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Word of the partnership came out earlier this week via Ars Technica. According to leaked documents, well-known Machinima YouTube video creators were paid a bonus by Microsoft for highlighting the Xbox One in their video content. However, the terms of the agreement stipulated that Youtubers not disclose they were being paid to promote the console. In other words, they were getting paid to pimp the system but were told not to tell anybody — nor say anything untoward about the Xbox One.
Danny’s father Greg, on the other hand, isn’t quite so fond of it.
Privacy is fast becoming a legal hotbed, and while it’s something that’s certain to impact traditional game makers in one form or another, it’s mobile developers who are increasingly finding themselves in the crosshairs.
It’s an election year. And despite 2011’s historic Supreme Court ruling, you really didn’t think video games were going to be dropped from the political agenda, did you?
As predicted, privacy is fast becoming a legal hotbed — and while it’s something that’s certain to impact traditional game makers in one form or another, it’s mobile developers who are increasingly finding themselves in the crosshairs.
The revelation of a marketing firm that claimed to be paying writers at high-profile online outlets to insert links to its client websites has dredged up old concerns about the ethical nature of some bloggers.
Gawker writer Hamilton Nolan shined the light on the company, which calls itself 43a, last week, posting a series of emails from what appears to be a company principal that offered up to $175 every time he linked to a site from one of their clients. In those notes, the 43a rep claimed to have worked with notable sites such as The Huffington Post and Business Insider, and had a client list that included Dell, Motorola Mobility and T-Mobile.
The Commission has proposed several amendments to the privacy rules that are meant to protect kids under 13, the most notable of which is adding geolocation information to the definition of personal information.
We certainly have no problem getting caught up in the fun of playing games, but the people who create them have their pocketbooks to worry about, too. In this column, finance expert and GameSpy contributor Chris Morris guides you through the tricky corridors the gaming industry’s financial side, touching on big-time business decisions and how they matter to the common gamer.
After being subjected to political and legal attacks for years, the gaming industry got one hell of a shield last month as the U.S. Supreme Court definitively stated “Video games qualify for First Amendment protection.” It was cause for celebration — for investors, for developers, and for gamers. But it hardly meant that the attacks were over… or less dangerous. For several publishers, a new fight is already looming.
“I don’t think this puts an end to it, ” says Dan Offner, a partner with law firm Loeb & Loeb, who specializes in the video game industry. “It may put a pin in it for a short period of time, but I see the regulation of mature content with respect to minors as a hot-button issue for the Federal Trade Commission and the various state governments. It’s the end of round one, but round two is about to start [and] I don’t see the industry getting a big breather.”
As the video game industry celebrates Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which formally recognized video games as entitled to First Amendment protection, many are assuming the political fight that has loomed over the industry for years is finally over.
That’s wrong. In fact, it’s simply the start of Act 2.
Amid stories of parents being shocked to see their children inadvertently racking up huge bills while innocently playing apps like Smurfs’ Village (a Farmville-like game centering on the little blue folk), the FTC reportedly plans to review the marketing and delivery of apps that include in-app purchases.


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Spectre and Meltdown are threatening devices across the globe, and iPhone users are also bearing the heat. Apple has rolled out an update to its operating system on iPhone with iOS 11.2.2 for iPhone and iPads.
iOS 11.2.2 carries security update that’ll help users stay protected against the malicious Spectre and Meltdown bugs, which exploit critical vulnerabilities in modern processors.
These hardware bugs allow programs to steal data which is currently being processed on the computer.
While programs are typically not permitted to read data from other programs, a malicious program can exploit Meltdown and Spectre to get hold of data stored in the memory of other running programs, according to folks at the Graz University of Technology and Zimperium Security.
The data can include passwords stored in a password manager or browser, personal photos, emails, instant messages and even business-critical documents.
All Intel processors since 1995 with a few exceptions are affected by these bugs. Zero AMD vulnerability protects devices running on ARM processors.
Apple and Google have both released software updates for their respective mobile operating systems — iOS and Android — in the form of iOS 11.2.2 and Android security patch dated January 5, 2018.
iOS 11.2.2 Update for iPhone and iPads
It is recommended for all iPhone and iPad users to update their devices to the latest iOS 11.2.2 update to safeguard against the threat posed by Spectre and Meltdown bugs.
That’s why Apple has released mitigations in Safari to help defend against Spectre with the iOS 11.2.2 update.
How to update iPhone to iOS 11.2.2
To update your devices go to Settings –> Find General and tap on it –> Tap on Software Update. Once the device finds the update, tap on Download and Install.
Your iPhone/iPad will then start downloading the update. Once completed, the device will reboot and the update will be completed.

domain: news


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Apple has released a security update to its Mac OS X operating system, fixing a number of critical security issues in the software.
Those lamenting the choices in the battle against Apple's iPad are now being given two options from Hewlett Packard: WebOS or Windows.
Apple has a revamped Apple TV dubbed iTV scheduled to launch this September, sources within the company purportedly told Digg founder Kevin Rose.
Users of Apple's iTunes services should keep a close eye on PayPal and credit card statements for fraudulent iTunes charges.
As smartphones and tablet computers infiltrate medical operations, doctors are finding new applications to provide shortcuts for their busy work days. That includes a new voice-enabled medical search app for the iPhone announced by Nuance Communicati...
Despite Apple's talk about environmental friendliness, subscribing to iPad magazine apps now requires you to kill a tree.
Sure, if someone steals your iPhone, you might be able to remotely wipe it in order to protect sensitive data. But what about catching the thief? An Apple patent application, filed earlier this year but posted online Thursday, describes sophisticated...
A top executive at JLJ Holdings, the parent company of a Singapore-based Apple supplier named in an alleged kickback scheme, has stepped down from his position "for the time being" as the company pursues an investigation of the charges, it said Thurs...
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak shared memories about memory on Thursday at the Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, California.
About 40 different Windows applications contain a critical flaw that can be used by attackers to hijack PCs and infect them with malware, a security researcher said Wednesday.
Court papers filed by the U.S. Government and Apple against a former manager detail a scheme that allegedly saw confidential Apple data supplied to Asian electronics companies over more than three years in return for kickbacks of more than US$1 milli...
An HTC tablet running Google's Chrome operating system will be sold by Verizon Wireless in late November, according to an unnamed source cited by the blog Downloadsquad.
The Dell Streak tablet, which goes on sale Friday in the United States, is a sturdy device just daring you to drop it. But if you do need to take it apart and fix it, that's not a problem, according to iFixit, which this week tore the device open for...
Most IT professionals share one thing with the Apple manager accused of accepting millions in bribes and kickbacks, a firm that develops secure file transfer software said today.
Apple has pulled Grooveshark's music streaming application from its store due to a complaint from a major entertainment company just days after the application launched.
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Sponsored: For the love of family
Volvo line fits right in with couple’s life plan
After Laura Harness and Tracee Franklin’s son Peyton was born four years ago, they set out to find the safest vehicle possible to protect what was most valuable to them.
“Every decision we make, whether it is planning our weekend or purchasing vehicles, revolves around how it will affect him,” Harness said. “We have collectively purchased over 20 vehicles in our lifetime, but owning that first Volvo embodied everything our family stood for: safety, excellence, integrity, loyalty and exceptional service.”
They started with research.
“We were becoming unsatisfied with the customer service and vehicle acquisition experience of other manufacturers,” Franklin said. “We started researching new vehicle reviews through several consumer sites. We decided that a Volvo would be our next family vehicle. After touring Volvo dealerships throughout Central Texas, we found comfort and professionalism at Roger Beasley Volvo-Austin.”
And the couple are already on their third vehicle from the dealership.
“The first interaction with Roger Beasley Volvo was through their Internet Sales Department,” Harness said. “Since we live in Georgetown, we wanted to communicate our needs ahead of time. (New Car Sales Manager) Shannon Petty and her team made us feel like we were part of their Volvo family immediately.”
They started with a 2010 Volvo XC60 SUV.
“We wanted room and comfort, along with proven superb safety and handling,” Franklin said. “We were not disappointed.”
Then they encountered the Volvo XC70 wagon as a loaner car.
“We fell in love with the design and utility of the vehicle and decided that would be perfect for soccer games, play dates and preschool,” she said.
And most recently, they bought a Volvo S60 T5 Platinum sport sedan.
“It is wonderful to have a vehicle that gives you performance, handling and appearance without sacrificing passenger protection,” Harness said. “We have to admit we take turns having fun with all of the driver/passenger settings: navigation, media, Bluetooth, but what is extremely impressive is the Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) and City Safety.”
The sedan separates itself from competitors in many ways.
“The S60 T5 Platinum Sport Sedan is so quiet and accommodating,” she said. “The various makes and models that we have previously owned have had unbearable road noise, coupled with rough handling, during daily commutes. Volvo has maintained a high standard in overall feature presentation.”
And aside from the vehicles, the couple are happy they chose Roger Beasley Volvo.
“Volvo has exceeded our expectations and played a major factor in our marital travel plans, from the flattering cargo space to the luxurious leather seating of our most recent purchase, the S60 T5 with Platinum Sport package,” Franklin said.
The couple also said the Service Department has been marvelous.
“Any time our vehicle has needed routine maintenance or inspection, we have been able to schedule a take-home vehicle around our busy life,” Harness said. “That is an excellent service for families with children and who live out of the immediate area. We have never had this kind of personal service from a dealership service department.
“We would like to praise Shannon Petty and her exceptional team. We know we will always receive an outstanding vehicle with Roger Beasley Volvo-Austin, but what we never imagined is that we would gain invaluable friendships!”
See for yourself and test drive the 2014 Volvo S60, which starts at $32,400, today at Roger Beasley Volvo or Volvo of Georgetown.


