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Finding the next top growth stock is an art. However, like with other types of art, once you develop the mindset for it, things become much easier. Companies like Shopify (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP), Lightspeed (TSX:LSPD)(NYSE:LSPD), and WELL Health Technologies (TSX:WELL) have all more than doubled over the past year. What characteristics indicate these companies may continue growing at a rapid pace next year?
In this article, I will discuss what made these three companies big winners in 2020. Applying this stock-picking mindset into practice will allow retail investors to find the next big winners in 2021.
The right place at the right time
As with many things in life, companies need to find themselves at the right place at the right time. Failure in doing so may result in a company’s stock remaining stagnant for years or, worse, in an extended decrease in value.
An excellent example is within the 3D printing industry. From 2012 to 2014, leading companies within the 3D printing industry saw their stocks quadruple. However, widespread applications of this technology were largely restricted at that point. As a result, consumers and companies alike were unable to adopt 3D printing at a large enough scale. This resulted in companies like 3D Systems to decrease significantly in value over the next six years.
While 3D printing has been on the decline, industries like e-commerce and telehealth have been steadily gaining traction. The gradual adoption of these industries (e.g., online shopping) has been well documented over the past few years. In 2020, the adoption of these industries was heavily accelerated.
Shopify is a leading SaaS provider in the online store-building market. In fact, it is the most popular website builder company among English-speaking countries. Regions like the U.K. may have significantly helped Shopify this past year.
Although online sales have accounted for at least 10% of all retail sales in the U.K. since late 2013, the region saw that figure bump up to 33% in April 2020. After slightly normalizing over the next few months, the U.K. saw another boost in online sales in November. This indicates that consumers may have indeed accelerated the adoption of online shopping, and that the observed trends from earlier this year may not just be flashes in a pan.
One important characteristic that investors often neglect is a company’s leadership team. It has been previously found that companies with founder-CEOs are able to outperform companies led by non-founders.
The very first line of code, in what would later become Shopify’s platform, was written by Tobi Lütke. Dax Dasilva created Lightspeed after noticing inefficiencies within the retail POS space in Canada. These two individuals have been incredibly important in the growth of their respective companies.
In cases where the CEO is not a founder, investors should look for leadership teams that feature individuals with proven track records. Hamed Shahbazi, CEO of WELL Health Technologies, has over 20 years of experience in the tech industry. He previously founded TIO Networks, a publicly traded company on the TSX Venture Exchange. Over his career, he has gained valuable experience in mergers and acquisitions as well as leading a tech startup. These are all very important aspects, as he continues to apply that learned knowledge to WELL Health.
Companies like Shopify, Lightspeed, and WELL Health Technologies have been proven winners in 2020. These three companies all share characteristics that will allow them to continue their impressive growth into 2021 and beyond. Investors should look for companies that operate in industries that are experiencing exponential growth and that have excellent management teams over the next couple weeks. Doing so will allow them to find the next big winners in 2021.
Looking for more stocks that can be big winners in 2021? Take a look at this...
Renowned Canadian investor Iain Butler just named 10 stocks for Canadians to buy TODAY. So if you’re tired of reading about other people getting rich in the stock market, this might be a good day for you.
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This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium service or advisor. We’re Motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer, so we sometimes publish articles that may not be in line with recommendations, rankings or other content.
Fool contributor Jed Lloren owns shares of WELL and Shopify. Tom Gardner owns shares of Shopify. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Shopify and Shopify. The Motley Fool owns shares of Lightspeed POS Inc.


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CHARLOTTE/GREENSBORO – Kellogg’s alerted the North Carolina Department of Commerce last week that it is closing plants in Charlotte and Greensboro and will lay off nearly 500 workers.The effective date for the closures is July 29, according to the WARN report filed with the state. The company also announced layoffs in Ohio, Texas and its home state of Michigan.Kellogg’s, which makes cereal and snack foods, announced in February it planned to close 39 distribution centers. Nearly 1,200 full-time Kellogg employees could be impacted by the moves, which are being made after the company decided to abandon direct-store delivery in favor of a warehouse model of distribution. In all, 483 employees are affected by the N.C. closures (250 in Greensboro, 233 in Charlotte), the filing said.”While this is the right move for the company to achieve our long-term objectives, it was a difficult decision because of its impact on employees,” Kris Charles, senior vice president of global corporate affairs, said in a statement earlier this year.Caterpillar also announced it plans to lay off 85 employees at its Morganton manufacturing facility, while Care Services, LLC in Raleigh, a long-term care pharmacy and hospice provider, is closing and 47 workers will lose their jobs, the Commerce report said.
WILMINGTON It’s barely the size of a case you’d store your glasses in, yet inside contains the whole universe; well, the universe of Wilmington and surrounding beaches that is. SkyNav has put the Port […]
BALTIMORE — U.S. retail sales tumbled by a record 16.4% from March to April as business shutdowns caused by the coronavirus kept shoppers away, threatened the viability of stores across the country and further weighed […]

domain: news


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Action Fraud has received hundreds of reports from the public that have been sent fake emails from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and PayPal.
You are here
A convicted fraudster has revealed to the City of London Police’s Proactive Intelligence Team how criminal gangs are recruiting unsuspecting members of the public as Money Mules as way to launder the proceeds of crime.
New figures from the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) and Get Safe Online show that incidents of online ticket fraud rose by 55% in 2015, costing the UK public £5.2 million.
Fraudsters are obtaining genuine banking customer security information and getting access to accounts by performing “man-in-the-middle” vishing scams.
Eight people have been arrested by Essex Police after hundreds reported being scammed after buying tickets to sporting events.
New data released by Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau which are both run by the City of London Police, shows that increasingly fraudsters are using phishing as a means to defraud people across the UK. Last year (January 2015 – December 2015), the fraud and cybercrime reporting centre received on average 8,000 reports per month, with 96,699 people reporting that they had received a phishing scam.
Action Fraud has received several reports in the last 24 hours from businesses who have been sent online extortion demands from scammers threatening a cyber attack.


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Ripple, the San-Francisco based cross-border payment behemoth that oversees the distribution of the digital token XRP, is delving into the lending business to fund its global payments.
Speaking to CoinDesk, a spokesperson of the payment firm corroborated the new development: “This is our first time testing a product offering in the lending space. We may decide to build out a more robust offering in the future.”
About Line of Credit
Going by Ripple’s explanation, Line of Credit is targeted at enabling the expansion of small-to-medium enterprises. They would be able to grow beyond their initially expected limits, to gain the ability to compete with larger companies.
The companies among Ripple customers that are using RippleNet will be able to purchase XRP from Ripple on credit and will be charged a fee based on the amount borrowed.
As the report stated, the service is created to facilitate lower-cost financing for cross-border payments compared to traditional and it has been tested by RippleNet customers through a pilot program.
About On-Demand Liquidity (ODL)
On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) is a payment service designed by Ripple to use XRP as a bridge currency to facilitate cross-border payments.
For instance, a business in Canada that needs to pay a dealer in Israel but unable to find a foreign exchange dealer willing to exchange Loonies for Shekels could rather convert the money into and out of XRP within a few seconds.
Similarly, the credit line implies that the Canadian firm in the example mentioned above does not have to front the money. The amount will simply be locked in a rate at the time of payment and will be paid back when it is convenient.
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LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SocialVibe, a digital advertising technology company, today announced new milestones that further establish the company as the leader in the engagement advertising market. To date, the company has powered more than 500 opt-in engagement campaigns for more than 200 of the world’s leading brands including Toyota, Pepsi, GE and Disney. SocialVibe delivered advertisers more than 1.7 billion seconds of consumers’ active attention in 2011 by leveraging its unique engagement advertising technology platform and its network of premium publisher sites.
SocialVibe’s 2011 milestones include:
- Powered more than 500 engagement advertising campaigns for more than 200 leading global brands across five continents.
- Delivered 1.7 billion seconds of consumers’ active attention with brand messages.
- Doubled the number of engagements served compared to 2010.
- Amassed an extensive network of premium partner sites and apps to reach more than 100 million unique consumers every month.
- Integrated augmented reality technology into brand engagement ads, an industry first
- Published a research study with independent firm KN Dimestore that demonstrates more than 90 percent of people pay active attention to a brand message when interacting with a value exchange engagement ad.
- Introduced engagement advertising internationally into Latin America, and established a U.K. office to lead EMEA engagement efforts.
- Secured $20 million in funding led by Norwest Venture Partners.
- Doubled company headcount over 2010.
- Garnered industry awards, including a Social Media Influencer Award for a General Electric engagement campaign; first place in OMMA Social’s Instant RFP Showdown; and was recognized as one of the Hottest Tech Companies in Southern California by Lead411.
SocialVibe’s 2011 growth demonstrates that engagement advertising has not only experienced a significant increase in demand, it has evolved to become an established part of the marketing mix. In today’s online landscape where consumer attention is hard to capture, SocialVibe’s unique opt-in approach provides a more effective ad model. By allowing people to choose to engage with a brand message to earn something valuable and relevant to them in return, SocialVibe is able to guarantee consumers’ active attention for advertisers. Delivered on a cost-per-engagement (CPE) pricing model, SocialVibe’s rich media engagement ads enable advertisers to pay only for performance and avoid spending media dollars on advertising that consumers never see.
Brand advertisers have consistently achieved the following results with SocialVibe’s approach:
- 80-percent of people interact with engagements to completion
- An average of 63-seconds are spent with each engagement
- 41-percent of people go on to connect with the brand via a website or social media page
“One of the biggest challenges facing marketers today is effectively reaching consumers where their attention lives, which is why our unique engagement approach has been embraced by so many brands,” said Dave Levy, co-founder of SocialVibe. “SocialVibe’s engagement ads provide a motivation or reward in exchange for interacting with a brand message, and in turn, consumers welcome the experience and provide their active attention. This consumer-minded, opt-in approach has raised the bar for what’s possible in online advertising, and we look forward to building on our success to make this technology available to a broader audience in 2012.”
SocialVibe creates a marketplace based on guaranteed active attention, and its cloud-based advertising technology provides a scalable, transparent and measureable solution for both publishers and brands to effectively garner consumer awareness. With proprietary targeting technology and advanced data analytics, SocialVibe is able to ensure brands reach the right audience at the right time with the right message, harnessing consumer attention and translating it into meaningful results.
SocialVibe is a digital advertising technology company that powers engagement advertising for some of the world’s top brands. In today’s online landscape where consumer attention is hard to capture, SocialVibe’s rich media engagement ads guarantee active attention to a brand's message across premium sites. Pioneers of the value exchange advertising approach for brands, SocialVibe enables advertisers to engage with consumers when they are most motivated to interact with a brand experience, such as while playing a game or seeking access to premium content. SocialVibe is based in Los Angeles, California and is backed by Norwest Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Jafco Ventures and Pinnacle Ventures. For more information, visit www.socialvibe.com or check out twitter.com/socialvibe.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50177268&lang=en


