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Real Media attacks real people via RealPlayer
Hackers have rooted into a server owned by internet advertising network 24/7 Real Media and used it to serve malware-laced banner ads that tried to circumvent security mechanisms on end users' machines, Symantec researchers said. The malware exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in Real Player that was patched on Friday.
AT&T asks king's ransom for Napster tunes
AT&T hopes to fool the youth of America into paying way too much for digital music.
Proposed blogging law outrages Italian netizens
Italian bloggers may be required to register with a national database, unless an ambiguously-worded new law is amended before it comes into force.
Dell to embed Xen hypervisor in PowerEdge servers
Citrix Systems has wrangled Dell as the first Tier 1 server vendor to embed the Xen hypervisor in its x86 servers.
IBM goes crazy with storage system updates
IBM is releasing details on a lot of storage stuff today. We mean a lot.
Open Season exposes the real price paid for Radiohead's new album
Radio RegForget the entertainment hacks. It takes a bunch of open source pundits to figure out how much people really paid for Radiohead's new album.
Technology is root of all evil, says IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has this month brought out its World Economic Outlook for 2007, and the various heavyweights of financial news have all had their bash at reporting on it. Normally, no vulture would stir on his/her perch over this type of thing - unless, perhaps, Paris Hilton had been implicated in some kind of major economic upthrust - but in this case, the economists make some rather startling pronouncements about technology.
Apple: 1.4m iPhones sold, 250,000 unlocked
More than a quarter of a million people have purchased Apple iPhones and unlocked them, the handset's manufacturer admitted last night.
Dot, squiggle, plop
ColumnMy first response to the idea of a dot-sex web domain was: "Well, that's a rip-off". And when I heard about dot-tv and dot-euro I wasn't the only one to say: "Here we go again..." And I bet most of us were equally cynical about dot-asia.
Gang attempted to pass £500,000 notes, court told
An Australian "lawyer" is part of a gang of six up before Southwark Crown Court accused of attempting to convince the Bank of England to honour a breathtaking £28bn ($64.83bn) in moody £1,000 and £500,000 notes, AFP reports.
Transformers sets hi-def format sales record
More than 100,000 copies of Transformers on HD DVD were sold on the title's first day of release, the movie's distributor, Paramount Home Entertainment, revealed last night. It went on to sell 90,000 more copies during its first week.
iSales prop up Apple results
Apple is celebrating a strong fourth quarter with revenues of $6.22bn in the three months ending 29 September 2007, and a profit of $904m, or just over $1 a share.
Paris Hilton heads for the cryogenic freezer
There is some excellent news today for future generations who had until now been condemned to a bleak and meaningless existence without the entertaining presence of multi-talented former jailbird Paris Hilton, viz: the heiress intends to extend her life "by hundreds and thousands of years" in a cryogenic chamber.
2012 Olympics to be 'car-free'
The London Olympics of 2012 will be the first to prohibit spectators arriving by car, according to reports. However, some 80,000 officials, athletes and accredited media will be provided with parking - and will have special Soviet-style VIP lanes on important London roads for a period of two months.
EDS beagles blast 'absurd' BSkyB
Lawyers for outsourcing omnicorp EDS branded BSkyB's claim for £709m damages over a customer management system contract "absurd and extravagant" in the High Court yesterday.
Google takes Docs on the road
Google has slipped its Web 2.0 Docs application onto its mobile portal, allowing users to view documents, spreadsheets and presentations on their mobile phone browser.
TV-Links man was arrested under trademark laws
Gloucestershire police have confirmed that a 26-year-old Cheltenham man at the centre of an investigation into the website TV-Links was arrested under section 92 of the Trade Mark Act, on suspicion of supplying property with a registered trademark, without permission.
CSC announces another round of UK job cuts
CSC is shifting more UK jobs offshore in an effort to control costs.
Greenpeace: iPhone crit makes for more headlines
Eco-oriented non-governmental organisation Greenpeace has tacitly admitted it's been focusing its criticism of the mobile phone industry on Apple's iPhone because it gets more headlines.
Drunken Indian elephants take on electricity pole
A herd of 40 Indian elephants which quaffed rice wine, "went berserk" as a result and rampaged round a village looking for food, suffered six fatalities after toppling an electricity pole, the West Australian reports.
Government plots escape from renewable energy targets
Government ministers are trying to find a way to wriggle out of the Britain's commitment to derive a significant portion of its energy from renewable sources, according to The Guardian.
BT tells staff to shape up in anti-cancer push
BT has launched a campaign to encourage its workers to eat less crap, get some exercise, quit smoking, and go easy on the sunbathing.
ODF calls time on da Vinci coding
The Open Document Foundation (ODF) has quietly ended all work on its da Vinci project after failing to secure approval from the Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS).
Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot K850i camera phone
ReviewSo here it is, the new big boy on the block. Replacing the old K800i/K810i at the top of the Sony Ericsson cameraphone family tree, the K850i shoulders quite a burden of expectation. After all, as far as Sony Ericsson is concerned this is pretty much as good as it gets.
Microsoft opens Xbox 360 Arcade
Microsoft has taken the wraps off its latest and cheapest Xbox 360 console, dubbed the Arcade. The model replaces the Core edition, and is set to hit UK shops this week.
Amazon leaks US Zune launch date
Microsoft has confirmed that its three new second-generation Zune portable media players will be released on 13 November in the US, following a shipping date leak by Amazon.
Gosling ready to kill-off lame duck J2ME
James Gosling, godfather of the Java programming language, has expounded on the future of JavaFX Mobile, and it's a future which doesn't feature J2ME at all, as the micro edition is phased out over the next decade or so.
Sharp to show world's skinniest phone display
Sharp will tomorrow demo what it claims is the World's thinnest mobile phone display panel, a 0.68mm-thick unit with a 320 x 240 resolution.
Cops crash invite-only BitTorrent network
Police raids in the North East of England and the Netherlands today have shut down invitation-only BitTorrent music sharing operation OiNK.cd.
US Border Patrol laughs off spyplane prang wristslap
The US border patrol will press ahead with plans to enlarge its fleet of unmanned surveillance aircraft, despite embarrassing revelations about the programme which have emerged following a crash last year.
Darling won't move over gains tax
UK business leaders met Chancellor Alistair Darling yesterday to detail their objections to his proposed changes to how capital gains tax is charged. Darling announced the end of taper relief for capital gains in his pre-Budget report two weeks ago.
Sonos brings wireless to multi-room music rigs
Multi-room digital music streaming specialist Sonos has finally gone completely wireless. Today, it rolled out the ZoneBridge BR100, a WLAN add-on for the company's ZonePlayer units that replaces the system's last wired link.
Hitachi presses shut-down on PC line
Hitachi pulled the plug on its home computer business today, becoming the latest casualty of the fast consolidating PC market.
Europe considers blue card for immigrants
European justice commissioner Franco Frattini is expected to back a commission proposal for "blue cards" for immigrants to the EU from countries outside the community.
Fight malware by upgrading to Vista, urges MS
Microsoft is pushing improved malware defences as a reason to shift over to Vista.
KPN completes Getronics takeover
Netherlands telco KPN has completed its takeover of Getronics, following successful public offers for the Dutch service provider's ordinary shares and convertible bonds.
Acme unveils 'ideal' mobile gaming PC
Most people seeking a portable gaming system are happy with a Sony PSP. But in the US, where everything’s larger, one company has developed a PC-in-a-box product that unpacks into a three-screen display.
Austria OKs terror snooping Trojan plan
Austria has become one of the first countries to officially sanction the use of Trojan Horse malware as a tactic for monitoring the PCs of suspected terrorists and criminals.
Jailed terror student 'hid' files in the wrong Windows folder
Careless use of Windows folders cost a Scottish student a lengthy prison stretch today, as an Edinburgh High Court Judge sentenced Mohammed Atif Siddique to eight years for possession of terrorism-related items. During his trial the jury had been told by Michael Dickson, a forensics analyst for the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, that Siddique's laptop computer had contained material placed in a Windows folder where it would be difficult for an inexperienced user to find.
Pentagon hacker wins right to UK appeal
Gary McKinnon, the self-described "bumbling amateur" who allegedly got access to US government and military computers while researching space aliens, has been given leave to appeal his case in the UK.
UK gov advisor proposes 'licence to smoke'
A government advisor has suggested that the problem of Brits continuing to smoke themselves to death might be tackled by requiring nicotine addicts to obtain a £200 annual licence, the Telegraph reports.
Microsoft to reach out and take control
This evening Mr Ballmer is to announce Microsoft's "System Center Mobile Device Management 2008", which will compete with Nokia's better-named Intellisync to remotely manage mobile devices in the enterprise.
IT majors forge SAFECode alliance
Leading IT vendors have clubbed together to form a new organisation geared to increasing trust in IT products and services through software assurance.
Microsoft sharpens Visual Studio with functions
How do you get the advantages of scripting languages, strong typing, a simple efficient testing regime and a object-oriented development environment? According to Microsoft you plug into one of its esoteric research projects - coming to a Visual Studio near you some time soon.
Vinyl lives! And why the net isn't (entirely) killing music
In The CityManchester's In The City music conference this year was the first without the presence of co-founder Tony Wilson, who died two months ago.
Space shuttle Discovery launched
The space shuttle Discovery was successfully launched today, despite zero-hour concerns about a chunk of ice on the fuel tank.
Cisco borgs Navini Networks
Cisco is buying a plot in the WiMAX space with the $330m cash purchase of Navini Networks.
Hands on with MDX
Following our introduction to MDX (to be found here) this follow-up article is a get-you-started guide to using this powerful language to manipulate multi-dimensional data.
Considering Microsoft’s 'rift with the web'
I enjoy the SmoothSpan blog but I’m not convinced by this article on Microsoft’s rift with the web.


