pakistan with a new state-of-the-art $60 million facility that lives up to its values. At full capacity, the 500,000 square foot factory will employ 3,500 workers, 70% of whom will be women, and increase production capacity by 30%.
Already in operation and shipping products, the plant will be able to produce 600,000 pieces per month, totaling 43.2 million pieces per year. It is expected to reach full capacity by the first quarter of 2023. With digitized processes, the factory is aligned with Supply Chain 4.0 principles that keep it at the forefront of innovation.
The facility is part of the company’s nine-acre AM-4 garment park in Karachi, which employs more than 10,500 workers.
âThe opening of this factory is an opportunity to put into practice our vision for the future of garment production,â said Murtaza Ahmed, Managing Director of Artistic Milliners. “We see this as a model factory, a factory where the latest technological innovations in efficiency and sustainability meet the best employment practices in terms of women’s empowerment and well-being.”
With this type of scale, the company’s commitment to sustainability is more important than ever. The facility is LEED Platinum certified, the highest level currently achievable, and has 850 KW solar panels. Advanced Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) Water Recycling Technology Increases the Company’s Daily Water Recycling Capacity to 1.5 Million Gallons, Helping it Achieve its Water Recycling Goal 90% water.
It also uses ZDHC certified chemicals and has achieved Higg FEM 3.0, ISO 14001:2015 and Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certifications.
With this installation, Artistic Milliners focuses on working women. It is equipped with on-site daycare and employee training facilities in line with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Family Friendly program, an initiative to increase the number of women in the workforce. The company plans to employ women in non-traditional roles such as dry processing and pressing.
Artistic Milliners has a heritage of uplifting women. Ahmed was named to the Financial Times’ 50 Global Male Champions for Women in Business list in 2018 for providing benefits such as literacy programs and employee training for women. At the time, half of the senior executives at Artistic Milliners were women. Last year, the company teamed up with partner fashion brand Bestseller to roll out HERessentials, a pilot program of global nonprofit BSR, the organization behind HERproject, a collaborative initiative that strives to empower low-income women working in global supply chains. The program aimed to help women at Artistic Milliners factories develop the ‘adaptive capacity’, or social and technical skills needed to respond to environmental and socio-economic changes, in light of the Covid pandemic. -19.
With a workforce of 3,500 people, the new facility meets the highest safety standards and has a fully automated fire protection and detection system. It was designed according to seismic standards to protect workers and prevent damage to structures in the event of an earthquake. Additional perks include free on-site lunch and transportation, as well as a 100% digital payroll system making payment more efficient and eliminating the physical exchange of money.
The plant is part of the company’s expansion plans, which included acquiring a washing facility in Los Angeles, Star Fades International, in early 2021. The facility provides U.S. customers with design capabilities 360 degrees and has already launched a number of sustainably made denim collections, including Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga.
Earlier this year, the company opened Artmill to provide retailers, manufacturers and brands with turnkey solutions for their casualwear programs and tailored personalized offerings for startups and premium brands. The region’s first LEED Platinum certified piece dye plant, the facility will have an annual vertical capacity of 6 million garments.


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Dear TSLA Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for Jan. 25
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will report fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 25 after the market closes. For the period, analysts expect net income between $1.13 and $1.15 per share of TSLA stock on revenue of $24.24 billion.
Earnings should distract from CEO Elon Musk’s court testimony about a tweet saying he had funding to take Tesla private in 2018. They will also indicate just how far Tesla is ahead of its electric vehicle (EV) rivals.
Here’s what investors should know moving forward.
TSLA Stock and the Tesla Lead
Bullish analysts like George Gianarikas of Canaccord Genuity are telling investors to buy TSLA stock ahead of earnings. Gianarikas says recent price cuts have stoked demand and that Tesla’s profits will grow as it charges for software updates.
Bulls note that the recent price cuts also bring some models below the $55,000 price threshold that makes them eligible for the latest tax credits. Half of Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y cars now qualify. The cuts put prices below those for competing models from General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Ford (NYSE:F) as well.
According to the bulls, Tesla’s control of its sales and service channel, including the software updates, justify its premium stock price. This after-market dominance — which no gas-powered car company can match — makes Tesla more like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) than GM.
That said, bearish analysts like Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management say the bulls may be headed for a fall. Even if earnings come in as expected, the numbers are growing more slowly as Tesla scales production. The EV company has already warned that its 405,000 deliveries for Q4 are short of analyst estimates.
China also remains a question mark for Tesla. The price cuts seem to have boosted demand there, but production was cut last year by the country’s Covid-19 lockdowns. U.S. investors are also suspicious of corporate dependence on China, a concern that extends to Apple as well.
Finally, analysts are worried about Musk, who sold off TSLA stock to buy Twitter and remains distracted with running the social media platform. Elon Musk’s image has taken a hit. His December stock sales — which came before Tesla warned on deliveries — may trigger an insider trading probe.
What Happens Next?
Tesla’s battery production and scaled factories on three continents give it a solid lead over rivals, but all those rivals are now gunning for it. Tesla is worth more than Toyota (NYSE:TM), Volkswagen (OTCMKTS:VWAGY), GM, Ford and Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) put together.
For TSLA stock investors, the question remains: For how long?
On the date of publication, Dana Blankenhorn held a long position in AAPL. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a financial and technology journalist since 1978. He is the author of Technology’s Big Bang: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow with Moore’s Law, available at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him at firstname.lastname@example.org, tweet him at @danablankenhorn, or subscribe to his Substack.
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The post Dear TSLA Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for Jan. 25 appeared first on InvestorPlace.