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T-Mobile US is looking to settle a lawsuit filed against it by the Federal Trade Commission that alleges the carrier netted hundreds of millions of dollars by knowingly charging customers for purported "premium" SMS subscriptions that, in many cases, were "bogus charges" subscribers never authorized.
Wireless carriers have always battled with each other to encourage customers to switch to a new carrier. But that fight is now starting to heat up in select markets across the country because of a confluence of network shutdowns, technology transitions and smaller carriers exiting the business. Although these market-by-market battles don't get much national attention, they're still worth watching--after all, millions of subscribers scattered across dozens of markets are up for grabs.
AT&T Mobility, Sprint, T-Mobile US and UK operator EE support a new SIM card for Apple's iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 that lets customers switch between carriers. Although Verizon Wireless will provide wireless service for Apple's new tablet, it is not listed as a supporter of the new Apple SIM card.
Now that French Internet and mobile company Iliad has dropped its pursuit of T-Mobile US, it seems likely that T-Mobile will continue as an independent entity and a unit of Deutsche Telekom for the foreseeable future. Financial analysts seem to think that's great news for T-Mobile, which has had strong momentum in the market.
Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile US have been spending capital on wireless network enhancements at a fairly steady clip, while AT&T Mobility and Sprint have hit some snags in their capex spending, though the outlook for next year looks better, according to a report from financial analysts.
T-Mobile US parent Deutsche Telekom is unlikely to accept a revised $35 per share offer from French Internet and mobile firm Iliad if Iliad were to make such an offer, according to a new report from a financial analyst.
T-Mobile US is likely going to report very strong third-quarter results--and will continue its momentum through the fourth quarter thanks to the launch of Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, according to financial analysts.
Verizon Wireless will launch Sony Mobile Communications' Xperia Z3v smartphone, a variant of the smartphone maker's latest flagship Z3. The deal gives Sony a much-needed boost in a market where T-Mobile US has been its only real consistent carrier partner during the past few years.
AT&T Mobility agreed to pay a $105 million penalty to settle an investigation by the FCC, which concluded the carrier billed customers millions of dollars in unauthorized third-party subscriptions and premium text messaging services. The FCC said the settlement is the largest enforcement action in its history.
AT&T Mobility has run the most effective wireless TV advertisement so far this year, according to metrics from TV and video advertising analytics firm Ace Metrix.


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Karachi: The Sindh authorities determined to problem the brand new NFC notification once more, declaring it unconstitutional.
In his second letter to the Prime Minister, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has said that the brand new TORs (Terms of Reference) of the NFC notification are unconstitutional. It is evident within the structure and legislation that the distribution of economic sources But there can be no sharing in bills, TORs of latest notifications ought to be abolished.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has once more raised objections to the brand new NFC notification in his second letter. He wrote that the federation can not deduct from the monetary share of the provinces in nationwide stage initiatives. Articles 78 to 83 of the structure make it clear what the tactic of federal expenditure can be.
The letter states that the expenditure of the federal and provincial governments is the prerogative of the respective assemblies, the National Finance Commission doesn’t have the precise to find out the expenditure and the NFC can not deprive the legislators of this proper.
Murad Ali Shah, whereas requesting the repeal of the TOR of the brand new notification, stated that he hoped that the Prime Minister would make sure the supremacy of the Constitution by abiding by the constitutional necessities.
It ought to be famous that the Sindh Chief Minister had earlier objected to the reconstitution of the 10th National Finance Commission and in his first letter to the Prime Minister stated that the inclusion of a monetary adviser within the NFC is unconstitutional. Nominations in C ought to be made in session with the Chief Ministers.


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Target hasn’t necessarily taken a huge hit comparatively speaking to other companies during our
countries financial crisis. Although the Target Corporation sales are down about 0.7%.
“Sales for the month of October were very disappointing, with continued
volatility in daily results,” said Gregg Steinhafel, president and chief executive
officer of Target Corporation. “We expect the recent challenging sales
environment to continue into the holiday season and beyond as a result of
the economic factors currently affecting consumer spending.”
Hulbert, J. (2008, Nov. 06). Message posted to


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Warner Bros. has reportedly scrapped its distribution plans for the Andy Serkis-directed Mowgli and has instead sold the film to Netflix, which plans to release the film in early 2019, according to a report from Deadline. Financial terms were not revealed.
Based on Rudyard Kipling’s “Jungle Book” stories, Mowgli had been slated for an Oct. 19 theatrical release from Warner. Instead, the film’s 3D version will receive a limited theatrical release at an unspecified date, in order for the work filmmakers put into creating the 3D effects not to go to waste.
Warner had already released a trailer for the film, which prompted comparisons between Serkis’ take on the material and Walt Disney Studios’ 2016 The Jungle Book. Both films would be a hybrid of live-action and CGI, with a real boy playing Mowgli opposite photo-realistically animated jungle animals. Though Serkis’ take is said to be darker and grittier, Disney’s version earned almost $1 billion at the global box office, and some industry observers have speculated that Warner made the Netflix deal out of concerns that the market simply wasn’t there for a competing “Jungle Book” adaptation.
The Mowgli voice cast includes Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Benedict Cumberbatch.


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Designer Miya Ando chose to celebrate her Japanese origins by creating a long-sleeve kimono entirely from stainless steel plates and sterling silver rings.
While it hasn’t been tested yet, considering the materials used to create it, Miya Ando’s furisode style kimono might just be the world’s first bulletproof kimono. Well known for her mastery of steel, the young half-Japanese artist has hand-soldered 4,000 sterling silver rings and stainless steel plates, and used them to create this unusual version of the traditional Japanese garment.
While it could prove a valuable piece of armor, I doubt Miya’s steel furisode kimono is as comfortable as the real thing. Women probably couldn’t even move in that thing, let alone wield a samurai sword, as well. Luckily, it’s just for the sake of art.
Photo’s via Facebook


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AIFST 2022 Food Microbiology Conference
Join the Australian Institute of Food Science & Technology (AIFST) at the 2022 Food Microbiology Conference. This year’s virtual conference themed ‘advancing the food microbiology domain’ will speak to the challenges, complexity, and opportunities posed by microorganisms in our food supply. In doing so, AIFST seek to raise the profile of food microbiology and the importance of ongoing research and development in the field.
AIFST stated ‘Reducing the burden of foodborne illness and harnessing the potential of microorganisms are vital issues for everyone involved along the food supply chain’.
The conference will be presented as a virtual event, offering a content-rich, day-long program focusing on the Australian food safety landscape.
The program hosts an excellent selection of speakers addressing topics from the burden of foodborne illness to factors impacting the supply of safe and trusted food. Plus, there will a series of moderated question and answer sessions where you can engage with the speakers.
Hear from NSW DPI’s Dr SP Singh who will be speaking on the challenges of assuring the safety fo fresh produce from 11.30am to 11.45am.
The Food microbiology conference will be of interest and relevance to personnel across the entire food industry, as well as food regulators, academics, researchers, and Government officials.
For further details and to register, please click here.