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The agency will work on a number of briefs for the mobile phone operator across its business services brand, incorporating web build and web design work, as well as creating a number of digital ad campaigns.
Orange currently uses a variety of digital agencies across its consumer, business, broadband and sponsorship sectors, including AKQA, Chemistry, BD Network and Poke.
Fallon, the brand's above-the-line agency, has also created a number of digital campaigns for the brand in recent years.
This week, Poke released a new viral as part of Orange's Gold Spot campaign, which featured the ad's famous film executives talking about their vision for a different type of film studio.
Orange's business services brand provides small, medium and multinational corporations with a number of telecommunication services stretching across the globe.
News of Proximity's appointment comes just after the agency announced it had made a significant number of new digital hirings.

domain: news


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Android shipments for the past quarter surpassed 255 million, making up nearly 85 percent of all smartphones shipped in the three-month period. According to a quarterly report out of IDC, Android set a new record for shipments in the quarter, growing 33 percent over Q2 of 2013. The big growth came in the lower-end device market, with 58.6 percent of Android phones shipped in the quarter retailing for less than $200 off-contract.
Android's share of the smartphone market has almost doubled in the last three years, according to IDC's numbers, though the distribution among Android manufacturers has flattened out. Samsung commands just under 30 percent of the market now, compared to 40 percent two years ago — with manufacturers like LG, Huawei and ZTE cutting into their sales.
Though Apple's shipments in Q2 grew by 12 percent year-over-year, its overall market share dropped to 11.7 percent from 13 percent. Windows Phone holds on tight to its third-place position, but IDC reports that Microsoft's platform commands just 2.5 percent of the worldwide smartphone market.


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Runescape 3 is nearing us
Runescape 3 is nearing us after the jagex declared its starting in summer several weeks 2013. According to the old rs editions starting, we are sure the starting of RS3 will triggered the deceased RS industry be remain again.Runescape 3 silver will definitely be the most popular RS Gold action forex in june after the rs3 is released. So are you prepared to create some cash by it? Well, let us examine some details about the jagex first.
Jagex was Established in Arlington in 2001, the studio room has expanded from four workers to 550. Indicate Gerhard, CEO of Jagex, informed me that the organization accepted the now-popular free-to-play company structure absolutely by chance. When the dot-com percolate rush, the ad earnings run out for RuneScape, so Jagex designed the choice to cost for a top quality VIP encounter with additional content, capabilities and other functions and offer the a huge part of the encounter for absolutely free. Nowadays, the encounter has over 200 thousand customers.
With the discharge of so many headings there’s big marketing invested and the cost of purchase goes up something like 60 % season on season,” said Gerhard. “I task you to discover someone who’s actually able to invest a money and get a $1.10 returning. I think a lot of individuals are just cash now, and that’s not maintainable. That’s not a way to run a company. It is for a short-term, but I think we’re seeing the accidents of that now.


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More than 40 food trucks will battle it out on Saturday, July 20, 2019 for what promises to be one of the biggest food truck showdowns Central Florida has ever seen. Hosted by Celery City Craft and West End Trading Co., the event will feature craft vendors, dozens of craft beer options, live music and fun for all ages.
In addition, Sanford Battle of the Food Trucks will offer a Pints n' Paws Pavilion with doggie pools and doggie water bowls to keep pooches cool during the event.
Of course, it wouldn't be a battle without a winner. Guest judges will crown a champion in two categories: Best Entree and Best Dessert!
Be a guest judge!
Speaking of guest judges, Historic Downtown Sanford is looking for two local foodies (we're hoping for a foodie couple!) to help crown the winners. As a guest judge, you'll get to taste fare from dozens of Orlando's best food trucks and will also receive a special swag bag. Enter for your chance to win to be guest judges by following the instructions listed on the Historic Downtown Sanford website HERE. One winner (who can plus one) will be selected on Thursday, July 18, 2019.
Sanford Battle of the Food Trucks
Saturday, July 20, 2019
5pm – midnight
Historic Downtown Sanford
114 S. Palmetto Avenue
Admission is free; food and drinks are pay as you go.
For more details, visit www.historicdowntownsanford.com/events/sanford-battle-of-the-food-trucks/.


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For Media Inquiries, Please Contact:
Katja Gagen, VP Marketing
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) [NYSE: SAI] today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Reveal Imaging Technologies, Inc., a leading threat detection products and services company. Reveal is headquartered in Bedford, Mass.
Imprivata®, Inc., the company that simplifies and secures user access, today announced the general availability of Imprivata OneSign 4.5. With breakthrough features such as OneSign Secure Walk-Away, and capabilities such as strong authentication for Citrix and RDP sessions, enhanced support for virtualized desktops and FIPS 140-2 compliance, the new release solves the critical workflow and security challenges organizations face by strengthening user authentication, streamlining application access and simplifying compliance reporting.
SunBorne Energy Technologies, the Gurgaon-based solar power developer, has planned to set up 700 mw of solar power capacity by 2018. With the average cost of setting up 1-mw solar project being a minimum Rs 15 crore, the total target of 700 mw is estimated to cost Rs 10,500 crore.
FanSnap®, the ticket search engine for fans, today announced a new partnership with STATS LLC, the world's leading sports information, content and statistical analysis company, to bring the nation's largest ticket search engine to millions of readers via STATS Hosted Solution™ -- a turnkey, online sports page featuring in-depth stats, real-time scoring and premium AP sports editorial content.


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Consumer Delinquencies Keep Rising
Looks like lots of people are playing the dangerous grace period game -- and losing.
The American Bankers Association released new data today that showed consumer delinquencies on a composite of eight key loan categories have risen to a record 3.2 percent of accounts during the fourth quarter of 2008. The group has been tracking these stats since the 1970s, and it says this is the worst recession that it's seen since then. Aren't we lucky?
This quote from ABA chief economist James Chessen about says it all: “The wheels just fell off the economy.”
FYI, deliquencies are defined as accounts with payments that are more than 30 days overdue. Check out the release to see the breakdown in each loan category.
There are some signs that consumers have rebounded at least a little bit since then, however. Monthly retail sales jumped in January and were down slightly in February, and sales data for March is expected over the next two weeks. Still, Chessen said that the rising unemployment rate is driving the delinquencies -- and that's not expected to change any time soon.
April 2, 2009; 12:15 PM ET
Categories: Unemployment , Ylan Q. Mui | Tags: consumers, unemployment
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Thor and Malekith battle across realms in this new clip from Marvel's Thor: The Dark World.
Trixter Iron Man 3 Showreel
Trixter have released a showreel of their VFX work on Iron Man 3.
The Avengers - Behind the Scenes
Director Josh Whedon talks about the unprecedented scale of his upcoming Avengers film.
Marvel have made a very funny parody of the famous Darth Vader ad for Volkswagen released earlier this year.


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Image: ShutterstockThere has been a lot of activity surrounding UK trade with Latin America recently. I attended UK Trade & Investment?s LatAm roadshow in May, which highlighted the vast array of opportunities that are available for UK businesses in the region.? Latin America has a population that exceeds that of the European Union, and so the opportunities there are numerous. When most people think of Latin America and potential trade partners, the obvious choices would be Brazil or Mexico, due to the sheer size of the markets. However, there are eighteen other countries in Latin America and these cannot be ignored. In this article, I will be focusing on Chile; not only does the country offer great opportunities for bilateral trade with the UK, but with president Bachelet?s recent visit here, this corridor is receiving high levels of attention.
Why export?Exporting has the potential to transform a business. A study by UKTI showed that 85 per cent of business leaders said that exporting led them to achieve growth that would not have otherwise been possible.? Businesses which operate in more than one market also tend to be more resilient than domestic counterparts in terms of crisis. However, exporting is not without risk, and it should be remembered that exporting is an investment and needs both time and money.? The good news is that with the right preparation, the risk can be mitigated in various ways and the time and money used efficiently. Thorough preparation can allow a business to identify where there is demand for their product or service and understand the particularities of that market which will be necessary when creating their market entry strategy.
And why Chile?Whilst Chile may not be one of the region?s largest markets, there are several reasons for a UK company to look there for trading opportunities. Chile has a positive attitude towards international trade and has free trade agreements with more countries (62) than any other country in the region. This gives it access to 85 per cent of global GDP and is therefore one of the most globalised markets in the area.? Chile also has one of the most stable economies in the region and has seen growth average five per cent over the last 30 years, leading to it having the highest GDP per capita in the region ? all good news for businesses wanting to enter the region. It was also the first Latin American country to join the OECD in 2010.? All of this means that there are a plethora of opportunities for UK businesses, but there are certain sectors that are of particular interest
- Firstly is mining. Some 60 per cent of Chilean exports are copper, and the country produces a third of global copper. This is good news for the 4,000 British companies that operate in the mining supply chain
- There are also considerable opportunities in the energy sector. The Chilean government aims that by 2050, 70 per cent of its energy will be produced by renewable sources. UK companies operating in the renewable technology sector can benefit from the fact that Chile is already the leading Latin American solar market
- Another key sector is retail. The retail and consumer market in Chile is booming and there is particular demand for health and beauty products, home and kitchen appliances, convenience foods and high-quality alcoholic drinks
Have a look at our other Santander new export country articles
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Music app JioMusic and Saavn, a global over-the-top platform, have integrated to create JioSaavn, which is being touted as South Asia’s largest platform for music, media, and artists.
With a catalog of more than 45 million songs and award-winning original content, JioSaavn brings users a wide-ranging audio experience.
JioSaavn combines the streaming media expertise of Saavn with Jio’s digital services ecosystem. Users can expect a suite of new in-app products and music experiences, including an interactive lyrics feature, localized vernacular display, custom integrations with concerts and live events, as well as exclusive video content to roll out over the next few months.
The service will be offered on a freemium model in India with all users having access to the ad-supported product.
Akash Ambani, Director, Reliance Jio, said in a statement: “JioSaavn represents a turning point for the music streaming industry in India, as the country continues to experience accelerated tech innovation, rapid adoption of digital services, and a digital music industry at par with global leaders.
“Powered by Jio’s advanced digital services infrastructure and complemented by its widespread user base, JioSaavn will be the largest streaming platform in India.”
Saavn co-founders – Rishi Malhotra, Paramdeep Singh, and Vinodh Bhat – continue in their leadership roles to drive the growth of the company.
Malhotra, Co-Founder, and CEO, JioSaavn, said: “Since announcing our merger in March 2018, the Jio and Saavn teams have been working to integrate and reimagine a combined platform in JioSaavn. Today, we have one of the most personalized and capable media platforms in the world, an unmatched content catalog, regionalized editorial and original programming and music that’s redefining how artists and creators connect directly with audiences worldwide.”
According to Singh, it will mark a new era for music streaming in India and, the global music industry at large.


