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The Internet of Things and Blockchain Technology
9 best practices to improve security in industrial IoT - TechRepublic
Dell EMC's senior product manager for IoT security, Rohan Kotian, hosted a presentation at Dell EMC World explaining how industrial enterprises can protect their IoT deployments.
Google’s new IoT Core service helps businesses manage their…
Google Cloud launched a new Internet of Things management service today called Google Cloud IoT Core that provides a way for companies to manage IoT devices and process data being generated by those devices.A transportation or logistics firm, for example, could use this service to collect data from its vehicles and combine it with other information like weather, traffic and demand to place the…
UK Land Registry Plans to Test Blockchain in Digital Push
HM Land Registry has revealed it is looking to test blockchain as part of a digitization effort called 'Digital Street'.
Introducing Echo Show
Echo Show – everything you love about Alexa, and now she can show you things. Watch video flash briefings and YouTube, control smart home devices like lights...
Are Blockchains the Key to the Future of Web Encryption?
Canadian telecom industry is healthy and growing, as long as government help continues, says report
'The State of Competition in Canada’s Telecommunications Industry' report is published by the Montreal Economic Institute.
Blockchain Technology Set To Revolutionize The Supply Chain
Are National Currencies Headed To The Blockchain?
National currencies on the blockchain will open up new opportunities for transaction processing systems, personal identification and programmed money controls.


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The past 14 months have affected the way we shop more than ever before, resulting in the exponential growth of online shopping. We had little option other than to buy the majority of our purchases online, which was a huge shift in our normal shopping habits. People who had rarely (or never) shopped online, were begrudgingly made to adapt the way they shopped. A report from Retail Economics and Natwest found that nearly half (46%) of UK consumers purchased a product online that they had previously only ever purchased in-store. Only time will tell if the shift to online shopping has changed our habits for good.
We think brands need to re-evaluate what their stores need to do to deem them a success
Covid, however, has only accelerated the trend that was already well underway. Online sales have continually increased year on year, with the ONS recording a proportional increase of 35.2% of total sales in January 2021. Brands who had been reacting to the online shift pre-Covid found that they had a better hold on the market when the pandemic hit. Unfortunately, many brands fell short and Covid was ultimately the final nail in the coffin. We saw the collapse of well-known brands such as Debenhams, Arcadia Group, Monsoon, and Warehouse (to name a few). With fierce competition, these companies didn’t invest enough in their online presence, leaving e-commerce giants such as Asos and Boohoo to swallow them up.
Unfortunately, the closure of these stores has left huge holes in our high streets, with many asking, “Is this the beginning of the end of bricks and mortar retail”? We don’t think so. We think in-store shopping is here to stay, albeit a little different than before.
No sales through the door’, doesn’t necessarily mean ‘no sale at all.
Despite the huge shift in the way we shop, the footfall numbers in the w/c March 12th were up in some places by 300%, proving there’s still a huge appetite for physical store environments. Moving forward, stores shouldn’t be seen as just places to purchase goods. They should play a fundamental part in a brand’s marketing strategy and should be a key place to build brand awareness and trust. We think brands need to re-evaluate what their stores need to do to deem them a success.
We believe there will be a shift to stores acting as ‘’showrooms’; a place for a brand to create experiences based around their products. Many people treat shopping as a social activity, a place to meet friends, combined with dinner out and enjoy a casual browse in the shops without necessarily purchasing there and then. A sale might be made later online, but it was the store visit that instilled the decision. If stores could track the sales via hashtags through social media or store-specific discount codes, this could provide vital information and prove that ‘no sales through the door’, doesn’t necessarily mean no sale at all.
By utilising stats from online algorithms and sales, a brand can orchestrate location-specific environments based on the local demographic. Pop-up shops are a great way to do this. By showcasing key products or ranges suited to the region, it provides a platform for brands to engage with their target audience and a way to build brand awareness with relatively low investment and minimal risk. It’s also a great way to build anticipation through online advertising and social media. There are some great examples of online-only brands that have opened very successful pop-up shops. Made has opened numerous showrooms across the UK based on customers requesting to touch and feel the products. The results are compelling, with in-store purchases just outweighing online. Head of showrooms, Rebecca Ruddle says “The showrooms give our customers that confidence to purchase from us”. Gymshark partnered up with fitness studio Gymbox and opened their first pop-up store in London, February 2020. They held two two gym classes a day along with regular influencer-filled events. The brand’s physical presence helps to drive their engagement and loyalty and the limited opening strategy creates a buzz and a feeling of exclusivity.
We’re big believers in creating experiences within stores that can not only offer something different but complement the online journey. The ‘go to’ for many retailers is to install digital solutions, and the more the better! As much as we believe digital can be an invaluable tool, we think it should be well considered and only be installed if it adds real value to a store’s offering. No retailer wants to go to the expense of installing thousands of pounds worth of screens and content if they’re going to sit unused and not get updated. Just like online needs to work seamlessly in-store, in-store digital content needs to work
We believe physical stores still have their place on our high streets. Consumer habits will continue to change but it’s how brands react and adapt to those changes that will see them succeed.

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CheapTextbooks.org, an online book comparison website based in Phoenix, Arizona, is helping students keep the cost of their education down.
Phoenix, AZ -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/21/2012 -- CheapTextbooks.org , an online book comparison website based in Phoenix, Arizona, is helping students keep the cost of their education down by offering a way for students to instantly compare buyback prices for used textbooks with the end of the semester and the start of textbook buyback season. The website, http://www.cheaptextbooks.org/ , goes through the leading online stores to compare prices on textbooks, helping students find the best prices. Students can also instantly compare textbook buyback prices on the website as well to determine the places that offer the best prices for their textbooks.
“CheapTextbooks.org is proud to announce that we have redesigned our entire website to offer a better user experience. The new website offers faster book price comparisons than ever before,” said Michelle Park, CEO and owner of CheapTexbooks.org. “Students never have enough time. That’s why we do instant book comparisons for them. The great thing is that we have added even more book vendors so students know they are going to get the best deals.”
Many college students look for ways of converting their used textbooks to usable cash either because they no longer see the need for these books or they want others to save from buying expensive new textbooks. Other students who are also returning home after the school year would like to keep their load light and find selling their second-hand books as a useful way of disposing extra baggage. To find buyers with good prices usually poses a challenge. CheapTextbooks.org addresses this need.
CheapTextbooks.org offers book price comparison as well as textbook buyback comparisons. It is the best place to go before buying and selling textbooks. With their free comparison shopping tool, students can find the best prices when buying or selling textbooks.
The new website http://www.cheaptextbooks.org/ is now available for be viewing and will be fully launched on August 17, 2012.
For more information on CheapTexbooks.org email Michelle Park, the website’s founder and CEO, through email@example.com.