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April 18, Kathmandau-You may have noticed while using a smartphone that your eyes do not want to move away from the screen of the smartphone. That is, many are addicted to looking at the screen of a smartphone, that is, using a mobile phone.
This addiction to smartphones has been going on for nearly a decade and a half. With the introduction of the iPhone by Apple, there was a kind of smartphone revolution in the mobile phone market.
Since then, smartphones have become a means of connecting people, connecting with the world and helping to keep creativity alive.
Most people have a smartphone in their hand and pocket at all times. And, so they are also realizing that I am using more smartphones than I need.
Larry Rosen, a professor of psychology at California State University, gives an example.
He says, ‘One day an invited teacher came to my class and I sat among the students to listen to him teach. There was a student sitting next to me. He kept using his smartphone throughout the class. Sometimes he would reply to a text message, and sometimes he would use Facebook. '
How many times a day do you use a smartphone?
Larry Rosen is the author of The District Mind: Ancient Brains in a Hi-Tech World. Central to his research is the impact of technology on the human brain.
How many times a day does a person look at the screen of a smartphone? Rose responds by studying more than 200 of her students.
"We were trying to find out how often students unlock their phones and how many minutes the phone stays unlocked," he said. We found the amazing fact that a young man unlocks his phone an average of 60 times a day and the phone stays unlocked for about 220 minutes. '
While using the phone 60 times a day, he was looking at the screen for 3 and a half hours. Some have even been found to unlock their phones up to 100 times a day.
Smartphones affect relationships
According to experts, the addiction to hanging on the phone has begun to affect the relationship. Larry Rose says, ‘Studies have found that some husbands and wives complain that their partners pay more attention to smartphones than to themselves. It's very difficult for them to get their partner's attention. '
There are some people who use the phone even while driving while doing so is very risky. Some people keep their phones with them, even when they are asleep, and they use them constantly in bed. Thus, the habit of using the phone affects sleep.
After all, why does the anxiety that hangs on the phone arise in people?
According to Rojan, people want to connect with all means of communication. Such media also includes text messages and emails. But social media is the most popular. People don't want to be lonely and bored.
According to researcher Rojan, people who are constantly hanging on the phone when their phone is snatched away and put to another job, then the sound of every message on the phone increases their restlessness and heart rate. There are a lot of people who are addicted to smartphones. When they are disconnected from the phone, their anxiety increases.
Natasha Schul, a professor at New York University, admits that she uses more phones than she needs. "During an important board meeting or a meeting of my department, I feel that my colleagues are paying attention to me, but I can't stop myself from pointing fingers at my smartphone screen and looking at emails," she said.
After all, is there a quality in something that people are addicted to? Natasha is also an expert on the subject. According to him, computer technology has also been added to the things that attract any person, such as sex, favorite people and sweet food. It also attracts us and makes us addicted.
Psychology Behind Addiction
Why is it addictive? Much is known about this from the experiment of BF Skinner, an American psychologist known as the Father of Behaviorism. He also experimented with how rewards and punishments affect a person's behavior. In one experiment, he locked the pigeon in a box in which food came out as a reward when a switch was pressed. According to Natasha, there was nothing intriguing about the experiment. Only when the pigeon is hungry does he press the switch to get food.
According to a study by Skinner in the 1950s and 1960s, the habit of receiving rewards is based on a preconceived notion of when and how much to receive.
Natasha Schul has also written a book called Addiction by design. According to him, what is the reward if it is human or animal? He doesn't know that then he is more attracted. According to him, the way people give rewards can affect their behavior.
The same principle applies to those who make slot machines in casinos and casinos. Most of the profits in casinos come from slot machines. Compared to other gambling games, its addiction is three to four times faster.
Love the machine
According to Natasha, slot machines are designed to make a profit. But do pigeons and slot machine smartphones have anything in common?
Natasha says, ‘Whether it's a pigeon hopping in the hope of food coming out or a gambler repeatedly pressing the button of a slot machine in a casino. And why not be the person who looks at the smartphone time and time again while checking the Facebook timeline or text message while traveling by train. All of these have one thing in common. They want to know what's next. '
Web of technology
Renowned author and entrepreneur Neer Ayal also has experience running a technology startup company. His company was a gaming and advertising company. He started the company in 2007.
According to him, both the companies are dependent on the changing habits of the users. According to Ayal, there was a lot of use of technology, but none of it had anything to do with psychological theory.
He applied humanistic theories like Skinner to the world of technology and based on his findings wrote the book Hooked: How to Build Habit Farming Products.
According to him, email can be considered as the father of addiction technology. Email sometimes brings good news and sometimes bad news. This is a kind of reward and people are always curious to know what kind of news comes in the email.
He says, ‘Notifications on the phone provoke us in the same way. We eagerly open apps like Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. We don't know what reward we are going to get. '
He says, ‘We don’t look at the phone with any hesitation. We are doing this on purpose and the technology we are carrying around is a great tool to reward us. '
Companies weave nets
Companies use different rewards and features. The phone provides various facts about using the app continuously. It makes people addicted to running those apps. Ayal says, ‘I started using technology like email to get rid of frustration. We check Facebook when we feel lonely. When we are not sure about any information, we look at Google. When we are bored, we watch YouTube for fun. We use the products we need. '
According to him, companies use psychological principles and technology to keep us hooked. And, that's why we can't stay away from the phone.


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The continuining saga of the salmonella-tainted cantaloupes: the U.S. is sending inspectors to Honduras. (AP)
An interesting look at the controversy over Starbucks' purchase of the maker of the Clover coffee machine. (New York Times)
The perils of amateur sushi. In case said perils weren't already obvious. (Reuters)
Tags: News of the World
March 22-28, 2017
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iPhone 6 Plus Explodes in the back pocket of a student during class
If you thought that the explosion saga has come to an end, then you might want to hold on to your thought. We have a report which says that an iPhone 6 Plus exploded in the back pocket of a student when he was in the middle of a class. Sounds scary right? Yes, indeed it is. So now we have smartphones exploding even without being connected to a power source. According to the new reports here, a student at a college in Burlington County, NJ claims that his iPhone 6 Plus exploded out of nowhere when it was resting in his back pocket.
The explosion left a hole in his jeans and now the phone the completely destroyed. Not sure if this is true but if it is, then we can only say that these explosion cases are getting worse day after day. Earlier the phones which exploded like the Note 7, etc. were tethered to a power source which caused the explosion. But now we are getting more and more new reports about the devices catching fire for no reason. In this case, the device was in his pocket and he was not even using it. Previously we saw a report where an iPhone 7 exploded inside the box itself, even before reaching the owner of the smartphone. Quite unfortunate right?
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Timeline from Launch to Explosions to the $1 Billion Recall
Now coming back to the incident, the student said that he took out the smartphone from his back pocket and it was extremely hot to touch due to which we had to throw the device away and kick it as it was on fire. Also, a girl who witnessed the incident said that out of nowhere they heard a popping sound after which suddenly smoke started coming out of the student’s back pocket. Later on, they all realized that the device exploded. Also, do make a note that the student was sitting on the phone and we all know that the lithium batteries will explode under certain stress. So regardless of how well built the device is, these things are prone to happen.
And as of now, Apple has declined to comment on this case but we do expect them to investigate this further and take some necessary actions, unlike last time with the bendgate issue. If you were living under a rock then you might not know that the iPhone 6 Plus was easily prone to bending along the sides where the volume buttons are placed. This was called the bendgate and Apple didn’t do anything about it. So we expect them to come up with a statement at least this time. Stay tuned for more info on this as we will update once we have more details on the same.


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Image source: Mac World
Microsoft Office has proven itself the best choice for office work for decades, but now it’s renowned.
After operating for more than three decades, the software suite is changing its name and icon in November.
Bill Gates introduced Microsoft Office to the world 34 years ago, in 1988.
Since then, it has undergone many changes over the years, including removing the Clippy assistant, which divided users.
According to Microsoft, the company thinks it’s time to rebrand with a new name, icon and look.
The website wrote:
“Over the last couple of years, Microsoft 365 has evolved into our flagship productivity suite, so we are creating an experience to help you get the most out of Microsoft 365.”
“In the coming months, Office.com, the Office mobile app, and the Office app for Windows will become the Microsoft 365 app, with a new icon, a new look, and even more features.”
Microsoft’s changes will arrive in November, and Office.com will be the first to undergo a rebranding.
The Office for Windows and Mobile app will be renamed in January 2023.
However, the names of the individual programs, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, remain the same.
Microsoft assured customers that their accounts would not be affected by the changes.
The company said an update would automatically change only the icon and name.
Microsoft also announced that the Microsoft Office brand would not disappear anytime soon.
The software suite still offers one-time purchases of the Office suite through Office 2021 and Office LTSC subscriptions.
Time and technology
The Microsoft Office name change announcement came months after the company discontinued Internet Explorer.
The web browser has been around for almost 30 years.
Although it has been revised in recent years, Internet Explorer was once well-received.
It was released in the mid-1990s as an add-on for Windows 95.
It has been the most popular web browser for years, as 95% of online users used it to access the internet in 2003.
However, newer, more innovative and faster browsers soon entered the market, overshadowing Internet Explorer.
The latest update dates back to 2013 before Microsoft replaced the browser with Edge in 2015.
In June 2022, Internet Explorer made its exit, joining Clippy and Power Pup.
Microsoft Office is getting renamed after more than 30 years


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London: In yet another shock for Google, France's competition watchdog has slapped it with a $166 million for abusing its position in the online search advertising market.
The French competition watchdog said it considers that the Google Ads operating rules imposed by Google on advertisers are established and applied under non-objective, non-transparent and discriminatory conditions.
"The opacity and lack of objectivity of these rules make it very difficult for advertisers to apply them, while Google has all the discretion to modify its interpretation of the rules in a way that is difficult to predict, and decide accordingly whether the sites comply with them or not," the ruling said.
"This allows Google to apply them in a discriminatory or inconsistent manner. This leads to damage both for advertisers and for search engine users," it added.
In March, European Union's antitrust regulators fined Google 1.49 billion euros ($1.7 billion) for abusing its dominance in the online search market by blocking rivals.
Google has abused its market dominance by imposing a number of restrictive clauses in contracts with third-party websites which prevented Google's rivals from placing their search adverts on these websites, the European Commission (EC) said in a statement.
In a decision announced on Friday, the French competition authority ordered Google to clarify how it draws up rules for the operation of Google Ads and its procedures for suspending accounts.
A Google spokesman told TechCrunch that the company will appeal the decision.
Brussels last year hit Google with a record 4.3 billion euroes fine for abusing the dominant market position of its Android operating system for mobile phones.