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October 9 can’t come any sooner for fans of Google hardware as we expect that more than just the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL will be announced that day. One of the rumored products that will be unveiled that day is the Google Home Hub, their own smart display that will be similar to the previously released ones like JBL’s Link View and Lenovo’s Smart Display. A new leaked image now shows that there may be a charcoal version of the device that will come out.
The leaked image doesn’t say much about the device except to show that the rear of the device and the frame, as well as the base and stand will be in charcoal. But the front plate may just be white, just like the previous Chalk version that was leaked. The power cable in the image is also white so this may very well be the case. The slant may also give viewers a more natural viewing angle although it doesn’t look to be that adjustable so we don’t know how comfortable it will be eventually.
Previous leaked documents show that it will have a 7-inch LCD panel and will have full-range speakers and far-field microphones since of course this will be a device that will be hugely reliant on Google Assistant. It needs to be able to have good listening and feedback capabilities. It should be able to let you watch videos, stream music, and connect to and control other smart devices in your house.
However, if you think you’ll be able to do your video calls through the device, rumor has it that you won’t. Despite both the JBL and Lenovo smart displays having the capability to do so, Google Duo will reportedly not be available in the Google Home Hub, specifically because it doesn’t have a camera.
We cant see from the leaked image if there really is none, so we’ll have to wait until the official announcement is made on October 9. It would be weird if it really doesn’t have a camera and can’t make voice calls, but at least it would be less intrusive.
VIA: Android Headlines
September 27, 2018 at 04:06AM


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Tata Motors to supply over 2,300 buses to various State Transport Undertakings
Tata Motors, India's largest bus manufacturer, has bagged the prestigious order of supplying over 2300 buses to various State Transport Undertakings, namely Rajasthan (RSRTC), Karnataka (KSRTC/ BMTC/ NWKRTC), Uttar Pradesh (UPSRTC), Tamil Nadu (IRT), and Andhra Pradesh (APSRTC). Tata Motors mentioned in the official statement that it will be working towards completing the order by February 2020. Tata Motors offers a vast range of buses that caters to luxurious intercity travel options, to safe transport and driver-friendly choice. The company claims to be leading the bus segment not only by technological benchmarks but also by adapting innovations in both city and rural areas in India.
Commenting on the latest update, Rohit Srivastava, Product Line Head, Buses, Tata Motors stated, "With the governments continued thrust towards providing smart safe and convenient alternatives of public transport, we at Tata Motors acknowledge the proactive approach of various STU's to maintain a sustainable mass public transportation system. We take great pride in having the opportunity to provide best-in-class mobility solutions. Our in-depth understanding of sustainable public transport for different markets and customers is what differentiates us from our competitors. With an order size of over 2300 Tata Motors buses across, we look forward to a continued partnership with all the STUs, in their endeavor to reinforce the public transportation system in their respective cities."
Tata Motors currently designs, develops and manufacturers its buses in Pune, Dharwad, Pantnagar and Lucknow. Besides its partnership with ACGL of Goa for bus bodies, Tata Motors also has a joint venture with Marcopolo S.A. of Brazil, one of the largest bus body manufactures' in the world, for fully built bus (FBV) solutions. Tata Motors' approach of manufacturing FBVs (Fully Building Vehicles), meets the government's new norms in terms of safety, fuel efficiency, wider bus gangways, with the flexibility to be powered by both CNG and Diesel. With an extensive product portfolio of future ready buses, Tata Motors will continue to play an active role in mass public transportation, with a commitment towards striking the right balance between sustainable growth and profitability.
Tata Motors 9m electric bus flagged off from Kolkata
Earlier this year, Tata Motors bagged an order of supplying 80 electric buses to the West Bengal Transport Corporation. In the first phase, Tata Motors has already supplied 20 Ultra Electric 9/9m AC E-buses while the second batch of 20 9/9m AC E-buses will be delivered by March 31, 2019. The remaining 40 9/12m AC electric buses will be supplied to WBTC in a phased manner. These electric buses are being manufactured at the company's Dharwar plant. Tata Motors claims that their electric buses will have a driving range of 150km in one single charge. They have also installed charging stations at Nonapukur, Kasba, Newtown and Belghoria. Additionally, fast charging enables stations will be positioned at Howrah and Santragachi.
Tata claims that these buses offer 50 per cent lower fuel costs, 20 per cent better energy consumption and lower maintenance downtime as compared to diesel buses. These buses can occupy 31 passengers, come equipped with air-conditioner and also feature air suspension for both front and rear axles. The buses have been tested and validated by Tata Motors across states including Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Assam and Maharashtra.
Tata Motors 9m Electric Bus Flagged Off from Kolkata
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Tag View: Website Launch
New Website Launch Elarbee Law
We are excited to announce the launch of another website.ElarbeeLaw.com
New Website Launch - CelebrateWithStamps
We've created a new blog site CelebrateWithStamps.com. Why? Well, because it outlines ways to use stamps, and our client Expressionery.com sells personalized stamps. As Q3 and Q4 roll along, you will see the site content blossom with holiday ideas,wrapping techniques and great projects for kids. Oh, and it will also have the latest and greatest Expressionery discounts available as well.
New Website Launch - TVCProDrivers
Elarbee Media is proud to announce the launch of TVCProDrivers.com. TVC Pro Drivers serves the commercial trucking industry supplying legal support to members that need to defend traffic violations but who may not be available to appear in court.
New Website Launch - Mariel USA
Mariel, a multi-national refrigerant company based out of Italy, selected Elarbee Media to develop and launch their brochure site for the US Market. From Photography, Product Sell Sheets and Web Design, the product presentation has been completely overhauled for the US Market. MarielUSA.com
New Site Launch WPS Advisors
Elarbee Media is proud to announce the launch of the WPS Advisors Limited site. www.wpsadv.com
New Website Launch Tat3dUSA
New Website Launched AutoHelpine
Elarbee Media is proud to announce the launch of another new client website AutoHelpLine.com.
New Website Launch Black Creek Precision
Elarbee Media is happy to announce the launch of the Black Creek Precision website. The strategic re-branding, additional functionality and clean imagery should all enhance BCP's chances for success. www.blackcreekprecision.com


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The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announces the licensing of a new payment financial technology company, namely: Smart Digital Payment company (Tiqmo) to provide E-wallet services. This brings the total number of payment companies licensed by SAMA to 22 companies, in addition to 5 companies were granted an In-principle Approval.
This comes as part of SAMA's role to promote the development of the financial technology sector to ensure ultimate stability and growth of the sector. This step aims to contribute to the sector growth while complying with SAMA's regulatory requirements in line with SAMA's mandate to enhance overall financial stability and support greater opportunities of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.
In this regard, SAMA reiterates its commitment to support and facilitate the development of Fintech sector, encourage innovation and increase efficiency in financial transactions in a bid to boost financial inclusion in the Kingdom. This also support the objectives of the FinTech strategy by making the Kingdom one of the world's leading countries in the field, and it will contribute to the economic empowerment of the Saudi society and its citizens by promoting further innovations in technology-based financial services.
Meanwhile, SAMA emphasizes the importance of dealing with licensed or authorized financial institutions. For further details, please check SAMA's website.