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Slog PM: R. Kelly Charged With 10 Counts of Sexual Abuse, Sen. Klobuchar Ate Salad With a Comb, More Seattle Snow
by Friday at 6:04 pm•
Canada's National Energy Board says fuck the environment: The board recommended that Canada move forward with its Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. It acknowledged that the expansion would be pretty fucking bad for the environment but that it's in Canada's interests and so Canada should just do it, environment and fragile orca populations be damned. Gov. Jay Inslee is upset about the decision. Canada's government has 90 days for the consideration.
Amazon employee fired for 'time theft': That's what Amazon allegedly told the call center employee in Kentucky when he was fired. That employee suffers from the digestive disorder Crohn's Disease. He has filed a lawsuit saying that Amazon violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by firing him for extra time he spent in the bathroom. Amazon claims it does not monitor bathroom breaks.Continue reading »


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Our cigar woes have made the big time! On August 12th, 2016, the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled, “Give That Man a Cigar, Before the Rules Kick In.” In the article, the Wall Street Journal highlights the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (FUFDA) regulations that went into effect on August 8th, 2016. There are a few interesting factoids in the article that are worth highlighting. First, they state that Federal officials estimate approval for new cigars will cost $1,400 to $3,600. This is a far cry from the hundreds of thousands of dollars quoted by other sources. Second, they estimate that 1,500 new cigars were released at the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers (IPCPR) Association Annual Convention in July in order to beat the new regulations. This is almost double the number of cigars released at the prior Annual Convention. Damn, that is a lot of new cigar brands. Third, the article discusses cigars that were released in small quantities for the IPCPR Annual Convention simply to beat the FDA deadline and these cigars are being referred to as “phantom brands” by Charlie Minato, co-founder of Halfwheel, an online cigar blog.
There are a number of cigar manufacturers quoted in the article. Rocky Patel of Rocky Patel Premium Cigars is quoted as saying that producing the new cigars before the FDA deadline was a “nightmare” and he worked 18-hours days to create 45 new cigars. Holy crap, 45 new cigars from Rocky! Jim Young of Davidoff Cigars stated, “We had to get our track shoes on to get everything to launch.”
The article is worth a read and can be found here.


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MILAN — Boosted by the performance of its footwear division and a good Christmas season, Tod’s SpA reported a 7.7 percent increase in 2008 sales to 707.5 million euros, or $1.04 billion at average exchange. This result was achieved despite sluggish leather goods sales and a slowdown in the U.S. market.
“The latest period of the year contributed in achieving the positive sales results released today,” said Diego Della Valle, chairman and chief executive officer of the group. “Thanks to the efficiency of our group’s structure, I believe that these results will be reflected in sound net income growth.” The company said that, at constant exchange rates, sales would have risen 9 percent. The Tod’s brand confirmed its status as the group’s cash cow last year, with revenues of 356.6 million euros, or $524.2 million, up 2.6 percent compared to the previous year. Hogan posted a 19.6 percent increase, reaching sales of 238.7 million euros, or $350.8 million. Apparel brand Fay grew 3.7 percent to 93.3 million euros, or $137.1 million. The Roger Vivier brand registered revenues of 16.8 million euros, or $24.6 million, up 5 percent. Footwear again proved to be the group’s leading category, with sales growing 13.7 percent to 485.6 million euros, or $713.8 million. The leather goods and accessories division posted a 9.1 percent decline in revenues, however, to 126.6 million euros, or $186.1 million. Apparel grew 5.9 percent to 94.5 million euros, or $138.9 million. Geographically, the U.S. market was the only one that suffered, especially in the last few months of the year, “in line with expectations,” said the company. Sales in North America dropped 10.7 percent to 59.1 million euros, or $86.8 million. At constant exchange rates, sales would have declined 3.3 percent. Italy posted a 15.2 percent increase in sales to 384.1 million euros, or $564.6 million. The rest of Europe was in line with the previous year, inching up 0.1 percent to revenues of 161 million euros, or $236.6 million. Sales in Asia and the rest of the world grew 7.1 percent to 103.3 million euros, or $151.8 million.
Virgil Abloh’s dad Nee and Don Crawley, cofounder of RSVP Gallery, were some of the hometown crew at the Chicago-born designer’s debut show for Louis Vuitton. (📸: @jdiderich ) #wwdmens #louisvuitton #virgilabloh
About last night: @marycharteris and @adwoaaboah hit up Hyde Park for the Serpentine Galleries’ annual summer party held in partnership with @chanelofficial. Head to WWD.com to see more photos. #wwdfashion
“This is Paris, my first show. I’m all about democracy. If some kid shows up, flew from New Jersey to just be around, let’s get him a seat.” — @virgilabloh tells WWD’s @jdiderich ahead of his first show for @louisvuitton men’s. (📸: @alfredo_piola ) #wwdmens #virgilabloh #louisvuitton
“Kate Spade was a true fashion icon who brought joy to the lives of women around the world, and inspired women to live life to the fullest. We are dedicated to carrying on her legacy,” said Anna Bakst, brand president and chief executive officer of @katespadeny. The Kate Spade Foundation announced that it will be donating $1 million to suicide prevention and mental health awareness in tribute to the recent death of Kate Spade. Read more on WWD.com. #wwdnews (📷: @chinseephoto)
A first look at @virgilabloh’s sneakers for @louisvuitton. Abloh spoke to WWD about his debut collection for Louis Vuitton, creating @kendalljenner’s #metgala outfit and redefining the heritage brand. Read the full story on WWD.com. #wwdfashion 📷: @alfredo_piola)
The world’s largest producer of denim @iskodenim is sharing the strategy behind its product development process. Read our full interview with ISKO’s product development manager Baris Ozden on the company’s extensive research practices, upcoming denim trends and the latest material innovations on WWD.com. #iskodenim
“I genuinely fell in love with water, I fell in love with Fiji, I fell in love with the whole life that we lived for those few months,” says @mrsamclaflin of filming for his new movie “Adrift” with @shailenewoodley. The 31-year-old actor spoke with WWD about his upcoming projects, meeting Jamie Dornan and working with co-star Woodley. #wwdeye (📷: @jamstoker)
3 years ago, fans of the late singer Aaliyah started calling for a collaboration with @maccosmetics. With the strength of social media — including mock ups of products — 25,000 people signed a Change.org petition for a limited-edition collection, and MAC couldn’t ignore the buzz. Tomorrow, MAC will unveil MAC x Aaliyah, a tribute to the singer who passed away nearly 17 years ago. Head to our stories to preview the new collection, which was worked on by Aaliyah’s family and inspired directly by her makeup bag. #wwdbeauty
Artistic director @clarewaightkeller will be dedicating @givenchyofficial’s fall 2018 couture show in Paris on July 1 to house founder Hubert de Givenchy, who passed away in March at age 91. Givenchy said the collection would be “an homage to his iconic creations, technique, and personal lexicon” and a “celebration of his timeless elegance and grace.” Head to WWD.com to read more. #wwdfashion (📷: Delphine Achard)


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By Deena Beasley
Feb 4 () - Gilead Sciences Inc on Monday reported fourth-quarter results that fell short of Wall Street estimates as sales of its flagship hepatitis C drugs continued to slide due to competition for a smaller pool of patients.
The drugmaker also estimated 2019 product sales of $21.3 billion to $21.8 billion. Wall Street analysts, on average, had forecast 2019 revenue of $21.8 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Excluding one-time items, Gilead said it earned $1.44 per share in the fourth quarter. Analysts expected $1.70.
Quarterly net income was $3 million, or nil per share, due to an impairment charge related to an acquisition. That compared with a net loss of $3.9 billion, or $2.96 per share, a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter slipped to $5.8 billion from $5.9 billion.
Fourth-quarter sales of Gilead's HIV drugs rose to $4.1 billion from $3.4 billion. But sales of hepatitis C drugs fell sharply to $738 million from $1.5 billion in the same period of 2017.
The drop was largely expected as these newer drugs have cured many patients with the liver disease and rival products have seized market share.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.


