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The company has announced a realignment of its business operations that will result in it scaling back its consumer facing divisions. The Flip, which was a red-hot item just a couple of years ago, is the highest profile casualty of the move. Also being cut is the company’s Eos media solutions business.
The decision to stop selling the small HD video cameras comes as Cisco instead plans to focus on home networking products (like Linksys routers).
“We are making key, targeted moves as we align operations in support of our network-centric platform strategy,” said CEO John Chambers in a statement. “As we move forward, our consumer efforts will focus on how we help our enterprise and service provider customers optimize and expand their offerings for consumers, and help ensure the network’s ability to deliver on those offerings.”
The Flip is ultimately a victim of the iPhone. While Flip was a must-have item two and three years ago, the inclusion of high quality video recording on smart phones has become so commonplace that the standalone camera had no room to grow.
The shutter of the Eos media solutions business, which was a backend tool for media and entertainment companies to quickly and easily build sites and social network homes for artists and projects, was considered a technical success, but struggled financially.
The division had a relationship with Warner Music as well as the Travel Channel, All Access Today and 10th St. Entertainment, but its mission was not in line with Cisco’s primary focus.
Dan Scheinman, a 10-year Cisco vet who ran Eos, announced via Twitter that he would be leaving the company. He previously was in charge of Cisco’s acquisition arm, leading the buyout of companies including Linksys and Scientific Atlanta.


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Nepalis thronging Indian border markets for Dashain shopping
September 26, 2017 07:47 AM NPT
By: Rekha Bhusal
Nepali cistomers purchasing clothes from Sunali market of India on Monday.
BHAIRAHAWA, Sept 26: As the main day of Dashain festival ‘Biyadashami’ nears, festive atmosphere has gripped the country, mainly in settlements occupied by Hindus, who form the majority in the now secular state.
Ever since the first day of Dashain, also known as Gathasthapana, locals in Rupendehi district have geared up in making preparations for the festival. Due to the open border with the southern neighbor India, locals of the district are thronging across the border to purchase their Dashain necessities at better prices.
The shopping spree in neighboring towns across the border had started even before the Dashain, and is increasing ever since Gathasthapana. The country is heavily dependent on imports from India to meet many of its economy needs. Such activities have drastically increased of late due to the festival.
In a bid to supply necessary goods for Dashain shoppers, cheap market, also known as ‘Sasto Bazaar’ locally, are operating in Butwal and Bhairahawa districts for a week. Those markets too are flooded with goods from India.
Despite the attempts to supply imported goods in the local markets, the numbers of people crossing the border to have better options and price have not declined. Neighboring town of Sunauli in India remains the most popular destination for Dashain shopping among majority of the locals.
Indian traders have taken advantage of the situation by supplying more goods in Sunauli so that the demands from Nepali shoppers from the border are met. The marketplace is full of clothes, cosmetic and food items among other products that are popular among Dashain shoppers.
“On an average, over 500 Nepali brothers and sisters visit our store alone,” said Tony Jaiswal, a storekeeper at the Sunauli-based Suresh General Stores. He said Nepali shoppers throng the marketplace the moment it opens in the morning and shop till very late into the evening during Dashain festival.
On Monday, Bhumi Gurung of Nepal was one among the hundreds Nepalis shopping in Sunauli. Like many others, he also cited the price factor as the reason for shopping in Indian town.
“At a time when price of every product has skyrocketed, being able to save some money in shopping can mean a great deal. It can make a huge difference especially when we have to buy many products during festivals like Dashain. This is why we travel to the bordering Indian town during festivals,” he said.
Gurung said local traders and businessmen back in Nepal charge exorbitant prices for everything during the festive seasons. “They want to take advantage of the market demand and are mostly driven by to maximize revenues. They mostly do not care about the quality of the products they sell during the festivals. These factors greatly discourage us to purchase goods from them,” he added.
Nepalis shop across the border in hope of purchasing quality products at better rates than in their home towns. Thousands of Nepalis shopping in hundreds of stores of Sunauli contribute in boosting the economy of the Indian town. The same situation is true in various other Nepal-India border towns.
According to Sunali Traders, one customer purchase goods worth Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000 in one purchase. They claim modest price and quality of their products attract Nepali buyers to their shop.
During other parts of the year, financial transactions of stores in Sunali stand at around Rs 10 million to Rs 20 million per day. Their transaction triple during festivals like Dashain, Tihar and Teej, they informed. Apart from Rupandehi, locals from Palpa, Gulmi and Arghakhanchi among other districts also visit Sunauli town for Dashain shopping. Not only the locals; traders and businessmen also import goods from those stores and sell it in other parts of the country, including in the capital Kathmandu.
Although locals can rely on markets of Butwal and Bhairahawa to purchase fancy clothes, shoes and slippers; they turn to Indian towns for cosmetic, grocery, and clothes like kurta salwar and Indian sari.
“I came here to purchase sugar, cosmetic and clothes. Although there are good array of quality clothes in Butwal market, I came here because traders in Butwal charge exorbitant price,” said Januka Bhusal of Kotihawa, who was seen in Sunauli on Monday.
Local markets in Bhairahawa and Butawal among others increase their price during festivals, found a monitoring done by the district’s Market Monitoring Committee. The committee also found some traders indulging in selling outdated products or products which did not have expiry date mentioned on them.
If local authorities monitor the markets effectively for quality and prevent traders from indulging in exorbitant charging, locals can be convinced to purchase local products, preventing millions of rupees of outflow of Nepalese currency. Otherwise, Nepalis would continue flocking to Indian towns to make minor and major purchases, which can directly affect local markets, say stakeholders.