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Putting local florists at the heart of Valentine’s Day
Working with Florismart and The British Florist Association, our PR work focuses on raising awareness of the UK’s independent floristry industry, highlighting the skilled craft of floristry. In turn, we want to encourage Brits to value and favour the work of their local high street florists over supermarket alternatives.
With Valentine’s Day being such a key moment for florists all over the country, we used the day to draw attention to independent florists.
We came up with a fun survey story that brought out our key messages. Along with pinpointing the exact point in a relationship when someone expects Valentine’s Day flowers, we highlighted how 62.7% women prefer flowers bought from a local florist over supermarkets and mass-produced online retailers.
With our fun and light-hearted story, we secured five national pieces of coverage, two consumer pieces and one influencer piece. Overall, this secured an opportunity to see (OTS) for our stories of more than 76.3million.
Alongside the print editions of the Daily Mirror and Daily Record, we secured the below online coverage:
- Metro Online: A guide to Valentine’s Day depending on how long you’ve been dating
- Shortlist.co.uk: These are the unwritten rules about buying your other half flowers on Valentine’s Day
- Metro Online: Six heartbreaking Valentine’s Day tales which will make you believe love is dead
- Country Living: 6 flower and bouquet trends for Valentine’s Day 2018
- DailyRecord.co.uk: Edinburgh florist’s Valentine’s Day rose bouquet stays in bloom for THREE years
- Cubkit Blog, Best flowers for Valentine’s Day
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Glenwood, Minnesota-headquartered non-powered GSE manufacturer FAST Global Solutions is building its presence outside the US, with the European market a particular priority. President and CEO Dane Anderson was on hand at inter airport and explained to Airside the thinking behind a new partner manufacturing facility opened up in Macedonia in south-eastern Europe
The Macedonian facility has 50,000 square metres of space, bringing to more than 100,000 square metres the company’s total available manufacturing space. The facility benefits from modern equipment, while the labour force there is highly skilled, Anderson informed. Macedonia, while not part of the EU, nevertheless has good access to Western European markets and the new facility will enable FAST to get much closer to its European customers (and save time and money on shipping to the Continent). Overall, he added, the new addition represents “a perfect fit for us”.
The factory will manufacture various lines from FAST’s wide-ranging GSE and airline parcel equipment portfolio, which takes in dollies, baggage carts, passenger stairs, belt loaders, platforms, scissor lifts and tyre carts, amongst other GSE types.
FAST’s new European sales representative also came on board during this past year. Able to speak Arabic as well as a number of European languages, he also acts as the company’s agent in the Middle East regional market. Finally, FAST also has its own spare parts and service support location in Paris.
The company has sold into more than 80 countries over its history, so exporting its product and supporting that equipment beyond North America is by no means a new departure for FAST, but there is clearly an increased focus on the potential for additional sales in Europe and elsewhere.
FAST’s product is certainly well suited to the European market, Anderson noted. Moreover, the company is adding more galvanised equipment to its range, as well as making other changes to product lines that it feels will be more generally favoured on the eastern side of the North Atlantic.


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NonWoven Recycling TiO2 BioPET
Crude Oil Prices Trend
The Thai subsidiary of Teijin Frontier Co, Ltd is to launch a new facility to convert used domestically-produced plastic bottles into recycled polyester chips for the production of high-quality polyester filament.
Teijin Frontier, the Teijin Group’s fibers and products converting company, announced today (19 October) that its core base for polyester fibre manufacturing, Teijin Polyester (Thailand) Limited (TPL), plan to start operations at the new site in January 2022. It expects the facility to produce 7,000 tonnes of recycled polyester chips annually by fiscal 2025.
Teijin Frontier says it will install cleaning equipment and the latest repelletising machine for removing foreign substances from recycled PET bottles before they are molded into chips. TPL will use Teijin Frontier’s proprietary quality-control technologies in its system for turning Thai plastic bottles into recycled polyester chips for the production of polyester filament. The raw yarn produced at TPL will be used in Teijin Frontier’s Ecopet recycled filament yarn.
Products made with recycled materials have been growing in recent years due to increasing environmental awareness. In addition, Teijin Frontier notes the demand for recycled polyester filaments as well as staple polyester fibres has increased significantly. To date, Teijin Frontier has been procuring recycled raw materials to meet these growing demands. In the interim, the company has been seeking recycled-polyester raw material suppliers that could help the company both to eliminate high-impact long-distance transportation and to optimise its resource-cycling operations. Despite its best efforts, however, the company eventually determined that it would not be possible to secure stable, high-quality bottle flakes in the vicinity of Thailand, where Teijin Frontier’s main plants are located.
Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: APDN) (Applied DNA or the “Company”), a leader in Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based DNA manufacturing and nucleic acid-based technologies, today announced signing a mutual collaboration agreement (the “Agreement”) with Ganesha Ecosphere Ltd. (BSE: GANECOS) (Ganesha), the largest recycled polyester (rPET) fiber producer in India with over 300-plus customers, 250-plus suppliers, and 500-plus product variants. Under the terms of the Agreement, Ganesha will deploy the CertainT® platform, Applied DNA’s traceability system, to tag an initial pilot production of recycled polyester (rPET) at Ganesha’s facilities in India and conduct confirmatory samples testing at Applied DNA’s laboratories in India and the U.S. The collaboration between the two companies will provide brands and textile manufacturers with a trusted solution to support their sustainability goals for rPET and confirm raw material authenticity at all stages of the textile value chain.
The Agreement enables Ganesha to introduce and apply CertainT-verified rPET to provide assurance for the raw material with textile and apparel customers. Ganesha will also employ Applied DNA’s recently introduced SigNature® T-100 tracer system that enables rPET source material to be quantified in polyester blends by the CertainT platform. SigNature T-100 is a proprietary molecular-based tracer system used to identify, analyze, and verify rPET, polypropylene, acrylic, and potentially other man-made materials for claims of both identification and quantification of the raw material tagged and subsequently spun into yarn for various textile products.
“Traceability has now added more authenticity and credibility to the entire textile supply chain and is becoming an integral part of the recycling process. With Applied DNA and CertainT, our customers can now trust in the original tagged synthetic fiber and verify product-related sustainability claims,” stated Mr. B.P. Sultania, Joint President of Ganesha Ecosphere Ltd. NonWoven Recycling TiO2 BioPET
Coca-Cola has announced the first planned commercialisation of technologies to convert second-generation biomass to plant-based monoethylene glycol (bMEG) in association with Changchun Meihe Science & Technology and UPM.
Monoethylene glycol (MEG) is one of the major components in polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used for plastic beverage bottles.
The new technology marks the most significant advancement in the commercial viability of bioplastics since Coca-Cola introduced the first-generation technology in its PlantBottle packaging in 2009.
The move will commercialising a process that is not only more efficient than current bMEG technologies but is based on feedstock that cannot be used as source of food.
Nancy Quan, chief technical and innovation officer at The Coca-Cola Company, said, “The viability of this next-generation biomaterial is a significant technological breakthrough in our ongoing efforts to reduce our use of virgin oil-based plastics, by increasing our use of recycled and renewable alternatives. NonWoven Recycling TiO2 BioPET
Starlinger & Co. GmbH is adapting technology that will provide a simpler, lower-cost approach to completely closing the loop when recycling polyolefins for food-grade applications.NonWoven Recycling TiO2 BioPET
Along with allowing for up to 100 percent recycled content in packaging, the new method also will cut the cost of processing, said Armin Villa, regional sales manager for Starlinger, while on the Fakuma trade show floor in Friedrichshafen.
Starlinger has just received letters of no objection from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to utilize its recycled pellet reconditioning system created earlier with odor reduction in mind to help boost polyolefin recycling capabilities for food-grade applications.
Adaptations of the system now allow customers to close the loop and use 100 percent recycled content for high density polyethylene milk bottles and HDPE caps through the FDA letters of nonobjection. Previous approaches limited recycled content to 50 percent.
A key to the new approach is that recyclers need to know where the HDPE has been and how the material has been used.
“It only works on materials where you can ensure the traceability is given of the materials,” Villa said. NonWoven Recycling TiO2 BioPET
The reconditioning system was developed in recent years to remove suborn odors from recycled HDPE bottles holding products like detergents and shampoos.
“All materials where there still might be a smell in it,” Villa said. The changes now allow for food-grade resin recycling at 100 percent.
A new fibre has been developed that can be made into clothing that tracks stretching and compression, then provides immediate tactile feedback in the form of pressure, lateral stretch, or vibration.
Developed by researchers in the US and Sweden, the fabrics could be used in garments that help train singers or athletes to better control their breathing, or those that help patients recovering from disease or surgery to recover their breathing patterns.
The multi-layered “OmniFibers” contain a fluid channel in the centre, which can be activated by a fluidic system. This system controls their geometry by pressurising and releasing a fluid medium, such as compressed air or water, into the channel, allowing the fibre to act as an artificial muscle. NonWoven Recycling TiO2 BioPET
They also contain stretchable sensors that can detect and measure the degree of stretching. The resulting composite fibres are thin and flexible enough to be sewn, woven, or knitted using standard commercial machines, the researchers said.
ROHA adds the NIVEOUS range to its product portfolio –safe, natural & clean label white food color alternatives to Titanium Dioxide. NIVEOUS colors are innovative color solutions for panned candies, gummies and jellies, and beverages. Made from combinations of starches and/or calcium carbonate, they maintain whiteness and are a natural white opacifiers. NIVEOUS pigments are insoluble with a high reflective index, have exceptional stability to heat and light, create whitening effect in low dosages and offer incredible brightness levels. With no compromise to visual appearance and texture, they promise a safe and a sustainable white option, while reducing workplace safety concerns. This makes them the ideal replacer to TiO2 in confectionery and beverages.
NIVEOUS Product Portfolio
NIVEOUS is free of all the problems of TiO2. So if you are a food manufacturer impacted by the latest EFSA ruling on the use of TiO2 as a food additive, you now have the alternative you need. NonWoven Recycling TiO2 BioPET
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Europe is a leading region of innovation in plastic recycling and bioplastic technologies, a new study published today by the EU Green Deal. (EPO) shows. Europe (referring to the region covered by the 38 member states of the European Patent Convention) accounted for 30 percent of patenting activity worldwide in these sectors between 2010 and 2019. This was matched only by the US, which also accounted for 30 percent.
They are the only major centres of innovation truly specialising in plastic recycling and bioplastics, the two major areas of technological advances in reducing plastic waste, which is one of the main targets of the EU Green Deal.
Leading fibre producer will introduce new recyclable, recycled and bio-based denim solutions during Hyosung Denim Days. NonWoven Recycling TiO2 BioPET
Denim is increasingly being held to environmentally friendly standards as consumers put pressure on brands and retailers to reduce jeans’ ecological footprint.
In response, Hyosung has developed a number of sustainable denim solutions, which the company looks forward to presenting to industry during its personalized Denim Days event taking place in New York City, Los Angeles and London on select dates in November 2021.
creora 3D Max spandex – for recyclable jeans
Circularity is top of mind and denim brands and mills are following Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Jeans Redesign guidelines for recyclable denim. Jeans Redesign’s standards are meant to create jeans that are both more durable and easier to separate and recycle.
The nonwovens industry is ready for a more sustainable future: one that’s not reliant on virgin resources, where microplastic emissions are eliminated, and where disposable single-use items are biodegradable. At Infinited Fiber Company we are on a mission to use our fiber regeneration innovation to make this future a reality with our Infinna™ fiber, which looks and feels soft and natural like cotton – and is currently created 100% out of textile waste. NonWoven Recycling TiO2 BioPET
That’s why we’re headed to INDEX™ 20 (Tuesday 19th – Friday 22nd October). We’ll be showcasing the potential of Infinna™ for the massive nonwovens industry as a regenerated material alternative to conventional fibers.
Made of cellulose, Infinna™ is a biodegradable fiber that contains no microplastics. Its unique creation process also gives it naturally occurring antimicrobial properties, and testing shows it doesn’t irritate or sensitize skin. When made with Infinna™, nonwovens start their journey from a great place: capturing the value of existing resources that would otherwise be landfilled or incinerated, and lessening the burden on the Earth’s precious virgin resources.
Infinna™ has already been widely endorsed by the fashion industry, and some nonwovens producers have already put it to the test with promising results.
The Lenzing Group is expanding its sustainable offering for the denim industry with the introduction of matte Tencel branded lyocell fibers.
The new fiber type is specially designed to scatter light and permanently diminish sheen in denim applications, further enabling versatile, indigo-dyed denim fabrics.
“As a leader in fiber production, we work closely with our customers and mill partners to address their product needs,” said Tricia Carey, director of global business development for denim and the Americas for Lenzing AG. “Our partners wanted the option to choose denim fabrics that are less shiny and we listened. By implementing an innovative production process to create matte Tencel lyocell fibers, we are setting a new standard for indigo applications.” NonWoven Recycling TiO2 BioPET
By combining functionality with aesthetics, Carey said the introduction of matte Tencel lyocell fibers increases versatility in denim designs while reducing the ecological footprint of the resulting fabric and garment.
NonWoven Recycling TiO2 BioPET