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Leeds has transformed into a major digital hub and that makes it a really exciting place to work.
In the last 10 years, the digital scene in Leeds has changed beyond recognition. It’s bigger, it’s more collaborative and it has so much more potential. Our growing reputation is now bolstered by emerging sub-sectors that could really put the city on the map and our ambition to become one of the country’s finest tech hubs is finally starting to pay off. This is a very exciting time to work in tech in Leeds…
The sheer size of it
To give you an idea of just how much the digital economy has grown, Yorkshire Forward estimated the city’s total GVA at £1.5 billion in 2011 – now the digital sector alone has a GVA of £1.3 billion. And then there’s the employment figures. In the last year, the number of tech jobs in Leeds has risen from 23,734 to 34,742, an increase of 46%.
Leeds has become a vibrant digital hub with a bright future, but 10 years ago, it was only just starting that journey. “A decade ago, Leeds was quietly becoming a hub for small agencies. It’s always had a creative culture, due in part to its university heritage, but fast forward to today and that growth has exploded. In many ways, it’s transformed the city. There’s a reason why companies like Sky, NHS Digital and many others are establishing a significant presence here. Leeds is now seen as a digital hub and it’s home to a great mix of tech start-ups, agencies and client-side businesses,” Renee Hunt, Director of Digital Platforms at Sky UK, explained.
The city has given birth to two tech unicorns, Sky Betting & Gaming and Callcredit (now TransUnion), and it’s home to 19 of the North’s Fastest Growing Tech Businesses, according to Tech Nation. Our reputation as a leading digital hub is growing and we can expect even more big tech businesses to move to Leeds in the coming years.
The growing potential of medtech
From ‘in silico’ experiments based on data alone to 3D printed limbs and apps that let you access your medical records from anywhere in the world, technology has revolutionised the health sector in ways we couldn’t even imagine 10 years ago – and Leeds City Region has emerged as a key player.
It’s home to four out of five NHS headquarters. NHS England, NHS Digital, Health Education England and the NHS Leadership Academy all have a strong presence here, and they’re accompanied by internationally renowned companies like TPP and EMIS. Meanwhile, Leeds Teaching Hospitals is one of the biggest NHS Trusts in the country – not only does it treat 1.5 million people every year, but it’s also a leader in clinical research.
And now, the ambition is to become a world leader in healthtech. It will require targeted investment in medical technologies, which is why the Grow MedTech partnership, backed by £9.5 million of funding, has been set up to help bring medical innovation from conception to clinical use by removing the blockers in their way.
The rise of co-working spaces
Co-working spaces have become the cornerstone of the Leeds tech scene. They’re not just a place to work, they create an ethos of collaboration and innovation that helps start-ups succeed. From Duke Studios to Platform, ODI and Hackspace Leeds, these community-centric workspaces are nurturing the tech companies of the future.
“The way people work has fundamentally changed,” Tom Almas, Managing Director of co-working space Wizu, told us. “In order to attract and retain the talent that tech companies need, they need to work in a space which inspires the people. No business survives in solitude, and being in a community-centric workspace is key to collaboration and innovation.”
The big investment in digital
The Leeds Tech Hub Fund was a catalyst for growth, designed to boost the city’s digital economy – and that’s exactly what it’s done. They divvied out the £3.7 million provided by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to six ambitious, tech-centric projects.
Bruntwood received £2 million for Platform, their shiny new tech hub, and Duke Studios bagged £393,000 to transform their warehouse space into a digital conference centre with state-of-the-art projection, sound and streaming facilities. Meanwhile, FutureLabs secured £455,000 to help support early-stage tech businesses, ODI nabbed £100,000 to maximise the potential of their space and GameMakers netted £36,647 to continue in their mission to support video game start-ups accelerate growth. Finally, East Street Arts was given £550,000 to promote Leeds as an international destination for creative digital projects.
That particular pot is now empty, but the investment continues as the #Welcome Digital Inward Investment Fund works to attract more digital businesses to Leeds with grant funding opportunities for companies of all shapes and sizes.
The thriving digital community
The tech community has positively exploded in the last 10 years. There are now hundreds of groups, meet-ups and events in Leeds, with a gathering every day of the week – and it’s helping to propel the city forward.
Take Leeds Digital Festival for example. Launched in 2016, it’s now the biggest digital festival in the North. In 2018, it brought together 170 events and 650 speakers across 75 venues, attracting 20,000 attendees from far and wide. And that’s not the only big event that’s helping to boost our reputation – Fintech North, Leeds International Festival and SearchLeeds have all turned the nation’s gaze in our direction.
But it’s more than that. Leeds has developed an ecosystem of sharing and learning that brings people together to solve problems. “I have seen the digital scene come together with the creation of Leeds Digital Festival, the Yorkshire Mafia and loads of other good things,” Gavin Winter, CEO of Rapidspike, told us. “I didn’t even know the community existed 10 years ago, but now you can pretty much pick up the phone to anyone and they will sit down in a meeting, talk to you about your business and offer you ideas. There’s nothing in it for anybody, apart from the exchange of ideas, which I think is a massive positive, and it happens all the time.”
The move from finance to FinTech
With our longstanding position as the UK’s second financial centre and our growing position as a digital hub, it was almost inevitable that Leeds would set its sights on FinTech as a potential growth area, and indeed, it has.
Our financial services creds are clear. First Direct, Yorkshire Bank, Yorkshire Building Society, Leeds Building Society and Skipton Building Society all have head offices in the region. The three big credit referencing agencies (TransUnion, Experian and Equifax) have a presence here too. Clearly there’s a demand for FinTech innovation, but we need a more collaborative, co-ordinated approach if we want to make the transition from emerging sub-sector to FinTech powerhouse.
The journey has already started. According to the Leeds City Region FinTech Ecosystem Report, there are now 2,600 people working in FinTech in Leeds, which is approximately 5% of the total financial sector employment. And they all come together at events like FinTech North, which started at Leeds Digital Festival in 2016 and now runs a packed programme of events across the North focused on sharing knowledge and best practice. But if we’re to reach our vast potential, we need to open dedicated FinTech incubators, we need to find new ways to connect innovators with investors and we need to need to pool our resources by bringing academics and businesses together.
The power of the tech accelerator
Leeds has a real start-up culture. In 2016 alone, there were 168 digital tech births in the city, and yet, scale-ups dominate the tech scene. Why? Because the city has a rigorous support system in place to help start-ups grow and develop. The rise of the tech accelerator began as early as 2014, when DotForge became the North’s only Tech4Good programme, and continued in 2015 when Entrepreneurial Spark made itself at home in Leeds, but the options available to start-ups have grown exponentially in recent years.
Now, new start-ups can join tech incubators like Platform, where they’ll have access to a range of support services, or apply for one of the city’s many tech accelerators. Sky Betting & Gaming launched Co-Lab last year, giving businesses the opportunity to pitch and market test their ideas, while Elmwood added their LaunchPod into the mix last July – their first programme will explore the future of consumer health and offers participants free desk space, mentoring and access to global brands in the sector.
The skills gap (and the search for a solution)
As the industry has grown, so too has the need for skilled digital professionals, leaving us with a cavernous skills gap. It’s not just a local problem, this is an international issue that the whole industry is facing and it’s only going to get worse. According to research by Korn Ferry, there will be 3 million digital jobs left unfilled by 2030 and it could cost the UK £141 billion in GDP growth. As a result, it’s a candidates market, and salaries are shooting up.
“The digital industry is growing so fast that we’re struggling to fill the vacancies. This is from big companies all the way down to the smallest digital agencies,” Stuart Clarke, Founder of Leeds Digital Festival, explained. “One of the biggest changes is the interaction between the sector and the universities and colleges. We used to lose a lot more graduates than other comparable cities, but that’s changed over the last few years. There’s been much more interaction between firms and students, and a lot more apprenticeships and graduate schemes.”
In fact, businesses are now taking an active role in education. From primary and secondary school level all the way up to graduates, there’s a real push to get people into the industry and keep them in Leeds. But it’s more than that. The universities are now working with businesses to ensure their graduates are industry ready. Take Leeds Trinity’s new computer studies course, for example, it was created in collaboration with big digital employers to make sure it gives both students and businesses what they need.
The collaboration between academics and businesses
One big change that has taken place over the last 10 years is the way that universities and businesses are working together to drive innovation. A string of research centres have opened up across the Leeds City Region in recent years. Their aim? To solve real business problems through a collaborative mix of groundbreaking research and business intelligence.
LIDA (Leeds Institute of Data Analytics) was one of the first. Opened in 2014, it brings together over 150 researchers and analysts from across the University of Leeds to tackle a diverse array of social and environmental problems. The Digital Creativity Labs in York followed in 2016, as 30 academics joined forces to offer insight into the games and interactive media space, and the Digital Health Enterprise Zone opened the same year in Bradford with a mission to drive innovation in digital health and care. The last addition was 3M BIC in Huddersfield – they opened in June 2018 and are now working on everything from revolutionising traffic systems to 3D printing artificial bones.
There’s another one waiting in the wings too. In 2019, Nexus will finally open its doors. The new £40 million Innovation and Enterprise Centre at the University of Leeds will see academics working in league with businesses to accelerate innovation, improve competitiveness and explore new technologies.
The new focus on diversity
Leeds now has a reputation for championing diversity, and not just because we want to close the skills gap. “It’s more than just the right thing to do,” Renee Hunt, Director of Digital Platforms at Sky told us. “There’s a strong commercial reason why we need to make sure our products are made by the people who will be using them. We need balance, and I mean a real balance, not just men and women, we need a real reflection of the population that use them, else we run a real risk that we’ll build something that’s not appropriate.”
Sky is leading the charge with its Women in Tech programme, a free software engineering course designed to even the odds in the workplace, but equality is an issue the whole city stands behind. From She Does Digital and Girl Tech to the northern chapter of Healthtech Women and major events like the Empowering Women with Science & Tech all-dayer at Leeds International Festival, gender diversity has become a real priority.


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- Aston Martin starts delivery of “Goldfinger” DB5 continuation cars
- Autoblog has added photography and puzzles to our merch store
- Karma debuts platform for extended-range electric pickup, SUV
- The bullish wave of plant construction hits a wall
- 710-horsepower 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is an $82,490, 180-mph family hauler
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that measures announced to help the country’s car industry recover from the coronavirus crisis were worth more than 8 billion euros ($8.8 billion).
Macron said France wants to become the leading producer of clean cars in Europe.
“We need a motivational goal: Make France Europe’s top producer of clean vehicles by bringing output to more than 1 million electric and hybrid cars per year over the next five years,” Macron told a news conference at a Valeo parts factory in northern France.
France will increase the state bonus for consumers buying electric cars to 7,000 euros from 6,000 euros, Macron said, as part of 1 billion euros earmarked to boost demand after coronavirus lock downs. Plug-in hybrid vehicles will be eligible for a 2,000 euro bonus.
Some of that money will be set aside for car owners who trade-in older, higher-polluting cars for cleaner new or used ones. Macron said the program could fund 200,000 vehicles, starting on June 1.
Autonomous vehicles and electric vehicles will form a key part of the automotive sector after the coronavirus crisis, Macron said.
He also said that no car model currently produced in France should be manufactured in other countries.
Macron added that the government would not sign off on a planned 5 billion euro state loan for Renault until management and unions had concluded talks over the automaker’s French workforce and plants in France.
Renault will announce a cost-cutting plan on Friday.


