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LG Electronics will unveil the largest three-dimensional (3D) television to date at next month’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, as it attempts to regain a reputation for innovation in the television business.
However, Samsung Electronics has no intention of letting its domestic rival steal the show at the world’s largest consumer technology trade fair, as it looks to have a series of Internet-enabled televisions at its booths.
Connected televisions and 3D flat-screens are considered the natural successors to the conventional liquid-crystal display (LCD) television sets of today. And Samsung and LG, the world’s two biggest television manufacturers in that order, are aiming for a bright start in these up-and-coming product segments and cement their positions in the market.
LG, which had been struggling to match the 3D television buzz generated by rivals Samsung and Sony in the past year, seems determined to make some noise by offering an in-your-face stereoscopic experience.
The company’s 72-inch 3D television, tagged the LZ9700, will probably remain as the industry’s largest model when it reaches consumers in the United States and other major markets during the first half of next year. The massive screen is supported by a “full’’ light-emitting diode (LED) backlighting system and also features a 480 hertz refresh rates, which helps to combat eyestrain and dizziness by reducing the flickering of images, LG officials said.
The television will also support Internet connectivity, which will allow viewers a variety of options in video-on-demand (VOD) content and applications atop of Web browsing.
LG hopes to find a significant demand for its 3D televisions in the U.S., home to a vibrant 3D content industry and where customers have been more willing to give these intriguing but unproven products a try. U.S. customers also appear to have a larger appetite for large-screen televisions than other consumers.
“We believe that our product will lead the transition toward large-screen 3D televisions,’’ said Havis Kwon, the head of LG’s home entertainment division.
Obviously, LG would love to duplicate the success of Samsung, which has been controlling the U.S. television market with authority. Samsung is likely to end the year as the top television brand in the U.S., which would mark the fifth consecutive year at the top, and the company hopes that its increasing sales in 3D and connected televisions will help extend its leadership for a sixth.
Through January and November, Samsung been topping the U.S. market segments for LCD, LED-backlit, 3D and Internet-enabled televisions, and has been boasting a 40 percent-plus share in the premium LCD televisions, according to market researcher NPD.
Samsung is looking to exploit the CES to generate more excitement for its upcoming televisions, and a significant part of its promotional efforts will be channeled for its “smart’’ televisions that are equipped with Internet connectivity and a wealth of sophisticated, interactive functions.
The company plans to launch a new lineup of connected televisions, dubbed “WOW’’ Smart TVs, with some of the models being unveiled at the CES, company officials said.
More than 2,500 technology companies around the world are to participate in the Jan. 6 to 9 CES, which claims to be the world’s largest consumer technology trade show and attracts around 126,600 visitors each year.
See original story here: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2010/12/129_78679.html


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Pimpri Budruk becomes first cashless village in Pune
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The Centre for Good Governance under the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs has declared that Pimpri Budruk in Pune district as a cashless village. This is first cashless village in the district.
From students to senior citizens, each of the eligible members of the village Pimpari Budruk from Khed tahasil of Pune District has an account with the bank, where every transaction is being done through mobile banking. All the villagers have been trained by the bank officials and volunteers of Centre for Good Governance. Since there is no requirement of internet for mobile banking, currently everyone has opted for the same.
At present, mobile banking covers everything for the villagers. right from purchasing grocery items to paying the bills of agriculture products and seed shops. Four grocery shop owners, two eateries, a flour mill, one agriculture products and fertilizer shop, a health clinic, a salon and the gram panchayat office have already issued an order for card swipe machines to go at the next level.
Such a swipe machine will also be installed at High School and Junior College where fees of the student or voluntary donations will be accepted via debit cards.

domain: news


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When today’s grocery shoppers browse store aisles, they are not looking for premium products or exciting indulgences — the majority are generally just trying to get the food they need and get out.
By the Numbers
According to data from PYMNTS’ “Consumer Inflation Sentiment” study, which draws from a July survey of nearly 3,800 U.S. adults, 60% of consumers have cut down on nonessential grocery spending due to rising prices.
The Data in Action
Walmart, the world’s largest grocer, is noting this trend. On a call with analysts Tuesday (Aug. 16), executives explained that consumers have been trading down when it comes to food spending, which in turn is putting pressure on profit margins.
“As an example, instead of deli meats at higher price points, customers are increasing purchases of hotdogs as well as canned tuna or chicken,” Walmart Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said on the call. “Private brand penetration has also inflected higher.”


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A visit to the auto repair shop can cost a lot of money and, often, a lot of frustration. The team at Savannah’s Integrity Auto Repair hopes to change that by pairing old-fashioned customer service with the modern twist of social media to remodel the industry.
The general manager of the top-rated Savannah auto shop on Yelp, Michael Mole and the Integrity team are taking cues from giants like Amazon and Apple when it comes to customer service and utilizing social media to connect with customers.
"That’s what we really see ourselves as, a customer service company that just happens to fix cars," said Mole.
In recent years, the Wal-Mart economy, as Mole calls it, has shifted away from customer service-based platforms, so often times when you have an issue or complaint it never gets resolved, he said, but that’s not the case at Integrity. Mole is constantly engaged on the shop’s social media accounts, responding to Facebook comments and Yelp reviews, which he compares to a small town.
"In the 1950s you lived in small towns and people knew the butcher, baker and candle stick maker. … You couldn’t screw people over because word would spread and you’d go out of business, it was that simple," Mole said.
"… These review sites are a modern day word of mouth. You don’t know these people personally, but they’re like that small town was in the 1950s, so I think we’re circling back (to that). It’s not new, it’s old."
But it’s not just the positive comments that interests Mole. Recently a customer commented on Facebook about a mistake that had been made to her car in 2015, Mole reached out to her over the phone and not only apologized, but reimbursed her the $220 it had cost to fix the problem at another shop.
"The ball is going to be dropped from time to time, but we just made it right," he said.
"… We see it as honest feedback. We’re not afraid of it. For us, if we don’t take good care of you we’ll just go out of business. It’s just that simple."
Another way the company is putting their customers in the know is by using software that allows the technicians to perform an easily understood courtesy inspection and take photos of any potential problems.
"This is what helps us save people money… We can give people the information that will help them make the decision of, should you keep putting money in this car or should you bail on this," Mole said.
"… The pictures really do help us build trust. We don’t sell auto repair, we sell trust and if you buy trust we don’t care whether you buy auto repair or not."
Integrity first opened at 4406 Waters Ave., in 2013 and last month opened the garage doors at 12125 Apache Ave., on the southside. In the next couple of years, the company hopes to expand to Pooler .
"We have a lot of momentum right now. If it hadn’t been for the hurricane last year we would have done $1 million in sales last year, so for a company as young as we are it’s great," said Mole, who joined the company in 2015.
Mole said the majority of the positive buzz about the shop has grown organically, they don’t ask customers to rate them, but when they do it creates a ripple effect that they often pass on to family, friends and neighbors.
"If you trust us you’re going to tell you friends, family and co-workers and when they decide they need auto repair we’re going to be the people they trust and that’s more valuable to us than your business," Mole said, adding that it comes down to just doing the right thing.
"Savannah is a small town, and we want to be the place people can trust, people want to send their moms here…," he said. "We’re just taking care of people."