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Expected to launch later this year.
Luxury Italian fashion house Bottega Veneta look set to introduce a new sneaker silhouette to their roster for the upcoming Autumn/Winter 2022 season as unofficial imagery arrives for the brand’s new “Pillow” silhouette.
The “Pillow” silhouette keeps a recent trend of skater-inspired sneaker silhouettes in the luxury fashion industry going, with Bottega Veneta being the latest in a long line of brands to hop on the trend. As seen in upcoming releases at ERL x Dior and Louis Vuitton, the skate-inspired silhouettes all boast a robust silhouette, with this pair being no different. Bottega Veneta’s iteration provides a slightly more formalised version of a skate sneaker, boasting a classic rope lace-up front and a clean leather upper, with a fattened tongue and an oversized midsole completing the main standouts of the sneaker. Looking set to arrive in both grey and black colour iterations, the “Pillow” sneaker rocks Bottega Veneta imprinting on both the tongue and sole, with a pull tab at the heel adding a final touch of comfort.
Whilst there is no release date for this silhouette as of yet, a drop is expected later this year. Stay tuned to PAUSE for more information.
PHOTO CREDIT: @supreme_leaks_news (via Instagram)


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An evening before the start of the much-awaited Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Sony Ericsson has unleashed the prototype of its Idou smartphone, a 3.5-inch smartphone device that is set make debut this year.
This high-end mobile device, which will sport a glitzy 12.1-megapixel camera, will be launched under the company’s latest Entertainment Unlimited umbrella sometime this year, the company said.
The new handset will be powered by the first iteration of Symbian Foundation operating system, which is based upon the 5th edition of the S60 platform, and will host a bunch of impressive features, such as a Xenon flash, commendable touch controls, as well as 16:9 wide screen viewing.
The name Idou seems to be just a placeholder and the company will rename the device closer to its launch. (Photo courtesy of Pocket-lint)
Sony Ericsson is bringing “Communication and Entertainment” together under its new initiative “Entertainment Unlimited”, as the tag would integrate Cyber-Shot imaging capabilities, the company’s Walkman music platform, Java gaming and messaging features, along with the capabilities to integrate with various home consumer devices, such as PCs, TVs, and other Hi-Fi modules.
Meanwhile, company is all set to launch its new W995 Walkman phone, which includes an 8.1-megapixel, Assisted GPS support, Wi-Fi or HSPA capabilities, and a couple impressive music features, such as 3.5mm audio jack.
Go To Page 2 for our comments and more related links
Who really needs a 12 megapixel cameraphone? The race for the device with the most pixel is rather useless given that qualitywise it come any near a true 12-megapixel digital camera, let alone a 8-megapixel one. We will be interested to find out whether Sony Ericsson releases this phone in an Android version.


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Acer Philippines, a world leader in tech, together with retail giant, SM Supermalls, has introduced an exciting treat for Filipinos this season of thanksgiving.
Touted #MalayangPasko, this holiday promo brings exciting offers for shoppers. With Acer enabling people through innovative technologies and SM Supermalls staying true to its vision “we got it all for you,” the partnership was forged to create more possibilities for people, across different lifestyles.
The promo which will run until December 31 of this year, entitles shoppers of qualifying Windows-based Acer Aspire laptops, desktops, and All-In-Ones with The SM Store Exclusive Promotional Shopping Vouchers, which can be used to purchase items from over 100 brands in-store.
Customers will get shopping vouchers worth PHP 5,000 for every purchase of Intel Core i7-powered laptops and desktops; PHP 3,000 for Intel Core i5-powered laptops and desktops; and PHP 1,000 for Intel Core i3-powered laptops and desktops, and projectors. The vouchers can be claimed with a printout of the warranty registration confirmation of the purchased product at select Acer stores and service centers.
“This year, as a thank you for keeping Acer as the leading PC brand in the country, we want our gift to really bring joy, and the best way we can do that is to give consumers the freedom to choose their gift,” shares Sue Ong-Lim, Acer Philippines’ Sales and Marketing director. “Hand in hand with SM, we give our consumers access to an array of products, where they will surely find something to brighten their holidays.”
To further make the shopping experience rewarding, SM Advantage card, SM Prestige card, or BDO Rewards card holders will get 10 times more SMAC points whenever they purchase items using their exclusive promotional voucher in The SM Store.
“The SM Store is grateful and deeply honored to have been chosen by Acer as a partner for its Holiday Promo,” shares Chelo Monasterio, president of The SM Store. “We hope that with SM’s help, Acer will be able to truly bring the festive spirit of Christmas.”
During the promo launch, new Acer endorsers JM De Guzman and Jennylyn Mercado were also introduced. Meanwhile, singer Morissette Amon set the mood by performing hit songs.
To know more about #MalayangPasko, visit the Acer Philippines Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/AcerPH and the Acer Philippines website at www.acer.com.ph, and follow @acerphils on Twitter. You may also purchase online via http://ph-store.acer.com/.


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Global maritime transport and coronavirus
JOHANNESBURG - As the world battles the Covid-19 pandemic, the global maritime transport industry is playing a critical role in their response, according to Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, the secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).
This was according to an article titled: “Coronavirus: Let's keep ships moving, ports open and cross-border trade flowing”.
Kituyi said: “A vast array of goods and commodities are transported by sea to meet the demands of industrial and manufacturing sectors, energy needs, as well as business and consumer requirements. This includes vital medical supplies, which are sorely needed at this time, and items that are necessary for the preservation of many jobs in manufacturing – without which modern society cannot function.”
The International Chamber of Shipping and the International Transport Workers’ Federation issued a Joint Open Letter to United Nations agencies appealing that “member states should be encouraged to engage immediately with their national shipowners’ association and national seafarers’ union, in order to find rapid solutions to this serious problem which otherwise risks impeding global efforts to address the Covid-19 pandemic.”
According to Unctad’s Review of Maritime Transport (Series), “Around 80 percent of the volume of international trade in goods is carried by sea, and the percentage is even higher for most developing countries.”
The director-general of World Health Organisation and the secretary-general of International Maritime Organisation jointly issued a statement to assist States in ensuring that health measures are implemented in ways that minimise unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade.
The statement called “upon all States to respect the requirements of “free pratique” for ships(IHR (2005) article 28) and the principles of proper care for all travellers and the prevention of unnecessary delays to ships and to persons and property on board, while recognising the need to prevent the introduction or spread of disease.”
The global supply chain includes a sequence of operations ranging from the extraction of raw materials, the assembly of intermediate goods, to the distribution to consumption markets.
The world should not allow the Covid-19 pandemic to disturb freight transportation value chains.
When G20 leaders met virtually last week, U. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged G20 leaders to adopt a war-time plan to tackle the pandemic.
Guterres said, “We are at war with a virus — and not winning it despite dramatic measures by countries to seal their borders, shutter businesses and enforce home isolation for well over a quarter of the world’s population.”
As international countries adopt measures to tacle the Covid-19 crises, South Africa has also implemented measures.
Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula said recently, “The National Traffic Police and South African Police Service have closed the N1 North from Carousel towards Limpopo, as a measure to enforce compliance. Only essential traffic and commercial vehicles are allowed passage.”
This will ensure that freight transportation value chains are not disturbed
and is in line with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s appeal “to other countries not to restrict the import into Africa of badly needed manufactured goods, such as medical supplies.”
Sello Mashao Rasethaba is the chairman of the South African United Business Confederation (SAUBC) and writes in his personal capacity.


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A south Devon town has taken a step towards having its own currency after a month-long experiment.
Three hundred Totnes pounds were printed in March for circulation only in local outlets.
Eighteen shops joined Transition Town Totnes (TTT), a new group campaigning for a more self-sufficient community.
The experiment, which has just finished, could be followed up by another print-run of 3,000 notes later this year.
TTT based the idea on a similar scheme in the Southern Berkshire region of Massachusetts, US.
There the alternative currency, Berkshares, can be swapped for dollars in banks.
In Totnes TTT gave away 300 notes at a public meeting in March.
Marjana Kos, of TTT, said: "It's keeping wealth here. It's keeping local trade alive and supporting local businesses."
Louise King, manager of the Riverford farm shop in Totnes, said: "We like our own products, so it just seems right to have our own currency."
What might seem like criminal activity is actually perfectly legal - the notes were copies of a pound note last in circulation in 1810.
Paul Hall, of Colourworks, which printed the notes, said: "We thought it was a little bit strange.
"Printers aren't usually asked to produce currency, but once it was explained that it was a reproduction of a Totnes pound as opposed to a Bank of England pound, we were happy to do that."
The pound note, a facsimile of the old pound note one side, has a list of participating outlets on the reverse side.
The note also shows how many times the note had been exchanged with a tick box.
TTT says the only objections have come from people who thought it was too big and it will be producing a smaller, more difficult to forge note if members agree to a further print run later this year.