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Premier Fashion Designer Releases Sleek Fitbit Accessory
Tory Burch shows off results of partnership with popular health-tracking tech
At the Withings Activité release party in June, Nina Garcia told PSFK that she sees a future where wearable tech is the fashion norm. Designer Tory Burch is working to make that prediction a reality with the release of her new Fitbit accessory.
The fashion designer’s new take on the exercise tracking device allows wearers to insert their tracking device into the designed bracelet or necklace. The bracelet, which retails for $195, encases the Fitbit in a sleek design that can be worn with business casual or formal wear, while still recording the everyday fitness of the wearer. The necklace, which sells at $175, features the same solid brass design with the Tory Burch signature fretwork.
Mashable announced Tory Burch’s partnership with Fitbit in this story at the beginning of 2014. The fashion company announced that it thought the partnership would help advance the future of tech in fashion. Last summer, Fitbit released the Fitbit Flex, which communicated the company’s fashion-forward vision. The new Tory Burch line has helped FitBit take that step into the future of fashion and tech fusion, and that step is surely just the beginning.


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Clothing sales at Sainsbury’s continued to grow at around twice the rate of food sales during its first half as the supermarket chain reported a 7% increase in profits.
In the 28 weeks to September 28, total sales including VAT and fuel rose 4.4% to £13.95bn as like-for-like sales grew 1.4%. Underlying pre-tax profit increased 7% to £400m.
The supermarket said it had outperformed the market, increasing its market share to 16.8%, the highest for a decade during which the retailer has seen 35 consecutive quarters of like-for-like sales growth.
During the period Sainsbury’s relaunched the Tu clothing brand, which represents its single biggest investment in its clothing business since it launched the brand in 2004.
In its interim results statement the retailer said: “Our strategy of offering high street quality and style at supermarket prices is helping non-food sales grow at around twice the rate of food and gain market share.”
Tu now boasts more than 7.5 million customers and this year Sainsbury’s held its biggest ever Back to School event selling more than one million children’s polo shirts and more than 500,000 pairs of school trousers.
Clothing and general merchandise are now available in more than 400 stores, but the retailer said it has “opportunities for future growth in this area”.
Chief executive Justin King added: “Whilst customers‟ budgets remain tight and any recovery in the economy may take time to take effect, our consistent strategy and strong values-driven culture mean we are well placed to continue to deliver for customers, colleagues and shareholders.”


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
SeaShare, Hook Line and Savor Seafood Start-Up Announce Innovative Partnership
Hook Line and Savor, a Seafood Start-Up based in Gloucester, MA will donate 5% of all profits to SeaShare for Hunger Relief Program
Seattle, WA – January 23, 2019: Today, SeaShare, a non-profit dedicated to providing seafood to food banks, announced they have begun a strategic partnership with Hook Line and Savor, a frozen seafood start-up based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and part of the Gorton’s Seafood family.
Through this new partnership, Hook Line and Savor will donate 5% of all profits from the sale of their new allergy-friendly frozen seafood line to SeaShare, to support the donation of seafood to food banks and feeding centers across the US.
Hook Line and Savor is committed to bringing delicious, sustainable, allergy-friendly seafood to America’s dinner tables and doing so with a commitment to improving the health of Americans who are struggling with hunger.
“SeaShare is proud to partner with Hook Line and Savor. We share a mission to provide nutritious seafood to more people across the country. Hook Line and Savor is giving back in a big way, and we are so thankful for their commitment to help SeaShare bring more seafood to food banks,” said Jim Harmon, Executive Director of SeaShare.
According to Frederica Turner, Founder of Hook Line and Savor, “Seafood is one of the most nutritious and healthy proteins, but it is also one of the most expensive. For this reason, Hook Line and Savor is excited to support SeaShare’s mission to bring more seafood to food banks. Everyone should be able to enjoy the great taste and nutritious benefits of seafood!”
SeaShare and Hook Line and Savor will be at the Natural Products Expo West food show in Anaheim, CA March 6-9. Hook Line and Savor products are currently on shelf in Kroger stores in the Midwest along the perimeter of the store by the fresh seafood counter and will be launching at select Wegmans stores in the gluten-free section starting in March, 2019.
About Hook Line and Savor: Hook Line and Savor is dedicated to making prepared seafood that is high quality, allergy-friendly and deep down delicious so that everyone around the table can enjoy the same meal. With its inspired recipes, Hook Line and Savor products feature high quality sustainably sourced fish that is lightly prepared and allergy-friendly. Hook Line and Savor is based in Gloucester, Massachusetts. For more information, visit http://www.hooklineandsavor.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
About SeaShare: SeaShare is a non-profit organization based on Bainbridge Island, WA. We are the only non-profit in the U.S. dedicated to bringing seafood to food banks. SeaShare was founded in 1994 to help the seafood industry donate to hunger relief efforts across the country. To date, we have donated over 220 million servings of seafood to food banks across the U.S. For more information, visit http://www.seashare.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.