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Apple had one of the most expensive laptops on the market with its 16-inch MacBook Pro, but now that AMD has just outed its new Navi 12 GPU -- the first with HBM2 memory -- a new Radeon Pro 5600M enters the chat.
If you purchase a new 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro with AMD's new Radeon Pro 5600M, then you're looking at over $7000. You're not getting a hardware slouch, but a beasty 8-core Intel Core i9 CPU at up to 5GHz, a huge 64GB of DDR4 memory, and an insane 8TB of fast PCIe-based SSD storage.
Once you include some software for the Apple macOS-exclusive side of things in Final Cut Pro X and Logic Pro X, because many of these 16-inch MacBook Pros would be sold like that ($500 separately) we have a final cost of $7200.
The DDR4 RAM upgrade from 16GB to 64GB costs $700, while the jump from the Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB of GDDR6 to the new Radeon Pro 5600M with 8GB of HBM2 memory also costing $700. But man, it's all in the SSD storage upgrade that adds a gigantic chunk to the cost.
Upgrading the 16-inch MacBook Pro from its 1TB of SSD storage to 2TB costs $400, upgrading to 4TB costs $1000, but upgrading to 8TB costs a huge $2200.
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Jared Kalfus Promoted to President of Black Book
Lawrenceville, GA (December 14, 2021) – Black Book, known in the automotive industry for providing timely, independent, and precise vehicle pricing, data, and analytics, today announced that Jared Kalfus has been named president of the company, which includes Canadian Black Book, effective immediately. The announcement was made by Tom Cross, whose promotion to president of Hearst Transportation was previously announced.
Kalfus was most recently executive vice president, revenue, at Black Book. He joined the company in 2012 and previously held licensing and sales leadership positions, including senior vice president of sales.
“Jared has a strong history of leadership, industry experience, and growth,” said Tom Cross, President of Hearst Transportation. “I am proud to announce him as the person who will lead Black Book’s industry-leading data and analytics into the future.”
Kalfus has spent his 26-year career in the automotive industry at leading companies, including Cox Automotive/Manheim, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and CarsDirect.com. Kalfus holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida.
“I am honored to be chosen to lead the company during such an innovative and exciting time in our industry,” said Kalfus. “Black Book has a rich, 66 year history of serving the automotive industry, and I am privileged to be entrusted with this iconic brand. Our employees are top notch, and our data and analytics are best-in-class. We are committed to adding even more value to our customers.”
About Black Book
Black Book® is a leading provider of automotive vehicle pricing and analytical services that are delivered to industry-qualified users through mobile, online and Data as a Service applications. Since 1955 Black Book has continuously evolved to ensure that it achieves its goal of delivering mission-critical information to its customers, along with the insight necessary to successfully buy, sell, and lend. Black Book data is published daily by National Auto Research, a Hearst company, and maintains offices in Georgia as well as Toronto, where Canadian Black Book is based. For more information, please visit BlackBook.com or call 888.696.6057.
Posted in: Press Releases


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Online Sales Tax UK Table of Contents
In July the government broke the news that a new 2% sales tax could be imposed on internet enterprises or as a possible new consumer distribution tax. The tax aims to raise around 2 billion a year, thereby contributing to a reduction in some costs of the COVID-19 effect. In conjunction with e-commerce websites such as Amazon, not only are dreams of leveling the economic playing field for highways. The existing digital sales tax (DST) will run along with the new tax.
The tax itself has not yet been verified, but it has left smaller digital enterprises questioning how to plan appropriately. We also asked Tom and Chris, from BDO's Indirect Tax team, how the tax could impact businesses, if applied, in their experience in dealing with similar taxes in other jurisdictions.
Currently, the government has not officially revealed the tax, with continued internal negotiations on the autumn budget in advance. There is also a possibility that certain businesses will not be caught by the tax even though it is enforced.
Once we have more details, there might be exemptions,' Tom says. suspecting a lot of fine information would be examined and maybe some company will have an impact.
Chris assumes that if anything happens, the tax will be some time in progress. Within months or even more than that, a lengthy policy process could be underway determining which firms are being impacted by the new legislation.
Having said that, it's worth looking at the improvement, because companies, who believe once it is revealed they're in the peak spot on the proposals, would not believe the final results are very different from what has been proposed.
Chris considers that the biggest impact will be on certain companies who do not have the resources required for the introduction of the new tax.
After adopting its pricing systems to suit the need, for example, most companies will know more about VAT in some way and function consequently. The big companies who know more about the cross-border ways of operating at various VAT rates and other charges have already developed online services. But, on a realistic level, smaller companies that are not multinational can find the brunt of that.'
Imposing a new, additional tax is likely to result in companies with no strategy for the coming years to upgrade their IT processes, payment processing, and price structure.
They might not be able to charge and pay for both the VAT factor and the extra internet sales tax,' says Chris, 'and this can be expensive. And this tax can also be examined by another country, if it is applied correctly they might start doing it also and it will require more adaptation.
Tom thinks Tech as a huge business would not get hugely affected, provided that the aim of the tax is for bricks and mortar shops and internet retailers to level their playing field. There's no highway matching part to contend against streaming platforms or app developers, he said, but the highway profits directly if the tax increases Amazon's cost, It would just have a real impact on retail technology companies and goods distribution.'
The timing of the new tax has not been decided, although it is expected to take some time to introduce because of its creativity and sophistication. You have the additional issue of the impact of COVID-19 on present-day economic growth, Chris says. It is possible that if COVID-19 makes internet shopping a requirement for everyone, the government would press ahead in an effort to increase the expense of the online economy.
Tom suggests that organizations would prefer, in addition to guidelines, to know whether the party involved would have fair terms. If a UK corporation is concerned, the authority will obviously go to its premises and make evaluations if necessary, Although if it is a company that is based abroad, then it can be very difficult to impose these fees.
All well-known online shopping sectors will like to ensure there will be agreement protocols when the tax is imposed and when there is guarantee companies could start leaving the country.
However, once the current regulations are enforced, the company would certainly not automatically leave the UK. Chris says: 'Even with the repercussions of events this year, Britain has a large economy which is very lucrative for retailers with the right proposal. I don't necessarily regard a proposed tax as an opportunity to enter or stay on the online market, especially given the broader economic environment provided by COVID-19.'
The taxes creating in the UK is expected to take place all over the world when they are experiencing the issue as them.
Scroll down to read our indepth Ecommerce Platforms guide. What you should know, Ecommerce Platforms features, price plans and support. Pros and Cons of Ecommerce Platforms as a ecommerce, everything is explained below.
Shopify is a software company that specialises in ecommerce software for small to enterprise level businesses.
Shopify is listed as the best ecommerce software related to Ecommerce Platforms. Shopify was founded in 2006 in Ottawa, Canada and currently has over 6,124 employees registered on Linkedin.