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On the second day of its UK-wide tour for National Eye Health Week (18-24 September 2017), Vision Express took its high-tech Vision Van to Milton Keynes offering free eye tests to all - with 83% of those who took advantage confessing they haven’t had the essential health check in over two years* and one in six never having had one.
Milton Keynes residents were given free 30-minute sight tests at the Van which spent the day at the Intu MK Shopping Centre on Tuesday (19 September). The town was selected as a pitstop on the tour, after it was identified as having a high population of people at risk of developing eye health conditions, due to smoking and poor diet.
Over a fifth, 22%, of adults in Milton Keynes are smokers. Plus, a quarter of the local population eats less than two portions of fruits and vegetables per day and has a BMI over 30. Statistics show people who smoke are at least three times more likely to develop sight conditions, including age-related macular degeneration, than non-smokers and those eating a diet that is rich in fruit and vegetables could avoid eye problems and some eye conditions that can eventually lead to permanent sight damage.
All appointments available on the Van were snapped up, with two thirds of those tested needing vision correction and just under a fifth (16%) being advised to seek further medical attention with their GP.
One visitor to the van was Angela Simmons from Bermuda. Having neglected her eyes for the past seven years, explaining her last visit to the opticians was in 2010, she was relieved to have a diagnosis on an eye condition which has been causing her persistent problems.
Angela says: “I was offered a free eye exam here in Milton Keynes, which means I have been given a lot of information to go back home with. I told the optometrist that my eyes water a lot and after doing the examination she disclosed that my pores are closed because of my eye liner. This is something I had never thought of before, and she has advised me to make sure I take my eyeliner off at night and to open up my pores by pressing a hot compress against my eye.”
During her examination, a small mole at the back of Angela’s eye was also discovered, “the optometrist said it’s nothing to worry about as it’s flat and been there for a very long time.” Angela continued, “my prescription has also changed.”
Angela also discovered through her eye test that her cholesterol was a slightly higher than It should be, so it was recommended she sees her GP when she get home to Bermuda.
Joining the Milton Keynes leg of the tour was Petra Maxwell from the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT). A charity partner of Vision Express’ since 2010, CHECT raises awareness of the rare eye cancer retinoblastoma, while supporting families affected by the condition. Petra explained to Van visitors how to spot retinoblastoma which affects young children, mainly under the age of six. Around 50-60 cases are diagnosed in the UK every year – approximately one child a week.
Retinoblastoma has one of the best cure rates of all the childhood cancers. In the UK, around 98% of children will survive but early diagnosis is essential.
Vision Express CEO, Jonathan Lawson, concludes: “We’re once again taking our Vision Van on the road to help share the message of how important an eye test is in detecting sight defects, eye-related conditions and other health problems.
“By taking the eye test to the people, we can target areas where there is a worsening outlook for eye health. We felt Milton Keynes would be a perfect pitstop on our 2017 Vision Van tour, particularly as we know that nutrition and smoking can impact sight.”
This is the fourth time Vision Express is touring its Vision Van for National Eye Health Week, highlighting the importance of regular eye testing for good sight and general wellbeing, considering the findings that two million people in the UK are living with sight loss, half of which is preventable, yet just over half of adults in the UK only visit an optician every five years, with 8% never having had a sight test..
Jonathan concludes: “We know that people fear blindness more than any other sense loss, with one survey finding that 76% of people would rather lose a limb than their sight. And, we’re very aware that affordability is an issue for many, with 37% of people putting off having an eye test due to cost concern, so we want to help. That’s why anyone who can’t get to the Van while it’s on tour, can download a free eye test voucher from our website.”
Everyone across the UK can benefit from a free eye test by downloading an online voucher now until 30 September from the Vision Express website: www.visionexpress.com/national-eye-health-week-2017/free-eye-test. The voucher can be redeemed until 31 October 2017 at any of approximately 400 Vision Express stores across the UK.
To find out more about National Eye Health Week visit: https://www.visionexpress.com/national-eye-health-week/ or to find your nearest Vision Express store and make an eye test appointment visit: www.visionexpress.com/opticians/.
Behavioural Data supplied by Experian using statistics published by Health Survey for England, Sport England, ONS, Department of Health, NHS National Services Scotland and the Welsh Government
2007: Arch Ophthalmol, Smoking and the long-term incidence of age-related macular degeneration
2014: Simplyhealth Quant Survey; Middle aged attitudes to Vision & Eye Tests
2012: Bausch and Lomb. The global eye health barometer
2008: State of the Nations Eyes Study – The Eyecare Trust
About Vision Express
Vision Express is one of the largest optical retailers in the UK and part of GrandVision,the global leader in optical retail operating in more than 40 countries, spanning over 6,500 stores and online.
With almost 400 stores nationwide, Vision Express first opened its doors in Newcastle in 1988. Built on a passion for the profession, it has gone from strength to strength, driven by a commitment to unparalleled customer service and providing the best individual optical care, the right product and great value. Customers can select from a vast range of genuine designer brands and the latest technology lenses, through to complete glasses from £39.
With around 4,500 employees, Vision Express makes a significant difference to the communities it operates within, and the organisations it chooses to support. As part of its commitment to Vision. Taken Seriously, and as a responsible and caring retailer, Vision Express is proud to partner with a range of healthcare charities, which have touched the lives of customers and teams. These companies provide vital support to people affected by vision-related conditions. They are part of the Vision Express Charity Project and include:
- Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT)
- International Glaucoma Association
- Macular Society
- Stroke Association
- Temple Street University Hospital


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-$0.04 EPS Expected for Angie’s List, Inc. (ANGI) This Quarter
Equities research analysts forecast that Angie’s List, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANGI) will post ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks. Three analysts have provided estimates for Angie’s List’s earnings. Angie’s List posted earnings per share of $0.15 in the same quarter last year, which suggests a negative year over year growth rate of 126.7%. The company is expected to issue its next earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st.
According to Zacks, analysts expect that Angie’s List will report full-year earnings of ($0.23) per share for the current financial year. For the next year, analysts expect that the firm will report earnings of $0.10 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $0.08 to $0.12. Zacks’ earnings per share averages are an average based on a survey of sell-side research firms that follow Angie’s List.
Angie’s List (NASDAQ:ANGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 8th. The technology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.18). Angie’s List had a negative return on equity of 25.20% and a negative net margin of 17.04%. The company had revenue of $181.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.28) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year.
Shares of Angie’s List (ANGI) traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $11.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,025,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 685,675. Angie’s List has a fifty-two week low of $5.22 and a fifty-two week high of $13.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.
ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WARNING: “-$0.04 EPS Expected for Angie’s List, Inc. (ANGI) This Quarter” was first published by American Banking News and is the property of of American Banking News. If you are accessing this story on another website, it was illegally copied and reposted in violation of United States and international copyright law. The original version of this story can be viewed at https://www.americanbankingnews.com/2017/11/15/0-04-eps-expected-for-angies-list-inc-angi-this-quarter.html.
In related news, insider Shannon Shaw sold 87,745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $1,052,940.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 28,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $344,016. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael S. Maurer sold 98,578 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.20, for a total value of $1,202,651.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $763,268.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 316,464 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,404. 18.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Angie’s List in the 1st quarter worth $153,000. American International Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Angie’s List by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 24,481 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 1,621 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Angie’s List by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,367,386 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $24,895,000 after buying an additional 228,084 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Angie’s List by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 362,277 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,064,000 after buying an additional 19,232 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Angie’s List by 55.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 462,627 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,637,000 after buying an additional 164,122 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.95% of the company’s stock.
About Angie’s List
ANGI Homeservices Inc is focused on creating digital marketplace for home services, connecting homeowners across the globe with home service professionals. The Company operates 10 brands including Angie’s List, HomeAdvisor, HomeStars, Instapro, MyBuilder, MyHammer, Travaux, Werkspot, CraftJack and mHelpDesk.
For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com
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Today, Belgian logistics SaaS scale-up Peripass announced it has secured €7.5 million in funding to accelerate its global expansion.
The current labour shortage in the logistics and transportation industries forces companies to evaluate their processes and embrace digital transformation. While production efficiency is optimised on the factory floor, this fails to translate to the yard, which is where Peripass comes in.
By digitally streamlining trailer movements, Peripass successfully reduces driver waiting times by up to 70 percent.
This not only improves efficiency and comfort but also significantly reduces CO2 emissions and the number of accidents, resulting in considerable cost savings for logistics sites.
While this innovation is highly beneficial, only 10 percent of the market currently uses an automation platform for logistics operations. Peripass aims to equip 1,000 sites with yard management software by 2030, improving the daily waiting times of over 150,000 truck drivers.
Welvaartfonds led the financing round, which builds on previous investments from the Van Overstraeten Group.
Roald Borré, Portfolio Manager at Welvaartsfonds shared:
"Peripass has an impressive vision for the future of manufacturing and logistics sites. In a sector where every second counts, drivers often face unnecessary delays.
We were impressed by the innovative solution, the proven return on investment, and the team's passion. We look forward to helping Peripass achieve its global ambitions."
Today, Peripass operates in 13 countries and is set to increase.
Leander Naessens, CEO of Peripass shared:
"Our customers often have locations in different countries and continents. They have experienced the value of Peripass on their European sites and are now asking us to follow them across the globe."
With the capital raised, Peripass will focus on building a global partner network and strengthening its existing commercial teams in France, the UK, and Germany.
It will also continue to invest in simplifying the daily tasks of truck drivers and logistics staff through its self-service technology. This technology allows drivers to register and process documents in their language and to receive information via SMS about loading and unloading locations and times, also in their preferred language.
Looking ahead, a future of vehicle automation increases the need for logistics solutions.
"Currently, truck parking areas sharply contrast with the high degree of automation in production halls. However, in a future where self-driving, autonomous vehicles become a reality, they will also enter logistics sites.
Effective management is crucial to ensuring the safety and optimal utilisation of these vehicles. Peripass plays a significant role in preparing for that future."
Lead image: Marcin Jozwiak.