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HTC announced its long-awaited wearable on Sunday at Mobile World Congress. It’s called the Grip, and it’s a joint effort with Under Armour, the sportswear and now-fitness software brand.
The Grip doesn’t run Android Wear or other any major smartwatch platform. It can serve phone or calendar notifications, but it’s not really a smartwatch: It’s a fitness-focused trackers for serious athletes who want something more involved than a Fitbit. Instead of the colorful screens seen on Android Wear devices, the Grip sports a black and white PMOLED with an unusual 32 x 160 pixel resolution, and it works with both iOS and Android.
The chunky bangle has four main sensors: A compass, accelerometer, light sensor, and GPS. Except for GPS, those are “table stakes” specs shared by most other fitness trackers, but GPS will be appreciated by runners and cyclists who can leave their phone at home. In fact, the Grip doesn’t need to be synced to a device, so when users go to the gym, they can leave thier smartphones in their lockers. There’s no optical heart rate sensor — HTC says they tend to be inaccurate — but the Grip can be used with a chest-worn heart rate monitor, like Under Armour’s Armour39.
The lack of a heart rate monitor helps the Grip manage a two to three day battery life when simply step tracking, although that falls to 5 hours with GPS on, although that’s long enough for most people to run a marathon. The interface on the Grip is stripped down and simple, with a simple menu that give you options for step tracking, calories burned, sleep logged and other quick stats on the device. Otherwise, your step and location data are fed into the UA Record app. If your workout doesn’t include running or cycling, the Grip has a gym mode, too.
In terms of looks, the Grip has much more in common with Under Armour’s aesthetic than the brushed metal look of HTC’s phones. The inside of the Grip is a bright green, which matches some of Under Armour’s sportswear. Where it touches your skin, it’s got an interesting nubby and rubbery texture to help ventilation and maybe prevent the rash problems other fitness trackers have faced. It will come in three sizes when it goes on sale this spring.
The Grip is HTC’s second product in its Re line, following the confounding buttonless Re camera. In the coming year, HTC isn’t just going to be a smartphone manufacturer anymore — with a little bit of help from its friends like Under Armour, it’s transforming into a premium electronics maker, too.
HTC revealed its next flagship, the HTC One M9, at Mobile World Congress on Sunday. Take a close look: If you’re not careful, you might end up mistaking it for its predecessor, the HTC One M8.
It’s clear that the HTC One M9 is an evolutionary model. The two devices are essentially the same size. The spottable differences include the power/wake button, which has finally been moved to the right side of the handset, and the camera — instead of last year’s Duo camera setup with two lenses, the rear camera on the M9 only has a single lens focusing light on a new 20MP camera sensor that shoots video in 4K resolution.
Of course, the HTC One M9 sports a few expected upgrades under its familiar facade. It has a similar 5-inch 1080p screen to its older sibling, but it’s sporting Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line mobile processor, the 64-bit capable Snapdragon 810. The front-facing camera gets a huge upgrade, too, taking HTC’s light-gobbling Ultrapixel tech and putting it on the other side of the device, which means it should be much better for selfies in the club. With the right charger, sold separately, the One M9 will support turbo charging, which can fill the battery up to 40 percent faster.
I was able to handle a pre-production unit briefly and I found the ergonomics of the HTC One M9 singificantly improved. The metallic rear surface has a grippier texture, and the slightly less curved body alleviated my main issue with the HTC One M8, which is that it always felt like it was slipping out of my hands. The wake button moved to the side helps, too as it’s easier to reach. Front-facing BoomSound speakers are in evidence too, and they can simulate Dolby surround sound.
HTC has also spent time on its Sense 7 skin and its own apps. The HTC One M9 will ship with Google Android 5.0 installed, and HTC has done a great job updating its look — it’s unique among Android phones, but still distinctly Lollipop. If you don’t like it, HTC is offering a theming app for the first time, which allows you to tweak icons and accent colors, as well as download themes other users made available online. At this time, all the themes are free, but HTC might include a way to charge for them in the future, if sports teams and other corporations with lots of fans make them.
There’s also a slick Android app called HTC Connect on the HTC One M9, which promises to be able to bring up a list of every wireless speaker your phone can beam music to, whether they’re connected by Miracast, Bluetooth, Qualcomm AllPlay or DNLA standards. It can also bridge two speakers into a stereo setup, too. I haven’t had a chance to try it out, but if it works as billed, I could see it being very handy.
Other software tweaks that could be less useful include a lockscreen app that serves nearby restaurant suggestions from Yelp. HTC’s also updated its Zoe social networking app, which will soon be available on iOS.
It’s interesting to look at the differences between Samsung’s approach with its Galaxy S6 and what HTC has done with the One M9. Whereas Samsung went back to the drawing board — curved screens, fewer apps, its own processor — HTC decided to simply iterate its already well-reviewed device and work on its software chops.
Smartwatches might get a lot of attention, but it’s important to remember they’re still a new product category, and not a real commercial force yet. Case in point: A new report from Canalys indicates that only 720,000 Android Wear devices were shipped after the platform launched in June, and those devices had the might of Google and some of the world’s biggest hardware makers behind them.
According to Canalys, which drew data from its internal quarterly market tracking service, the Motorola’s Moto 360 smartwatch was the “clear leader” among the six Android Wear smartwatches currently available. The report also noted that the round LG G Watch R performed significantly better than its squarer sibling.
Although 720,000 might seem like a large number, let’s put this in perspective: It really appears that mainstream consumers don’t want or don’t understand why they should want a smartwatch. It’s also worth noting that iPhone owners can’t use Android Wear devices, which eliminates a lot of potential customers.
Apple said recently it sold 34,000 iPhones per hour during the past quarter — which means it sold more iPhones on average in a single day than six different Android Wear smartwatches did in half a year. Pebble has sold 1 million smartwatches over the life of the company, including an estimated 600,000 units between last March and December, but remember, Pebble is a startup. It used to be a Kickstarter and it didn’t get revealed at Google’s annual developer’s conference.
Also consider that the Canalys numbers measure units shipped, not units sold. It’s possible there are a few Samsung Gear Live smartwatches languishing on Best Buy shelves waiting for a clearance sale.
The smartwatch market will change markedly once Apple enters it in earnest. Nobody really knows how many smartwatches Apple is going to sell when Apple Watch launches sometime this April. Estimates range from a few million in its first year all the way up to 30 million units shipped in 2015. Apple inspires such dedication that there are going to be people who purchase — even line up for — Apple Watch, regardless of features, performance, or reviews, and this latest data point indicates it’s very possible that there will be more Apple Watches sold in its first day of availability than the total number of smartwatches running Google’s Android Wear platform.
HTC is planning to launch its first smartwatch in March alongside a new flagship phone, Bloomberg reported on Monday. HTC has been tippedseveraltimes to be in the process of developing a smartwatch over the past few years, and the Taiwanese company was listed as an official Android Wear partner when Google announced the program, although it has yet to produce a wearable product for commercial sale.
The Bloomberg report noted that the new high-end HTC phone will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor, have a 20-megapixel rear camera and a front-facing camera using HTC’s UltraPixel sensor. Sound will be provided by Dolby-capable front-facing speakers. The device should have fitness tracking capabilities through a partnership with Under Armor’s fitness service. Those specs match up with previous leaks describing the [company]HTC[/company] device reportedly codenamed “Hima.” The Bloomberg story also appears to indicates that this new phone has been using HTC’s existing code-naming convention, and could be sold under the moniker HTC One M9.
Unfortunately, Bloomberg didn’t share as much about the forthcoming HTC smartwatch — such as what software it runs. A year ago, HTC previewed several wearable devices, including one model based on Qualcomm’s Toq reference design, and one smartwatch “using Google Now” that sounds very similar to Android Wear. Based on HTC being listed by [company]Google[/company] as one of the first five Android Wear hardware partners, it’s likely that what HTC is cooking up is based on Google’s smartwatch software. CNET reported last year that HTC will “likely use an altered version of Android Wear” that includes “different elements and features” for its first smartwatch.
HTC Re camera
A smartwatch would make a lot of sense for HTC next new product, as the company has been diversifying its product lineup past smartphones. So far, HTC’s started producing tablets, such as the Nexus 9, and handheld cameras. In 2014, HTC launched the Re, a screen-free action camera largely controlled by a smartphone. HTC has given every indication it expects to launch more standalone cameras in the future.
In December, HTC announced its first quarterly profit in three years, but it was slim and full-year revenue fell.
It’s no surprise that [company]Monster[/company] and its CEO Noel Lee are suing Beats. It’s been clear that the separation wasn’t amicable since at least 2013. And Beats Electronics ended up being worth a lot — Apple paid around $2.5 billion for the company in May, plus another $500 million for the Beats Music streaming service.
Monster’s case may turn on the actions of another smartphone maker — [company]HTC[/company], which is mentioned 162 times in the complaint. Monster claims that the mechanism that allowed Beats to allegedly steal its intellectual property, suppliers and clients was based on a “change of control” provision in the original Monster-Beats deal which was triggered by HTC buying a majority stake in Beats in September 2011.
HTC is named as a defendant along with Beats Electronics, its founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, and Beats board member Paul Wachter.
If HTC helped Beats wrest a $3 billion business from its initial hardware partner, it raises a lot of questions.
Did HTC know it was helping Beats ditch Monster?
Monster alleges it did know, saying that HTC entered into its “sham” partnership with Beats “driven by greed” and with “full knowledge of the fraud.” Monster’s main evidence is remarks made by HTC board member David Yoffee this past summer.
But a large part of Monster’s case is based on Beats having a pattern of ripping its partners off by taking their ideas and poaching their employees. From the complaint:
This is not the first time Iovine, Dre, and others have engaged in this course of
conduct. These misdeeds are not isolated transgressions; rather, they exemplify a pattern and
practice… (a) lure entrepreneurs, musicians, and electronic product developers with promises of growing a business as partners; (b) then extract the intellectual property, production, and supply mechanisms that underlie the venture and that create value
The complaint says that Beats did the same thing to its first design partner, Pentagram, and first manufacturing partner, Jibe Audio. Could Beats have treated HTC in the same way?
Still, the actual recorded financial transactions are odd. Why would HTC sell back half of its Beats stake only a year after the original partnership was announced — and only a month after the official close of the deal — while Beats was still growing so quickly?
It’s also possible that the HTC-Beats deal was initially struck in good faith, and eventually fell apart due to trouble integrating the two corporate cultures as well the timing: HTC took a stake in Beats at the beginning of HTC’s three-year decline.
If HTC was in on the deal, what did it stand to gain?
[company]HTC[/company] profited from holding part of [company]Beats[/company] for a little while. Though HTC reportedly turned a small loss when it sold half of its stake in Beats back to the company in 2012, it made $85 million when it sold its remaining stake in 2013. The company has had a very difficult past few years, and that $85 million helped it dodge quarterly losses.
Few commercially important products came out of the partnership. A few HTC phones — like the HTC Rezound — came with Beats branding, but the Beats contribution to those devices was mostly “audio tuning,” or a fancy equalizer. Some HTC handsets came with Beats-branded earbuds, but even those were quickly dropped.
It is paying $300 million for coolness and a brand, though it is not very clear how it allows the company to overcome problems that are much bigger than a few cool adverts can paper over.
Even if HTC was trying to buy cool, it didn’t do a great job. Beats-endorsing celebrities like Lady Gaga and LeBron James showed up at HTC launch events, but the Beats halo never rubbed off on HTC in a commercially meaningful way.
It’s hard to imagine a company taking a $300 million stake in another company without the CEO signing off. The complaint details emails from Iovine to Monster saying:
a. “I don’t know what to say. I’m meeting with peter the ceo of htc what doI say to him???? (sic)”
b. “I’m in Taiwan (sic) met with peter ceo of htc…this is me talking we have to get this deal done Friday if we don’t it all could unravel” (sic)
If HTC was never really a strategic partner to Beats, as Monster claims, what did Iovine discuss with Chou? At the time, Iovine told the Los Angeles Timesthat Beats was “going to be in business with HTC and they’re going to help us and we’re going to help them in every way they can.”
Making things more complicated is that one of the driving forces behind the deal, Matthew Costello, at the time was both HTC’s COO and on the Beats board. Costello is now the COO of Beats.
When did Apple enter the picture?
One of Monster CEO Lee’s main claims is that Beats leadership told him there was no “liquidity event” on the horizon at the same time as [company]Apple[/company] was doing due diligence in order to purchase the company.
Did anyone at HTC know about the potential Apple sale? If it did know, why would it sell back its stake for a return a fraction the size that it would have received if had held through when Apple purchased Beats Electronics for $2.5 billion? It’s possible that Apple wouldn’t touch Beats as long as HTC held a stake.
Beats launched a streaming service in early 2014, and it’s expected to form the core of a new Apple-backed music streaming service. The majority of Beats’ current headphone lineup owes little to the first-generation Monster versions — and in my opinion, display clearly superior build and sound quality. A Beats executive told me in 2014 that the company has spent a lot of time revamping its lineup and removing leftover design elements from its Monster-era headphones.
A Beats spokesperson declined to comment for this story. Requests for comment from Apple and HTC have not been returned. The lawsuit does not specify a specific dollar amount that Monster is seeking.
It’s been a tough few years for HTC, the Taiwanese hardware maker that made many of the great early Android phones. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel: In the fourth quarter of 2014, HTC reported its first quarterly revenue growth in three years.
HTC posted fourth-quarter sales of $47.9 billion Taiwan New Dollars (USD$1.5 billion), a slight increase from the NT$42.9 billion posted in the fourth quarter last year. Net profit for the quarter works out to NT$0.47 billion, or about $14.7 million.
Bloomberg reported that the slight revenue increase is mostly due to “new mid-range handsets” that helped HTC fend off competition from the iPhone and other high-end models. The year-over-year revenue increase probably wasn’t because HTC’s flagship One M8 or its action cam Re had a big Christmas — it’s more likely tied to improving sales of value-based HTC’s Desire line, which is targeted at China and other Asian markets.
The HTC-built Nexus 9 tablet, which came out during the quarter, probably didn’t really make a dent in the balance sheets. But it does signal an important closer relationship with [company]Google[/company]. Although HTC still makes a Windows Phone every now and then, the vast majority of its handsets are running Android with Google services.
HTC isn’t out of the woods yet — yearly revenue for 2014 was still down compared to 2013 (and 2012, and 2011.) But after a year in which the Taiwanese company had to cut costs to get profitable again, revenue growth is a sign that HTC isn’t going anywhere in 2015.
The HTC One M8 was a critical darling among Android smartphones in 2014, although that didn’t necessarily translate to big sales. Based on a few early spec leaks, it looks as if its successor isn’t going to be a radical change.
HTC’s preparing a high-end phone codenamed the “Hima,” according to reliable leaker Upleaks. Upleaks said the Hima is going to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, which is an octo-core 64-bit chip that will likely power other flagship phones like the Samsung Galaxy S6. It’s going to have a 5-inch screen with a 1080p resolution. Rounding out the specs we think we know are 3GB of RAM, a 20.7MP rear camera, and the front camera will be either a 13-megapixel shooter or a 4MP Ultrapixel camera. It should be running Android 5.0 with HTC’s Sense skin when it launches.
If the Hima is HTC’s flagship, its 1080p screen means that HTC is no longer trying to keep up with the bigger QHD screens we’re seeing on phones like the LG G3 or the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. It’ll be interesting to see whether Samsung’s high-end flagship also stays at five inches, especially considering other high-end phones released recently, like the Nexus 6, feature screens larger than that.
The One M8 has large bezels. Looks like its successor will have them, too.
Upleaks also shared dimensions for the Hima, which could measure 144.3mm tall, 69.4mm wide, and 9.56mm thick. Those are all within a few millimeters of the HTC One M8, which means that although the Hima should have a 5-inch screen, it won’t be losing the chunky bezels that drive some people crazy about the HTC One M8. It’s safe to assume the Hima will have HTC’s front-facing BoomSound speakers.
The dimensions didn’t come with a weight, so we can’t tell if [company]HTC[/company] is going to stick with the metal body seen on the HTC One and the HTC One M8. HTC does know how to make plastic phones with top-notch build quality and given that the HTC One M8’s metal body didn’t lead to a decisive sales advantage over phones from Samsung, it wouldn’t be surprising if HTC is moving away from machined aluminum and steel. It’s also worth noting that the codename for the M8 was the, well, M8, so the fact this one is called the Hima internally might signal a shift away from the generic “One” moniker.
Upleaks has a good track record on HTC leaks — the leaker has provided an early look at the HTC-assembled Nexus 9 as well as severalother HTC devices. Expect an official announcement on the HTC Hima in the first few months of 2015.
Here’s a nice surprise if you like your tablets with a side of 4G service: T-Mobile has started selling the LTE Nexus 9. It’s the first time a version of Google’s latest tablet equipped with a modem has gone on sale.
If you’re loyal to Windows Phone and looking for a new device this holiday season, there aren’t many high-end options to choose from. One of the best is HTC’s One M8 for Windows, which has the same body and build-quality as its Android sibling, but running Microsoft’s mobile operating system instead. It was only available from Verizon to start, but now other big carriers are carrying it as well. Prices vary. Verizon sells it for $99 with a contract, but AT&T, for instance, is charging $199 with a 2-year commitment.