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Hear from Aric Dromi, Tom Ollerton and Gennady Volchek at the world’s first virtual event designed to help executives build the intelligent enterprise and thrive in the AI era.
LONDON, November 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ Aric Dromi, Tom Ollerton and Gennady Volchek will headline the Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Automation Network’s (AIIA.net) inaugural virtual event.
AI LIVE: The Future of Enterprise is the world’s first virtual event designed to help businesses in every sector thrive and prosper in the new age of artificial intelligence and intelligent automation by addressing critical questions, such as:
- What makes us humans in a reality when algorithms define our cognitive interactions?
- How can brands use AI to produce better and quicker content and creative?
- How does blockchain and cryptocurrency facilitate consumer engagement and enable protection, traceability and security?
Attendees will hear from a digital philosopher and in-house futurologist at one of the world’s leading automotive companies, an innovation director responsible for some of the most cutting-edge AI campaigns in the market, and a serial entrepreneur specializing in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
As an all-day event on Thursday January 25, 2018, AI LIVE promises to provide business-critical insights for companies in all sectors on how to successfully navigate the brave new world of artificial intelligence.
AI LIVE will also bring together a wider panel of established industry experts, global thought leaders and senior executives from the world’s leading intelligent businesses. Participants will be able to walk their avatar into practical seminars, workshops and presentations from the comfort of their office or home.
AIIA.net is offering a limited number of partnership opportunities to organizations interested in aligning with this world-first event.
Attendee spaces are limited. Those wishing to register can secure a complimentary spot by visitinghttp://ai-live.vfairs.com/
More speakers are to be announced soon.
To discuss partnership, speaking and webinar opportunities, contact Jonathan Hollis, Business Development Manager: firstname.lastname@example.org
For more information on AI LIVE: The Future of Enterprise or AIIA.net, please contact Diana Raicu, Marketing Manager: email@example.com, +44-207-368-9506
The Artificial Intelligence & Intelligent Automation Network (AIIA.net) is a thought leadership community by IQPC Digital, designed to help companies and executives build the intelligent enterprise.
SOURCE AI LIVE
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Introducing the World’s First Blockchain phone, the BitVault®
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LONDON — On Tuesday, Google got slapped with a mammoth €2.4 billion fine (£2.1 billion, or $US2.7 billion) by the European Commission over an antitrust case.
It’s a record-breaking fine, more than twice as large as the previous largest monopoly case — and it could be just the start of Google’s headache in Europe.
The Californian search engine now faces potential disruption on three major fronts: Two more European antitrust investigations, with the potential to be far more damaging to the company; the threat of lawsuits in national courts by companies allegedly harmed by Google’s businesses practices; and the hint of future European Commission investigations into other sections of the company.
€2.4 billion. It’s a lot. But it’s not the end of the world.
The €2.4 billion fine is the culmination of a years-long investigation by the European Commission into Google Shopping. The regulator argues that its placement at the top of Google’s search results amounts to illegal anticompetitive behaviour, with Google abusing its dominant position in the European search market to promote the product at the expense of competitors.
Google has been ordered to pay a €2.4 billion fine, and change its practices within 90 days or face additional fines of up to 5% of daily worldwide turnover.
Google is considering whether to appeal, but in a research note for investors published on Tuesday, Goldman Sachs argues that the fine (while big) isn’t going to ruin Google. “We do not believe the fine, if ultimately paid, would have a material effect on Alphabet’s business or its liquidity,” analysts wrote.
What may be more significant is what comes next.
Two more antitrust investigations are underway
The shopping case was just one of a trio of European Commission investigations into Google. The others are into Android, its mobile operating system, and AdSense, its advertising business.
These other two are still underway (competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager didn’t give any indication on Tuesday as to when they might be concluded). They are far more fundamental parts of Google’s business than its shopping service, and if Google is found to have broken EU law and forced to make changes to the way it operates, it could have more far-reaching consequences for how the company can operate and offer its services on the continent.
Plus, there’s the possibility of further multi-billion euro fines.
There is now the risk of legal battles with competitors
Google could now get bogged down in legal battles with competing shopping comparison sites, if any feel like they were damaged by the company’s practices.
“Google is also liable to face civil actions for damages that can be brought before the courts of the member states by any person or business affected by its anticompetitive behaviour,” the European Commission said in a statement.
“The new EU Antitrust Damages Directive makes it easier for victims of anticompetitive practices to obtain damages.”
The European Commission has hinted at the possibility of further investigations
Lastly — and perhaps most worryingly for Google — the European Commission has also hinted that the Google Shopping ruling could act as a precursor to further investigations of whether Google abused its dominance in search to promote its products (in addition to the Android/AdSense investigations).
“We have been looking into this, and today’s decision is a precedent, a precedent that can be used as a framework to analyse the legality of such conduct,” Vestager said on Tuesday. “At the same time, we will have to take care of the characteristics … and of course the facts of the specific case.”
She added: “Today’s decision shows in Europe companies must compete on their merits, regardless of whether they operate online or on the high streets, regardless of whether they are European or not.”
Individually, any one of these would be a major headache for Google. Collectively, they add up to a nightmare that might not end for years to come.
Get the latest Google stock price here.
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Apple dethrones South Korean rival after 12 years; Xiaomi, Honor, and Google dominate Android market.
Apple has surpassed Samsung in global smartphone sales, breaking the Korean company’s 12-year leadership. In 2023, iPhone claimed the top spot with 234.6 million units sold, outpacing Samsung’s 226.6 million, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC). IDC attributes Apple’s success, marked by the release of iPhone 15 in September, to trends such as the growing preference for high-end devices, constituting over 20% of the market.
In 2010, a company other than Samsung last held the smartphone market’s pinnacle, and in 2023, that position now belongs to Apple,” stated IDC. “This shift in power within the largest consumer electronics market is fueled by Apple’s unprecedented market share and its first-time ascent to the top.”
The US tech giant, valued at $2.8 trillion (£2.2 trillion), claimed a 20.1% market share, surpassing Samsung’s 19.4%, according to IDC. While Apple is well-established as the leading smartphone manufacturer in terms of revenue and profits, this marks its inaugural leadership in market volume.
The sales figures were reported prior to Samsung’s recent unveiling of new models, including the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra with AI-driven features. Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, acknowledged the IDC data as a “psychological” setback for Samsung but anticipates a closely contested competition in 2024. He noted Apple’s robust trajectory and the strong consumer loyalty to Apple devices, emphasizing that once users adopt Apple, they seldom switch to alternatives.
Wood emphasized that the data underscored the significance of Samsung’s product launch on Wednesday.
“This underscores the imperative for Samsung to exert every effort in retaining current users while also attracting new customers for its devices.”
IDC also highlighted a growing fragmentation in the market for Android-operated smartphones, noting the presence of low-end competitors to Samsung like Transsion and Xiaomi, along with Honor and Google.
The IDC attributed Samsung’s decline in sales to the success of Huawei’s well-received products in China. Additionally, it emphasized that Huawei remained a formidable competitor to Apple in China, which is the largest market for the U.S. company.
According to IDC, global smartphone shipments experienced a 3.2% decline, reaching 1.17 billion units in 2023. However, the IDC expressed optimism about the industry’s recovery after a sluggish period, stating that growth in the second half of the year has solidified expectations for a recovery in 2024.
In a noteworthy development last week, Microsoft surpassed Apple as the world’s most valuable company, with a valuation of $2.9 trillion.