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Miami, FL, January 24, 2013 --(PR.com
)-- Xtraice, the leading global company in the manufacture and distribution of ice rinks closes 2012 with an outstanding turnover of 2 million euros, reaching the company’s annual predictions.
Despite the current time of global financial crisis, many companies are succeeding in achieving success thanks to a combination of fundamental factors: they offer a special product and succeed at brand internationalization.
When Xtraice was created in 2003, the company’s vision and objective was to establish itself as global leader of synthetic ice rinks, offering the global market a unique formula with valuable advantages in comparison to what was already available. This new formula allows for the practice of ice skating during any season, as its components are able to support extreme temperatures and weather conditions.
Xtraice has created a plastic rink which shares the most similarities with conventional ice compared to other products on the market, as confirmed by industry professionals. The NHL Florida Panthers and well respected professionals, such as Surya Bonaly and Philippe Candeloro are firm fans of this artificial ice and have spoken of their complete satisfaction with the products of Xtraice. Eurodisney in Paris has one of Xtraice’s large ice rinks which has become a thriving visitor attraction for the theme park.
At the end of 2012, Caixa Capital Risc invested 800,000 euros into the Brand with the aim of boosting the company’s growth and allowing the brand to reach a greater number of potential markets at a faster rate. With this injection of capital, predictions for 2013 exceed those of 2012 by 75%, as Xtraice hopes to achieve a turnover of 3.5 million euros.
In order to achieve this ambitious figure, Xtraice has taken on 20 new employees who will strive to build Xtraice’s presence across North American and European markets.
Xtraice’s ecological ice rinks can already be found in 56 countries around the world. Due to its unique formula which is simple to maintain and conserve, Xtraice has been able to install ice rinks in locations where it was previously impossible due to extreme weather conditions. A vast amount of countries already accustomed to this practice in addition to countries that practice ice skating and ice hockey less are trying out this new ecologically friendly version of the sport.
Xtraice possesses the quality certificate of environmental management ISO 14001, which is an important advantage in countries who are especially concerned with ecology and the environmental. These countries consider this certificate to be an in indispensable requirement at the time of selecting suppliers. Xtraice’s product is 100% ecologically friendly and non-toxic and for this reason the company no longer considers its product to be a plastic ice rink but instead an ecological ice rink.


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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has been a part of the rumour mill for several weeks now. Various speculations have surfaced regarding its camera configuration. There have been reports that suggest the South Korean tech giant could feature only a Snapdragon chipset on the Galaxy S23 series. Notably, Samsung utilised Exynos chipsets in some markets for its S series smartphones in the past. A notable tipster is now suggesting that the Galaxy S23 Ultra could feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC.
According to a post by tipster Ice Universe on Weibo, the Galaxy S23 Ultra will be powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. Furthermore, the handset could be equipped with a 5,000mAh battery. The tipster further added that this upcoming handset is likely to weigh about 228g and have a similar thickness to its predecessor the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Samsung is yet to delve into any details regarding the Galaxy S23 series.
Recent rumours suggest that the Galaxy S23 Ultra could feature an unannounced 200-megapixel ISOCELL HP2 camera sensor. This sensor is said to have a pixel size of 0.60μm. Furthermore, it is expected to be able to record 8K videos at 60fps.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra could reportedly also come with a 10-megapixel telephoto camera. This camera is said to offer 10x optical zoom and is believed to be the same sensor utilised in the Galaxy S22 series.
To recall, the Galaxy S22 Ultra was launched in India earlier this year in February. It packs a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC and a 5,000mAh battery. For optics, the smartphone sports a triple rear camera setup highlighted by a 108-megapixel primary sensor along with 12-megapixel and 10-megapixel secondary sensors. It sports a 40-megapixel selfie camera on the front as well. The handset runs on Android 12 with the One UI 4 skin on top.
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By Khine Kyaw
Myanmar Eleven/Asia News Network
Though investment by French firms in Myanmar has accounted for less than 1 per cent of the total forฌeign direct investment, the figures are likely to surge over the next few years as the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CCI French Myanmar.
Julien Esch, president of CCI French Myanmar, said that the MOU paved the way for how the chambers should work together to strengthen ties between Myanmar and France.
“We are excited about the future of Myanmar. We expect to see improvements in a wide range of sectors as well as our activities in Myanmar. The relationship between Myanmar and France is very strong, and we are eager to cooperate together,” he said.
Esch considers infrastructure, hospitality and tourism, oil and gas, electricity and energy, construction, healthcare and food production as the “most promising areas” for bilateral cooperation. .
“Myanmar has a lot of opportuniฌties and the people here are hardworking. It is very important that regulations are clear. What is more important is to maintain the (growth) momentum and to find acceptable solutions for the issues you are facing,” he said.
According to Esch, clear rules and efforts to simplify the process of doing business will lead Myanmar to becoming an investment hub in Asean. He noted there were a lot of things to be done in Myanmar in spite of positive developments under the National League for Democracy govฌernment.
In an effort to support French companies which are interested to enter Myanmar, CCI France Myanmar has been sharing its knowledge and business contacts through its office in Yangon since the past few years. It also organises French business delegations to major cities in Myanmar and conduct a lot of training. Next week, a French business delegation will visit Mandalay to discuss with the business community in Upper Myanmar.
Esch said the joint chamber now has a team of seven fulltime employees and 135 members which are French and Myanmar companies. He expects the membership to keep growing yearly.
The Commerce Ministry statisฌtics show that Myanmar imported $128.35 million value of goods from France while it exported over $282.8 million in 2015. The key imports from France included machinery, mechanical appliances, plastics, pharmaceutical products, glass and glassware, paper and paperboard, etc. France mainly imported vegetables, certain roots and tubers, clothฌing accessories, pearls, wood and artiฌcles of wood, charcoal and textile products from Myanmar.
According to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, six French firms have been approved to bring in the capital of US$542.4 million, ranking France 12th among 49 investor counฌtries in Myanmar. Yet, Esch claimed about the statistics as French comฌpanies has been doing business in the country since its period of isolation under the military junta.
“The figures are to be checked carefully. A lot of French businesses are using their Asian subsidiaries to enter into the Myanmar market because the market was difficult and faraway from France. So a lot of French companies use their subsidiaries in Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong to invest in Myanmar. Sometimes, the figures you see from DICA are not reflecting exactly,” he said.
Zaw Min Win, president of UMFCCI, was also delighted to sign the pact.
“There are vast opportunities for increasing bilateral economic coopฌeration and both sides need to coopฌerate more intensely to further promote bilateral trade and investment. I am sure that the MOU signed today will be instrumental in achieving this goal,” he said.
He believes that France can help Myanmar a great deal with its efforts to develop industrially, as it is a highly-developed country in terms of technology and economy.
Zaw Min Win invites French investors to participate in the nation’s new economic era through responsible investments and share benefits on a winwin basis. He is confident that the enactment of Special Economic Zone Law, the establishment of three SEZs and the enactment of Myanmar investment Law will attract French businesses to come to Myanmar.
“Myanmar is rich in natural resources of fertile land and water. We are also blessed with highly valuable gems such as the famous Myanmar rubies, jade and other gems, gold, silver, copper, tin, and a wide variety of minerals. We possess the ninth largest oil and natural gas resources in the world. But due to lack of a well-developed industrial base, we have depended heavily on income obtained from the export of primary agricultural, forest, mine products and others,” he said.