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Severe Economic Crisis In Sri Lanka, Counts Of Refugees IncreasesThangaraja Palaniappan (Author) Published Date : Mar 24, 2022 14:28 IST
There is a severe economic crisis in Sri Lanka. People are suffering from severe power outages and food shortages. Thus many places have descended into struggle. The number of refugees coming to Tamil Nadu has increased.
Sri Lanka's currency has depreciated sharply due to declining foreign exchange reserves. This has created a major problem for the supply of imported goods. Inflation in the country stands at 17.5 per cent. This is much higher than it was in 2015.
Due to the severe economic crisis, the prices of essential commodities there have multiplied. There is also a shortage of fuel. People have been hit hard by the rising costs of essential items. Restaurants are closed. In Sri Lanka, a kilo of rice sells for Rs.290, sugar for Rs.290 and 400g milk powder for Rs.790.
The Sri Lankan government has postponed school exams due to the inability to buy a paper due to the financial crisis. There is also a shortage of fuel. People have been hit hard by the rising prices of essential commodities.
The Sri Lankan government seeks help from neighbouring countries to overcome the economic crisis. Accordingly, on March 17, the Government of India extended a loan of Rs. 7,500 crore to Sri Lanka. India has announced that it will assist in purchasing essential items.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is expected to repay dollar 400 billion in loans by the end of this year. This includes a dollar 100 billion government bond. These mature in July this year. This, too, has caused a major crisis for the Sri Lankan government.
Sri Lanka has appointed an international law firm to deal with the economic crisis facing Sri Lanka and restructure its financial position under its guidance. The move comes ahead of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Washington in April. The number of Sri Lankan Tamils coming to Tamil Nadu as refugees has increased due to the severe food shortage in Sri Lanka.


text: US wholesale inventories posted an increase in August while sales also edged up, Commerce Department reported on Friday. Inventories at the wholesale level rose 0.5 percent in August from the prior month to 503.0 billion U.S. dollars. It was 2.5 percent higher than the year-ago level. Sales at the wholesale level also increased 0.6 percent to 428.4 billion dollars in August, and was 5.6 percent higher than a year ago. Changes in business inventories is a key component of the changes in gross domestic product. Economists hold that wholesale sales increase is a good sign for economic recovery, as personal consumption accounted for about 70 percent of the total economic activity in the world\'s largest economy. The report was delayed for about two weeks due to the 16-day partial federal government shutdown starting on Oct. 1.


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Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities launched on Thursday an international promotional campaign to enhance sustainable tourism in Egypt under the slogan A Civilization Inspired by Nature, on the side-lines of COP27.
The campaign aims to promote sustainable tourism in Egypt through several major markets exporting tourism to Egypt, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States and Arab States, said head of Tourism Activation Amr El Kady.
El Kady further added the campaign highlighted Egypt’s relationship with nature and its respect for the environment, as well as the efforts of the modern Egyptian state to preserve the environment and transform sustainable green tourism.
This move is the beginning of publishing a set of short promotional films about various Egyptian tourist destinations, added Susan Mostafa, the director general of the tourism promotion department at the Authority.
Sustainable tourism is a concept that covers the complete tourism experience, including concern for economic, social and environmental issues as well as attention to improving tourists’ experiences.


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870 Bulgarian Yogurt Shops to Open in China
Chinese could soon fall in love with Bulgarian yogurt with 870 shops offering the food set to open in the country, Xinhua news agency reported.
Georgi Georgiev, general manager of Lactina Ltd., a large private Bulgarian manufacturer of starters, told Xinhua that its Chinese partner Zhejiang Shangzheng Commerce and Trade and Walmart China would jointly open 852 shops for Bulgarian yogurt by the end of 2014.
According to a contract signed recently, the first shop called "Lactina Yogurt Bar" will be put into operation inside a Walmart store in June 2013, Georgiev said.
Zhejiang Shangzheng Commerce and Trade will also independently open about 20 more Lactina Yogurt Bars in Hangzhou and Ningbo in east China's Zhejiang Province. The Chinese firm set up its first Lactina Yogurt Bar in September last year in Hangzhou.
Georgiev said local Chinese staff in Hangzhou were trained by Lactina to make genuine Bulgarian yogurt using yogurt makers.
Lactina is currently present in 85 countries in five continents. It develops different yogurt starters, tailored to climatic conditions and the tastes of consumers in each region, Georgiev said.
- » Bulgaria Leads in Early Bookings for Summer 2016 at TUI Russia
- » Bulgarian Consumer Confidence Increases - NSI
- » Bulgaria Warns of 18 Unlicensed Investment Intermediaries
- » Two Bulgarian Resorts Rank Among Ten Cheapest Destinations for Russian Tourists
- » Bulgaria's ISP Sector 'Generally Clean'
- » Bulgarian MPs Reject Proposal to Renew Construction of South Stream


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Here are the best information about What ice cream comes from china voted by readers and compiled and edited by our team, let’s find out
But internet users did not appreciate the CEO’s arrogant demeanor. They dug into the company’s history, and found that it was twice fined in 2019 for misleading advertising, including falsely claiming that its ice cream contained zero water. One document stated that the “premium red grapes from Xinjiang Turpan vineyard” that the firm advertised were found to be raisins sold in retail, and the “internationally acclaimed aged cheddar” had not won international awards.
Chicecream issued an official apology last Friday, but not before the criticisms of the brand went viral. By June 24, six hashtags about Chicecream were trending on Weibo, each garnering millions of views. But for Chinese companies, a controversy can be as much a certificate of success as a badge of shame.
The rise of Chinese ice cream
Founded in March 2018 in Shanghai, Chicecream deliberately bills itself as an authentic Chinese ice cream brand. Its Chinese name, Zhōngxuēgāo (钟薛高), is a homophone for “Chinese ice cream” (中雪糕 zhōngxuěgāo) in Mandarin. Because it’s not possible to register “China” as part of a trademark, “We came up with a homophonic mash-up of three Chinese surnames, Zhong, Xue, and Gao, to represent authentic Chinese identity,” said Lin (in Chinese).
In design, the ice cream bar resembles a Chinese roof tile and features the character 回 (huí, “to return”).
To cater to a young population that is increasingly health conscious, the company also promotes its ingredients as low-sugar, low-fat, and 100% natural.
The brand gained traction from the get-go. In 2019, its first month of sales totaled 6 million yuan ($926K). Last month, the brand completed a Series A financing round of 200 million yuan ($30 million). During this year’s 618 shopping day, one of the biggest online shopping events in China, Chicecream ranked third in JD.com’s ice cream category. The startup has sold close to 100 million ice cream bars thus far and boasts 2.15 million followers on its flagship Tmall store.
The man behind the brand, Lin Sheng, is a 40-year-old history major with a background in advertising. After China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, Lin started his own advertising company in Shanghai. But he found his real passion to lie in the promises of the trend-obsessed, internet celebrity (wǎnghóng 网红) economy.
The wanghong-driven ecosystem — through social media platforms like Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and WeChat — had successfully birthed such homegrown consumer brands as HEYTEA and Perfect Diary. Aware of the influence that key opinion leaders (KOL) had on young Chinese consumers, Lin focused on selling ice cream online, away from the brick-and-mortar retail shops. He invited KOLs from Xiaohongshu to taste-test the product, going as far as parking a van packed with ice cream bars in front of the Xiaohongshu headquarters, according to an article (in Chinese) on WeChat.
A savvy entrepreneur, Lin didn’t choose ice cream at random. China is the largest market for ice cream in the world, with a market value of 150 billion yuan ($23 billion) last year, according to a 2020 industry report (in Chinese).
Does Chicecream have a future?
In the early 2000s, luxury ice cream was the proprietorship of foreign brands. Domestic ice pops made by Mengniu Diary, Yili, and Guangming cost less than 5 yuan ($0.77), making the 50-yuan-a-scoop Häagen-Dazs the haute couture of frozen dairy.
With the emergence of high-end domestic brands like Chicecream and Zhongjie 1946, the old linkage between quality and imported brands is changing radically. In 2018, Chicecream launched Ecuador Pink, a pink cocoa powder popsicle priced at 66 yuan ($10.2). The bold price tag earned Chicecream the nickname “the Hermès of ice cream” after the famous French luxury brand. Evidently, the decision to compete at the premium segment paid off. At its launch during the Singles Day shopping festival on November 11, 2018, the company had 20,000 popsicles in stock and it sold out within 15 hours.
When asked about the price, Lin suggested that imports of unprocessed ingredients, such as the Japanese citrus fruit yuzu, kept the production cost at a high level. Each Chicecream flavor has a special name that gives off the impression of a high-quality product, such as “Semi-Opportunism” (半巧主义) or “Hand-Crafted Jasmine” (手煮茉莉). Chicecream is now collaborating with other food and beverage brands like nut and snack company Three Squirrels and liquor manufacturer Luzhou Laojiao to launch holiday limited-edition ice cream desserts. Chicecream has even begun to stamp its expensive price tag onto other products, such as dumplings — under one of its subsidiary brands, it sells a bag of 16 dumplings for a whopping 250 yuan ($38.6).
But as the market expands, the premium segment might get pinched from below. In recent years, the ice cream market has expanded alongside a booming middle class. In 2018, China’s ice cream market reached 124.3 billion yuan ($19.2 billion), an 11.98% increase from the previous year. Ice cream production, meanwhile, has only increased by 3.54%, according to data (in Chinese) published by the Huajing Research Institute.
That means that lower-tier ice cream brands are already discovering that quality is now more profitable than quantity. In a few years, premium brands may outnumber lower-tier competitors in a host of sectors.
“It’s not just ice cream,” said Zhū Dānpéng 朱丹蓬, an analyst from China Foods Ltd, to China Business Journal (in Chinese). “Fast-moving consumer goods like bottled water and instant noodles are seeing their low-priced products disappear.”
But Chicecream’s CEO may already have a plan for that, and the expensive dumplings show that the plan is already being implemented. Lin said in an interview (in Chinese) that his reason for starting Chicecream was not just the market potential of ice cream itself: He is “optimistic” about the entire “home refrigerator storage consumption market.” He chose ice cream to start because of the high frequency of purchases, but that still leaves the rest of the freezer compartment to fill with delicious treats, savory and sweet, for which Chinese consumers will pay top dollar.