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The banks got their $700 billion bailout from Washington Friday, but retailers got more bad economic news to dampen their holiday spirits.
The U.S. shed a seasonally adjusted 159,000 jobs in September, which was the largest decline in more than five years and included the loss of 41,000 retail positions. That marks nine straight months of shrinking employment for a total of 760,000 jobs lost so far this year and another serious blow to consumer sentiment. A surge of new jobs at specialty stores, however, pushed their payrolls higher than those of department stores for the first time on record.
The Standard & Poor’s Retail Index finished the day down 2.8 percent, or 9.50 points, to 331.83. Retail stocks fell a total of 11.7 percent last week. The broader market fared somewhat better, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off 1.5 percent, or 157.47 points, to 10,325.38 on Friday, making for a fall of 7.3 percent for the week.
The commotion on Wall Street and the broad economic weakness has prompted many to reevaluate the prospects for retailers in the fourth quarter, even though chains have spent much of the year readying themselves for some tough sledding.
On Friday, Mark Montagna, equity analyst at C.L. King & Associates Inc., reduced his earnings projections on Gap Inc., Limited Brands Inc., The TJX Cos. Inc., Ross Stores Inc., Stein Mart Inc., Coldwater Creek Inc. and The Dress Barn Inc.
“The impact of the weak macroenvironment, record levels of gift cards and the wait-to-the-last-minute shopping strategy of consumers will likely cause retailers to take steeper-than-planned pre-Christmas markdowns, despite large planned inventory reductions,” Montagna said. “While retailers did a much better job with inventory planning for [the fourth quarter], we do not believe such plans taken months ago contemplated such a dire economic situation as we are apparently experiencing.”
The increasing appetite for gift cards could make for lighter traffic in stores, since people on the hunt for cards are destination shoppers and not holiday browsers, Montagna said.
Also on Friday, Amy Noblin of Pali Research downgraded Urban Outfitters Inc. to “sell” from “neutral” based on “our belief the stock is not pricing in the increasing risk of a broadening consumer slowdown.”
Among the top department store decliners for the day were Dillard’s Inc., down 8.9 percent to $11.06; Macy’s Inc., 6.3 percent to $15.19, and Saks Inc., 6 percent to $8.05. Those specialty stores losing market capitalization included Urban Outfitters, down 8.4 percent to $26.55; American Eagle Outfitters Inc., 8.3 percent to $13.63; Aéropostale Inc., 6.5 percent to $27.85, and Bebe Stores Inc., 5.3 percent to $8.59. Apparel producers and brands losing ground included G-III Apparel Group Ltd., 6.6 percent to $15.58; Polo Ralph Lauren Corp., 5.5 percent to $57.99; Jones Apparel Group Inc., 4.6 percent to $16.13, and Phillips-Van Heusen, 3.6 percent to $34.07. (For a full list of major international retail and vendor stocks, see page 25.)
On a more positive note, when President Bush signed the bailout legislation into law Friday, he opened the fiscal floodgates to at least theoretically ease the flow of credit as banks are able to rid their balance sheets of toxic mortgage debt and return to more normal lending activities, whether to each other, corporations or consumers.
On the employment front, department stores took a beating, cutting payrolls by 10,800 jobs in September, according to a monthly Labor Department report.
It was the largest decline in the retail trade sector in September. Of the 276,000 jobs lost in retail since December 2007, a substantial portion of them, 60,300 positions, were at department stores.
For the first time since 1990, the earliest date for which records were available, the number of people employed by specialty stores, 1,500,900, was higher, by 600, than the employee count at department stores. Last month, apparel and accessories specialty stores added 2,600 positions.
“Call it the death of the department store,” said Richard Yamarone, director of economic research for Argus Research Corp.
Department store staff levels peaked in 2001 and have declined since then, while specialty stores have increased the size of their workforce, he said.
Industry mergers and the rise of Internet shopping have contributed to declining department store payrolls, Yamarone said.
The U.S. apparel manufacturing sector also continued to lose jobs. Apparel manufacturers trimmed head counts by 2,400, while textile mills that manufacture apparel fabric shed 1,300 positions. Textile product mills that make home furnishing fabrics expanded payrolls by 200 jobs.
The downward plunge in overall employment last month was fueled by steep job losses in the retail trade, construction and manufacturing segments. The unemployment rate was unchanged in September from the prior month at 6.1 percent.
“The employment report is just the latest in a series of indicators showing that the economy was deteriorating rapidly as the third quarter progressed,” said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at Global Insight Inc.
“This was much worse than was expected, as the full weight of the banking crisis, the cost of imported oil and job losses to China bore down on manufacturing and the broader economy with unrelenting pressure,” said Peter Morici, professor at the University of Maryland School of Business and a former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission.
A spate of recent economic indicators has painted a bleak outlook. In addition to the declining employment levels, consumer spending slumped, factory orders and shipments fell and real incomes have declined, according to a variety of economic reports in recent weeks. The added strain of the controversial financial bailout package legislators hashed out and uncertainty in the markets added to the pressures on the general economic picture.
My character, Dinah Madani, is just the coolest, [most] badass woman imaginable," says @amberroserevah. The actress stars in @marvel's newest series on @netflix, @thepunisher. To prepare for her role, Revah sat down with Homeland agents to get a real sense of with Dinah's day-to-day life is really like. Read our full interview on WWD.com. #wwdeye (📷: @jilliansollazzo)
A scene from the 91st annual @macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade, which boasts 50 million TV viewers and 3.5 million on-site spectators, is considered one of the largest and most watched parades in the world. (📷: Jason Szenes/EPA-REX)
The circus came to @bloomingdales 59th Street on Tuesday night and lit up Lexington Avenue with acrobatic dancers, death-defying knife throwing, sword swallowing and aerial acts with no net. The 45 minutes of theatrics built up to unveiling the holiday windows depicting @swarovski crystal-encrusted circus pieces and scenes from “The Greatest Showman” – songs from the soundtrack included. See the rest of the photos on WWD.com #wwdfashion (📷: Joshua Scott)
The psychedelic fashion that pervaded the ’60s is back with an exhibit at the @museumofcityny. “Mode New York: Fashion Takes a Trip” chronicles the changing styles from 1960 through 1973 and features designers such as @ysl, @oscardelarenta and more. The exhibition, which is on display through April 1, is organized into four periods: First Lady Fasion, Youthquake, New Bohemia and New Nonchalance. Pictured here is model Pat Bardonella during the Garvey Day Parade in 1968. (📷: @kwamebphoto) #wwdeye #wwdfashion
“People should be a lot more honest in expressing both the dark and light of themselves. We need to give each other the space to do that because it’s the only way we can grow and evolve,” says @noelwells of her new film “Mr. Roosevelt,” which is largely based on her own struggles. Unexpectedly leaving @nbcsnl in 2014 after just one season, Wells felt set back in her self-esteem and career trajectory. She quickly refocused her energy to more personal projects, which led to the completion of “Mr. Roosevelt.” Read the rest of WWD’s interview with the “Master of None” actress on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @jilliansollazzo)
@barbrastreisand is giving fans a chance to see her perform up close in a new concert series, which makes its debut on @Netflix today. From behind-the-scenes takes to her concert performance in Miami last December, the two-hour streaming special captures Streisand in her element. Pictured here is the singer/actress photographed for WWD in 1963. (📷: Palmieri Tony) #wwdeye #wwdarchive
@chanel and @pharrell dropped what’s being dubbed as the world’s most exclusive sneakers yesterday. The Adidas Originals NMD Hu, which Williams designed in collaboration with Chanel and @adidasoriginals, has a waiting list of over 120K people who pre-registered online at chanelatcolette.fr –– and only 500 pairs are on sale. The singer predicted the resale value of the shoes could reach $40K. Read the full interview on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdfashion (📷: Dominique Maître)
@imanshumpert is diving deeper into his creative endeavors and relaunching his clothing line, Post 90s, and is helping to raise money for the hurricane victims in St. Maarten with a jersey he’s designed with his brother. The Cleveland Cavaliers player talked to WWD about kneeling during the national anthem, working with fashion brands and how he wants to be more than an @nba player. Read the interview on WWD.com #wwdfashion (📷: George Chinese)


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Wiley Elementary fifth-graders learn how to run a business by opening student-run snack shop
On Monday, Wiley Elementary School opened a new store — run by students.
Along with parents, students and staff, the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce cut a large red ribbon, signifying the opening of a new business in Reno County.
The Mini Sweet Treat snack shop, which will open on Tuesday mornings and Friday afternoons, is selling fruit chews, beef jerky, chips of all kinds and protein bars.
"I like being in front of the stuff," said fifth-grader Rileigh Bishop. "I like selling stuff."
Heartland Credit Union gave the students a "loan" to buy the products for their store. On a weekly basis, members of the credit union will guide the children who are operating the business.
"We're working with the students about the financial aspects," said Darren Werth, a vice president at Heartland Credit Union. "We'll be teaching about financial education, business plans, loans, interest payments and inventory management."
Khloee Smith, a fifth grader, wants to open a clothing store when she grows up.
"She's been very excited," said Khloee's mother, Veronica Smith. "I think this hands-on learning experience will be very beneficial."
Khloee said she is excited about helping customers.
"I learn how to count money and how to sell," she said.
Inspired by the Sweet Treat Shop based out of Hutchinson Career and Technical Career Education Academy, students came up with the idea.
For many students, this experience supplies them with a way of exploring new opportunities — and having fun while learning.
"I like controlling the crowd," said fifth-grader Grayson House. "It's great getting to be with my friends and having fun."
The Mini Sweet Treat is a product of Wiley’s redesign initiatives in the area of leadership. To get the shop up and running, students wrote a business plan, learned about the process of securing a loan and practiced counting money. They also designed a cart and found foods that met nutritional guidelines. Another group of students created flyers, logos, and utilized social media to advertise the opening.
“Our kids are so excited for this to open and it for it to be theirs. They drove the interest,” said Kristi Link, instructional support teacher at Wiley. "I feel that kids always will amaze you if you just simply let them."


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Today Henrik Fisker announced the name for Fisker's upcoming EV SUV. Called the Ocean, it has been shown in a number of concept studies over the past year.
The concept wears a solar roof to help with charging and retractable door handles. Looking mildly like a Range Rover Evoque, the vehicle is being produced with many recycled materials. Fisker claims this will make the SUV one of the most sustainable vehicle available.
The starting price is claimed to be around $40,000 and have a range of over 300 miles through its 80 kWh enhanced lithium-ion batteries. Rear-motor, rear drive and dual-motor all wheel drive will be available. The SUV should hit the market in late 2021, about a year after Tesla's Model Y goes on sales. Fisker is offering a Tesla-like online-only sales model with "nationwide concierge service".
Henrik also announced that there will be some big news on November 27th, the day before Thanksgiving, when online reservation become available. The production ready prototype will be revealed in January 2020.
Fisker has been late in delivering on its promises before, so if you're waiting for one of these, you may be waiting a little longer than planned.
Fisker Shows First Look at New Electric SUV
Fisker Teasing Us with Electric SUV Concept
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With an aim to make the XC90 T8 PHEV more affordable in India, Volvo will start local assembly next year. This way, the executive SUV will become the country’s first locally assembled PHEV. ve
Volvo Car India has announced that its Jan-Oct sales in 2018 have surpassed the full year sales in the last calendar year. So far, the manufacturer has shipped more 2,194 units in the current..
The first set of images and details of the 2019 Volvo V60 Cross Country were officially released yesterday. As is the norm with the Cross Country, the newcomer gains its toughness from the body..
The same day the second generation Volvo V60 had its world premiere in February, Lex Kerssemakers, President and CEO, Volvo Cars (North America) confirmed that there will be a Cross Country variant..
The Volvo XC40 that was launched earlier this month has received over 200 orders within 15 days of its launch. This announcement was accompanied by the introduction of two new trims in addition to..
The first half of 2018 has been kind to most luxury car makers operating in India. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volvo have reported strong year-on-year growth for the January-June period.
Volvo has announced plans to expand its locally assembled portfolio in India by 2019. After the Volvo XC90 and Volvo S90, the company will start assembling the Volvo XC60 and Volvo XC90 Excellence..
The Volvo XC40 has gone on sale in India at an introductory price of INR 39.9 lakhs (ex-showroom). Volvo is offering the compact luxury SUV only in the R-Design trim fitted with a diesel engine. h
The Volvo XC90 T8 is now available in India in the Inscription grade for a price of INR 96.65 lakh (ex-showroom). Until now, it was sold exclusively in the range-topping Excellence variant. he
Volvo has released the first teaser video of the next-gen Volvo S60. It will be unveiled at the company’s new US manufacturing plant in Charleston, South Carolina on 20 June, 2018. The teaser..
Bookings for the Volvo XC40 have commenced the company has announced. Interested buyers can pre-book the car by depositing INR 5,00,000 at a Volvo dealership. Volvo Auto India will officially launch..
Overview BMW introduced the X1 in 2009, Audi came out with the Q3 in 2011, Mercedes-Benz has had the GLA since 2014, but until September last year, Volvo had no presence in this segment. That’s when..
The launch of the Volvo XC40 in India will take place in early July 2018. The company has also revealed details regarding the SUV's specifications, features, colour, trims, and engine and transmission..
Volvo has started locally assembling the Volvo S90 in India, an image posted by Team-BHP forum member volkman10 has revealed. According to the forum member, the company had completed rolling..
Just earlier this week, the 2018 Volvo V60 had its public debut at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show. Now, the next-gen Volvo S60 has leaked online in an image published by Teknikens Varld.
Volvo introduced the second-gen Volvo V60 last week. Based on the all-new mid-size estate, X-Tomi Design and Theophilus Chin have created renderings of the next-gen Volvo S60. lv
Earlier this week, Volvo unveiled the second-gen Volvo V60 in Sweden. This has lead to speculations about the launch timeline of the third-gen Volvo S60.