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Most New Zealanders are able to reliably stream high-definition video, such as Netflix and YouTube, most of the time, according to the competition regulator, The Commerce Commission, which says fibre performs the best in delivering video streaming services to consumers.
Google's YouTube video-sharing site says it will remove content that denies well-documented events like the Holocaust took place, with the crackdown appearing to be sparked by claims that it provides a platform for hate speech.
The outage that Google experienced on Monday AEST was caused by a configuration change that was pushed out to more servers than intended, the company says in a blog post.
I'm surprised they didn't say if Apple devices were ok to use or not?
Take comfort in that when it takes 2 hours to watch a 90 minute movie on Netflix.
"Choosing your comparisons is like marking your own homework — it's very easy to get top marks."
Yeah just what I want more spyware from our (not) trustworthy Federal Government to put on my 'phone. No chance[…]
Thx Sam - a timely reminder with historical perspective included, and great points that Australia as a tiny player on[…]


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China's Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd plans to buy Beijing Dazhong Home Appliances Retail Co Ltd for CNY3.83 billion (USD617 million), formalizing its control of a company it has been managing for around eight years.
Gome said it would buy the whole of Beijing Dazhong from Beijing Zhansheng Investment Co Ltd in a deal set off against a CNY3.6 billion loan previously extended to Beijing Zhansheng, with the remainder paid in cash.
McDonald’s, the world’s biggest hamburger chain, highlighted beverages as one of its key growth opportunities at a daylong presentation for investors on Thursday.
McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson noted that coffee is one of the fastest growing categories in its global drinks business and said that the company has less than its “fair share” of the market. When asked to identify competitors in the space, Thompson chose to keep the discussion broad.
Pressured surfwear retailer Billabong has sold another of its brands and completed an AUD325 million (USD299.4m) bridge loan to pay off looming debts.
DaKine, a maker of backpacks, luggage and outerwear for snowboard, skiing, surfing and skating, was sold to US private equity firm Altamont Capital Partners for AUD70 million.
It is the second brand sold by Billabong in 15 months; it offloaded a 48.5 percent stake in Nixon accessories in April 2012.
Thailand's Home Product Center Plc (HMPRO), operator of the HomePro chain, plans to issue debentures worth THB4-5 billion to raise funds for branch expansion.
Wannee Juntamongkol, a senior vice-president, said the company will spend up to THB10b this year, twice as much as last year, to add hardware and home-improvement stores across the country.
Plans call for opening nine HomePro hardware stores nationwide this year – one in Greater Bangkok and eight upcountry. There will be 62 stores by year-end, up from 53 in 2012.
Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce company, plans to set up a financial service unit to serve small business owners as it expands into offering more value-added services. Alibaba's financial unit is merging with Alipay to form the new venture that will offer small loans of a maximum CNY5,000 (USD803) and virtual credit card services for small business owners and consumers.
Alibaba Group will offer collateral-free credit loans to qualified small business owners in Guangdong Province as China's largest e-commerce company expands its financing arm. There are as many as 10 million registered Alibaba members in the province and eligible vendors may get a maximum loan of CNY3 million (USD483,871), Alibaba said on Monday.
DanaInfra Nasional Bhd, a unit owned by Malaysia’s Finance Ministry, launched on Tuesday a 10-year Islamic bond worth MYR300 million (USD98.9 million) aimed at retail investors to raise funds for the country’s largest infrastructure project.
DanaInfra, which was created last year to facilitate funding for large infrastructure projects, will draw the amount from an MYR8 billion (USD2.6 billion) bond programme established to cover costs for the planned Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) rail system.
It's been likened to a piece of toast, a device for elephants and a throwback to the 1980s-style brick phone. And yet, despite all the sniggering, Samsung Electronics has sold five million of the phone/tablet Galaxy Note, helping drive its booming handset profits in the quarter just ended.
Alibaba.com, which operates an e-commerce website linking Chinese businesses to overseas buyers, posted a 6 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit, the first fall in more than two years, as a weak global economy slowed exports.
Alibaba Group has signed a USD3 billion loan, giving it the committed funding required for taking Alibaba.com private, sources told Basis Point, a Thomson Reuters publication, on Monday.
J-REP, a specialist provider of Japanese logistics solutions, majority owned by Macquarie Goodman Japan Pte Ltd, has announced that it secured a non-recourse three-year senior term loan of JPY1.9 billion (USD22.3 million) from ING Bank N.V., Tokyo branch. The facility will be used to fund the construction of J-REP Logistation Moriya in Japan.