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Earlier today Amazon launched their 'Amazon Prime Music' service, with over a million songs available at launch. The service can be accessed through all major platforms, including iOS and Android.
7 days: A week of Azure outages, Black Friday deals, a kernel change and "becoming Clippy"
The day I became Clippy
Your guide to every Lumia Windows Phone ever launched
From Xbox to Health, the story of the Microsoft Band
Spotify has announced that it has now signed up 10 million paid subscribers around the world to use its streaming music service, which is double the number it had in December 2012.
The first developer beta of iOS 6 has a new feature that turns the iTunes Match music service from a download feature into a true online streaming music service.
Todays big news in the tech world is the launch of the streaming music service Spotify in the US. The service allows people to stream 15 million songs to their PC, Mac or smartphone device....
Apple's iTunes music service is still the leader in the downloadable music space but now it wants in on the ever growing cloud computing business. Before it does that with iTunes, however, it needs to...


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2014 Marketing Trends Roundup: Predictions from Top Industry Thought Leaders
It’s that time of the year again! As the New Year begins, many industry groups and publications are peering into their crystal balls to predict what will be hot – and what will not – in the coming year. This is especially true when it comes to marketing and communications.
At Boomm, we’re dedicated to keeping up with the latest trends to help you build your business. And we understand that you don’t have time to read what every industry expert is predicting for 2014. That’s why we’ve rounded up some of the top 2014 marketing trends and predictions from top industry thought leaders – including the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and Mashable – to help you understand what developments in the coming year could impact your marketing strategy.
We definitely agree with many of the predictions, including the increased emphasis on content marketing and continuing importance of traditional SEO tactics. And we’re happy to see that 2014 may be the year that more marketers begin creating personalized experiences for their visitors. But, we’re not really buying the prediction that MySpace might make a comeback – and are a bit concerned about the effect that Google’s ever-changing algorithms may have on search engine results this year. If you’d like to learn more about any of these trends, contact us.
- 7 Key Marketing Trends for 2014: Tactics for Thriving in the New Year. SilverPop predicts that personalized websites will become more prevalent in 2014. While companies like Amazon have set the standard for providing personalized online experiences, every company can integrate its marketing and content management systems to deliver dynamic web content. In particular, B2B marketers can make an immediate impact by offering persona-based content that matches the prospect’s position in the sales funnel. Read more.
- 2014 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends – North America. In its annual research report on the state of content marketing in North America, CMI found that most B2B marketers (93%) are using content marketing (up from 91% in 2013) and that the average B2B marketer allocates 30 percent of their budget to content marketing. The report also notes that infographics are surging in popularity as a content marketing tactic, with 51% of B2B marketers using them this year (up from 38% last year). Read more.
- What Should CMOs do in 2014? Forbes recently shared the top 10 predictions for CMOs in 2014 from International Data Corporation (IDC). One of the most sweeping predictions is that the marketing function in leading companies will be radically reshaped into three key components by 2020 – content, channels and consumption (data). IDC also predicts that digital marketing will continue to grow, with investment in digital marketing exceeding 50 percent of total program budget by 2016, which is up from 39 percent in 2013. Read more.
- 3 Social Media Trends You Should Know About. Mashable’s top social media trends for 2014 include the importance of newer social networks and micro-video. Google+ is becoming increasingly important for SEO, which makes 2014 the year that you should resolve to give Google+ a try. The emergence of micro video apps for Twitter (Vine) and Instragram will also make the creation of short, compelling videos a key trend in 2014. In addition, MySpace might also make a comeback in 2014, so marketers may want to keep tabs on the new MySpace to see if – and how – brands use it this year. Read more.
- 20 SEO Tips, Trends and Predictions for 2014. Last year, marketers struggled to keep up with Google changes, from the retirement of the beloved Keyword Tool to the Hummingbird update. That’s why CIO asked the SEO community for predictions, and got some great responses. While many respondents predict that keyword research and basic on-page SEO will continue to be important, others foresee that it will be a challenge to figure out which types of content move the needle for Google rankings now – and which don’t. Read more.


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This story was published more than 14 years ago.
Yin Khing Investments, a British Virgin Islands company, has acquired the Australian and UK sportsbetting operation Canbet from International All Sports for A$1 million, reports the Australian Financial Review.
Canbet made a A$3.7 million loss in the half-year to 31 December 2008, and a loss of A$8.6 million in the 2007/8 financial year, and the divestment is expected to result in a A$12 million write-down by IAS.
Canbet Limited is a public company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and owns Canbet Sports Bookmakers UK Limited, which is licensed by the UK government to accept bets via the Internet and by phone.
The sale comes after an exhaustive process both domestically and internationally in search of potential buyers, a spokesman for International All Sports Limited said Wednesday, adding that the sale includes all of IAS' poker and casino operations. IAS will retain its core Australian sports business operating from IAS.com, along with its Austote operations.
Yin Khing Investments Limited, is a BVI-registered entity which specialises in software solutions in the Internet entertainment market.
The agreement includes an undertaking by IAS to assist in the changeover to the YKI environment on a fee basis.
IAS Chairman Barry Coulter said: "The Canbet business has had a number of operational challenges, particularly following the changes to gaming laws in the United States and unsuccessful strategies to grow our European sports operation.
"The sale of Canbet presents an opportunity for IAS to refocus on our core Australian business. This transaction transforms IAS from a global operation into a more focused and profitable niche player in the Australian racing industry."
Source: InfoPowa News


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South Korean mobile game developer and publisher Gamevil announced today that it reached the 200 million downloads mark on mobile devices.
The company attributed the high download mark to its Partner Fund. Gamevil’s Partner Fund, which Gamevil has invested $20 million into so far, helps external and third-party game developers build a strong lineup of smartphone games. The program currently has more than 40 developers in its portfolio. Games from the program are distributed across both Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
Gamevil also announced that it has hired Won Il Sue as senior vice president of Gamevil USA, where he’ll lead the corporate development and publishing division of the company. He was recently the vice president of corporate development at Nexon America and before that he was the CEO of Nexon Korea.
Gamevil, which was founded in 2000, reported in November its biggest quarter where it had 16.6 billion KRW ( $15.3 million) in sales, a 66 percent growth for Q3 2012.