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Australia’s The Star Entertainment Group Ltd confirmed in a Thursday filing that its Hong Kong-based partners for Queen’s Wharf Brisbane, an under-construction Queensland casino resort (pictured in a file photo), were each contributing to the group’s move that raised AUD800 million (US530.8 million) in fresh group funds.
The exercise included a “three for five” entitlement offer on Star Entertainment’s fully-paid ordinary shares.
The casino firm had said in a March 2 filing to the Australian Securities Exchange that “Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd and Far East Consortium International Ltd have provided binding pre-commitments for approximately AUD80 million, which equates to their functional pro rata entitlement in the offer”.
In its Thursday filing, the casino group stated the two “are participating in the equity raising on the retail entitlement offer timetable.”
The Star Entertainment added: “Accordingly, both parties will have new shares issued and allotted to them under the placement and institutional entitlement offer on the retail entitlement offer timetable.”
The statement cited The Star Entertainment’s chief executive, Robbie Cooke, as saying: “We are extremely appreciative of the support we have received from our retail shareholders who have participated in the retail entitlement offer.”
He added that the exercise would help the group achieve a “strengthened balance sheet,” in order to “deliver on its key strategic priorities and to meet the capital requirements” for which it had already made provision.
The March 2 filing announcing the overall fundraising exercise had stated that the “historical capital expenditure” for the financial years 2017 to 2022 on the Queen’s Wharf Brisbane casino scheme had been AUD2.9 billion.
Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium were each described as 25 percent equity investors in the project, alongside The Star Entertainment’s 50 percent.
Chow Tai Fook Enterprises – a privately-held entity – was founded by the family of Hong Kong jewellery entrepreneur the late Cheng Yu Tung, who had been a long-standing business associate of Macau casino market former monopolist, the late Stanley Ho Hung Sun.
The Thursday statement from The Star Entertainment said the retail entitlement offer had closed at 5pm, Sydney time on Monday, and raised approximately AUD203 million at AUD1.20 per new share.
“Together with the placement and institutional entitlement offer… the total amount… under the equity raising is approximately AUD800 million,” confirmed the casino group.
It said the retail entitlement offer had “strong support”, with circa 10,100 valid applications for approximately AUD107 million, “representing a take up rate by eligible retail shareholders of approximately 53 percent”.
The circa 80.5 million new shares not taken up under the retail entitlement offer, will be allotted to sub-underwriters.
Approximately 169.5 million new shares to be issued under the retail entitlement offer are due to be allotted on Monday (March 20) and then would trade on the Australian Securities Exchange on a normal settlement basis from Tuesday (March 21).
In early December it had been announced that The Star Entertainment’s casino licences in Queensland were to be suspended for 90 days, and its properties there placed under state-government supervision. The group was also fined AUD100 million.
The action followed a state regulatory probe that found the firm had concealed from the authorities illegitimate wager payments it obtained from Chinese patrons, and lured problem gamblers from other Australian states.
The Star’s licence for its flagship Sydney, New South Wales, casino was also suspended “indefinitely” from October 21 last year, and placed under state-government supervision. The Australian casino operator was also fined AUD100 million by state authorities.
Apr 19, 2024The deployment of a “smart table” product – combining the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and cameras gathering data for analysis via artificial intelligence (AI) –...
”Once Solaire North is fully ramped up, and both properties are generating a certain expectation that we have on cash flow… then we will probably launch the Paniman [casino] project”
Chairman and chief executive of Bloomberry Resorts


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The new ROG Swift PG27UQ is another 27-inch IPS monitor like Acer’s Predator X27, and Asus says it’s the first monitor to offer DisplayHDR 1000 certification, though Acer’s Predator X27 also goes up to 1,000 nits. In another news, Acer launches a new gaming laptop with Intel’s fastest chips. Until now, PC owners have had to choose […]
You might also like to read 4K or 2K Monitor – Which Should I Go For Better Gaming Experience?
The post Asus next 4K HDR 144Hz G-Sync monitor will ship next month for $ 2,000 appeared first on CoreInsiders.


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The new mid tier range of OnePlus Nord phones have been on sale here in the UK and Europe since August last year and the 5G versions were launched shortly afterwards, with the N10 5G and N100 handsets and later on this month, they are both due to launch in the US, on the 15th November. The N10 5G will cost $299 and the N100 will cost $179.
Both phones will go on sale on the 15th November at 10am ET.
“The OnePlus Nord N Series represents the next step in our strategy to expand our smartphone offerings to more price points. Now even more users can get a burdenless experience without sacrificing quality.”
OnePlus CEO, Pete Lau


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Silverland Bakery, a commercial purveyor of brownies, bakery bars, natural food bars, and cookies, has announced that it will celebrate the company’s 30th anniversary—along with the launch of the Blueberry White Chocolate Cookie, Passionate Pomegranate Food Bar, and Gluten-Free Flourless Chocolate Brownie—at the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago, May 18–21.
To kick off the celebration, Athena Uslander, founder and president, and her daughter Leila Uslander, director of marketing, will offer samples of the latest products, which preview the company’s soon-to-launch line of retail-ready packaged natural food bars, brownies, cookies, and bakery bars.
Athena Uslander, a, structural engineer, Dove model, and wellness enthusiast, has been crafting handmade brownies, old-fashioned bakery bars, cookies, crispy rice treats, and natural food bars for consumer and wholesale clients for 30 years.
“I started this business baking brownies in a hot, 400-square-foot storefront while I was pregnant with my daughter,” she says. “Now that we are approaching our 30th anniversary and Leila is working alongside me, I can’t think of anything that I would have rather been doing for the last three decades.”
The new product offerings include the Pomegranate Pistachio Passion Food Bar, Gluten-Free Flourless Chocolate Brownie, and White Chocolate Blueberry Cookie.
“The average consumer is looking for a natural indulgence made with local, quality ingredients,” Uslander says. “We can offer restaurants, café, and retailers nationwide a taste of the bakery around the corner, even for their most discerning customer.”


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Sterling Heights Police are investigating the theft of two large diamond rings from Zale's Jewelry in Lakeside Mall. The theft occurred on January 8th at approximately 8:00 p.m. Subject #1, right, is wearing a black hat with red bill and black jogging suit with red trim. Subject #2, left, has short cropped hair, gray fleece jacket with black shoulders and blue jeans.
Sterling Heights police are investigating the thefts of diamond rings from two jewelry stores in or near Lakeside Mall this week.
Two men took off with diamond rings from Zales inside the mall Wednesday. They entered the store about 8 p.m. and began talking with the clerks. One asked to see a diamond ring then asked to see a second ring to compare it to the first, police said.
The clerk took the second ring out of the display case and began reaching for the first when the man grabbed the second ring out of her hand, and both men ran from the store. They fled into the mall and out through Macy's, police ...


text: E-cigarettes are undeniably harmful, exposing users to numerous toxic and carcinogenic substances that may lead to adverse health effects. But they virtually eliminate exposure to carbon monoxide, tar and many of the 7,000 chemicals that contribute to cigarettes’ lethality. In short, e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking, but they are by no means safe! As of last week, the CDC has reported a total of 29 vaping related deaths across the US, in contrast to nearly half a million cigarette related deaths annually. Vaping products from reputable, regulated manufacturers may indeed be measurably safer than traditional cigarettes, but there is simply not enough experience or research to know the ultimate health impact vaping will have on users. The simple and safe answer is, don’t smoke cigarettes and don’t vape.