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Later today we will see Meizu’s first phablet phone launch, but for those who cannot wait here is what we know so far.
Meizu have clearly been influenced by the Xiaomi Max and are too expected to launch a big screen phone later today at a launch event in China. Although the phone hasn’t been officially revealed yet, we have seen early photos and specs of the device to have a pretty clear idea of what to expect.
The Meizu Max will come under Meizu ‘Youth’ line-up named Blue Charm in China, the same range that features the ‘M’ and ‘U’ series phones of affordable smartphones.
However the Meizu Max will be the largest currently available form the company and the biggest Meizu phone ever produced!
Gizchina News of the week
The phablet will feature a 6-inch screen with 3GB RAM, octacore Mediatek chipset, Android 6.0 and options for 32GB or 64GB internal memory. There is also word that a Meizu ‘mStylus’ might also be launched alongside the Meizu Max making the handset a budget alternative to the Samsung Note line-up.
So far we have seen the Meizu Max in Gray, Gold and Rose Gold and apparently pricing will start from 1799 Yuan rising to 1999 Yuan.


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Financial details were not disclosed, but reports pegged the deal at $800 million.
“Speech is universal, simple and holds incredible promise as a key interface for computing,” said Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer in a statement. “Tellme brings to Microsoft the talent, technology and proven experience in speech that will enable us to deliver a new wave of products and revolutionize human-computer interaction.”
Microsoft said potential areas of development resulting from the deal include hosted voice-enabled customer service solutions that complement Microsoft’s existing communications products as well as search services on mobile phones that integrate with Live Search for mobile offerings.
The deal is expected to be completed in the second quarter.
Tellme, which has more than 320 employees, will continue to operate from its Mountain View, Calif., offices as part of the Microsoft Business Division.


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Published on : Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Several weeks ago, South African travel agents were quite hopeful about a strong summer season, mainly due to the worst of the pandemic was apparently behind them as the United States had reopened its border to the visitors from the country.
However, the appearance of Omicron variant and extensive travel bans inflicted by many countries of the world have smashed any likelihood for an instant bounce back for the tourism industry of the country. Also, they’ve put livelihoods of many travel agencies at great danger that struggled tremendously during the pandemic.
“In less than 48 hours, our outbound and indoor industry was destroyed for the next three months,” said Otto de Vries, the CEO of the Association of Southern African Travel Agents. “The knee-jerk reaction from countries around the world has been nothing short of a disaster for the (local) travel industry.”
Many figures have explained the reason. Cancelled bookings due to the travel bans have cost the tourism industry of SA more than $61.9 million (one billion rand). And 90 percent of businesses related to tourism in the Western Cape Province of the country mentioned in a survey conducted by its Department of Economic Development and Tourism that they expect their revenue between December and February to decrease due to the international bans.
Tags: SA Tourism