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Efforts to resolve the long-standing feud between Taiwan and the US over piracy of movies, music, business software and other intellectual property is being thwarted by the rampant use of the Internet in Taiwan to steal copyrighted works, despite gains in other areas of piracy, an umbrella group of US industries reported on Monday.
Piracy over the Ministry of Education's Internet system is also a major problem, the report said.
The report, by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), urged the US Trade Rep-resentative (USTR) office to keep Taiwan on the Special 301 Watch List for the time being at least, until the Legislative Yuan passes more stringent anti-piracy laws and enforcement is enhanced.
The USTR has traditionally listened to the industry alliance for guidance on its official action under US piracy laws and has consistently followed its recommendations.
There is no indication that the USTR will not follow the alliance's recommendations again this spring, when the government agency issues its annual report on intellectual property violators.
While Taipei and Washington have been gradually solving other trade disputes, piracy has remained a major area of contention, and removal from the Watch List is seen as a crucial step in advancing bilateral efforts to normalize trade relations.
In one bright spot in the IIPA report, the alliance recommended that the USTR conduct an "out-of-cycle review" later in the year to reconsider whether or not to drop Taiwan from the Watch List. If it dropped Taiwan, that would represent a major trade victory for the nation.
Taiwan has been on the Watch List, or the more serious Priority Watch List, since 2001.
Internet piracy, the IIPA said, "has become a pervasive and corrosive piracy problem," and "one of Taiwan's most urgent piracy problems."
P2P piracy, or peer-to-peer sharing among Internet users, continues to grow, and the highest rate of Internet infringement of business software in Asia is in Taiwan, the alliance said.
"This will threaten what is otherwise a good record on reducing software piracy in the territory," it said.
The report urges the prompt passage of legislation to clamp down on file-sharing, followed by legislative action on "ISP liability" legislation that would penalize such Internet service providers as Yahoo.
P2P legislation, which was introduced last April by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (
It would also give authorities the power to close a service once it has been convicted, an effort to prevent cases where offending service providers were convicted but continued to operate with impunity during an appeal.
The ISP legislation, also introduced by Hsieh, would also "subject ISPs to liability as co-infringers if they `gain economic benefits' and are `capable of monitoring or controlling said infringing acts by others.'"
The IIPA report also focused, as it did last year, on piracy over the government-owned TANet network.
The network "is being used widely throughout Taiwan for Internet piracy," the report says, adding that the Ministry of Education "must acknowledge its obligation and take far stronger deterrent actions" to stem illegal file sharing.
Among other suggestions, the report calls for tougher enforcement against illegal photocopying in an around university campuses and monitoring of the smuggling of optical discs to Latin America and counterfeit video game cartridges to China and elsewhere in Asia.
The report also calls on the Legislative Yuan to pass a law against the illegal piracy of movies "right off the screen by professional camcorder pirates" using video cameras to copy a movie being shown in a theater, or even earlier during a promotional showing.
‘HONEYMOON’ IS OVER: A political science professor said that the Tsai administration’s popularity peaked after it successfully contained COVID-19, but is waning President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) approval ratings fell significantly this month in the wake of the government’s handling of the distribution of relief funds and stimulus coupons to people and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, a poll released yesterday by the New Power Party (NPP) showed. The poll showed that 68 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with Tsai’s performance, down 8.9 percentage points from last month, while 21 percent said they disapproved of her performance. Her approval among respondents aged 20 to 29 fell 14.7 percentage points, the largest decrease when compared with other age
Food delivery provider Foodpanda had 564 consumer disputes from January to last month and failed to attend many mediation sessions with local governments nationwide, the Executive Yuan’s Consumer Protection Committee said. In a news release earlier this month, the committee said that it investigated consumer complaints and mediations for Foodpanda and rival Uber Eats during the period, when the number of delivery orders jumped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Uber Eats had 80 consumer disputes, the committee said. Of Foodpanda’s consumer disputes, 368 resulted from delivery drivers canceling orders after customers could not be reached, 108 were related to the quality or quantity
Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), wife of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), yesterday said that the Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC) claim that Taiwan had warned the WHO about possible human-to-human transmission of COVID-19 was “far-fetched.” The US on April 9 said that the WHO had put politics first and ignored Taiwan’s early warning in December last year, which the WHO denied the following day. The WHO said that it received an e-mail from Taiwanese authorities on Dec. 31 last year, but that “there was no mention in the message of human-to-human transmission.” Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC,
The Taipei City Government yesterday promised to improve its Taipei Card 3.0 application process after a city councilor said that it required applicants to provide irrelevant personal information. Taipei City Councilor Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) said that to activate the card — which can function as an EasyCard, Senior EasyCard, student card and library card, as well as provide discounts for restaurants, arts and entertainment in the city — people must provide personal information such as their passport number, occupation, education level, their spouse’s name, personal income, credit rating and health information. The city government said the system would help it digitalize and


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Apple users with certain older generations of iPhones, iPads and an iPod are being urged to install a new security update.
In a Jan. 23 notice, Apple highlighted the impact of a recently discovered vulnerability picked up by Google’s Threat Analysis Group.
The tech giant said that processing “maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution.”
“Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.1,” it said.
IPHONE HACK LETS YOU SEND SECRET TEXTS TO FRIENDS
The back of an iPhone 6 is seen on October 25, 2017.
((Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images))
Now, the iOS 12.5.7 update is available for affected devices.
Those devices include the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, and the sixth-generation iPod touch.
A member of the media displays an Apple Inc. iPad Mini 3 for a photograph after a product announcement in Cupertino, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014.
(Photographer: Noah Berger/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
GOT AN IPAD? APPLE JUST GAVE IT AN AMAZING NEW TRICK
Two updates were announced in December: iOS 15.7.2 and iPadOS 15.7.2.
The newly renovated Apple Store at Fifth Avenue is pictured on September 19, 2019, in New York City.
((Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images))
Apple previously said that those updates to address the issue were available for all iPhone 6 models, all iPhone 7 models, the first generation iPhone SE, all models of the iPad Pro, the iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later and the seventh generation iPod Touch.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
To install the update on an iPhone, go to Settings, click General and then select Software Update.


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Fashion retailer Ted Baker said on Monday that it had overstated the value of the inventory on its balance sheet and will be carrying out a review of the issue.
The mix-up comes at the end of a challenging year for the company. In October, the retailer reported a £23m loss for the six months to 10th August, down from a profit of £24.5m a year ago.
Ted Baker has been rocked by the high-profile scandal of founder and former chief executive Ray Kelvin's departure following allegations of inappropriate behaviour and unwanted sexual advances in the workplace.
"It is clearly going to be an uncomfortable time for the business, unfortunately just at the point when it needs to be focused on Christmas sales and trying to make up for disappointing trading earlier this year".
"It (inventory issue) suggests that the business hasn't got a grip on its numbers which is a bit worrying considering that new chief executive used to be the finance director", AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said.
Directors said they believe that any adjustment to the value of inventory will only relate to prior years and will have no cash impact.
In October, Page said the company had likely faced the most hard trading conditions that he could recall in 30 years after issuing its second profit alert in four months.
Ted Baker has appointed Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP and will be appointing independent accountants to undertake a comprehensive review of the inventory overstatement issue.
Even eCommerce sales - which have been a strong driver of growth at Ted Baker in recent years - dropped by 2.5% to £214.5 million. "Whilst the review is ongoing, the company will not comment further".
Under a section titled "Significant Issues", the company's audit committee said it had "received and reviewed reports from management and the external auditors setting out the significant issues in relation to the financial statements for the period which related to the carrying value of inventory and the carrying value of retail fixed assets (being leasehold improvements and fixtures and fittings)".
Kelvin took a voluntary leave of absence from his role as chief executive of Ted Baker in December previous year, after he was accused by the company's staff of forced "hugging" and inappropriate touching and comments.