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Siemens wants out of joint venture
Reports suggest that the Fujitsu Siemens joint venture might not be extended by Siemens as partnership comes up for renewal next year.
Fujitsu Siemens could be ending as a partnership, according to reports in German newspaper Euro am Sonntag.
Siemens is planning to sell its stake in the joint venture, said the publication, citing informed sources.
Fujitsu would then sell on the end-customer side of the business as it is mostly interested in the commercial customer business, the weekly paper reported.
Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo is suggested as a favourite to pick this up, according to the paper, again citing unidentified people in the industry.
Fujitsu Siemens said negotiations between the two partners about the future of the joint venture are ongoing, while Siemens declined to comment.
The German-Japanese venture will be automatically extended for another five years from 2009 if neither partner gives notice this year that it wants to exit from the deal.
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How iPhone Has Changed the Way We Use Our Smartphones Several big companies have in the past tried to ape iPhone features, but, have failed to recreate its experience
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
IPhone is undoubtedly one of the most popular products made by Apple that had also kicked a smartphone revolution.
The first generation iPhone was released on June 29, 2007, and there have been multiple new hardware iterations in the model since then.
Apple's best-selling smartphone has evolved a lot over the decade. Several big companies have tried in the past to ape iPhone's features, replicate its hardware and software designs. But, they have failed to make an impact, in the sense that iPhone's sale has remained unaffected.
Let's take a look at how iPhone changed the way we use our smartphone:
Apple's Siri, the intelligent personal assistant, became a trend since its release on iPhone 4S in 2011. Siri was originally released as a stand-alone application for the iOS operating system in February 2010 and, at that time, the developers were also intending to release Siri for Android and BlackBerry devices.
Two months later, Apple acquired Siri. On October 4, 2011, Apple introduced the iPhone 4S incorporating a beta version of Siri. The tech giant is looking forward to expanding the voice assistant's functionality with more types of third party apps.
Apple's default messaging service iMessage allows users to send texts, documents, photos, videos, contact information, and group messages over Wi-Fi, mobile phone Internet or other forms of Internet access to other iOS or macOS users, thereby providing an alternative to standard messaging for most people using Apple devices running on iOS 5 or later versions.
Recently, the company announced its plans to bring the message service to its cloud platform, which also means that you can keep a backup of your text messages on your iphone.
The Touch ID, a fingerprint identity sensor in iPhone, is an easy way to use your fingerprint instead of a password for many common operations. With just a touch of your finger, the sensor quickly reads your fingerprint and automatically unlocks your device.
The sensor uses advanced capacitive touch to take a high-resolution image from small sections of a fingerprint, from the sub-epidermal layers of the skin. After Apple's introduction of Touch ID in 2013, other major smartphone makers started including fingerprint scanning in their high-end phones in 2014 and 2015, starting with the Samsung Galaxy S5.
Safari Web Browser
Safari is the inbuilt web browser developed by Apple, based on the WebKit engine. It was first released in 2003 in Mac OS X Panther. Later, a mobile version was included in iOS devices since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007. The private browsing is the best feature of Safari that maintains a user's privacy by clearing the individual's web browsing history. The browser also has many security features, which enhances the safety factor in the browsing experience.


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Roxy dropped a new addition to its outerwear line today, the Chloe Kim Collection designed with, as the name suggests, two-time Olympic gold medal winner, Chloe Kim. The collection of jackets, pants, mittens, and layering pieces, along with the XOXO Pro snowboard, was made in collaboration with the SoCal-based Kim, whose interest in fashion as a form of self-expression now extends a signature line of gear. Candy coated hues and modern design define this year’s Chloe Kim Collection and you can learn more about the creation of the gear via an Inside the Pro Model Extended Cut from Snowboard Mag issue 19.1.
November 30, 2023
What’s the Deal with BOA on Ride’s Snowboard Boots?
Are you sick and tired of struggling with stubborn boot laces? The yanking. The pulling! OUCH! Enough is enough!


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" Kering’s decision to take its eyewear business in house was dubbed an “eyewear revolution,” but what does it mean for the giants that dominate the market?
Eyewear is big business. Market sources estimate that the global market, which includes frames, contact lenses and sunglasses, is worth $90 billion, and will reach $140 billion by 2020. In 2012, Exane BNP Paribas estimated that frames and sunglasses represented 40 percent of the eyewear market. Within that segment it estimates that premium frames and sunglasses, the sort produced by fashion labels, represent 35 percent. Applying those estimates to today’s market values the premium fashion segment at just below $13 billion.
Traditionally, five specialist eyewear players have dominated the premium fashion segment of the market, developing, manufacturing and distributing their own brands, as well as entering into licensing deals to produce frames for fashion houses. Although the terms of these deals vary, the specialist players typically design the eyewear, with input from the brands, before developing, manufacturing and distributing it in the market...
The importance of eyewear as an entry-level product for its brands speaks to the other key advantage stemming from Kering’s move: control. The Exane BNP Paribas report states, “The ubiquitous distribution typical of most license contracts adds to brand trivialisation risk.” By taking its eyewear in-house, controlling development, distribution and sales, Kering could “maintain desirability through perceived exclusivity.”
What's more, Kering is now free to work with multiple manufacturing partners — including the Safilo Group — on a case-by-case basis. This freedom will allow the company to build out each of its eleven brands’ eyewear businesses in a way that is carefully tailored to the consumer profile and DNA of each brand..."
<a href="http://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/a-closer-look-at-the-13-billion-premium-eyewear-market"target="_blank">Read the full article at Business of Fashion.
Image Credit: 3Dprint.com


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Electricity in Africa: is payment the problem?
By Nomanini CEO Vahid Monadjem
In August 2014, US president Barack Obama announced a renewed commitment to Power Africa, a private sector-led initiative aimed at doubling electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa, where an estimated 600 million people are without reliable access to power. He raised the bar, pledging to add 30,000MW of energy (triple last year’s goal of 10,000MW) and create new connections for at least 60 million households and businesses. He also pledged $300m in grant assistance per year to expand Power Africa’s reach across the continent.
Installing prepaid meters is a big part of the solution, and will play a huge role in protecting electricity suppliers’ revenues, enabling them to provide sustainable power for the long term. These meters are already having an impact in a number of countries including Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia, and the potential for growth is huge. In Nigeria alone, the prepaid electricity market is worth an estimated NGN150bn, with 50% of the market yet to receive prepaid meters.
We are finally starting to see some real progress in lighting up the continent! But very soon, infrastructure won’t be the biggest obstacle, payment will be.
While prepaid meters go halfway to solving the problem, making payment points widely available for people to purchase prepaid electricity vouchers is just as important. Unfortunately, it’s proving difficult in areas where retail is primarily informal, and where household incomes are so low that people can often only afford to purchase a couple of dollars’ worth of electricity at a time.
In Zimbabwe for example, rolling out prepaid meters has been quite successful, with over 400,000 installed since August 2012. However, many Zimbabweans with meters are still without electricity because, in order to purchase prepaid vouchers, they are forced to travel to banking halls and queue for hours - something that could take the better part of a day for someone who lives in a very remote area.
In Africa, where people have high levels of mobile access compared to other basic services (like in Tanzania for example, where over 60 percent of the population use a mobile phone, but only 12 percent have access to electricity), mobile seems to be the best way to distribute prepaid vouchers. It is important to consider however, that although mobile is growing, cash is still king in a lot of informal markets where many people are unbanked (and lack access to online or mobile banking).
Perhaps the best solution to Africa’s electricity payment challenge is to empower informal vendors such as taxi drivers, local shop owners and micro entrepreneurs to use mobile technology to buy prepaid electricity vouchers, which they can then sell for cash. This replicates the success of mobile airtime distribution and enables electricity providers to ensure that even unbanked, unconnected people in the remotest of areas can access and pay for electricity conveniently. And they’ll be empowering local entrepreneurs in the process!


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Announcing a major breakthrough in marine biodegradable and home and industrial compostable straws & stirrers
Made with PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), a substrate derived from canola oil, phade® is a breakthrough in marine biodegradable and home and industrial compostable drinking straws and stirrers.
Blue Is The New Green™
Made with plant-based PHA, phade® is strong, sturdy, and sustainable – a sip-tastic triple threat no other straw offers.
The world’s first and only
marine biodegradable and
Available in 3 standard straw
sizes and drink stirrer.
Developed with NODAX™
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) by
Danimer Scientific, Inc.
A Game-Changing Mission
“phade® is created with natural biopolymers, allowing it to return to nature as safely and as quickly as possible.”
WinCup Chief Executive Officer.
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WinCup develops innovative product lines that promote sustainability while meeting consumer preference in the Foodservice, Healthcare, Education, Hospitality and Entertainment industries.
Chief Executive Officer, WinCup, Inc.
Laporte joined WinCup® in 2016 as the Sr. Vice President of Manufacturing and Engineering. He was promoted to the position of Chief Operating Officer in 2019, and in September of 2020, he was promoted to Chief Executive Office. As CEO, Laporte oversees all of WinCup’s manufacturing operations at its 8 locations throughout the country, engineering, research and development, finance and accounting, and human resources for WinCup’s 925+ team members. Laporte has held various leadership roles in manufacturing and operations through his career, including Vice President Operations and Manufacturing at Larson-Juhl, and Vice President Manufacturing at Okabashi Brands, Inc. His passion for innovation and environmental sustainability helped shape WinCup’s strategic sustainability vision which led to WinCup’s creation of its phade® straw, the first commercialized PHA-based product in the US. Laporte holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics from the University of Windsor.
- The first marine biodegradable and compostable straw and stirrer available to mass consumers
- Performs like traditional, synthetic plastic straws
- Biodegrades and composts in 6-12 months
- Created by WinCup, Inc.
- Made with Danimer Scientific’s NODAX™ PHA (Polyhydroxyalkanoate)


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The June security update is already rolling out to Samsung Galaxy M62s in Bangladesh and Nepal with firmware version M625FXXU4CWF1.
Day by day, without haste, but without pause, Samsung continues to update more terminals of your catalog, both high-end and mid-rangewith the last android security patchthe one corresponding to the month of June 2023 and, currently, around thirty smartphones of the brand have already received the June Android update.
But the pace of updates from Samsung is constant and a good proof of this is that the Korean giant has already started rolling out the latest Android update on one of its most outstanding mid-range mobiles of 2021he Samsung Galaxy M62.
The Samsung Galaxy M62 is updated with the June security patch
Such as They confirm us from the specialized media SamMobilethe Korean firm has already started releasing the June 2023 Android update in The Samsung Galaxy M62 from various Asian countries, including Bangladesh and Nepal and it is expected that it will be deployed in other markets over the next few days or weeks.
This new software version is reaching the Galaxy M62 in the aforementioned regions with the build number M625FXXU4CWF1 and includes the June 2023 security patch, which fixes a total of 64 vulnerabilities related to privacy and securityfixes a few general bugs detected in the user interface and improves the stability and performance of the terminal.
The Samsung Galaxy M62 hit the market at the beginning of 2021 with One UI 3 based on Android 11at the end of last year updated to One UI 5 with Android 13 and is expected to receive Android 14 with One UI 6 between the end of this year and the beginning of 2024.
Once this new software is deployed globally, you can apply it to your Galaxy M62 by accessing the section Software updatewhich is within the settings of the device, and clicking on the button download and install.