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The weapon of choice for Bush-era Web regulation is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and its press office was very busy last week.
For instance, if you’ve gotten spam from outfits claiming they can “find out anything about anyone” (and who hasn’t), the service is illegal. It violates a privacy law called the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (after its sponsors) that prohibits using false statements to collect sensitive data.
Under “Operation Detect Pretext,” the FTC turned up 200 different companies offering to sell things like your bank balance to anyone with a few hundred dollars and sued three of them. I checked my own spam folder and found that at least in the last two weeks, the traffic of such offers to my inbox has stopped.
But a brief online investigation found all three companies cited in the FTC press release — Information Search Inc. of Baltimore, MD; Discreet Data Systems of Humble, TX; and Smart Data Systems of New York — are still operating. Discreet does have a note on its home page claiming it’s in compliance with the law, but, at the top of the same page, it claims it can “locate bank information,” the service that got it in trouble.
The FTC also sent out a press release concerning enforcement of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Three Web sites were fined a total of $100,000 for collecting personal information on kids under 13 without parental consent. (The release has links to details on all three cases.)
The third site cited, InsideTheWeb.com, is run by LookSmart, according to the WHO IS database run by Register.com, but that service was shut down in March, according to the page as cached by Google. According to the cached page, LookSmart blamed the advertising slump, not the FTC, for the closing. Instead, the InsideTheWeb URL now points to LookSmart’s Beseen service, which runs private-label threaded discussion lists.
If you’re worried about COPPA, however, you should know that by complying with the rules of the Entertainment Software Rating Board or Council of Better Business Bureaus, you win “safe harbor” from the FTC’s scrutiny. Those private groups will enforce the act through their rules and procedures.
If you think consumer advocates are happy-happy, look at the fine print. The Center for Media Education (CME), which supports COPPA, recently conducted a survey of 153 kids’ sites and found 86 percent still collect personal data.
While more sites are limiting the information they require from kids for using their sites, CME wrote, most privacy policies aren’t displayed clearly and prominently. The CME also charged that most sites that should require parental consent before collecting data aren’t doing so properly, and some sites that are complying are also encouraging kids to lie about their age.
What have we learned from all of this? The media reaction from the FTC’s moves is uniformly positive, but that reaction remains skin-deep. The real impact on business from all of this is minimal.
A class action lawsuit against an internet-connected pleasure device highlights the potential pitfalls a growing number of companies will face as they embrace ... read more
Google sparked a small firestorm last week as reports surfaced that its intelligent assistant device Google Home delivered an unsolicited advertisement to unsuspecting owners.
According to Internet Retailer's newly released The Best Digital Marketers in E-Commerce report, Target is the most effective marketer in online retail. So why is it struggling overall?
The rise of YouTube and digital video generally has a lot to do with the rise of the internet and the abundance of digital video content. But YouTube's ascendency is also the result of Google's savvy use of algorithms.


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The nation has been facing the worst drought in 56 years
Taiwan has eased concerns that global semiconductor shortages could escalate by ensuring that the industry has enough water to hold local chip makers, including TSMC, on board until May. President Tsai Ing-wen has urged people to save water as the island experiences the worst drought in 56 years since no typhoons occurred in 2020; it is normally struck by three or four tropical storms a year.
Speaking to reporters earlier this week, the country’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Wang Mei-hua, said that the drought has not yet affected TSMC or other businesses, writes the South China Morning Post. A standard semiconductor production facility uses two to four million gallons of ultra-pure water per day.
The worldwide semiconductor shortage that could last until next year is the biggest reason that new PC hardware and gaming consoles are too hard to find right now—incoming Qualcomm’s CEO admits the situation keeps him awake at night. It also has a crippling impact on the automotive industry, which cut chip orders at the onset of the pandemic and is now unable to satisfy demand. With many carmakers pausing vehicle production, US, Japanese and European officials are reportedly urging Taiwan to do all it can to keep the supply of chips steady.
TSMC spokeswoman Nina Kao said that the firm had limited its use and requested small quantities of water from the truck load in preparation for any constraints. Any more interruptions in chip manufacturing, such as those caused by the temporary closure of Texas fabs due to adverse weather conditions, will intensify the already complicated situation. Yet, it seems like TSMC is planning for the worst.
Taiwan has recently introduced recycling policies that have helped to conserve 701 million tonnes of water, guaranteeing a sufficient supply by May with an extra one month reserve. The monsoon rains were supposed to arrive by that time.