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'Come grab it real fast': Budget airline apologises for sexist adverts that used women's buttocks to sell cheap flights
- Firefly, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, posted the ads online last week
- It faced a backlash from women's rights groups and national politicians
- The regional carrier deleted the ads from Facebook and issued an apology
A Malaysian budget airline has given in to mounting pressure and apologised after it used photos of women’s buttocks to promote discounted flights.
Firefly, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, faced a backlash from the public, including women’s rights groups, for objectifying women in adverts that appeared online and in national newspapers on the week of International Women’s Day.
The images, which were posted on Facebook and emailed to subscribers, showed the lower half of women’s bodies, in pencil skirts, with flight discounts printed on their backsides.
Firefly, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, issued an apology after posting this advert online and in newspapers
A second advert, featuring two women, was posted on Facebook and sent to the airline's email subscribers
Firefly was heavily criticised after the ads were published last week.
One was posted on Facebook under the headline ‘Come grab it real fast,’ with accompanying image that suggested a woman had sat in wet paint on a bench.
The advert, with the caption ‘Firefly sticks to you’, had ‘50% off’ printed on the back of the woman’s orange skirt – the colour of uniform worn by the airline’s flight attendants.
Women’s rights groups and politicians said the campaign was sexist and offensive, and there were calls for it be scrapped and for the low-cost airline to apologise.
Facing mounting pressure, Firefly deleted the ads from its Facebook page and made a public apology
A women's rights group said this 'tawdry' ad effectively said that women are mere objects for 'sale'
The Subang-based regional carrier, which flies to domestic destinations such as Langkawi and Ipoh and international destinations such as Bangkok and Singapore, bowed to pressure and deleted the images from its Facebook page.
It offered an apology today, writing: ‘We at Firefly has [sic] no intention to be sexist in how we conduct our business and we have the utmost respect for everyone.
‘We regret that our recent advertisement visuals has [sic] caused discomfort in certain quarters and for that we apologise.’
MailOnline Travel has contacted Firefly for comment.
Women’s Centre for Change, Penang was one of the groups that criticised the airline.
The organisation’s senior advocacy officer, Melissa Mohd Akhir, told the Malay Mail Online: ‘It is clear objectification when the image featured had zoomed in presumably on the buttocks of Firefly’s own women employees in order to sell discounted tickets.
‘In featuring this tawdry advertisement, Firefly and other airlines that have utilised similarly tasteless marketing ploys, are effectively saying that women are mere objects for “sale”.’
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UK to continue exporting agricultural products to EU8 Jan 2021
Despite the UK officially leaving the European Union, the island nation will still be able to continue exporting meat fish and dairy to the continent. Late last month, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) granted the UK Third Country status which permits the export of animal products. Equines are also eligible for movement between the UK and the EU with this designation.
After meeting the required animal health and biosecurity standards necessary to receive Third Country status, the UK can continue moving food to Northern Ireland as well as the rest of continental Europe. A week before the country’s transition period ending on Dec. 31, the government agreed on what Prime Minister Boris Johnson called a “Canada style” agreement that allows the UK to avoid tariffs and quotas. Fishing rights for the two separate economic zones remain under negotiation.
However, Politico reported that potatoes were excluded from the list of products that are permissible for export since Brussels determined that the standards maintained in the UK for the product were not “dynamically aligned” with the standards in the EU. This exclusion affects farmers that reside primarily in Scotland and the north of England but accounts for £90 million worth of seed potatoes annually, one-fifth of which is exported to the European Union.
While this step in the Brexit negotiations more closely paralleled the relationship between the two countries, farmers in England accused the new status as lacking in “crucial information.” Food Navigator reported that industry representatives criticized the decision as lacking in details, including whether additional guarantees on Export Health Certificates for animals of UK origin will be required. The Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association also said that additional clarity was needed around bureaucracy and dispute resolution.
Although there will be few financial ramifications according to the agreement struck between the two economic zones, members of the UK will need to provide the same level of paperwork and labeling when exporting to the Republic of Ireland as they would to the EU. However, as the EU is the largest trading partner for the UK, a tariff-free agreement is a crucial decision for the industry that will be greatly affected by the finalization of the Brexit transition.
Trade of agri-food products between the EU and the UK is immense. According to the European Commission, the value of exports between the two entities came to €41 billion.
The transition to a UK outside of Europe has been a long, arduous journey, and Mella Frewen, the director general of FoodDrinkEurope told Food Manufacturer that at this stage, “failure to more quickly will lead to more, broader chaos and supply chain disruption that will not only put thousands of jobs at risk but also impact the safe supply of affordable agri-food products to customers.”
Singapore becomes first country to approve lab-grown meat
4 Jan 2021
The Singapore Food Agency, the city state’s regulatory body for food, approved San Francisco startup Eat Just’s cell-based meat chicken product, paving the way for its sale in the country.Read more
The Cocoa Barometer report shows few improvements in cocoa industry
17 Dec 2020
Despite 20 years of rhetoric from companies promising to undertake initiatives that will increase the standard of living for farmers in cocoa-producing countries as well as mitigate the environmental impacts associated with cocoa production in regions ...Read more
Chobani coconut yogurt is now Fair Trade certified
16 Dec 2020
Greek yogurt maker Chobani announced that its coconut yogurt blends are now made with Fair Trade Certified coconuts, saying that it is the first national brand to earn this certification for a coconut blend in the yogurt aisle. The Fair Trade Certified...Read more
Finnish coffee brand Meira launches a bio-based sustainable cup
11 Dec 2020
Helsinki-based coffee roaster Meira released a new line of coffee called Vallilan Paahtimo with the aim of offering a more sustainable cup of coffee – both inside and out. The coffee is a single-origin, sustainably grown variety that is then packaged i...Read more
Swiss panel releases diet recommendations to support immunity during pandemic
4 Nov 2020
It’s no secret that diet can aid in one’s overall health, but an expert panel in collaboration with the Swiss Society of Nutrition has defined a particular cocktail of micronutrients to support a well-functioning immune system with a special focus on C...Read more
In Ireland, Subway’s sandwich rolls are not legally bread
13 Oct 2020
The Irish Supreme Court ruled that Subway bread is not legally considered as such. Instead, its sugar content, which is five times above what Irish law specifies as the acceptable threshold for bread, lands the company’s sandwich rolls in the confectio...Read more
U.K. begins exporting beef to the U.S. for the first time since 1996
12 Oct 2020
After over two decades of prohibiting the importation of beef into the U.S. from the U.K., the government of the United States lifted the ban this October to allow for U.K. beef producers to trade across The Pond.Read more
Indian trade association calls to waive license renewals for food businesses
2 Oct 2020
As the lingering pandemic continues to upend routine business practices the world over, Indian trade association, the Federation of All India Vyapar Mandal, is requesting that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) not require license...Read more
Tesco partners with Olio to reduce food waste in U.K.
1 Oct 2020
Tesco is partnering with the food sharing app Olio to redistribute surplus food nearing its sell-by date from its stores to local communities and individuals that are food insecure. The two companies will roll out this effort across all of Tesco’s 2,70...Read more
Germany working to impose human rights and environmental supply chain protections by 2021
25 Aug 2020
Germany is taking the lead on human rights and environmental protections in the European Union. The country plans to pass a Supply Chain Law that will oblige companies to analyze whether their business activities have an adverse effect on recognized hu...Read more
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Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD) got a pop on Wednesday, September 11, to a new high of $3.75 as CNBC’s Halftime Report analyst suggested an eventual takeover in Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD)’s future . This rumor has been whispered before; investors must wonder if it is likely, and if an acquisition is needed to create larger gains for Rite Aid.
Will it be acquired?
Since Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD) turned profitable late last year, and began to see increased same-store sales , investors and analysts alike have entertained the idea of a potential Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG) or CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE:CVS) takeover. Strategically, it makes sense.
Rite Aid has a market cap of just $3.3 billion, yet the company has annual revenue of more than $25 billion. Therefore, either CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE:CVS) or Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG) could acquire Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD)’s revenue at a fairly cheap price, and the acquisition would provide significant growth.
Because of the fact that new generic introductions are boosting margins for pharmacies at a rapid rate – generic drugs have higher payouts to pharmacies – it seems more likely that one of the large pharmacies would take a serious look at Rite Aid, now more than ever. Moreover, the rate at which new generic drug introductions are expected to increase over the next three years makes this interest even more appealing. But unfortunately, I don’t see it ever happening.
To explain, think back to AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s attempted acquisition of T-Mobile. The Federal Communications Commission – or the government – blocked its proposal, finding that the merger would create an unfair advantage and negatively impact the competitive effect of the free market. Specifically, the FCC’s comment was, “the transaction would decrease competition, innovation and investment, and harm consumers .”
Of course, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) argued against the FCC’s response, but ultimately AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) lost. For an industry comparison, there are much fewer telecom companies than small pharmacies in the U.S. CVS, Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG), and then Rite Aid are the top three pharmacies, but it’s difficult to imagine a scenario where the government allows the merger of either CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE:CVS) or Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG) with Rite Aid due to the reasons noted in the AT&T/T-Mobile deal.
Hence, it is possible that we see a proposal of sorts and that rumors continue to build, but the likelihood of Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD) being acquired is slim to none.
Does an acquisition matter?
Thankfully, it really doesn’t matter for current investors if Rite Aid is acquired or not.
It’s no secret that Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD) has lower margins, a higher debt-to-assets ratio, and its growth is not nearly as impressive as either Walgreen or CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE:CVS). In fact, Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG) and CVS are both exploding with comparable-script growth , while Rite Aid’s script revenue is flat to slightly lower year over year.


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An investor is set to invest millions in a new pharmaceutical and a plywood factories in Narok County.
Speaking at Eor Ekule in Narok East Constituency during a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of two factories at the weekend, Narok Governor Samuel Ole Tunai said the pharmaceutical factory alone would cost Sh1 billion.
He said the factory is expected to produce various tablets in phase one and in future expand into other medicines and antibiotics that are crucial in treatment of common diseases.
"The two factories that we are launching today are part of the commitments made by investors during the recent investment summit," he said.
Businessman Swapan Dhar is behind the two projects.
"Having an investor of the repute of Mr Dhar is a testament that Narok County is open for new business," said Mr Tunai.
Mr Dhar said the pharmaceutical plant would help address supply gaps in the local market for essential drugs, adding that construction of the factories is expected to commence next month.
"The two factories will offer direct employment to 300 locals and 2,000 others through the supply system," he said.
"Through corporate social responsibility, we will embark on building classes in Eor Ekule to ensure the children in the area get quality education."
Mr Dhar urged locals to start growing eucalyptus trees for supply of raw materials to the plywood factory.
Governor Tunai assured locals they would be given priority in employment at the factories once they are up and running.
"We have agreed with the investor that our children will be offered first priority for employment. No one should be employed from other areas if the skills are available here in Narok," he said.
Africa Industrial Works Plywood Factory, Mr Dhar said, will produce plywood boards for use in the construction and furniture industries.