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Sedan? Van? Coupe? You know what you like. Start with the body style and narrow your search until you find your BestRide.
From news and reviews to movies and how-to's, anything and everything to do with autos can be found in our news section.
Posted on Friday, April 21, 2023 by BestRide Staff
Posted on Monday, April 10, 2023 by BestRide Staff
Posted on Friday, March 24, 2023 by BestRide Staff
Posted on Thursday, March 09, 2023 by BestRide Staff


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Having closed the US Mint and halted production (blaming COVID-19) after a surge in demand for gold and silver coins, and warned of the danger of using bills (once again blaming the pandemic and choosing to “quarantine” cash for the sake of Americans’ health), Fed Chair Powell quietly admitted to lawmakers this week that The Fed will be rationing coins as the circulation of coins across the US economy ground to a halt due to the pandemic.
“What’s happened is that with the partial closure of the economy, the flow of coins through the economy … it’s kind of stopped,” Powell told lawmakers.
He said the shortage was due to the mass business closures that prevented people from spending their coins, as well as a lack of places that are open where people can trade coins for paper bills.
“We’ve been aware of it, we’re working with the Mint to increase supply, we’re working with the reserve banks to get the supply to where it needs to be,” Powell said, adding he expected the problem to be temporary.
Of course, Powell added that the problem would only be temporary, given the economy was reopening and establishments that traditionally deposit their cash into banks were beginning to restart operations.
Until the shortage is resolved, the Fed is taking the unusual step of limiting the number of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies sent to banks “to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of coin inventory.” They issued a statement explaining the decision:
Temporary coin order allocation in all Reserve Bank offices and Federal Reserve coin distribution locations effective June 15, 2020
The COVID‐19 pandemic has significantly disrupted the supply chain and normal circulation patterns for U.S. coin. In the past few months, coin deposits from depository institutions to the Federal Reserve have declined significantly and the U.S. Mint’s production of the coin also decreased due to measures put in place to protect its employees. Federal Reserve coin orders from depository institutions have begun to increase as regions reopen, resulting in the Federal Reserve’s coin inventory being reduced to below normal levels. While the U.S. Mint is the issuing authority for the coin, the Federal Reserve manages coin inventory and its distribution to depository institutions (including commercial banks, community banks, credit unions, and thrifts) through Reserve Bank cash operations and offsite locations across the country operated by Federal Reserve vendors.
The Federal Reserve is working on several fronts to mitigate the effects of low coin inventories. This includes managing the allocation of existing Fed inventories, working with the Mint, as issuing authority, to minimize coin supply constraints and maximize coin production capacity, and encouraging depository institutions to order only the coin they need to meet near‐term customer demand. Depository institutions also can help replenish inventories by removing barriers to consumer deposits of loose and rolled coins. Although the Federal Reserve is confident that the coin inventory issues will resolve once the economy opens more broadly and the coin supply chain returns to normal circulation patterns, we recognize that these measures alone will not be enough to resolve near‐term issues.
Consequently, effective Monday, June 15, Reserve Banks and Federal Reserve coin distribution locations began allocating coin inventories. To ensure a fair and equitable distribution of existing coin inventory to all depository institutions, effective June 15, the Federal Reserve Banks and their coin distribution locations began to allocate available supplies of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters to depository institutions as a temporary measure. The temporary coin allocation methodology is based on historical order volume by coin denomination and depository institution endpoint, and current U.S. Mint production levels. Order limits are unique by coin denomination and are the same across all Federal Reserve coin distribution locations. Limits will be reviewed and potentially revised based on national receipt levels, inventories, and Mint production.
This coin rationing occurs as Americans are hoarding cash in record amounts due to the COVID crisis. As Decrypt reports:
Banks have more cash than ever before – largely due to the coronavirus pandemic, figures from the Federal Reserve show.
Deposits have never been so high—growing by $865 billion in April alone, CNBC reported. Deposits in total have increased by $2 trillion since January after record amounts of cash were pumped into US bank accounts to help with COVID-19 chaos. Money in bank accounts now stands at a whopping $15.4 trillion, June figures show.
The flood of money is due to the US government doling out trillions of dollars to help its citizens with the economic hardships brought on by COVID-19 lockdowns; an unlimited bond-buying program by the Federal Reserve; and people hoarding money because of uncertain times.
That money is sitting in bank accounts. The biggest US banks—JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup—have experienced astronomical growth, CNBC reported. But there is such a surplus of cash, CNBC reports, that banks don’t quite know what to do with it.
We have already seen sly moves to ban cash transactions in favor of the universal use of credit cards on the flimsy excuse that handling cash may spread the coronavirus.
As Viv Forbes warns at The Epoch Times, don’t let our cash money become the biggest COVID casualty. Swapping paper money for a monopoly of electronic money is a bad deal.
We should always be free to save our cash and protect the value of our savings by investing in real assets or sound money like gold and silver.
Real money is always measurable by weight, such as pounds, grams, pennyweight, and ounces of gold and silver, or carats of gemstones. It cannot be counterfeited or corrupted easily. But the value of fiat money relies on the honesty and openness of the rulers.
Fiat money allows politicians to secretly steal your savings to fight yet another war on someone or something. Next, we will see a war on “speculators,” or “hoarders,” and calls for a world currency.
U.N. one-worlders will not let this COVID crisis go to waste. They dream of a one-world government (the “National Cabinet” writ large) with no circulating cash and mandatory use of digital money (credit card currency). The climate alarmists would also like to use a digital money monopoly to promote their war on carbon. They could control and ration what we buy and consume—lettuce, tofu, bicycles, and green energy only, with no overseas trips and no secret buying of diesel, bacon, or beef.
We have already seen the start of their war on cash—digital money will join mulberry money, shinplaster, and cubic currency in the long history of failed political money. While people are focused on social distancing and contact tracing, one-worlders are secretly planning to recall banknotes and abolish cash. Then they can ration the “money” available to each of us each month (cutting it off for white males once they reach their “use by date”?).
For many people in the world, a store of gold coins, silver coins, gemstones, or a bit of productive land has allowed them to survive or escape when their government became too oppressive or lost a war, and the local fiat money became a cubic currency.
Unless, of course, history repeats…Gold confiscation? Maybe…
Editor, Bankster Crime


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Last month, we launched a special Crystal Head Vodka project with legendary artist Nick Gentry.
Last month, we launched a project with legendary artist Nick Gentry. He asked people from all over the world to contribute small personal items that he incorporated into a piece. These items included a very special mounted RCMP figurine from our very own Dan Aykroyd.
Gentry’s work will be on display at Selfridges in London as part of the Christmas showcase.