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Why Investing $2 Trillion on Child Care, Health Care, and Combating Climate Change Will Not Exacerbate Inflation.
President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better proposal has sparked widespread worry among critics, who fear it could exacerbate inflation, which is currently running at its fastest rate in over four decades.
Over the next decade, the Senate will debate an approximately US$2 trillion measure that was passed by the House of Representatives and would spend money on health care, education, combatting climate change, and a variety of other things.
Republicans and a small number of Democrats, including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, warn that the possibility of more spending driving inflation even higher is too huge a risk to take.
As an economist, I believe that these concerns are likely exaggerated to some extent. The reason behind this is as follows.
Putting $2 trillion into Perspective
Inflation is certainly an issue at the moment, as seen by the Federal Reserve’s decision on December 15, 2021, to expedite its withdrawal of economic assistance.
Current statistics show that inflation, as measured by the yearly increase in the Consumer Price Index, was 6.8 percent in November 2021, according to the most recent available data. However, while this is the highest amount of inflation since 1982, it is still a long way from the double-digit inflation that was seen during that period.
The question then becomes: Could an extra significant increase in government expenditure lead inflation to accelerate even further?
It’s helpful to put the data into some sort of perspective in order to respond to this question.
The Build Back Better plan, which was authorized by the House of Representatives, will cost around $2 trillion and will be implemented over a 10-year period.
If the money is spent evenly over the year, it would amount to approximately $200 billion per year. That is only approximately 3% of the total amount of money the government expected to spend in 2021.
The gross domestic product (GDP), which is the total value of all products and services generated in a country, is another point of comparison. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States is expected to reach $22.3 trillion in 2022. This means that the bill’s spending in the first year would amount to around 0.8 percent of GDP.
That, too, may not appear to be big, yet it is nonetheless significant. According to Goldman Sachs, the United States’ economy would increase at a rate of 3.8 percent in 2022.
If the additional spending were to transfer into increased economic activity on a dollar-for-dollar basis, it would have the potential to boost growth by more than one-fifth.
However, what truly matters, in this case, is how much money the bill would spend in excess of any taxes that would be raised to pay for it.
Higher taxes on the affluent and corporations, as proposed in the House version of the plan, would lower economic activity – by diverting money away from the economy – and therefore mitigate some of the effects of the spending that would stimulate the economy in the short term.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the plan would increase the deficit by $150.7 billion over a ten-year period, or around $15 billion each year, on average. Even if this is divided evenly over the next ten years, it would amount to less than one-tenth of one percent in terms of gross domestic product.
As a result, even if the proposed spending has an abnormally big influence on the economy, it will have a negligible impact on the whole economy at the macroeconomic level.
However, it will not have any effect on inflation.
Several supporters of the plan, including the White House and some economists, have gone even further in their opposition.
They have contended that by boosting the productive capacity of the economy – or its greatest potential production – the planned spending package will actually help to lower inflation.
This appears impossible to me, at least in light of the current level of consumer inflation. Historical evidence shows that a more productive economy can grow more quickly while exerting relatively minimal upward pressure on the price of goods and services.
That’s exactly what happened in the United States during the 1990s when the economy developed strongly while inflation was low.
Furthermore, it takes time for investments such as those outlined in the bill to result in increases in productivity and economic growth – which means that many of the benefits will take time to manifest themselves.
Current inflation is most likely a short-term problem caused by supply chain disruptions and pent-up demand, challenges that will not be remedied by increasing the economy’s productive capacity in the next five to ten years or even longer than that.
However, as previously said, investing $2 trillion to enhance access to affordable child care, combat climate change, and expand health insurance coverage is unlikely to make inflation worse.
Whatever the arguments in favor of or against the bill’s passage, I do not believe that its possible influence on inflation should be one of those considerations.


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Heineken, the world’s second-biggest brewer by sales, took control of two joint ventures from partner Diageo, spending $781 million to shore up control of brands including Jamaica’s Red Stripe beer amid a consolidation sweep in the industry.
The Amsterdam-based brewer said it bought a 57.9 per cent stake in Jamaica’s Desnoes & Geddes, bringing its holding to 73.3 per cent. Heineken will later make an offer for all remaining shares. The Amstel maker also now has full ownership of Malaysia’s GAPL Pte.
Heineken is streamlining control of joint ventures as transformative deals are harder to come by in a market facing waning demand for mainstream brands and weak North American consumption. Anheuser-Busch InBev NV offered about $100 billion to buy SABMiller Wednesday, seeking to combine the brewers in a record industry deal.
That deal is the "cap in the bottle of beer mergers" after more than a decade of consolidation, said Gerard Rijk, an analyst at SNS Securities in Amsterdam. Heineken can be expected to do more deals along the lines of Wednesday’s agreements with Diageo as there are few major, multibillion targets left in brewing, he said.
Heineken shares dipped 0.8 per cent in Amsterdam trading, bringing its advance this year to 26 per cent. Diageo dropped 0.7 per cent in London.
The combination of AB InBev and SABMiller may prove a boon to Heineken in the short-term, said analysts including Bloomberg Intelligence’s Duncan Fox.
"The deal could create opportunities for Heineken while the others are tied up for awhile," sorting through regulatory issues in markets across the globe, Fox said in an interview. "Heineken is a very well-run business. They understand brewing and they understand what we will pay for."
Heineken’s deal with Diageo follows a July transaction that dissolved a joint venture in South Africa and neighboring Namibia three years earlier than planned, with Heineken spending £128 million($195 million) to take control of beer sales. Diageo will book a one-time profit on Wednesday’s transaction of £440 million pounds. The spirits company also bought a 20 per cent stake in Guinness Ghana Breweries from Heineken.
Securing control of such businesses makes sense for Heineken, said Richard Withagen, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux in Amsterdam. "They are doing well. We’ll see how long that continues, but they are doing well."
While AB InBev flagged that there might be regulatory concern in the US and China as a result of a successful deal with SABMiller, Heineken is not the likeliest buyer of assets in either region, the analysts said.
News by Bloomberg, edited by ESM. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.