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Shah Rukh Khan and Atlee’s collaboration is the most-awaited one this year. Jawan is gearing up for its release on September 7. Ahead of its release, the makers opened their advance booking for India and the film is heading to a blockbuster opening given the number of tickets sold.
According to early estimates, Jawan sold as many as 2,55,153 tickets for the Hindi 2D screen on Friday. The IMAX Hindi screen witnesses 11,261 advance ticket bookings. The Hindi version has already minted Rs 1.12 crore in Delhi-NCR. The Tamil version sold fewer tickets as compared to the Hindi and stands at 3,754. The film further sold 1008 tickets in the Telugu version. Jawan sold 2,71,176 tickets in total during Day 1 of its advance booking.
Over 1 lakh Jawan tickets sold for September 7
Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared the number of tickets sold by Jawan for its first-day show at all national chains. According to the data shared by Adarsh, Shah Rukh Khan starrer sold 1,15,200 tickets in PVR and INOX and 23,100 in Cinepolis. For September 7, a total of 138,300 tickets have been sold already.
Take a look:
Produced by Gauri Khan under Red Chillies Entertainment, Jawan is the first collaboration of Shah Rukh Khan with Atlee, Nayanthara, and Vijay Sethupathi. Besides, it also marks the Hindi directorial debut of Atlee and also stars Priyamani, Sanaya Malhotra, Yogi Babu, and Ridhi Dogra in key roles.
The film created a massive buzz on social media during its trailer release in India. Moreover, SRK got a special shoutout as Burj Khalifa lit up with Jawan’s trailer on Thursday. The star attended the event with director Atlee. The makers have earlier teased SRK fans by releasing the film’s songs—Zinda Banda, Chaleya, Not Ramaiya Vastavaiya.
Courtesy – www.indiatvnews.com


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|Vyvanse broke into blockbuster territory last year.--Courtesy of Shire|
Changes are apace at Shire ($SHPG), the Irish specialty drugmaker that is something of a darling of the industry. A new top exec will take over in April, but in his last earnings report while at the helm, Angus Russell got to tell investors he leaves the house in order.
In fact, while generic versions of its blockbuster Adderall XR are now on the market, its ADHD replacement Vyvanse broke into blockbuster territory last year. "Vyvanse has achieved blockbuster status, delivering a 28% increase in revenues to over $1 billion for the first time," Reuters reported Russell saying Thursday. The CEO will leave at the end of April, passing the reins to Dr. Flemming Ørnskov, who is in-house preparing for the role.
The explosion in sales of Vyvanse comes just in the nick of time. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ($TEVA), which has been making an approved generic of Adderall XR, said Thursday that the FDA had approved its own generic version. According to Reuters, Shire said that Adderall XR sales were already off nearly 20% to $429 million in 2012 in the face of new competition from a copy made by Actavis ($ACT). But with Vyvanse and other drug sales growing, the company said it expects earnings this year to be in line with expectations. Analysts forecast that to be a 10% increase.
While drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are not the only kinds of medicines Shire makes, its portfolio of those drugs has been its foundation. In fact, the company has had such a grip on that market that it has sparked interest from federal authorities. Last week the company said that it had set aside $57.5 million in its fourth quarter to settle a case with federal regulators over its marketing of Adderall XR, Vyvanse and its ADHD patch Daytrana. U.S. authorities have yet to acknowledge any agreement.
- read the Reuters story
- here's the earnings release
Feds grab Shire's attention on Adderall marketing
Gregoire exits Shire HGT one step ahead of new CEO's debut
FDA hits Shire with early nod for Adderall XR copycat


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Weekly Axis Of Easy #85
This week’s quote: “In such experience as I have had with taxation, there is only one tax that is popular, and that is the tax that is on the other fellow” by ?????
THE RULES: No searching up the answer, must be posted in the comments below:
The Prize: First person to post, gets their next domain or hosting renewal on us.
In this Issue:
Bezos cries personal privacy foul while Amazon builds surveillance state
On Amazon’s practice of knocking off everybody, including their own clients
Google’s Nest Secure units contain an undocumented microphone
Canadian crypto-exchange bankrupt, freezing 180 million in customer assets
German anti-trust regulator bans Facebook’s entire business model
The DNS Privacy Debate
Reddit users revolt over Tencent investment
Tim O’Reilly on the tech unicorn economy
easyMail users: please check your mail client settings
In this Intercept article Glenn Greenwald, the same reporter who broke the Ed Snowden revelations that the NSA spies on everybody, all the time, muses on how Jeff Bezos can be upset about having his privacy being violated on one hand, whilst his company, Amazon, is a key partner in providing the technology platform for the surveillance state. (Amazon’s AWS cloud computing platform is responsible for nearly a quarter of Amazon’s profits, and two of its largest customers are the Pentagon and the NSA.)
This is all part of the new “surveillance-as-a-service” boom which also includes, according to Far East based policy analyst David Dodwell, Facebook and Google, that is “concentrating corporate power and destroying privacy”.
Not only does Amazon actively monetize ubiquitous surveillance, they also tend to cannibalize market verticals by leveraging their quasi-monopoly in online retailing to crowd out innovation, according to this piece in Forbes, which examines the various anti-trust issues. The argument is made that Amazon’s behaviour is anti-competitive, not because it directly hurts consumers, but because it distorts the incentives to innovate, which would hurt consumers as a second-order effect.
For example: when a retailer finds itself having a successful product and sells that product via Amazon, Amazon then uses the data generated and then frequently rolls out its own version of the same product at a lower price – squeezing the original retailer off of the platform. Amazon has over 200 brands launched within the last 2 years to compete in various verticals across its own platform.
Surprise! Turns out there’s an undocumented microphone in Google’s network connected Nest Guard base stations. Android Authority broke the story that Google’s announcement that it was rolling out Assistant functionality to all Nest Secure systems meant that there had to be an undocumented microphone somewhere in the already deployed devices.
Android Authority then updated their column with a statement from Google that confirmed their conclusion: all Nest Guard base stations would be able to operate as a pseudo-Google Home device after an opt-in software update, and that there is a microphone present in the units that is not documented in the official tech specs.
A lot of you have been asking me about my thoughts on this one, the story of the untimely death of QuadrigaCX Gerrald Cotten in India and the consequences of that are the stuff of Hollywood movies. Do I think the entire thing is a spectacular heist? Or did Canada’s largest crypto-currency exchange really allow their CEO’s personal laptop, which is encrypted, to be a Single-Point-Of-Failure for the entire organization and all its depositors? I really don’t know.
(We had some minimal exposure to QuadrigaCX on two fronts: we had a bit of cash in there that we used as a float when paying for services in Bitcoin like our LetsTalkBitcoin sponsorship. More of a loss, QuadrigaCX was the largest beta-test client of our new security platform which they used to detect phishing sites in near real time. If you run a website that is susceptible to phishing attacks and want some relief on that, feel free to drop me a line).
This one was via a reader who forwarded the news to me that Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, that country’s anti-trust regulator passed a ruling last week that
“[Facebook] was exploiting consumers by requiring them to agree to this kind of data collection in order to have an account, and has prohibited the practice going forward. Facebook will no longer be allowed to force its users to agree to the practically unrestricted collection and assigning of non-Facebook data to their Facebook user accounts,”
Which is essentially, the entire Facebook business model.
You might have to be a bit of a DNS geek to get full appreciation of this one, but it’s a detailed and lengthy overview of a panel on DNS and privacy at the FOSDEM event, as retold by PowerDNS creator Bert Hubert. This is all about DNS resolvers, those are the servers anybody has to use to conduct all of their DNS lookups – and the growing array of public DNS resolvers like Google (126.96.36.199), Cloudflare (188.8.131.52), Quad9 (184.108.40.206) et al (contrast with authoritative DNS servers, which answer queries for specific domains, the business easyDNS is in).
It is important to bear in mind that your DNS lookups leave a trail of breadcrumbs across the internet about your activities. Anybody offering free DNS resolution services is doing it for a reason. The DNS privacy debate revolves around understanding who you are using for DNS resolution and why that party is offering to resolve your DNS – doing so offers the ability to further track and aggregate data about you.
There are some privacy enhanced DNS lookup options, which are also discussed.
(EasyDNS for some time offered a resolver service which we shuttered for various reasons. We are considering launching an open source decentralized, on-board DNS resolver project. Read the article and if you would be interested in participating in this sort of initiative, let me know.)
Tencent is known among tech hubs as “the Chinese Censorship Giant” owing to their role in building and maintaining the “Great Firewall of China” which blocks much of the content we take for granted here in the West from Chinese citizens, like images of Winnie The Pooh and words like “democracy” and “human rights”.
Reddit bills itself as “The Front Page of the Internet” and built its rep on a largely ‘anything goes’ type forums for discussions of all types. When the news broke that Reddit has accepted a $150 million investment from Tencent, the users began an open revolt, posting memes known to violate Great Firewall of China rules and voicing their objections.
It’s refreshing when a pillar of the industry like Tim O’Reilly comes out with a sober analysis of the trade offs and realities of growing a company organically, like O’Reilly did with his company, or “Blitzscaling” – the term used by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman in his book wherein start-ups scale up super-fast taking on tonnes of venture capital, eat the entire market …usually losing money all the way, before getting their payoff in some big IPO or being acquired.
“Is it a business or a financial instrument?” O’Reilly muses – and that is the defining characteristic of our age. It’s also a topic I delve into in-depth on my Guerrilla-Capitalism blog.
We’ve made some recent upgrades to the easyMail IMAP cluster that requires you updating the server settings in your email clients, if you have old settings. Change your IMAP server from mx.easymail.ca to imap.easymail.ca because mx.easymail.ca is going away.