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As Nokia is looking to sell off its struggling maps business, Bloomberg reports that the company has been approaching Apple and several other big name technology firms on the matter. In addition to Apple, Nokia is said to have been in contact with Amazon, Alibaba, Facebook, Sirius, Chinese search engine Baidu, a group of German carmakers, and some private-equity firms. Nokia is seeking more than 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) from a sale of the division, with first-round bids due at the end of next week. Nokia’s mapping assets, purchased in 2008 for $8.1 billion, have depreciated to about 2 billion euros according to last year’s financial reports from the company. Nokia’s highly-rated maps app, HERE, is again available on the App Store after being pulled in late 2013 due to changes in iOS 7.
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Microsoft Signals New OS Era with Windows 11
Microsoft has confirmed rumors that it will move forward from Windows 10, announcing that it will release Windows 11 in time for the 2021 holiday season.
Speculation about Windows 11 intensified in recent weeks with the circulation of a leaked build of the new OS. In virtual event Thursday titled, "What's Next for Windows," Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella made it official, calling Windows 11 the first version of a new era of Windows.
"Windows has always stood for sovereignty for creators and agency for consumers," Nadella said. "With Windows 11, we have a renewed sense of Windows' role in the world."
Key elements of the new operating system include user interface changes, anchored by a newly centered Start button; tighter Microsoft 365 integrations; new revenue terms for the Windows Store that are more favorable to application developers; support for running Android apps on Windows; hybrid work features; security changes; and gaming improvements.
Start at the Center
The most obvious visual change to the operating system is the Start button at the center of the taskbar at the bottom of the screen.
"We put Start at the center and made it easier to quickly find what you need. Start utilizes the power of the cloud and Microsoft 365 to show you your recent files no matter what platform or device you were viewing them on earlier, even if it was on an Android or iOS device," said Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer for Windows + Devices.
The button itself was subtly redesigned, along with other icons, as well as the sounds and fonts, Panay said, to "bring a sense of calm and ease."
It is Microsoft's first change to the Start button location since controversially removing it in Windows 8, then promptly re-establishing the button in Windows 8.1. Also notable is the removal of the Cortana icon from the taskbar. Cortana has also been removed from the first boot experience.
Microsoft is taking another swing at anticipating how users might like to organize their windows with features called Snap Layouts and Snap Groups. "These are new features designed to help you organize your windows and optimize your screen real estate so you can see what you need just the way you want in a layout that's visually clean," Panay said.
Recognizing the way people have been using their PCs during the pandemic to work during the day and for things like personal video calls and gaming at night, Microsoft is also introducing the concept of Desktops, which is similar to a feature common to Linux distributions. In that scenario, a user might have a work Desktop, and then can switch to a gaming desktop or a household management desktop.
Chat, SMS, Widgets
Connections are a major focus of the release, as well. The headline feature is called Chat from Microsoft Teams, which will integrate into the taskbar.
"Now you can instantly connect through text, chat, voice or video with all of your personal contacts, anywhere, no matter the platform or device they're on, across Windows, Android or iOS. If the person you're connecting to on the other end hasn't downloaded the Teams app, you can still connect with them via two-way SMS," Panay said.
Microsoft is creating some new real estate within Windows for itself and developers with a personalized feed called Widgets. Billed as a personalized feed, an example shown Thursday included Microsoft Edge-based information cards with weather, stocks, photos, news, calendar items, a to-do list and search box.
Microsoft Store with Android Apps
With Windows 11, Microsoft is also overhauling the Microsoft Store, with new terms for app developers that pose a challenge to Apple's current business model, and the ability for users to discover Android apps in the store and download through the Amazon Appstore.
Giorgio Sardo, general manager of the Microsoft Store, blogged that the Microsoft Commerce platform terms for revenue share will be 85/15 for apps and 88/12 for games. There will also be a way for developers to keep 100 percent of their revenue, he said: "Starting July 28, app developers will also have an option to bring their own or a third party commerce platform in their apps, and if they do so they don't need to pay Microsoft any fee."
The Amazon partnership was a surprise move that will expand the reach of Android developers, while opening Windows users up to a broad range of new apps.
"Today we offer a broad selection of mobile apps in our Amazon Appstore, available across Fire TV, Fire Tablets and Android devices that our customers use and enjoy every day," said Palanidaran Chidambaram, director of the Amazon Appstore and Cross-Screen Technology, in a statement. "With this announcement, Amazon Appstore developers will now have the opportunity to make their Android apps available to hundreds of millions of Windows customers."
What's In It for IT
For IT departments, Microsoft is aiming to make Windows 11 management very similar to Windows 10's, while reducing the frequency of updates.
"Upgrading to Windows 11 is similar to taking a Windows 10 feature update," said Wangui McKelvey, general manager of Microsoft 365, in a blog post. Common Windows 10 management experiences, including Microsoft Endpoint Manager, cloud configuration, Windows Update for Business and Autopilot, will support Windows 11.
McKelvey also acknowledged that many IT pros felt the update cadence of Windows 10 was too fast. "We've also heard from many of you that an annual update works best for you, and a simplified servicing plan makes it easier to deploy. So, Windows 11 will be updated annually with 24 months of support for Home or Pro editions, and 36 months of support for Enterprise and Education editions," McKelvey said.
Microsoft will continue the App Assure service for Windows 11 that it offered for Windows 10. Under that app compatibility program, Microsoft helps customers with 150 or more users fix app issues when upgrading.
Zero Trust will be a big theme with Windows 11. "Key security features like hardware-based isolation, encryption, and malware prevention are turned on by default. We have also made going passwordless easier by simplifying the steps to deploy Windows Hello for Business. And all these components work together in the background to keep users safe without sacrificing quality, performance, or experience," said McKelvey, adding that security baselines are also being raised in hardware in cooperation with manufacturer and silicon partners.
Gaming Is a Focus
A number of features in the new release are intended to improve the gaming experience. Those include Auto HDR for a wider range of brightness values and colors, DirectStorage for faster game load times for users with specific hardware and a built-in Xbox app.
How Upgrades Will Work
When it was released six years ago, Windows 10 marked a new delivery model for Windows with Microsoft providing regular updates that improved stability and security and added features without putting users on an upgrade cycle that required them to buy a new release every few years. It wasn't previously clear if Microsoft would ever deliver a major new launch of the operating system.
The approach has been successful for Microsoft, with Windows 10 becoming Microsoft's most-used OS in early 2018 and surpassing 1.3 billion users worldwide earlier this year.
Microsoft will maintain the free upgrade policy for Windows 11 to an extent. The company said the upgrade to Windows 11 will be free, but only for PCs that are running the most current version of Windows 10. Microsoft is also only committing to providing the free offer for one year after general availability.
On the enterprise side, McKelvey's blog noted that "organizations can move eligible PCs directly to Windows 11 using Windows Update for Business if they are running any supported version of Windows 10, which is Windows 10 Enterprise, version 1909 or higher, or Windows 10 Pro version 20H1 or higher."
Not all PCs that can run Windows 10 will be able to handle Windows 11. Minimum requirements include a 1GHz compatible 64-bit processor with two or more cores or System on a Chip; 4GB of RAM; a 64GB storage device; Trusted Platform Module 2.0; and other requirements. Additionally, many Windows 11 features will only be supported with specialized hardware, such as 5G modems, HDR monitors, USB flash drives, SSDs, cameras, microphones and speakers.
PC manufacturers and retailers are starting to label new PCs as being ready for Windows 11. For current systems, Microsoft plans to roll out the OS upgrade in stages starting later this year and continuing into 2022 based on testing and validation for different models.
For those systems that can't be upgraded, or users and organizations that don't want to upgrade, Windows 10 will have a support deadline of Oct. 14, 2025.
Insider Preview Coming Next Week
The first Insider Preview build of Windows 11 will be available next week. However, company spokesman Frank X. Shaw noted that many of the features demonstrated on Thursday will not be included in that initial build.
Posted by Scott Bekker on 06/24/2021 at 12:36 PM


text: Dentsu International has announced the appointment of Robert (Rob) Gilby as CEO APAC, Dentsu International, effective September 5, 2022.“Rob is an exceptionally well-rounded leader with a progressive approach that deeply understands the future of the industry and opportunities for growth, for our people, our clients and our business,” said Dentsu International CEO, Wendy Clark. “Importantly, he clearly demonstrated his long-term vision, values-based leadership style and passion for building high-performance, diverse teams that is fundamental to the way we do business at dentsu.”Gilby will be responsible for unifying the APAC region’s 11,600 talented people in 18 markets around dentsu’s global ambition to be the most integrated network in the world. He has a strong platform for growth with the region’s transformation agenda showing positive results, delivering +4.7% organic revenue growth in FY2021 with momentum continuing into Q1 2022 delivering 5.2% organic revenue growth. His appointment follows the global launch of Dentsu Creative, with dentsu awarded Asia Pacific Regional Network of the Year and Dentsu Creative India named Global Agency of the Year at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. This momentum, coupled with Rob’s knowledge of the region, understanding of the advancing habits of Asian consumers and view on the future of the industry is a catalyst for growth, cementing the future success of dentsu’s APAC business.On joining the agency, Gilby said, “I was instantly drawn to dentsu’s compelling vision with its rich heritage as the only holding company born out of Asia. It is a privilege to be leading this region with the world looking to the Asia Pacific region as its GDP growth is forecasted to remain strong, the emerging middle-class booms and rapid digitisation and investment in homegrown platforms leapfrog existing technologies. Dentsu’s ability to understand people better than anyone else and vision for horizontal creativity coupled with these market conditions creates an exciting opportunity for brands to thrive.”Gilby has 30 years of experience in the Media and Entertainment industry and has worked in Asia Pacific for over 25 years. He has a proven track-record of growing profitable businesses, including WarnerMedia and The Walt Disney Company, with extensive experience in markets, including Australia, China, India, Southeast Asia and Singapore. He joins dentsu from Nielsen, where he is President, APAC responsible for building relationships with key media owners, brands and agencies to deliver audience insights across the media ecosystem. Prior to that, he was CEO & Founder, Blue Hat Ventures, an investment and advisory firm focussed on identifying and commercialising high-growth businesses in the Digital Media sector in Asia Pacific. He has held non-executive board and advisory roles at the Ministry of Communications & Information, the InfoComm Media Development Authority and the Singapore Media Festival.He will be based in Singapore, reporting to Wendy Clark, Global CEO, Dentsu International, and joins the Dentsu International Executive team.


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By Juliet Tsitsi Mashiri
I had an interesting conversation with Chenesai who is a creative economic catalyst, an entrepreneur and the founder of Chenesai Africa, a multi-discipline fashion house. Chenesai has taken it upon herself to always seek and provide solutions that cater to the needs of the society.
As someone who is constantly on the pulse of what is going on in the world, Chenesai became aware of the rise in studies taking place all over, that showed wearing non-surgical masks can reduce the spread of COVID-19 transmission. Globally there is a shortage of Personal Protective Equipment for our health and essential services workers on the frontlines, these reusable non-surgical masks make it easier for you and I to protect ourselves whilst also making sure the necessary surgical masks go to the relevant people who are our essential workers. Henceforth, Chenesai Africa has pledged to take part in the global initiative #maketogive where their goal is to make 3,000 non-surgical masks to give out to farmers on the Marondera Farm Belt. “Farming is an essential service, our farmers need to be protected and the nation needs food”
Zimbabwe is a country that has always come together in times of need and now is the time for us to play our part as responsible citizens. Chenesai Africa in their effort to scale up the initiative for impact has reached out to several youth organisations giving them online tutorials on how to make the masks and also to spread the word fast digitally. They are also repurposing old bedsheets and bedskirts for the cause. If you want to take part or support this initiative email firstname.lastname@example.org or you can reach out to us on email@example.com
You can also connect with Chenesai on these platforms: Website – chenesaiafrica.com, Facebook – Noreen Chenesai Mangoma, Instagram – @chenesaiafrica


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Toronto-based Weathsimple’s new ‘Trade’ app is now available to all Canadians.
The mobile app, available on iOS and Android, allows users to buy and sell thousands of Canadian- and U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs. The best part? No commissions on trades.
Wealthsimple Trade hopes to make stocks more accessible to everyone. Along with $0 commissions on trades, Trade has no minimum account size — you can start trading with just $1 in your account — and it’s easy to set up.
The company says new users will need to take a few minutes to create their account, but existing Wealthsimple clients can sign up for Trade with a single tap.
In reality, it’s more than just one tap — it took me about five to sign up for Trade — but five taps to start trading stocks is a lot less than most other methods. It’s also worth noting that it can take some time to begin trading with the app. You’ll need to move funds to Trade, which can take three to five business days.
Additionally, Wealthsimple says the app will continue to improve over time based on feedback from clients. At launch, Trade offers unlimited, commission-free trades, no account minimum, fast order execution, market and limit orders and personal (unregistered) accounts.
There’s also a watchlist feature to monitor stocks without buying them.
Wealthsimple first announced Trade in August 2018, and over 130,000 Canadians signed up to test the app before launch. More than 7,000 people piloted Wealthsimple Trade and provided feedback on the experience.