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Why should Snapchat have all the fun? After Instagram, Facebook’s asking the same question, as it’s busy testing a Snapchat Stories like feature called simply Facebook Stories. And with that Facebook’s taking a huge step to crush Snapchat.
The mobile-only Facebook Stories feature is currently being tested in Ireland, according to a spokesperson’s comment to the Irish Independent, and it looks pretty much the same as Instagram Stories — which was launched in August 2016. It’s expected to launch soon for the rest of the world.
With Facebook Stories, users will be able to capture and share photos and videos through iPhone and Android FB apps which will appear at the top of the Facebook newsfeed in a horizontal bar. What’s interesting about Facebook Stories is that they will not appear on the main timeline and disappear after 24 hours.
The test, which is currently only active in Ireland, is the third time Facebook has released a feature essentially identical to Snapchat’s. Instagram copied Stories in August, with Instagram’s head of product Kevin Weil explicitly acknowledging the inspiration to Recode, saying the company “built on a format that Snapchat invented”.
Why’s Face book copying Instagram who copied Snapchat? Because it’s a hugely popular social media sharing feature that Facebook’s lacking, especially since Instagram users have taken to the Stories format like fish to water —
So far, the strategy appears to be working: 150 million people already use Instagram Stories every day, which roughly equals Snapchat’s total user base.
Facebook Stories could also prove to be a new way for the company to monetize its 1.8 billion users. It recently started testing full-screen video ads within Instagram Stories with around 30 global advertisers, including Airbnb, Nike, Netflix, and ASOS.
With such huge numbers in play, it’s only natural for FB to replicate some of that secret sauce to keep itself relevant, especially among mobile users — and Facebook Stories is going to be a mobile app feature only for now. There’s ad revenue to be made as well. Music to the social media giant’s ears!


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The European Commission is poised to unveil a range of measures designed to tackle an ‘alarming’ lack of take-up of e-business by Europe’s smaller companies.
The GoDigital initiative — which officially launches in Brussels on April 6 — will aim to increase web-based commerce among small and medium-sized companies across the European single market.
Working in conjunction with national e-commerce projects, GoDigital will offer a combination of advice, training and financial aid to help close the apparent gap between large corporations and smaller enterprises.
In a recent report to the European parliament on the need to help smaller businesses trade online, the Commission said: ‘Even in the most advanced member states, only a minority can handle transactions electronically. Against a background of the explosive growth of e-business worldwide, especially in the US, these figures are alarming signs that European SMEs are not yet fully committed to the internet.’
As part of GoDigital, the Commission will run a series of exchange programmes, forums and other events to bring together businesses, technology experts, venture capitalists and the public sector.
It hopes to set up trials and demonstrations, allowing users in the industrial and service sectors to test the latest e-business technology products as they come onto the market.
Through the European Investment Fund, it will guarantee loans totalling e1.4bn (£880m) to help small and medium-sized companies invest in hardware, software and training connected with web-based commerce.
GoDigital also plans to address the lack of a level regulatory playing field — identified as one of the main barriers to e-business transactions between companies in different EU states.
The Commission said smaller businesses are often wary of becoming involved in the mass of different regulations in place under different jurisdictions.
‘Unlike larger companies with their teams of lawyers and consultants, they tend to avoid the legal risks of engaging in cross-border commerce,’ said the EC’s report. Readily available basic legal information is therefore of crucial importance for SMEs which need simplicity and predictability.’


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Barriers to lifestyle change
For decades, people have talked about the need to be more sustainable, but the reality of the current environmental crisis shows that we have not been successful in achieving this. Yet survey after survey shows that people are concerned. Globally, nearly 75% of young people say they feel the effects of climate change and in the UK two thirds support urgent action to combat the climate emergency.
A recent Ipsos MORI survey commissioned by the Evening Standard showed 85% of adults are now concerned about global warming, one of the highest figures ever polled.
In the past, however, survey results like these have not translated into real action. People still buy unsustainable food, fly frequently and don’t take the meaningful daily actions that help to reduce their environmental impact. Barriers such as ease, availability and current lifestyle trends mean that sustainable living has been more of an aspiration than a reality for most of us. There’s even a term for saying you’re going to be sustainable but not doing it – ‘virtue signalling'.
However, this is changing.
The growth in movements like Extinction Rebellion and the schools Strikes for Climate, led by Greta Thunberg, are all sending very clear messages to our leaders that increasing numbers of people want to see change that will preserve the environment, protect animals and prevent dangerous climate change.
At Giki, we’re seeing this firsthand in the way that people are using our free app to change their decision making in the supermarket. We launched Giki in 2018 and almost 20,000 people have already downloaded it. What we’ve seen is that people want to change their supermarket shop to be more sustainable and healthy, but can only do that when the information is presented in an intuitive and easy to understand way. Whilst we rate 280,000 products and crunch millions of data points, this is irrelevant to consumers who want to see simple badges, clear information and compelling alternatives. When they get this information, more than 80% of people make a change.
When people get transparent information about sustainability they don’t signal, they act.
So what’s driving this action? It appears to be a combination of emotion and a deep interest in specific topics.
For example, when people find a product in Giki with a high number of badges they tend to feel good. However, whilst the converse is true with low badge products, it’s not symmetrical. We’re all reluctant to accept that some of the familiar items we buy are not healthy or sustainable, and a few of them will probably be part of many people’s shop for a long time to come!
In terms of topics, two really stand out: palm oil and carbon footprint. Palm oil resonates with many people not only because of the effects of deforestation on carbon emissions, but more importantly for many, because of the direct link to animals such as the orangutans who are critically endangered.
The interest in carbon footprints is more direct. With many people appreciating that high carbon footprint foods such as beef need to be dramatically reduced.
More broadly, animal welfare and responsible sourcing are also on people’s agendas and every environmental topic we cover rates higher in terms of interest than health impacts of food and non-food products.
Underpinning all of this is an important change: people see that acting more sustainably is a benefit not a cost. Caring for the environment is no longer seen as meaning a lower quality of life but rather the only way to preserve and improve it for ourselves and for future generations.


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HEALTH BEAT Confronting dementia: When ignorance isn't bliss
If the findings from a recent Harris poll are any indication, many American adults worry their post-retirement years will be darkened by the shadow of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Yet de... Posted on 4/8/11 at 3:11 PM
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Leisure footwear company Crocs, Inc. filed a trademark application on Jan. 11 that would expand its brand into the realm of NFTs.
Non-fungible tokens of Crocs “footwear, clothing, bags, accessories and charms for decorating” them would all be covered, public filings show. So too would software for sending, receiving and trading these digital assets, as would an online store for selling them, the USPTO application said.
The filing is a strong sign that Crocs is preparing to issue NFTs, one well-known crypto-intellectual property lawyer told CoinDesk. Its counsel, WilmerHale, filed on an “intent-to-use” basis, meaning the brand has a bona fide intention to use it in commerce.
Crocs is hardly the only shoe brand moving into digital wearables: Nike, Adidas and Under Armour have all made footwear NFT plays in recent months. Their drops generated millions of dollars of revenue from consumers eager to flaunt their digital kicks in platforms like The Sandbox and Decentraland.
NFTs could spell a lucrative new business for publicly-traded Crocs, which had a banner 2021 posting 67% revenue growth year-over-year. Executives spoke of the company’s digital-first focus in its Jan. 11 earnings call but made no mention of the metaverse.
A representative for the company did not respond to a request for comment by press time. Neither did its lawyers.