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China is idle about a third of its refining capacity, amid soaring world gasoline prices.
A series of China’s oil refineries are shutting down as the world’s second-largest economy is still grappling with Covid-19. If utilized, this supply of gasoline and diesel could help cool the global fuel market Bloomberg.
The world oil refining industry has been undergoing major changes over the past few years. Factories in Europe and North America are gradually closing. Covid-19 accelerates this trend. Meanwhile, most new facilities are being built in developing countries, especially in Asia and the Middle East.
In China, many new plants are called super refineries. These facilities can produce both gasoline and petrochemical products. Its rapid growth also means that the country may already be the world’s largest oil refiner. According to the Economic and Technological Research Institute of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), by the end of 2020, the country’s refining capacity will be 17.5 million barrels a day. This number will touch 20 million by 2025.
For the US, BP’s latest figures show that the country’s refining capacity is 18.14 million barrels in 2020.
However, China’s refining industry is primarily designed to serve the huge domestic market. The Chinese government controls fuel exports through a quota system that also applies to private companies. And although Beijing has been gradually allowing more exports recently, it does not want to become a major exporter of oil products, as it runs counter to its goal of decarbonizing the economy.
“China’s absence from the export market has had a profound effect on the region and globally,” said Jane Xie, senior oil analyst at Kpler. China’s refining capacity has increased significantly in the past 3-5 years. However, this did not translate into increased exports.
China’s major state-owned refiners, which contribute three-quarters of the industry’s output, are now operating at 71% of capacity. The ratio in private companies is 64%, CITIC Futures said. Many private facilities are located in Shandong province, which does not allow fuel exports.
Even under normal conditions, China does not export many oil products to foreign countries. Last year, for example, customs data showed they exported 1.21 million barrels a day of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. This figure accounts for only 7% of refining capacity at the end of 2020.
This year, instead of increasing exports as domestic demand declines, they did the opposite. Only about 17.5 million tons of fuel were licensed for export, down sharply from 29.5 million tons in the same period last year.
In Singapore, profits from refining crude into diesel have increased to $60 a barrel, from $10 at the beginning of last year. That’s the equivalent of Chinese refiners missing out on profits of $372 a ton, according to consulting firm OilChem.
Beijing’s unwillingness to increase output is affecting everywhere in the world, from US consumers to factories in Europe. However, the biggest losers are China’s Asian neighbors, such as Sri Lanka or Pakistan, where there are severe fuel shortages, dragging down the domestic economy.
Ha Thu (according to Bloomberg)


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Samsung's effort to establish a more significant presence in the stateside wireless market continued earlier this week as the company confirmed Verizon selected it as its main supplier of network equipment for its experimental 5G service that will be coming to Houston in the final quarter of the year. The Texan metropolis was announced as Verizon's third 5G testbed several days back, with Samsung being set to provide the telecom giant with both routers and radios meant to enable the next generation of connectivity in the area.
Samsung and Verizon previously partnered on a wide variety of 5G tests, having experimented with everything from millimeter-wave communications to tablets capable of using the new wireless standard. The South Korean technology giant will also be supplying networking gear to Verizon in Sacramento, another major U.S. city that's scheduled to receive the network operator's experimental 5G service later this year. While Samsung faced significant difficulties in penetrating the U.S. wireless market due to spectrum incumbency during the 3G and 4G LTE eras, the fifth generation of mobile networks is providing the company with an opportunity to start anew and establish its presence in the industry from the very beginning, the firm's Marketing Director Derek Johnston said in a statement to Mobile World Live earlier this week.
Samsung and Verizon's 5G plans in the United States are presently focused on fixed wireless access solutions meant to rival broadband Internet services, though the firms previously signaled they'll be looking to build on their existing collaboration moving forward. Following limited deployment set to take place in late 2018, large-scale 5G buildouts in the country are expected to start next year, with all national carriers previously promising to reach countrywide coverage by 2020. Samsung's arrival makes the wireless market more competitive and may end up reducing 5G deployment costs, at least in terms of routers and radios compatible with the wireless standard that's promising to revolutionize telecommunications and drive massive economic growth by enabling a broad range of new technologies.


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MLB The Show 22 revealed that it will add a player responsible for one of the most legendary moments in World Series history to this year’s edition of the annualized sports simulation. With each new episode of MLB The Show, developer Sony San Diego likes to add new players from the past to the game’s overall roster. And while we’ve already seen two Minnesota Twins players being added in 2022, another name major also joined the game.
Sony San Diego announced on social media today that Kirk Gibson, who is a former National League MVP winner, will be coming MLB The Show 22. Gibson had a nearly 20-year career with teams such as the Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Kansas City Royals. However, his most famous moment as a player came in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series when he hit a home run to win for the Dodgers. The timing wasn’t just a big deal because he picked up a World Series victory for the Dodgers, but Gibson himself was seriously injured at the time, leading announcer Vin Scully to state emblematic: “In a year that has been so unlikely, the impossible has happened!”
Welcome to the show @23KGibby!
1988 NL MVP Kirk Gibson is a new legend in #MLBTheShow 22. Tune in to the Nintendo Switch feature premiere today at 3 PM PT to see its new in-game home run celebration.
YouTube: https://t.co/5A84aYAarE#OwnTheShow pic.twitter.com/bdevEQb1WE
— MLB The Show (@MLLBeShow) February 24, 2022
While the addition of Gibson to MLB The Show 22 is a big deal on its own, Sony San Diego seems to have taken its involvement one step further. Specifically, Gibson’s famous trot home run that saw him pump his fist in jubilation after the aforementioned World Series circuit will also be introduced. MLB The Show 22. In fact, Sony San Diego will show off the animation in action via a new gameplay video that’s slated to drop this afternoon.
If you didn’t already have the launch date of MLB The Show 22 Circled on your calendar, the game is set to release this year on April 5, 2022. It’s also coming this season to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One and, for the first time, Nintendo Switch.