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The new service will include features such as GIFs and stickers to add a “little extra personality” to user’s chats, the company said in a blog post.
The messaging service now has improved push and email notifications and messages are organized in a chat-style format with conversation threads akin to most messaging apps today such as Facebook Inc’s Messenger and WhatsApp.
LinkedIn, which operates the biggest social networking site for professionals, has started to roll out the new messaging service to English-language users accessing its platform via a desktop or through an app.
Users can also attach photos and documents to messages.
The company also said it was looking at offering voice and video calling with the messaging platform in the future.
LinkedIn plans to make the revamped messaging feature available in other languages in the coming weeks.
The move comes amid an explosion in the amount of video viewed on Facebook, posted by regular users, publishers and advertisers alike.
Alongside the uptick in video content, copyright holders have complained about videos posted without their permission. A recent report by video marketing and social media consulting companies Tubular and Social@Ogilvy estimated that a majority of the most popular videos on Facebook were pirated.
On Thursday, Facebook said it would be deploying new video matching technology that will be available to a small group of partners. The tool, Facebook said, will let select media companies, multichannel networks and individual video creators identify matches of their videos posted across Pages, profiles, groups and geographies on the site.
The tool will evaluate millions of video uploads quickly. When matches surface, publishers will be able to report them to Facebook for removal, the company said in a blog post.
Facebook has already been using a system called Audible Magic that uses audio fingerprinting technology to identify and prevent unauthorized videos from making their way to the site.
But the video matching tool, currently in beta, is a new step in Facebook’s broader efforts to establish a content ID system akin to what YouTube uses to quickly identify copyright violations.
On YouTube, copyright owners have the option of running ads against videos that the video sharing site has identified as matches.
Facebook Inc is testing a personal digital assistant called “M” within its Messenger service that is capable of answering questions with live human help and performing tasks such as buying gifts online and making restaurant reservations.
M is “powered by artificial intelligence that’s trained and supervised by people,” David Marcus, vice president of Messaging products, wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
Rival services like Apple Inc’s Siri, Google Inc’s Google Now and Microsoft Corp’s Cortana rely entirely on technology to answer questions.
M is a hybrid backed by a team of Facebook employees with customer service backgrounds, called M trainers, who can also make travel arrangements and appointments, Marcus wrote.
Facebook has introduced several functions inside Messenger, which boasts more than 700 million users, to transform it into a standalone platform. Earlier this year, it rolled out games exclusively on Messenger and launched products for businesses to directly connect with consumers.
Facebook, for instance, is the largest social network in the world, with more than 1 billion active monthly users. But it didn’t garner significant growth among U.S. Internet users in the past three years, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center.
Some 72% of online U.S. adults use Facebook today. That is up only 5 points from 67% in 2012, Pew noted.
By comparison, Pinterest more than doubled its user base, going from 15% of online U.S. adults in 2012 to 31% today. Similarly, Instagram also showed strong momentum, growing from 13% three years ago to 28% now.
Other major players, including Twitter and LinkedIn, also saw growth but not at such a strong pace.
Pew reported that 23% of online adults use Twitter, a 7-point increase from the 16% who used it in 2012. As for LinkedIn, a quarter of online adults use the site, up from 20% in 2012, the survey noted.
“Interesting but not surprising,” said Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with ZK Research. “I have six kids under 23 and none of them use Facebook regularly. I think Facebook is almost considered an older person’s social tool now… Much of the growth in the younger population is on Instagram, Vine, etc.”
The Pew study also shows that while younger users are using Instagram and Pinterest, they clearly haven’t abandoned Facebook.
According to Pew, 82% of online U.S. adults between the ages of 18 to 29 use Facebook, along with 79% of those between 30 and 49, 64% of those ages 50 to 64 and 48% of those 65 and older.
Finnish mobile gaming company Rovio Entertainment, popular for its high-flying “Angry Birds,” is hoping to rebound from a tough 2014 and to expand in Asia by tailoring its games to draw local consumers.
After reporting a 73 percent drop in its 2014 earnings due to a decline in the licensing of the “Angry Birds” brand, and cutting about 110 jobs, Rovio is focusing on going local, the company’s chief commercial officer Alex Lambeek told Reuters this week.
“(We have the) building capability to scale into parts of the world where we haven’t been strong in the past and a big part of that is actually working with partners, not trying to do everything ourselves,” said Lambeek, who joined the company from Fox International Channels in April.
“Angry Birds,” which was released in 2009 as a mobile game and fast became a hit, allowed players to fling an array of birds at pigs using a virtual slingshot.
“Angry Birds 2,” released last month, adds more characters, high-definition scenes, options to pick which bird to fling and the ability to compete with friends.
China accounts for a third of the nearly 40 million downloads of “Angry Birds 2″ since July 30, making it the top market. That is in line with the first “Angry Birds,” which Rovio said has seen nearly one billion Chinese downloads, out of what the company says is a total of 3 billion game downloads since 2009.
For Birds 2, Rovio partnered with Chinese mobile gaming company Kunlun Inc to make changes within the prompts and language used to target the way Chinese players are used to gaming, Lambeek said.
Chinese customers “want to be spoken to and listened to in their own language with their own specific humor,” he said.
Rovio hopes the new game renews interest in the brand ahead of May 2016′s “The Angry Birds Movie.”
The non-profit organization has unveiled an easy-to-use app for Android devices, called Webmaker, that allows users to create Web pages and simple apps from their smartphones, which are quickly becoming the predominant technology used to use the Internet, especially in less wealthy countries.
“We want the next two billion people coming online to understand that the Web is theirs to read, write, and participate in,” said David Ascher, Mozilla’s vice president of products.
Currently, about 40% of the world’s population — or a little over 3 billion people – enjoys Internet access. Webmaker was designed to give these usersa way to create their own presence online. Webmaker also could set the stage for bringing more local content on the Web, Ascher said.
While social networking sites such as Tumblr and Instagram offer the ability to create content for mobile devices, Webmaker was designed to provide more flexibility in terms of how users can present information, by not locking them into a single format.
The foundation says it designed the software to be as easy to use as possible.
After signing in, users are provided with a blank page and the ability to add text, images or photos. Additional pages can be then be added. A user is given a map to stitch together pages in a way that best fits their needs.
When the app is finished, it is stored on the Webmaker.org site, where it can be accessed from either a phone or a computer browser.
Webmaker can run on smartphones with Android 4.0 or newer. Initially, Webmaker is available in four languages, Bengali, Brazilian Portuguese, English and Indonesian. Additional languages will be supported in future releases.
By default, people who access Yammer via their web browser will be taken to a new “Discovery” feed on the service’s home page that is supposed to better show them relevant content from their groups along with other public teams across their company’s network. It’s supposed to help keep people in closer touch with important discussions they may be missing on Yammer.
After users finish reviewing new content in one group, Yammer will display a pop up banner with a link to the next group they’re subscribed to that has new content. Yammer’s mobile apps will get similar functionality through a new Group Updates feed that lets users see a list of different conversations in various groups all on one screen. That way, they won’t have to look through individual groups to get the same information. That feature will begin rolling out on Android first before making it to Yammer’s iOS app.
In addition, Yammer is also tweaking the design of individual groups’ pages. Now, each group will have a full-width banner at the top of its page, and discussions within the group can now take up a wider space on the page to aid in lengthier discussions. The whole page has also been redesigned to focus users’ attention on important content.
Icons in the left-hand sidebar will show the users that are active in groups they are a part of, so they can stay up-to-date on where conversations are happening in real time. It’s a move that could make Yammer more competitive with popular chat solutions like Slack, which has been growing incredibly rapidly and was recently valued at $2.8 billion.
Yammer’s mobile app also gained support for attaching files from external storage services like OneDrive and Dropbox, inviting coworkers to a user’s network by email and mentioning people in comments.
There’s even more up Yammer’s sleeve on top of all these updates. The social network’s iPhone app will soon have a companion version for the Apple Watch that will let people interact with content from their coworkers.
The updates come at a time when Microsoft is putting more effort into improving its workplace collaboration tools.
The increase is the largest ever seen between reporting periods by Twitter, wrote Jeremy Kessel, Twitter’s senior manager for global legal policy, in a blog post Tuesday.
The Transparency Report from the company indicated that government requests for account information in the first half rose by 52% and affected 78% more account holders than in the second half of last year.
The scope of the report has been expanded to include information on notices of alleged trademark violations and a section where users can check how different email providers handle the privacy and encryption of email messages from Twitter.
The total number of government requests for account information worldwide was 4,363 in the first half and referred to 12,711 accounts across Twitter, Vine and Periscope. Twitter received 2,436 requests from the U.S. that specified 6,324 accounts, which came largely in the form of subpoenas, which are usually orders to testify or provide information. In the second half of last year, the U.S. had made 1,622 information requests affecting 3,299 accounts.
Content removal requests were also on the upswing at 26% higher in the first half of this year in comparison to the second half of last year, and came primarily from Turkey and Russia. The number of accounts impacted also went up by 11%.
The increase in content removal requests reflect growing sensitivity in some countries over the use of social media for propaganda and communications by terror groups and political extremists.
A security research firm has a problem with Facebook’s privacy settings and systems that could enable the mass harvesting of personal details.