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Company announcements hot off the press: the news published here contains information ranging from strategic goals, environmental protection and sponsorship all the way through to the company's business development.
Jubilee at Audi: The six-millionth Audi with quattro drive rolls off the production line at the Ingolstadt plant today – only about one and a half years after the five-millionth quattro. Audi will deliver the jubilee car, an Audi SQ5 3.0 TDI quattro* in monsoon gray metallic, to a family in the United States. This new production record demonstrates the global success of Audi quattro. Since the original quattro, the first Audi with permanent all-wheel drive in the year 1980, this technology has conquered the roads of the world. With approximately 170 quattro versions, the brand with the Four Rings offers the biggest selection of all-wheel drive vehicles amongst the premium manufacturers.Read news
Awards for Audi in June 2014Read news
With one of his typical recoveries Mattias Ekström clinched a podium result for Audi at Moscow Raceway in front of 50,000 spectators (throughout the weekend) and captured second place in the DTM drivers’ standings.Read news
Jamie Green gave the large crowd of Audi fans at the Norisring rise to continue hoping for the first victory of the four rings since 2002 in the DTM race in Nuremberg but alas, the dream of clinching a home victory did not come true for Audi this year. In the Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Rosberg, the Briton clinched third place in qualifying – the best grid position for Audi at the Norisring in five years – and finished in second place. This is his best result since switching to Audi.Read news
With year-on-year sales growth of 11.4 percent, AUDI AG has achieved the best first half year in company history. The brand with the four rings handed over around 869,350 cars to customers in the first six months. In June alone, the company delivered around 155,450 cars worldwide, exceeding the figure in the same period last year by 10.8 percent. The premium brand grew particularly strongly in North America, increasing sales by 21.2 percent year-on-year.Read news
The current Audi R18 e-tron quattro on clinching its Le Mans victory consumed 22 percent less fuel than its predecessor in 2013. With that, Audi has again raised the benchmark.Read news


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We get it; we can barely keep up with the onslaught of information ourselves, but it’s our top priority and our mission to keep readers in the know. For that reason, we’ve combed through it all, distilled it to its essence, and dispensed it in easily digestible tidbits. Want to be the most knowledgeable culture savant in your group of friends? Then check back every Sunday for Savoir Flair’s roundup of the week’s must-know fashion and pop-culture news.
The Bey Reveal
Much speculation swirled around Beyoncé’s due date, but no one knew exactly when the blessed twins actually arrived on Planet Earth. Leave it to Bey to stun the world with her birth announcement, which came exactly a month to the day (July 14) after Rumi and Sir Carter were born (June 14).
In keeping with the “earth mother”- and “flower goddess”-themed shoots surrounding her pregnancy, Beyoncé took to Instagram to share the most gorgeous photo of herself regally surrounded by a floral trellis, draped in vibrant silks and a turquoise veil, and holding aloft the wee babes. She followed this post quickly with several photos of herself dressed to slay for a date night with Jay-Z, and we were left stunned by her immaculate post-birth body.
Nicki Minaj's Big Tease
With a single emoji, Nicki Minaj lit Twitter on fire. After posting an emoji of a baby to her Twitter page, Minaj fielded wild speculation from her fans, adding fuel to the flames by “liking” any post that suggested she was pregnant. However, she never stated for certain whether or not she was with child and left the question hanging in the air like a pregnant pause.
Gucci’s vibrantly hued, retro-inspired magpie collections have made a tremendous mark on the fashion world, thanks in large part to the Alessandra Michele effect, which puts eclecticism front and center in his designs. For those who have fallen in love with Gucci’s new sartorial codes, we have great news: you can now decorate your entire life with Gucci.
The beloved Italian brand announced on Instagram that it would be expanding into a range of home goods, which launches in September via Gucci.com and select stores, with a preview of the collection illustrated by Alex Merry. Items include throw pillows embroidered with cats and snakes, serving trays featuring lacquered eyes, metal tables, and more.
Erdem x H&M
Erdem Moralioglu of the eponymous London-based brand Erdem seeks to bring his fairytale fashion vision to life via an exclusive collaboration with H&M. This marks the first time that the designer will expand his purview to include menswear, with a few of the looks teased in a special trailer directed by Baz Luhrmann of Moulin Rouge fame.
Jessica Kahawaty for UNICEF
Louis Vuitton, in partnership with UNICEF, sent Jessica Kahawaty to visit the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan in order to raise awareness and funds for the children of Syria, who are currently in the midst of an immense humanitarian crisis. Unable to return to their homes in Syria, refugees populate the Za’atari camp to the tune of 79,000, which has caused an urgent demand for vaccines, clean water, and humanitarian aid.
Kahawaty is tasked with bringing visibility to the plight of the children in this camp, and she has urged her followers via Instagram to support and donate to the incredibly important cause. As for Louis Vuitton, the fashion house is doing its part by raising more than $2.5 million since January 2016 for UNICEF in order to aid its humanitarian efforts in Syria.
Sheikh Hamdan's Project
Dubai’s Crown Prince HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has revealed the first official trailer for his documentary project Awaken, with production more than five years in the making. The goosebumps-inducing trailer reveals a visually stunning story of differing world perspectives as it takes on cultures in over 30 countries to reveal the relationship between nature and technology.
The director behind Awaken, Tom Lowe, achieved his remarkable cinematography with a combination of time-lapse, time-dilation, underwater, and aerial photography. This pioneering documentary features shots that have never been achieved before, all of which cinephiles are sure to appreciate.
Anyone who loves fashion and has traveled to Paris has, no doubt, made a pitstop (or five) at Colette. A favorite haunt of the Paris Fashion Week set and permanent home to fashion’s coolest brands, this Parisian boutique was nothing short of legendary. However, after 20 years of service to fashionable denizens around the world, Colette has announced it is shuttering its doors.
Pourquoi? In a statement posted to Instagram, it shared, “As all good things must come to an end, after 20 wonderful years, Colette should be closing its doors on December 20th of this year. Colette Roussaux has reached the time when she would like to take her time; and Colette cannot exist without Colette.”
Louis Vuitton's Supreme Confusion
It’s hard to get a handle on what’s really happening with the hotly anticipated Louis Vuitton x Supreme pop-up shops in the wake of an announcement from the French maison that it was cancelling all future pop-ups. There were several initial drops in Tokyo, London, Sydney, Paris, Seoul, and Los Angeles, with the majority of stock selling out in some locations like Tokyo. A mere days after the launch date, Louis Vuitton released the following statement: “Regrettably, this collection will no longer be sold in any stores or online.”
However, when GQ magazine reached out for further details the following day, Louis Vuitton’s Client Services department insisted that the collection was not cancelled. Instead, it would simply not be arriving by the pre-determined dates previously listed. This likely means it is going back to the production process in order to restock in time for future drops.
SoundCloud, a streaming music platform that allows anyone to upload their own content to the site, has long been a mainstay of the rap community. In fact, The New York Times reported that SoundCloud was a major driving creative force of the rap underground. It launched artists like Lil Uzi Vert and Post Malone, but lately the service has suffered major financial setbacks and faced imminent demise.
However, Chance the Rapper stepped in, promising his many Twitter followers that he was “working on the SoundCloud thing”. When he won the award for “Best Rap Album” at the 2017 Grammys, he gave a shout-out to SoundCloud, saying, “This is for every indie artist, everybody who’s been doing this mixtape stuff for a long time. Shouts out to DJ Drama for doing it first. You put in that time. Shouts out to every independent artist out there. Shouts out to SoundCloud for holding me down!”
After he got in touch with the site’s co-founder, Chance reported, “Just had a very fruitful call with Alex Ljung. @SoundCloud is here to stay.” He then proceeded to drop a brand new track with Young Thug called “Big B’s” on SoundCloud. It looks like Chance has saved SoundCloud – for now.
Louis Vuitton Launches the 'Tambour Horizon' Watch
In a gorgeous ad campaign starring celebrities from around the world, including Jaden Smith, Catherine Deneuve, Jennifer Connelly, Gong Yoo, Victor Cruz, and more, Louis Vuitton introduced the world to the latest in digital technology. The ‘Tambour Horizon’ smartwatch is the newest addition to the brand’s signature ‘Tambour’ watch line. Powered by androidwear, Louis Vuitton’s ‘Tambour Horizon’ is compatible with both Android and Apple devices. Connecting is simple and comes with the side bonus of Louis Vuitton’s bespoke city guides app. The watch face is customizable, and you can choose from a handsome variety of strap options.
The new Louis Vuitton ‘Tambour Horizon’ smartwach will be available in the UAE in September 2017.


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October 25th, 2016
How many students do you know that own their own clothing line? Not too many, huh? We interviewed a student at San Clemente High School, a junior named Cameron Huff, who told us all about his clothing line, how it got started, and why he created it in the first place.
So now you know one student.
“The reason I started this company was to not only provide clothing, but to create a feeling behind the clothing we make,” the San Clemente native said. “I’ve been bullied a few times in middle school and freshman year a little, and I felt like what I needed most was a group that I could feel connected with and gain happiness through a life I want to live.”
Huff’s business is called Surreal Worldwide and as of right now, they are selling t-shirts and stickers only. Out of the three t-shirt designs they are selling (with three more designs on the way), their most popular shirt is their white tie dye streets tee. Their company started back in November of last year and will be reaching their one year mark. Hopefully, in the future, he would like to expand the industry by selling other types of clothing, and even shoes, as soon as he can. Unlike other companies who strive for the greatest profit, another one of Surreal Worldwide’s goals is to be the most interactive clothing brand by hosting meetups put on by his “reality dream creators” who are the supporters that are helping him fulfill his goals.
“I’ve created an interactive clothing line to represent a family where everyone is accepted and included with motivation in following passions and dreams to live a surreal lifestyle,” Huff said. “Be happy, be original, be part of The New Reality.”
The company is very popular around campus, boasting modest sales for a startup company. “I have to say that I love the shirts Surreal Worldwide has,” said junior Taylor Breidenthal. “I can’t wait for new products to come out!”
If you are interested in shopping for any of Surreal Worldwide’s products, please visit his website at http://www.surrealworldwide.com/.