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This is how a new crop of companies are trying to reinvent banking
Financial technology, better known as fintech, has exploded over the last 5 years.
The rate of investment is growing by 45% annually and $13.7 billion was ploughed into startups in the space in the last year alone, according to CB Insights.
As investment booms, finance and banking are being transformed by innovations like peer-to-peer models, crowdfunding, and contactless payments.
These changes have been driven not by established financial players, but by startups including now-huge players like LendingClub, Kickstarter, and Funding Circle.
Nauiokas worked in mainstream finance at places like Bear Sterns, Barclays, and Cantor Fitzgerald before setting up Anthemis in 2008.
"We spent quite a long time in this space trying to convince people of the future," she says. "You'd seem like a crazy person running around with a spreadsheet about how all the businesses were going to change on the back of technology and innovation. Some would listen and some wouldn't."
Those who didn't are likely all ears now.
Loans: 'They're doing things that were impossible 5 years ago'
Perhaps the biggest area of upheaval has been in the way people and organisations lend and borrow money.
Traditionally, banks had the monopoly on this. They took deposits, and extended credit. In the process, the banks make money by charging borrowers more interest than they offer savers.
But recently a crop of startups have found a way to squeeze these margins and offer a better deal to savers and, often borrowers, by adapting an online model first popularised by music piracy - peer-to-peer.
Platforms like LendingClub and Prosper in the US and Funding Circle and Zopa in the UK have exploded in popularity, doing hundreds of millions of dollars and pounds in loans and attracting huge valuations.
"One of the big things that P2P lending is doing is really making it easier for people to borrow money - that's the big value proposition," says Peter Renton, the founder of global peer-to-peer conference LendIt.
Where banks can take weeks to approve a business loan, peer-to-peer lenders take as little as 24 hours. The platforms automate huge parts of the underwriting process and plug into a myriad of data sources.
Renton says: "It's easier, it's quicker, it's more user-friendly. These companies are not steeped in finance, they don't have necessarily this background thinking that things have to be done in a certain way. They're reinventing the wheel in a much more efficient way.
"Kabbage is the most innovative small business lender on the planet. They deliver a loan to a small business lender in 7 minutes. The way they do it is they connect all the data and the more data you connect with them, the cheaper it's going to be.
"It started off with eBay data. They pull in all your eBay data and see what's your daily sales volume, ratings. Now they pull in dozens of sources - UPS data, Amazon, QuickBooks, Yodlee, Yelp, Facebook. They're doing things that would have been impossible 10 years ago, that probably would have been impossible 5 years ago."
Renton says that "this is the true innovation in this industry - the ability to work with data, databanks won't work with or can't work with."
There are a crop of online-only loan companies who aren't following the peer-to-peer model but are still beating the banks at lending by simply using data in a smarter way, making them faster and easier for borrowers.
Banks are starting to recognise the skill of many of these startups. SunTrust Bank acquired online lender FirstAgain in 2012, later re-branding it LightStream.
Faes says: "The short-term mortgage market is quite specialist. Banks see the short-term market as a good opportunity but they can't really be bothered to go set up a desk, to hire business development people, to originate deal flow, to hire underwriters.
"It's a lot easier to come along to a platform like LendInvest. That is really where peer-to-peer ends up. You get specialists in origination in particular asset classes and institutions come to them to get exposure of particular assets."
Payments: Blockchain is coming
Alongside the way people lend cash, the way we pay for things is also being overhauled.
"We're just coming out of probably a good 3 years of being pitched any and all payments model," says Pascal Bouvier, a partner at fintech venture fund Route66 and a fintech blogger. "I'm personally suffering from payments indigestion."
On the business side, companies like Sweden's iZettle and Square in the US are making it easier for small businesses to accept card payments through cheap terminals. Companies like Sweden's Klarna and Stripe in the US also make it easy for small businesses to accept card payments online.
Meanwhile on the consumer side, services like Apple Pay and bitcoin are offering people new ways to pay for the good they buy.
Like the lending startups, the key appeal of these money transfer businesses are they make sending money abroad easier, faster, and cheaper. TransferWise uses peer-to-peer to match people with others sending money in the opposite direction, saving fees.
WorldRemit specialises in sending money to mobile wallets in emerging markets, essentially digitising the Western Union network.
Bouvier says: "A lot of the investments to date were on the easy stuff - digitalisation of front-end distribution channel, personal payment solutions, some type of debit card coupled to an app."
But now there are signs of deeper changes in payments, within the so-called "rails" - the deep-rooted infrastructure used to actually process payments within and between banks.
22 banks from around the world, including JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, and Barclays, recently formed a coalition to develop common standards and use cases for the blockchain in banking.
The blockchain is the software that both powers and regulates cryptocurrency bitcoin. In its most basic form, it records ownership of bitcoin, as well as transactions.
Transactions are signed off by the parties involved using the software, then added to the blockchain, a long string of code that records all activity.
Once other transactions are added on in front of an exchange, the exchange is stuck there forever and can't be changed, in the same way you can't change a brick once it's been built into a wall.
The coalition of banks looking to adapt blockchain to mainstream finance is headed by R3, a startup headed by 32-year Wall Street veteran David Rutter. 22 top investment banks are now signed up.
Rutter told Business Insider recently that while payments are one use for the blockchain in finance, his remit is to explore everything from issuing shares on blockchain to using it as a "smart contract", where the code generated is itself the contract.
Investment: 'Platforms like ours deal with thousands of investors'
The blockchain could have a big impact on investment then, as well as payments. And investment is another area of finance that has already undergone huge changes thanks to technology.
The most noticeable change in investment over the last few years has been the rise of crowdfunding. A model pioneered in the US by Kickstarter, crowdfunding lets ordinary people fund projects online, either by lending them money or buying equity in the project or company.
In the US, platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo are dominated by idea or cause based crowdfunding campaigns - people can fund cool ideas like the Pebble smartwatch before they're built, or even a new project from a big company like chip maker Marvell.
The "crowd" buy in just like traditional investors would when buying shares, rather than fund a specific project. The big difference between buying shares on the open market is there's no way to trade once you own them.
But soon that could change too - Crowdcube, the UK's biggest crowdfunding platform, recently partnered with City of London stockbroker Numis and the pair plan to launch the world's first crowdfunded IPO next year.
At the time the partnership was announced Crowdcube CEO Darren Westlake told Business Insider: "IPOs are obviously public offerings, but if you look at what's happened over the last couple of decades it's been less and less possible for ordinary people to participate, as the majority of the listing have been filled out by institutions.
"The reason for that is because whoever's running the book, it's very difficult for them to deal with thousands of people rather than just one institution. However, platforms like ours have been set up to deal with thousands of investors - that's where our strength is."
Another big development in investment is the introduction of social and gaming elements. Israeli platform eToro lets investors "follow" other traders to see what they're buying and selling. There's even a feature that lets investors automatically copy the trades of people they follow.
And companies like Acuity Trading, Selerity, and iSentium are trying to harness data from platforms like Twitter to give an indication of investor "sentiment", which in turn gives them an idea of which way to trade.
A recent study from the European Central Bank found Twitter has a "statistically and economically significant predictive value" for stock markets in the US, UK and Canada.
Challenger banks: 'You don't go to the banking sector for tech'
There's plenty of competition in the US banking sector, but in Europe, and particularly the UK, the landscape is dominated by a few big players.
This new crop of lenders prioritises technology. Atom Bank, Mondo, and Starling are 3 pre-launch challenger banks in the UK that are planning to have no branch network and operate primarily through mobile phone apps.
Atom Bank CEO Mark Mullen told Business Insider in June: "Our inspiration is not coming from banks. You don't go to the banking sector for technological excellence. We're working with tech companies with credits in the motor industry, gaming."
Germany's Fidor was one of the earliest to pioneer a banking model that works more like an app store than a traditional lender.
Fidor offers core services, but it also lets customers use third-party products like peer-to-peer loans or currency trading. The bank is more like a marketplace where people can shop around.
Fidor CEO Matthias Kröner told Business Insider he sees the role of a bank becoming the guardian of a customer's identity, acting as a trusted gateway in the same way Facebook does when you use it to log into other sites around the web.
Kröner said: "A bank's role in future will be protecting your identity. Identity will be the biggest asset."
The future: 'Things are barely beginning here'
Not all parts of finance are being turned upside down though. One big area that has yet to be revolutionised is insurance.
Investors and companies want that to change - an accelerator programme to help insurance startups grow is launching in London next January, backed by big names like UK car insurer Admiral and German insurer Allianz.
Route66's Bouvier told Business Insider: "Insurance companies need to be way better at sifting through universes of structured and unstructured data. Things are barely beginning here - the network of data that's going to be coming out of the internet of things is going to be massive."
Insurance has plenty of room for new business models like peer-to-peer and efficiencies like automation that have hit finance over the last few years.
More broadly, we're likely to see many of these innovations enter the mainstream. TransferWise CEO Kristo Kaarmann recently tweeted: "Hope we'll graduate from fintech to finance. We don't call uber cartech nor BI newstech."
Banks and established financial firms are increasingly looking to work with fintech startups to help them keep up with the pace of change.
UBS has launched a competition to find startups to work with; Barclays runs a fintech accelerator programme; and banks like Santander, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan are all investing in companies in doing everything from bitcoin to peer-to-peer loans.
Anthemis' Nauiokas told BI: "I think where you'll see the success stories is with banks and financial institutions that recognise they can't do it all, but instead identify the areas in technology reform where they do have an edge and partner with someone to do the rest.
"That's going to be a model that will be very successful for some financial institutions."
Fintech is going mainstream.
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M-real completes €16M upgrade to the coating section of its Kemi, Finland, paper mill; production to begin in January 2012 for current, new double-coated grades
November 25, 2011
– M-real Kemi had two reasons to celebrate in November - its 40th anniversary and the start of a new era in double-coated Kemiart grades.
The M-real Kemi mill first opened in October 1971. In its jubilee year, M-real has invested EUR 16 (USD 21) million to upgrade the coating section at the mill, to help support customers’ businesses with improved higher quality products. The investment was completed in October. Initial results of the production test period for the double-coated products confirm that Kemiart will retain its global leadership in coated white top kraftliners.
Testing will continue until the end of the year. During the transition period, beginning in January 2012, all current grades and new double-coated grades will be produced.
If you are interested in learning more about the M-real Kemi mill please visit:


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The AI and tech that will take over the restaurant industry.
We previously discussed social distancing and contact-free technology that offered safety solutions during the pandemic. But there’s much more that tech has to offer, especially when it comes to AI being integrated into guest order systems, training, and restaurant operations. Here are some standout tech innovations that forward-thinking business owners are investing in today in restaurant technology:
Voice-based tech is fast growing and increasingly evolving the guest ordering experience. Prominent restaurants of the QSR space are integrating voice-ordering into their apps. For example, Denny’s customers can order through Amazon Echo (Alexa) (1); Dunkin’ and Domino’s Pizza have also deployed bot and voice-enabled ordering by Alexa, Siri or Google Home, and Chipotle Mexican Grill rolled out voice AI to power their mobile orders in 1,800 of their locations (2). Just last year, McDonald’s announced its plans to bring AI voice technology to its drive-thrus after they acquired the voice-recognition startup Apprente (3). These drive-thrus would allow customers to place their orders like any voice-assistant-enabled order taker, except that these systems would use machine-learning techniques to learn and continually improve based on actual orders and spoken language (4). According to Rob Carpenter, founder and CEO of Valyant AI, a Colorado-based artificial intelligence company focused on QSR customer service, “AI ultimately provides an intelligent, convenient and informed customer service experience by way of improved order speed and accuracy” (5). “Drive-thru chains are inaccurate more than 10 percent of the time, and the average speed-of-service times have slowed down significantly in the face of such high employee turnover.” Meanwhile, digital employees work to improve order accuracy and decrease wait times (5).
Self-order kiosks can now use a camera to recognize regular customers and make suggestions based on a customer’s previous order history. “Once you opt into facial recognition, you can reorder and pay for your favorite dish in less than 10 seconds,” said Christopher Sebes, President of Xenial, Inc., producer of such self-order kiosks (6). These facial recognition systems are gaining popularity, and already in use at places like modern Asian street food restaurant Wow Bao, as well as the fast-growing high-end burger chain, BurgerFi. “Self-serve kiosks and tablets are gaining favor as a way to speed up service without sacrificing the human touch,” said Sebes. It also “encourages higher check averages and results in healthier sales. Guests seem to appreciate the ability to spend time studying photos, ingredients, and nutritional information, as well as easily request more food or drinks as the meal progresses” (6).
Consistent Training and Optimal Scheduling
When it comes to running a successful business, operators understand how training plays a crucial role. But just as with people, training must evolve and continually be improved upon. According to Steven Yee, COO for EDUonGo, the creator of Kiwi LMS focus on restaurant employee training, an optimal training regimen requires quality data collection (7). “It is difficult to know what changes need to be made in the existing training,” said Yee. “With AI, however, restaurants are positioned to collect relevant data, thereby improving their customer service, creating a better training experience for employees, and fostering a safe workplace culture” (7). AI can now collect a wide variety of information ranging from the length of time an employee stays in the portal, how often they log on to review materials, the success rate of their quizzes, and the completion rate of certifications (7). One restaurant that has adopted AI-based employee training is Modern Market Eatery, a farm-to-table restaurant based in Denver (8). By embracing mobile training platforms, such as PlayerLync, and implementing training within the real-life workspace, the restaurant has access to a variety of integrated technology systems that notify staff of menu or recipe changes as they occur, contributing to employee success and efficiency.
Scheduling staff times is also made easier with AI. For example, AI can now predict labor demand, handle on-call shifts, and allow employees to swap shifts with minimal manager intervention (6). According to Sebes, it even “determines which of your staff tends to do the most up-selling, and give those team members priority for high-volume shifts.”
Up to Date Inventory
POS systems that manage inventory and purchasing capabilities are already well established by now, but we expect AI to optimize these capabilities with the use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags which use electromagnetic fields to identify and store information about the object the tag is affixed to. According to Nely Broad, author and regular contributor of a tech news company BitRebels.com, RFID will allow operators to collect and trace vital pieces of information such as type, quantity, and origin of a product through its life-cycle (9). For example, when an RFID tag is placed in specified containers for a particular product, anyone would be able to scan an RFID reader and learn about the product’s history. The RFID tag would allow for easy inventory management, as scanning RFID tags would send a message to your inventory management software letting you know that the item is in stock (9).
RFID tags can also help ensure the safety and quality of your products. Food industry workers can monitor the temperature of foods—for instance, on milk containers that would contain an expiration date, the temperature, and other pertinent information (9, 10). When suppliers track the temperature of the milk through the information collected from the tags, the milk’s temperature can be tracked from the source, during shipment, and when it is delivered to the store.
The potential for AI to enhance all aspects of food ordering, restaurant operations and staff management is practically endless. We’ve seen how AI saves time and money, increases productivity and efficiency while reducing human error and labor costs. As more businesses embrace AI, begin to change the customer experience and their expectations of what foodservice can be, we’ll surely see these new restaurant techs take over the industry.