The problem stems from the storing of mobile phone numbers that it was important for the social network to have, and the exploitation of people who have chosen to share their digits with the service.
Users who have linked a mobile phone number to their account are at risk of an attack that uses guesswork and effort to break them down and make off with their details.
Reza Moaiandin, software engineer and technical director at security firm the SALT Agency, said that he discovered the fault and informed Facebook about it “months ago”. His public post was designed to encourage Facebook to heed his warnings.
Moaiandin said that he effectively stumbled on the problem, and wasn’t looking for flaws when he fell onto one. Elsewhere, including in Belgium, flaws in the Facebook privacy proposition are a very hot topic.
“A few months ago, I discovered a security loophole in Facebook that allows hackers to decrypt and sniff out Facebook user IDs using one of Facebook’s APIs in bulk – therefore allowing them to gather millions of users’ personal data (name, telephone number, location, images, and more),” he said.
“Through this, a hacker can then communicate with Facebook’s GraphQL to get as many details as possible, by passing the hashed ID.
“Unfortunately, for the 1.44 billion people currently using Facebook, this [problem] means that sophisticated hackers and black market sellers can access names and mobile phone numbers in as little as an hour through reverse engineering – at a time when an entire identity can be sold for as little as $5.”
The researcher said that he went to Facebook in April, but that the firm’s response was not enthusiastic and it did not consider the problem to be significant.
We poked Facebook to see what it has to say about this. The company did not specifically address Moaiandin’s concerns, saying only that it takes user privacy very seriously and trusts those that use its APIs to do the same.
“The privacy of people who use Facebook is extremely important to us. We have industry leading proprietary network monitoring tools constantly running in order to ensure data security, and have strict rules that govern how developers are able to use our APIs to build their products. Developers are only able to access information that people have chosen to make public,” said a spokesperson.
“Everyone who uses Facebook has control of the information they share, this includes the information people include within their profile, and who can see this information. Our Privacy Basics tool has a series of helpful guides that explain how people can quickly and easily decide what information they share and who they share it with.”
Facebook Inc unveiled new features will allow businesses to privately communicate with customers through messages as part of the social networking company’s push to make its Messenger app a stand-alone platform.
Businesses can now include a “send message” button in ads that appear in Newsfeed that allow Facebook users to click a button and send messages, which are private. If users post a comment on a business’ Facebook page, then the business can privately message that person
The features are part of Facebook’s efforts to convince more small and medium-sized businesses – especially those in emerging markets, such as India, Brazil and Indonesia - to advertise on its platform.
By giving them direct access to customers, the world’s largest social network hopes to show that advertising on Facebook directly leads to increased sales.
To encourage quick responses, Facebook will award “very responsive to messages” badges on business pages that respond to 90 percent of messages and respond on average within five minutes. People will, however, still be able to block private messages from businesses.
The features will be especially valuable in southeast Asia, Facebook wrote in a blog post. About twice as many Thai and Singaporean users use Facebook messages to communicate with businesses each month and most Southeast Asia users follow some company pages.
Facebook hosts more than 40 million active small and medium business pages, it said, with more than 1 billion page visits each month.
At 140 feet, it has the wingspan of a Boeing 737, but doesn’t transport passengers — and it’s much lighter too, weighing in at no more than 1,000 pounds. And within the next couple months, Facebook hopes to get its drone off the ground on an inaugural test flight.
Named Aquila, the aircraft is the product of more than a year’s work at the social networking giant. Its function is not to drop retail items from the clouds like Amazon’s drones, but to provide Internet access to the hundreds of millions of people who don’t have it in under-served parts of the world. Facebook aims to partner with carriers and other companies to provide connectivity, potentially at a lower cost than typical infrastructure like cell phone towers.
Aquila comes out of Facebook’s Connectivity Lab, formed last year to develop new technologies for expanding Internet access. The company also hired team members from U.K.-based unmanned aircraft maker Ascenta.
The drone is just one element in the company’s master plan to improve Internet access, which also includes satellites and data-carrying laser beams. But it might be the most awe-inspiring.
“If you think about these little quadcopters, that’s not what we’re building,” said Jay Parikh, Facebook’s global head of engineering, during a talk on the status of the company’s efforts at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
The plane’s entire surface is covered with solar panels. It’s meant to stay up in the air for three months at a time, at an altitude between 60,000 and 90,000 feet. That’s above commercial airlines and above the weather. It could potentially provide Internet access to people in a 50-kilometer (31-mile) radius, Facebook says.
Facebook has been flying scale models of the plane at altitudes of less than 400 feet. After on-the-ground testing, the company is now close to being able to launch the Aquila for a test flight, possibly at a location in the U.S., Parikh said.
The plane itself will receive Internet connectivity from a free space optical communication system, or lasers, also developed by Facebook. The lasers use light to transmit data through space. In this case, the laser system will beam an Internet signal to the plane from the ground.
Yahoo, which did not disclose terms of the deal, said Polyvore will accelerate its ‘Mavens’ growth strategy.
The company has been focusing on four areas — mobile, video, native advertising and social — which it calls Mavens, to drive user engagement and ad sales as it battles intense competition from Google Inc and Facebook Inc .
Revenue from Mavens made up about one-third of the company’s total revenue in the quarter ended June 30.
The Mavens portfolio includes BrightRoll, mobile app network Flurry, mobile ad buying platform Yahoo Gemini and blogging site Tumblr.
Polyvore, the brainchild of 3 ex-Yahoo engineers, was started in 2007.
The Mountain View, California-based company allows users to mix-and-match articles of clothing and accessories and customize them into “sets”.
Polyvore’s co-founder and CEO Jess Lee was earlier part of Google Inc’s associate manager program, which Marissa Mayer headed before joining Yahoo as CEO.
“This is unacceptable and we’re not happy about it,” Jack Dorsey, who stepped in as interim chief executive on July 1, said on a call with analysts.
Twitter said it had 304 million core users in the second quarter, up from 302 million in the prior quarter.
Twitter’s struggles to increase its audience worries investors, who are focused on the company’s growth potential, and the latest figures did little to reassure them.
The data on users overshadowed the company’s second-quarter earnings and revenue, which exceeded expectations, and its bullish projections for future revenue.
Executives also made clear it would be a long process, and were candid about problems with the service.
“We do not expect to see sustained meaningful growth (in monthly active users) until we start to reach the mass market,” Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto said on the call.
“We have not clearly communicated Twitter’s unique value. And as a result non-users continue to ask, ‘Why should I use Twitter?’ “Simply said, the product remains too difficult to use.”
Twitter recognizes “there is an issue that needs to be worked on,” Evercore ISI analyst Ken Sena said. “They were giving investors a sense of the challenge and I think the stock sell-off that you saw just reflected that.”
Internet.org turns one year old this week, and Facebook says it’s ready to scale the project to reach more people.
The company is making it easier for more mobile operators to join the project by launching an online portal where they’ll find technical tools and best practices to help them get started.
So far, Facebook has been working with about a dozen operators in 17 countries to provide an app that gives people free access to a set of basic Internet services.
According to Facebook, people who use the app quickly become paying subscribers — something that will no doubt appeal to the mobile operators it’s trying to partner with.
“Internet.org brings new users onto mobile networks on average over 50 percent faster after launching free basic services, and more than half of the people who come online through Internet.org are paying for data and accessing the Internet within the first 30 days,” Facebook said.
The Internet.org mobile app is perhaps the most tangible element in Facebook’s efforts to expand Internet access — and its own services — to more people throughout the world. It’s also using satellites, drones and lasers that can beam Internet signals through space to bring people online.
While the number of people with Internet access continues to grow, 4.2 billion of the world’s roughly 7.4 billion people will still be offline by the end of the year, according to data from the International Telecommunication Union.
The Internet.org app typically includes a stripped-down version of Facebook and access to other free services like weather reports, health information and services for finding jobs.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said Facebook could become the Internet on-ramp for the world.
Police in Beijing have raided a factory that made more than 41,000 fake iPhones worth as much as 120 million yuan ($19 million), including some that reached the United States, and have arrested nine suspects in the counterfeiting operation.
Apple is one of the most popular brands in China, where authorities have stepped up efforts in recent years to dispel the country’s reputation for turning out counterfeit goods.
Officials have taken stiffer action to enforce intellectual property (IP) rights, pushed firms to apply for trademarks and patents and cracked down on fakes.
Police arrested nine people, including a married couple who led the operation, after a raid in May on the factory, run under the guise of a gadget maintenance shop on the northern outskirts of the Chinese capital.
The details were revealed in a social media posting on Sunday by the public security bureau in Beijing.
The group, headed by a 43-year old man, surnamed Yu, and his 40-year old wife, surnamed Xie, both from the southern hardware manufacturing city of Shenzhen, allegedly set up the Beijing factory with six assembly lines in January, the bureau said.
They hired “hundreds” of workers to repackage second-hand smartphone components as iPhones for export, it added.
Police seized 1,400 handsets and large quantities of accessories during the May 14 raid. In the United States, the newest Apple Inc handsets can fetch $649, or more, depending on the model.
Beijing police said their investigation followed a tip-off from U.S. authorities who seized some of the fake devices.
The destination of the counterfeit phones, and how many made it there, remains unknown.
Public security representatives declined to comment on Monday, telling Reuters they had no additional information.
Apple also declined to comment, saying the investigation was ongoing.