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Wholesale used-vehicle prices (on a mix-, mileage-, and seasonally adjusted basis) declined 2.1% in February from January, Cox Automotive reported March 7. The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index declined to 231.3, which was a 36.7% increase from a year ago. The non-adjusted price change in February was a decline of 2.2% compared to January, leaving the unadjusted average price up 32.4% year over year.
Manheim Market Report (MMR) values saw weekly price decreases in February that decelerated each week. Over the last four weeks, the Three-Year-Old Index declined a net 2.6%. Over the month of February, daily MMR Retention, which is the average difference in price relative to current MMR, averaged 98.4%, which meant that market prices were behind MMR values. The average daily sales conversion rate declined in the month to 49.1%, which was below normal for the time of year. For example, the sales conversion rate averaged 53% in February 2019. The lower conversion rate indicates that the month saw buyers with more bargaining power for this time of year, and as a result, most vehicles showed price depreciation. However, price patterns in the month varied by vehicle age and segment. Older vehicles were more likely to see price stability, while younger vehicles tended to see larger declines.
All major market segments saw seasonally adjusted prices that were higher year over year in February. Vans had the largest year-over-year performance, followed by compact cars, while pickups, luxury cars, and sports cars lagged the overall market. On a month-over-month basis, all major segments saw price declines.
Retail used sales down in February with slow start to tax refund season. Leveraging a same store set of dealerships selected to represent the country from Dealertrack, Cox estimates that used retail sales increased 3% in February from January but failed to show the typical seasonal increase driven by tax refund season. The Dealertrack estimates indicate that used retail sales were down 7% year over year. Consistent with this performance, the issuance of tax refunds is less than half of what we typically would see this time of year. Based on IRS statistics through Feb. 18, we estimate that 17% of this year’s likely number of tax refunds have been issued, when for the same week in 2019, 38% had been distributed. The market will eventually see strong used-vehicle demand from tax refunds being issued, as the average refund so far this year is up 13% year over year.
Using estimates of used retail days’ supply based on vAuto data, January ended at 58 days, which is higher than how January 2021 ended at 44 days. Retail supply had declined to 55 days as of mid-February, which was still higher than mid-February 2021 at 48 days. Leveraging Manheim sales and inventory data, Cox estimates that wholesale supply ended February at 28 days, which is higher than how February 2021 ended at 25 days but lower than how January ended at 31 days.
February total new-light-vehicle sales were down 12% year over year, with the same number of selling days compared to February 2021. By volume, February new-vehicle sales were up 6% over January. The February SAAR came in at 14.1 million, an 11% decline from last year’s 15.9 million, and down 6% from January’s 15 million pace.
Combined sales into large rental, commercial, and government buyers were down 30% year over year in February. Sales into rental were down 52% year over year, while sales into commercial and government fleets had modest year-over-year gains of 1% and 8%, respectively. Including an estimate for fleet deliveries into the dealer and manufacturer channel, Cox estimates that the remaining retail sales were down 8% year over year in February, leading to an estimated retail SAAR of 12.2 million, which was down from 13.2 million last February and also last month’s 13.2 million rate.
Rental risk mileage stable: The average price for rental risk units sold at auction in February was up 32% year over year. Rental risk prices were down 4% compared to January. Average mileage for rental risk units in February (at 59,300 miles) was up 13% compared to a year ago but unchanged from January.
Consumer sentiment fell again in February: Consumer Confidence according to the Conference Board declined 0.5% in February. The underlying measures of present situation and future expectations moved in opposite directions as present situation improved but future expectations declined. Plans to purchase a vehicle in the next six months declined and are now down year over year. The consumer sentiment index from the University of Michigan declined 8.1% in February as both current conditions and expectations declined. The Michigan reading was up from mid-month but recorded the lowest full-month reading since August 2011. The Morning Consult daily index also declined in February, as it declined 1.7% in the final week of the month and ended down 1.3% for the month and down 9.1% year over year.
Originally posted on Vehicle Remarketing


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Acer CloudMobile with Android 4.0 and HD screen coming soon
Acer has sold quite a few different smartphone models over the years, and most of those were powered by Android recently. However, the company’s offerings were never best sellers in any category or price point. It’s safe to say that Acer has so far failed to attract the masses to its smartphones.
But that may all change in the near future. Acer is set to announce a new Android-powered smartphone during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the end of this month, and this will be the company’s flagship device for this year.
The Acer CloudMobile has apparently already won an iF design award, and we have to agree that it looks nice. The CloudMobile will be in stores in the third quarter of this year (so somewhere between July and September), and it will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich thankfully.
The handset will also come with a 4.3-inch HD touchscreen, Dolby sound, and will be less than 10 mm thin. As its name certainly implies, this smartphone will come with AcerCloud tech which “enhances mobile productivity by providing seamless document management”. Yeah, that.
This is everything we know about the Acer CloudMobile so far. But if this does get announced at MWC, we’ll know a lot more then.


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Micromax to launch Windows Phone
Micromax Windows Phone - It is unveiled that Micromax is working on Windows Phone. Micromax is the top player in Indian market, it is the second largest manufacturer in India. Currently they made a suprise by introducing Hugh Jackman as a brand ambassador of Micromax Canvas Turbo. They also announced that they are going to enter European market and their phones will be available in countries like Russia and Romania. Consider Windows Phone, Nokia tops 1st in Indian market as well as foreign market. However Nokia will be the only competition if Micromax lauch Windows Phone. The co-founder of Micromax Mr.Rahul Sharma made an announcement about Micromax Windows Phone to be launched in next year, June 2014. Below is the prototype of Micromax phone running Windows 8 operating system.
|Source - FoneArena|


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Phil Rhodes looks at if Samyang's Lenses will be able to compete with in a market with an unbelievable price - eight to twenty times lower than the competition!
Sigma surprised a few people when they announced their new 18-35mm zoom lens with a constant f/1.8 aperture back in April. Now they've surprised a few more by announcing the price - $799
We're giving a lot of space to the Digital Bolex project because it's genuinely different and original. And the news keeps coming, and it's getting weirder, but still plausible. In fact there are such dramatic ideas coming from the little Kickstarter company that you have to begin to wonder how much it's going to change the world of video
The conventional view is that cameras that allow you to work with multiple lenses are always better. Barry Braverman disagrees.
- Friday 22 Jul 2016 - (21471) Is something dramatic about to happen with Final Cut Pro X?
- Saturday 23 Jul 2016 - (15843) One technique to improve your edits
- Friday 15 Jul 2016 - (12898) 8K will absolutely be the new standard for filmmaking
- Saturday 16 Jul 2016 - (11154) Most of us use them, but how does an NLE actually work?
- Wednesday 13 Jul 2016 - (7316) Infographic: The importance of ergonomics [Sponsored]
- Tuesday 26 Jul 2016 - (398) Atomos firmware update brings HDR support to non-HDR displays
- Tuesday 26 Jul 2016 - (758) Shooting sports cinematically...with prime lenses
- Tuesday 26 Jul 2016 - (1589) Is the standard lens just a myth?
- Monday 25 Jul 2016 - (841) How cloud-based production embraces the human element [Sponsored]
- Monday 25 Jul 2016 - (4433) Nvidia’s new GTX Titan X: the home-brew DaVinci grading suite just became even easier and cheaper


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Best Buy is retiring its fleet of iconic black and white Volkswagen New Beetles, in which Geek Squad techs have tooled around town for the past dozen years.
The Geekmobile bugs are being replaced by Toyota Prius C hybrid cars, which are expected to trim fuel costs and cut fleet emissions by about half.
But besides helping Best Buy reach its goal of reducing companywide carbon emissions 45 percent by 2020, the new cars — along with an updated logo — represent a renewed push for the lagging services unit.
Indeed, Geek Squad revenue has been steadily declining over recent quarters, reflecting lower warranty attach rates, reduced pricing for services, and fewer and more minor product repairs.
The underperformance has been a sore point for CEO Hubert Joly, who sees the operation as a critical way to differentiate Best Buy in the marketplace, and considers it well positioned to catch the home-automation wave. His frustration led to the departure last year of services president Chris Askew after less than two years on the job.
In a statement, Geek Squad chief inspector Nate Bauer emphasized the group’s broadened role, which goes well beyond the PC repair business that founder Robert Stephens started on the back of a bicycle in 1994. Since acquiring the company in 2002, Geek Squad’s skill set has expanded to all manner of product repair, as well as custom installation and system-integration projects.
“The new Geekmobile and refreshed logo reflect how we continue to evolve along with technology,” Bauer said.
Best Buy expects to replace more than 700 Beetles in the coming weeks, and to complete the conversion later this year. No word yet though on Geek Squad’s minivans, which help support large installations, a spokeswoman told TWICE.
- 2019 TWICE Top 100: Watch List - May 23, 2019
- 2019 TWICE Top 100: Consumer-Direct Sales Dominate The Charts - May 22, 2019
- 2019 TWICE Top 100: Best Buy Keeps The CE Crown, But Barely - May 21, 2019