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At New York's JFK and LaGuardia airports, travelers can now use Apple iPad kiosks at departure gates to order meals from participating airport restaurants. Meals are delivered within 10 minutes. Customers are informed of an exact meal delivery time so they can plan to feast accordingly.
The airport iPad meal delivery service will be available at multiple gates in JFK and LaGuardia by next year. The new initiative is part of a series of investments Delta is making in the NY market, including an ambitious $1.2 billion plan to improve and expand JFK Terminal 4. Other airports in other parts of the US are soon to follow.
Whose idea: OTG Management and Delta Airlines
Why it's brilliant: Personalized food delivery at airports saves passengers a lot of time, and it allows them to pick out food they really want to eat without waiting in lines. Just relax at the gate, scroll through a list of food on the airport-provided iPads, and wait for the meal to arrive.
This combination of technology and food delivery will improve the airport dining experience and get users to experience Apple's latest project first-hand. This sounds like a win-win.


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African airlines, others witness drop in business
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released demand growth data for global airfreight markets for March 2016, showing a two per cent drop in volumes measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs) compared to the same period last year.
In contrast, freight capacity (measured in available freight tonne kilometers or AFTKs) rose by 6.9 per cent, putting increased pressure on already struggling yields.
The weak results reflect subdued growth in world trade, exaggerated by the comparison to a particularly strong start to 2015 when airfreight volumes were boosted by the effects of the US West Coast seaports strike.
The most significant fall in demand was reported by carriers in Asia-Pacific and North America. Combined, they account for around 60 per cent of global freight traffic and reported declines of 5.2 per cent, and 1.8 per cent, respectively.
Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of IATA, Tony Tyler, said it is shaping up to be another tough year for air cargo, adding that February 2016 world trade volumes were only 0.4 per cent higher than at the end of 2014.
Tyler added that the expectations of purchasing managers gives little optimism for an early uptick, stressing that the combination of fierce competition, capacity increases and stagnant demand makes this a very difficult environment in which to generate profits.
On region-to-region analysis, African airlines witnessed a 3.1 per cent drop in demand in March 2016 compared to the same period last year. A more modest decline of 1.6 per cent was seen in year-on-year Q1 performance.
Notably, on the back of long-haul expansion, the AFTKs for African airlines surged by 22.6 per cent year-on-year over the first quarter of 2016. This is more than double the pace of any other region in recent months.
European airlines saw demand for air cargo grow by a modest 1.3 per cent in March 2016, compared to the same period in 2015, while capacity increased by 7.9 per cent. Weak cargo demand is a continuing story for European carriers for whom cargo volumes stand at just 1 per cent above early 2008 levels.
Middle Eastern carriers reported a 2.4 per cent increase in demand over March last year—the slowest since July 2009. This reflects both a slowdown in network expansion by the region’s main carriers over the past six months and weak trading conditions.
North American airlines saw demand fall by 1.8 per cent in March 2016 versus March 2015, partially due to the rollover effect of the US port strike in 2015, which gave airfreight in the region a boost. Additionally, the region’s carriers are negatively impacted by the drop in global trade while the strong US dollar is keeping exports under pressure.


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A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the only Internet connections possible were through landlines and modems. Now, Wi-Fi is so ubiquitous that it’s only at the front of people’s minds when it stops working. However, even as New York City starts to install some of the country’s first public Wi-Fi hotspots, retailers invested in the future of beacons should draw lessons from an ongoing hurdle in Wi-Fi proliferation: channel interference.
Mashable explained that as brands continue to eagerly await the explosion of beacons across multiple verticals, there may be a snake hiding in the weeds as far as network performance is concerned. Not only does GPS accuracy significantly degrade for consumer electronics when the user is indoors, but as dozens of consumers pass through the same aisle at once, there’s the chance of signal interference as well as a sheer lack of processing power to manage all the time-sensitive interactions necessary to push a shopper toward the right purchase at the right time.
Rather than some techno-babble, there’s a clear precedent for emerging technologies jamming their own networks through sheer force of numbers. PC World explained that since Wi-Fi has become a nearly uniform home good, most people have simply plugged their routers in and clicked some setup buttons to put their routers onto the crowded 2.4GHz band.
“I always describe it as a three-lane road that’s really, really busy,” Nandan Kalle, networking business unit manager for router designer Belkin, told PC World of the most commonly used Wi-Fi band’s speed capabilities.
While the danger of congested Wi-Fi networks to home Internet use is just longer load times and slow, yet eventual downloads, a loss of just seconds can mean the difference between a successfully converted sale and a missed opportunity. Making sure the right customers receive the right alerts or deal notifications at precisely the right times — as they enter an aisle, as they pass by a storefront, when they linger in front of a product for a certain period of time — is of primary importance to good consumer experiences with beacons. If these opportunities are missed, there’s a good chance that shoppers will get used to swiping late notifications away or worse, deleting retailers’ apps altogether.
More than just signal interference, fast and accurate location data also faces problems when it comes to how the data is analyzed. According to a report from MMA Global, many location data companies employ a strategy known as centroid processing, where users’ zip codes and states are used to approximate the most likely target areas based on averages in user data. However, these results are merely proxies and estimates for real-time information. As more retailers hop on the beacon bandwagon and customers opt into their experiences, those averages will become more diffuse and exponentially more difficult to accurately predict.
Joe Laszlo, senior director of the Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence at the Interactive Advertising Bureau, told Mashable that beacon implementers need to be skeptical of where their data is coming from.
“You really need to trust your counterpart and know where they’re getting their location data from,” Laszlo said. “In a completely open, no holds-barred environment, the inventory could be coming from anywhere and the buyer could be anybody. There’s already some cynicism on the part of buyers as far as whether location data are accurate.”
Beacons have never enjoyed the smooth or sudden adoption curve of other emerging technologies despite its potential, but that may be for the best. After all, if the platform explodes before brands have the infrastructure in place to make sure shoppers aren’t turned off by poor experiences, beacons may not get another chance.


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CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fl. - Tourism dollars have always been a huge piece of our economy. In Charlotte County, leaders are trying to tap into another tourism market south of the border.
They're headed to Brazil!
For the water, the shopping and the natural beauty.
"Florida is a go-to destination for so many countries around the world," says Lorah Steiner, Director of Tourism in Charlotte County.
Steiner says Charlotte County has done a good job of attracting Europeans and Canadians but now they want to go further south.
"We're just entering the Brazilian market," she adds.
A market that accounts for about 1 point five million visitors and about 4 billion dollars to the state every year. But more often to cities you might expect like Miami and Orlando.
But Steiner says she's taking steps to make Charlotte County a destination for their vacations too. Recently, county leaders met with tourism experts in Brazil.
"We contracted with a company called who developed the Brazilian marketing for the state of Georgia... they are helping us train wholesalers and travel agents about what we have in Charlotte County," she adds.
From the water sports to the boutiques and the growing arts community.
"They love crafts so we want them to know about the Placida art fair... we want to pull ppl from place to place. Possibly from Tampa. Tampa's working on getting a flight possibly from Brazil," she adds.
All steps local businesses are excited about.
"I think it would be a super addition. we're well known but not internationally yet so we're trying to get to that. Punta Gorda is a little hidden treasure," says MaryAnne Henry with the Four Points at the Sheraton.