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Oct 29 (Reuters) – Dogecoin surged a lot more than 70% on Saturday, extending this week’s gains immediately after Elon Musk sealed a $44-billion offer to consider in excess of Twitter previous week.
The Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) CEO, a vocal proponent of cryptocurrencies, has seriously influenced selling prices of dogecoin and bitcoin.
Tesla began accepting dogecoin as payment for its items early this calendar year, and Musk’s newly released perfume manufacturer can also be purchased with dogecoin.
Cryptocurrency trade Binance which has invested $500 million into Musk’s buyout of Twitter, mentioned it is brainstorming strategies on how blockchain and crypto could be helpful to Twitter.
Twitter had started exploring techniques to integrate blockchain engineering below co-founder and previous CEO Jack Dorsey, who has been a proponent of bitcoin.
Musk tweeted this thirty day period that he is buying Twitter to make an “every thing app”. The idea of an every little thing app originated in Asia with providers like WeChat, which allows people not only send out messages but also make payments, store on-line or hail a taxi.
Musk’s tweets on dogecoin, which include the 1 the place he called it the “people’s crypto,” have turned the as soon as-obscure digital currency, which began as a social media joke, into a speculator’s aspiration.
Musk who has promised to restore absolutely free speech on Twitter is staying deluged with pleas and requires to reinstate accounts of banned account holders and world leaders.
He tweeted on Friday that Twitter will variety a material moderation council “with greatly assorted viewpoints,” and stated no main written content decisions or account reinstatements will come about right before the council convenes.
The billionaire in a tweet on Saturday reported that Twitter end users could in future opt for a model of the social media system they like by providing rankings on their tweets.
“Staying capable to decide on which edition of Twitter you want is most likely much better, a lot as it would be for a motion picture maturity ranking,” he reported.
Reporting by Baranjot Kaur and Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru enhancing by Clelia Oziel and Nick Zieminski
Our Benchmarks: The Thomson Reuters Have confidence in Principles.
#Dogecoin #surges #Elon #Musks #Twitter #offer


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Mouse eRetail that had launched a horizontal e-commerce venture Mouse-e.com has raised Rs1 crore in angel round of funding from un-named investors and is in talks with a couple of venture capitalists for an investment up to $5 million by June this year for pan-India expansion covering top 130 cities.
The Bangalore based online portal deals with over 5000 product from various categories such as books, personal communication gadgets, computers, home entertainment systems, sarees, personal care items, baby products and others.
The firm who had been concentrating its attention on online buyers in metros and tier-one cities is mulling to expand its customer base to tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
Founded by Subhendu Tripathy, Tapan Kumar Das and Chitta Rajan in December last year, the e-commerce site has one lakh book titles for sale in its website www.mouse-e.com. It has plans to add eighty lakh book titles in next two months. For retaining the customers confidence, the company has tied up with the Fed ex, a US based logistics services firm for in time delivery of goods. It has also tied up with xygle.com to enable the customers to download mobile shopping application from the website and shop form a digital catalogue.
It may be noted that online market in India is growing at the rate of 30 per cent compounded annual growth rate and is likely to touch $ 70 billion in next five years.
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High-Tech Start-Up NY Business is One of the First American Companies to Produce Its Own-Branded Electronic Tablets
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the grand opening of the new global headquarters of Bak USA LLC, one of the inaugural businesses to participate in START-UP NY, located on Buffalo’s East Side. The high-tech company, which is one of the first American firms to produce its own-branded electronic tablets, is located at Compass East and covers 10,000 square feet of space on the top floor of the former site of Sheehan Memorial Hospital at 425 Michigan Avenue.
“Bak’s decision to locate its global headquarters in Buffalo is another success story for this city and for START-UP NY,” Governor Cuomo said. “Investments like Bak’s add to Western New York’s growth and development and keep the State moving in the right direction.”
Kenneth Adams, Empire State Development President, CEO & Commissioner, said, “Today is a very exciting day for Buffalo as we celebrate the grand opening of the new global headquarters of Bak, one of the first businesses to join the Governor’s ground-breaking START-UP NY initiative. Bak is helping us create jobs and grow our economy, goals that we have pursued from the beginning of our administration and that START-UP NY has succeeded in achieving in a very short time. “
Howard Zemsky, incoming President, CEO & Commissioner of Empire State Development said, “Governor Cuomo’s economic development efforts, including the game-changing START-UP NY initiative, are delivering significant results in Buffalo and throughout New York. Bak’s decision to open its new global headquarters here is the latest example of the Empire State’s ability to attract businesses and jobs from around the region, country and world, and I look forward to the company’s success in the Queen City.”
Bak, which committed to creating 100 jobs in Buffalo in the next year, began training its first employees on December 1, 2014 and has already produced more than 500 electronic tablets to date. It expects to create 80,000 devices in 2015. The company currently produces two models of its tablet, ranging in price from $100 to $140. One model is Wi-Fi only, while the other utilizes 3G data connections; a 4G model is in development.
Bak’s Buffalo business is based on the company’s work in Haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2010. There, Danish co-founders Ulla and JP Bak established a company called Sûrtab SA, located in Port-au-Prince, where they trained workers to manufacture devices. The goals of the business were to provide good-paying jobs to local residents and offer affordable, durable electronic tablets that would bridge the digital divide in education.
Ulla Bak, co-founder and president of Bak USA LLC, said, “Today is a celebration of a dream come true for Bak USA and our twenty members of the company family. In just six months, we’ve achieved so much and are creating the jobs we promised to Buffalo. I would like to express my deepest thanks to the START-UP NY program for making it possible for Bak to be part of Buffalo’s high-tech transformation. These connections are invaluable to cementing our social entrepreneurship model here in Buffalo and expanding it globally. I’d also like to say ‘thank you’ to all the local government and non-profit entities, as well as the countless individuals who have made us feel so at home here in Buffalo.”
JP Bak, co-founder of Bak USA LLC, said, “Today’s grand opening represents much more than the establishment of the company’s world headquarters in Buffalo. We have been blessed every step of the way and our journey is only beginning. We created Bak USA because we wanted to be able to put affordable products on the market which would help students learn all around the world, products that would last for a long time and that would truly make an impact where help was needed. While Bak USA is a very small step towards tackling this urgent problem, it is a step nonetheless: we can begin to contribute towards solving world illiteracy.”
As part of its local efforts, Bak will engage SUNY Buffalo engineering students in a senior design course that will provide students with hands-on experience and help the company advance product development and efficiency. The company also intends to collaborate with the School of Management’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership on social entrepreneurship programs and activities.
Buffalo Niagara Enterprise recently recruited respected filmmaker, John Paget, to create a video that captures “A Day in the Life of Bak USA.” The video can be viewed here.
SUNY Buffalo President Dr. Satish Tripathi said, “Bak believes strongly in the vision we are realizing in Buffalo, and shares our commitment to investing in our community and creating opportunities for the people who live here. We are delighted that Bak has chosen to be a key part of the bright future we are building for our great city, and the University at Buffalo is excited to partner with Bak USA in helping to make that future a reality.”
Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes said, “Today highlights the momentum the START-UP NY program is bringing in the form of jobs to the East Side of Buffalo. I commend Bak USA on their mission to deliver technology to needed parts of the world while also providing needed local employment opportunities. I look forward to seeing the trend of companies relocating to Buffalo continue through 2015. I applaud Governor Cuomo and his team for securing this opportunity for the community in the East Side of Buffalo; I look forward to working with Bak USA in the future.”
State Senator Tim Kennedy said, "I applaud Bak USA for anchoring its global headquarters here in Buffalo, and welcome Ulla and JP to the City of Good Neighbors. They are key examples of successful business owners taking advantage of START-UP NY's benefits, creating opportunity and establishing a collaborative relationship with the community. By continuing to bring good-paying jobs to Compass East, we are building our workforce on Buffalo's east side and keeping jobs here in Western New York where they belong. "
City of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said, "This is what Buffalo’s progress is all about – attracting new industry to our city and putting our people to work right now. Today’s grand opening of the Bak USA manufacturing facility comes at an exciting time for Buffalo, with more construction activity underway than we’ve seen in 50 years. I thank J.P. and Ulla Bak for their commitment to Buffalo, breathing new life into this manufacturing operation on the former Sheehan Hospital site and providing great job opportunities to refugee and low income families who were drawn to Buffalo to start new lives and careers. Thank you for being part of the great momentum in Buffalo.”
County Executive Mark Poloncarz said, “Congratulations to Bak USA on the grand opening of their new facility, along with my sincere thanks for their vision and determination to locate here in Erie County. The Baks could have located their tablet- and phone assembly operations anywhere, but chose here as the place to build both their business and our community. Bak USA’s business model provides opportunities for disadvantaged individuals to get in on the ground floor of assembly operations, learning the high-tech trade and developing a skill set that will support them and their families. This is the new Erie County, and businesses like Bak USA are helping in our economic transformation while building our community as well.”
Congressman Brian Higgins said, “This is a story that goes beyond traditional economic development. Bak USA is investing in Western New York, our workforce, our students and our City, and as a result people at their headquarters here in Buffalo will be a part of a larger effort to provide tools to promote literacy worldwide.”
Thomas Kucharski, President & CEO, Buffalo Niagara Enterpirse, said, “Our staff is proud to have established strong professional and personal relationships with Ulla and JP Bak. Advanced manufacturing and foreign direct investment opportunities are priorities for our region and important elements of BNE’s strategic outlook. Becoming one of the first PC tablet assemblers anywhere in the U.S., accompanied by such meaningful job creation and investment in our urban core reinforces the value of this industry cluster, and the fact programs like Start-Up NY can help Buffalo Niagara successfully compete in the global marketplace.”
About Bak USA LLC
Bak USA LLC is a multi-national social enterprise company that seeks to further universal education, employment, and universal connectivity through the assembly and sale of low-cost PC tablets and phones. Founded by the Bak family, the company plans to continue its roll-out of niche tablet factories by employing dynamic members of the city’s local community to assemble its devices in downtown Buffalo.