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In about a few hours, search engine giant Google will kick-off the 11th edition of the company's prestigious annual developers' conclave -- Google I/O 2017 (May 17-19).
Google's I/O event will be held at Shoreline Amphitheatre on the backyard of the Mountain View headquarters at local time 10:00 am PT/ 1:00 pm ET (10:30 pm IST), where CEO- Sundar Pichai and other top honchos of the company will present keynote presentation on latest developments in Android mobile OS, improvements in Artificial Intelligence-based Google Assistant and many more projects.
Google I/O 2017: Top 5 announcements expected at developers conclave
Android O and new Android Wear OS:
Like previous years, Google I/0 2017's highlight will be the official launch of new mobile OS v8.0 Android O series. It was actually released to developers in March, but only for select registered software programmers and limited to only to a couple of Nexus and Pixel series phones and the also OS was half baked. Now, the Android O, which released at the event will have more features and will be made available to wider audience, and the full name of the 'O' series OS is also expected to revealed, as well
However, it will not be released to the public en masse just yet, as Google wants the volunteer developers to find bugs, which have been overlooked in the previous tests and make it more optimised and also develop compatible apps to run them on the new OS.
Even the new version of Android Wear for smartwatches will also be announced, as well.
Google Android powered Autonomous Cars:
Android Auto UI for cars has been around quite some time, but nothing path breaking features have been added so far. Now, reliable reports have indicated, Google will make huge announcements with regard to its secret Android-powered self-driving cars. The company, though not publicly responded over autonomous cars rumours, Google-branded cars have been spotted on the roads US cities. Many believe, Google might officially detail the roadmap of its pet project, which is most likely to take-off around 2020.
Google Android Pay:
It has been two years since Google announced mobile wallet Android Pay and despite having a huge brand name, but its adoption rate is abysmally low compared to rivals—Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.
This year, Google is expected to announce key changes in Android Pay, to make it more popular and also expand it more markets like India, where digital transaction has just begun peak after the demonization of high currency notes (Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500).
New Google VR headgear:
Last year's Google I/O witnessed the launch of the Daydream platform for VR (Virtual Reality)-compatible devices and also Daydream View headgear. It allowed its Pixel series phones and also select third-party branded top-end mobiles (with required hardware) to support VR videos and games.
In 2017, Google is expected to launch new VR headset with more advanced features including gesture controls.
Google Home 2.0:
Google Assistant-powered Home 2.0 is the another key announcement expected at the I/) event, as rival Apple, which is hosting the WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) on June 5, is said to launch Siri-powered smarthome assistant.
Google Home is currently retailed in US and UK and has garnered lot of appreciation, and even more in recent months. Google, in a bid to provide more personalised service added new feature to sync six different accounts of the owner's family.
Now, Google is expected to launch the second generation Home with more inbuilt features and also integration option with more third party home appliances, so that user will be able to control his gadgets in his/her house with just the voice.
Apart from the aforementioned topics, Google is expected to make announcements on many other products (software and hardware) such as new Chromecast video streaming device, Sasmung DeX (or Microsoft Continuum) like feature for Android, Google Assistant for iPhones, iPads and iPods, other Android related services and also host "LCD soundsystem" music concert on its campus on May 18.
Interested fans can log in to Google's official YouTube channel (HERE) to watch online at 9 pm ET/12 am PT local time (6:30 am Friday, May 19 IST).


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Retailer Cruise Sales Report: The Tide Is Rising For Everyone
2017 is shaping up as the best year in a decade for many cruise retailers.
Cruise Week has interviewed top sellers and cruise line executives over the past few weeks, and the reports are generally glowing.
"There's a ton of demand,” said one top seller. “People are not only cruising, they're booking further out and they're paying more. So the tide is rising for everyone."
The retailer added some perspective: "Our booking curve has jumped way up. It's a huge trend. I haven't seen a year this good since '07. And many say it's better than '07. There's more capacity, which speaks more to economy and consumer demand, but I think that the booking curve is a big factor."
The same retailer says neither agents nor suppliers are used to such positive results.
"It has been so long since we all thought about the numbers in terms of a dramatically extended booking curve and better pricing and yields and relations with networks. All of those things are undergoing changes. It's unprecedented for people who joined the business post-2007."
He also adds a word of caution, because experience tells him that such success can breed new issues.
"I think there's a potential for the lines to undervalue the contribution of travel agents in a good year. They think: ‘Things are great, we don't need them as much.’ That's just sort of a legacy mindset.
"Agents tend to be taken for granted in a good year, when in fact we're putting tons of business on the books, just further out, which is what they've always wanted."


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“What can I say? It’s amazing, of course. And to be honest, I didn’t expect that because maybe I was struggling so much, but it gave me a lot of confidence to continue,” says “Making the Cut” designer Esther Perbandt about winning the first assignment of the season in “Heidi and Tim Are Back.” Then came the second episode, “Haute Couture,” and she won that one too. Watch our exclusive video interview with Perbandt above.
Hosted by Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, “Making the Cut” brings together a dozen designers from around the world, each one already accomplished in the industry but aiming to break through on the global stage by becoming the world’s next big fashion brand. Perbandt has had her brand for 15 years but even with all that experience this show was a “roller coaster,” especially in the first assignment where she had to improvise one of her two designs at the last minute.
“Winning the first challenge really helped me because I got a bit more relaxed afterwards,” she explains about the vote of confidence she got from the judges. “That’s why I just said, okay, I’ll buy 20 meters of tulle and buy 20 meters of sequins and I’ll do the haute couture show. That was really the most important moment in the show for me, like a milestone … Doing a dress like this made me feel like being sent back to the playground and really pulling out my creativity.”
Winning both challenges means that her looks were made immediately available to Amazon customers all over the world on Friday, March 27, the day the episodes premiered on the streaming service. And as of Monday, March 30, both of her looks had sold out. All profits from the winning designs go back to the designers, so this platform is already paying off for Perbandt. But will she win the whole season? Two new episodes premiere every Friday on Amazon until the finale on April 24.