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22 Apr This former Wall Street honcho started a feminine hygiene brand that clocks Rs 70 Cr turnover
Sahil Dharia, Founder and Chief Executive, Soothe Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. Also Read Meet the woman entrepreneur making safe furniture for kids, serving over 8,000 schools globally How it all began To explain things further, he drops several did-you-knows. “Did you know we are the cervical cancer capital of the world? Did you know that 75,000 women in India die of cervical cancer each year in India and another 1,50,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year?” In 2012, Sahil launched Soothe Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. and under it started a subsidiary called Paree Sanitary Napkins in 2015 to manufacture sanitary pads.


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Pandora CEO Tim Westergren will be stepping down as its chief executive, the company announced on Tuesday.
Naveen Chopra, the company's chief financial officer will server as the interim CEO. The company's board of directors will begin searching for his replacement immediately.
Pandora's shares were down slightly on the news.
Westergren, co-founded the music streaming service in 2000, and served as its CEO and president from May 2002 to July 2004, before returning to lead the company last year.
"Tim stepped in to be CEO at a critical time for the company and was quickly able to reset relations with the major labels, launch our on-demand service, reconstitute the management team and refortify our balance sheet by securing an investment from Sirius. We support Tim's desire to identify a new CEO for Pandora's next stage," said Tim Leiweke, Pandora board member.


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- Shares of Pinterest rallied after hours after the company issued early guidance for its fiscal first quarter.
- The company said it expects revenue for its first quarter in the range of $269 million to $272 million, compared to analysts' pre-coronavirus expectations of $267 million.
Shares of Pinterest jumped as much as 13% Tuesday after hours, after the company issued early guidance for its fiscal first quarter that beat analysts' expectations.
The company said it expects revenue for its first quarter in the range of $269 million to $272 million. Average consensus estimates according to Refinitiv was $267 million, but this included many estimates that have not been updated since the coronavirus pandemic and broad quarantines fundamentally changed economic activity. A FactSet survey of analysts who did update numbers in the past month put estimated revenue at $252 million, a number that Pinterest beat handily.
"First-quarter revenue performance was consistent with our expectations through the middle of March, when we began to see a sharp deceleration. Fortunately, despite weakness across nearly the entire advertising market, our exposure to some of the most affected segments like travel, automotive, and restaurants has not been significant," the company said.
Pinterest's global monthly active users also grew in its first quarter. The company said it expects between 365 million to 367 million global active users, compared to FactSet's consensus estimate of 353 million.
Pinterest also said it will report first quarter earnings May 5.
Pinterest said it ended the quarter with $1.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, no financial debt and an undrawn $500 million revolving credit facility.
Pinterest also withdrew its full year guidance Tuesday because the COVID-19 pandemic has been impacting its global advertising revenue.
"In light of the rapidly evolving and unpredictable effects of COVID-19, Pinterest is currently not in a position to forecast the expected impact of COVID-19 on its financial and operating results for the remainder of 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to unfold, it has impacted Pinterest's advertising revenue globally," the company said in a press release.


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The U.S. Small Business Administration and Small Business Majority have teamed up for a free webinar series in which small business owners can learn the basics of the Affordable Care Act and what it means for their business and employees.
Webinar content will generally be the same each week and a question and answer period will follow.
The webinars pay attention to both federal and state provisions to help local small business owners understand how the law affects them.
- Small business tax credits (available to businesses and tax-exempt non-profits) — who’s eligible for them and how to claim them
- Marketplace updates
- Shared responsibility
- Cost containment
- Tools and resources available for small businesses interested in learning more about the law
“As key dates are coming up in the ACA implementation calendar, SBA is here to help small businesses and their advisors understand every aspect of the law as it affects them,” states Judy McCauley, director of the West Virginia District Office of the SBA. “There have been and continue to be changes of which are addressed in these free seminars.”
Webinars are scheduled Sept. 5, 12, 19 and 26, beginning at 2 p.m. each day
For more information on ACA, visit www.sba.gov/healthcare.


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DULUTH – Swim Creative, a Duluth-based creative think tank, has successfully gained its Google Partner certification.
By receiving this certificate, Swim Creative has proven its expertise in Google AdWords: a form of online advertising that appears when people search on Google and its partner websites. This will enable Swim to stay connected to the most up-to-date insights and marketing resources from the largest search engine in the world. While AdWords accounts are openly available, Google Partners have had to take rigorous tests and have been taught the ins and outs of facets such as conversion optimizer and advanced reporting.
Since its launch in 2000, Google AdWords, has grown from 350 customers to over 1.2 million. The tool allows businesses to bid on keywords and advertise on the best piece of search engine real estate out there, along with many other Google partner websites. Google Partners regulate daily budgets and optimize keywords to make sure campaigns are successful. While customers only pay when someone clicks on their ad, a factor like quality score can play a big part in which users see the ads and where the ad is placed in search results.
“The key to using this platform well is consistent research and optimization,” said Amber Ooley, Swim Creative’s Media Strategist. “When used properly, Google AdWords has been very profitable for both big and small companies alike.”
“Since the training, we are more equipped to create effective online campaigns that fully optimize clients’ budgets,” said Patrice Bradley, Swim Creative’s CEO.
Swim Creative is an advertising and branding creative think tank located in the Creative Quarter of Downtown Duluth, Minnesota. With a healthy mix of veteran leadership and first-generation digital natives, Swim creates compelling brands and campaigns that draw attention and shift boundaries.


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Posted by Glen Sears | July 27, 2015 9:22 am | No Comments
Story of the Week
Apple Music Faces Major PR Problems
Read More: http://for.tn/1MRW3UP, http://bit.ly/1MRWgaG
Last week Apple Music, previously thought to be cornering huge new portions of the market, was hit with a 1-2 punch of bad PR.
First, U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) called for a federal investigation into Apple Music and the App Store’s pricing practices. Apple takes a 30 percent cut of all purchases within the App store. Developers are also not allowed to inform consumers within their App pages that the same service can be purchased on their website, cutting Apple out of the equation. Rules also prohibit apps from including a link to their websites and from mentioning other platforms like Google Play.
“I am concerned about certain business practices that have the potential to limit choices and raise prices for consumers.” – Sen. Al Franken
Second, Jim Dalrymple (former Macworld news editor and tentpole Apple supporter) very publicly dropped Apple Music after an iTunes library bug wiped out large parts of his music library. “At some point, enough is enough. That time has come for me—Apple Music is just too much of a hassle to be bothered with. Nobody I’ve spoken at Apple or outside the company has any idea how to fix it, so the chances of a positive outcome seem slim to none…Apple music is a nightmare, and I’m done with it.”
While Dalrymple later received support directly from Apple HQ and revived “99 percent of my music back,” the bad publicity was already at a fever pitch after being picked up by every tech and music blog imaginable. Not a great week to be Apple.
Other Important Headlines
Spotify Adds Discover Weekly Personalized Playlists – Spotify has launched Discover Weekly, a two-hour custom playlist of music recommendations, based on the user’s library and listening patterns. Read More
Beatport Will Bring Videos, Curated Playlists to Spotify – Despite being competitors, the deal opens up opportunities for highly-lucrative music video and live streaming partnerships. “We’re not just in the streaming or download business, but heavily focused on video.” Read More
Pandora Revenue Rises 30.5% on Higher Advertising Sales – Online music streaming company Pandora Media Inc raised its full year forecast and reported better-than-expected second quarter revenue as it signed up more subscribers and increased its advertising revenue. Read More
Billboard’s First-Ever Nashville Top 50 Power Players List Revealed – Like its other Top 50 lists, Billboard ranks the most highly-powered individuals in the $830 million genre for the first time. Read More
Amazon Now Selling Concert Tickets Without the Extra Charges – As part of its attempt to get into the ticketing business, Amazon is selling tickets to an upcoming festival sans the obnoxious service charge. Read More
SESAC Settles Anti-Trust Dispute With US Radio Industry – The smaller, commercially-owned performing rights organization has reached a settlement with the Radio Music Licensing Committee which includes agreeing to allow a third-party arbitration panel to settle future royalty disputes. Read More
Government Opens Consultation on Tougher Sentences for Online Copyright Infringement – The government announced this weekend that it is launching a consultation on plans to increase the potential jail terms for commercial-scale online copyright infringement to ten years from the current two, which would bring the penalties for commercial piracy operations based on the net in line with the penalties for pirating physical goods. Read More
Also last week, Grooveshark co-founder Josh Greenberg was found dead in his Florida home. He was 28 years old. There was no immediate sign of foul play, injury, drug use, or suicide. Our sympathies go out to his friends and family.
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