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Waitrose has announced that it will be opening six new branches at Welcome Break sites across the UK within the next four months.
Latest Kantar Worldpanel grocery share figures for the 12 weeks to 10 November show Aldi gaining a record share of 3.9%.
Tesco has announced the opening of a new Tesco Extra store as part of the Streatham Hub development.
Sainsbury’s has announced that its Nectar Double Value Exchange weekend is taking place on 22nd – 24th November.
Latest data from the BRC/Springboard Footfall Monitor has shown footfall in October was 2.9% lower than the same period last year.
Waitrose has announced that it is to become the first supermarket to launch 100% yuzu juice.
Tesco-owned retail chain One Stop Stores Limited has announced the opening of its 700th store.
The Local Data Company (LDC) has reported that shop vacancy rates in the top 650 town centres across Great Britain continue to remain stable for the ninth month in a row.
Morrisons has announced the launch of its first ever affiliate marketing programme, working with performance marketing company Tradedoubler.
Asda has unveiled a five-year plan to invest £1bn into lowering prices, and £250m in product quality, style and design.


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YouTube wants to get you close and personal with virtual reality.
Google announced that the YouTube Android app now support videos shot specifically for VR and will reformat anything in the vault for replay on a Cardboard-compatible viewer.
If you want to go deeper into the VR rabbit hole, you’re now able to watch any YouTube video with your VR viewer. When you launch a new video in the Android app just touch the Cardboard icon and it will reconfigure itself. The video still plays in 2D, albeit in a "virtual theater."
Google also threw in some updates to the Cardboard app, such as a splashy new introduction video and more realistic screenshots for other apps that work with Cardboard.
Why this matters: Google is making a big push into virtual reality with its Cardboard effort, which is an open source and low cost model for VR goggles. The technology is pretty new (although there are some good apps to try out), so time will tell if this is really the future or another fad.
This story, "YouTube app dives deep into VR with new Google Cardboard support" was originally published by Greenbot.


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After the acquisition of the UK arm of Italian telecoms company Tiscali, Carphone Warehouse is exploring the logistics of becoming an operator of television services in the UK.
Chief executive of Carphone Warehouse Charles Dunstone said that the company is looking into whether the mobile business should expand to include television offerings.
Carphone purchased Tiscali’s UK assets for last week for £26m which includes access to Freeview channels and on demand video content.
While an official decision has not been made about the television operating future, as of the current date programming from Tiscali TV has not been discontinued for the 50,000 customers who subscribed, despite moving to new owners.
Dunstone did comment that the BBC is working on a video on demand and Freeview project that works though a fixed line broadband connection and that the Carphone Warehouse programming service ‘Talk, Talk’ was planning on participating.
According to Dunstone, Carphone Warehouse may now continue to pursue both the BBC project and Tiscali TV so that there is a fallback if one does not work out as planned.


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Cedar Rapids, Iowa News, Sports, and Weather
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Quick cooking is ACP Incorporated's specialty. They're in the business of making microwave and oven combos that are in thousands of restaurant kitchens across the country.
"We use stainless steel, cold rolled steel and galvanized steel, " says Troy Burris, an ACP Incorporated Plant Manager. They start by building a basic box, and then add all microwave parts. "They take those pieces, they used the fixtures that have been designed for those cavities, then spot weld those together," he said.
Workers then test each and every unit coming off the line to make sure it's safe. He said they want to make sure microwave energy isn't leaking out of their units. Burris says they do the tests "just to assure that the process we have in place are holding to those quality standards."
Longevity is their goal. They run microwaves in their test room. And they run and run and run.
"They go until they die," said Burris. "The reason we do that is so the components we buy are able to stand up to the rigors of the field."
From McDonald's, to Red Lobster, these ACP made microwaves are heating things up Globally, and they're Made in Eastern Iowa.
And mixing things up in the Gluten Free world is Breads from Anna.
The Johnson County business was born after it's Namesake, Anna Sobaski, realized she had Celiac disease. She said she couldn't get good tasting gluten-free bread anywhere.
"I got to baking because the one thing people seemed to miss the most, and the thing I missed the most, was bread," Sobaski said.
From sandwich bread, to specialty breads like pumpkin and banana, even pancake mix and pie crust, Anna has crafted her recipes to bake up in your kitchen with natural ingredients.
"We only sweeten with minimum amounts of honey and maple," said Sobaski.
These breads cater specifically to those with food sensitivies or specific dietary restrictions. In fact, as Sobaski told TV-9, "The autism community became a big part of our customer base."
Sobaski is working on getting into some bigger distributors, but already ships to Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and Australia. She says people around the world trust her company because of the way they do business.
"We wanted healthy, we wanted delicious, and we wanted nutritious. And we weren't willing to compromise on any of those things," said Sobaski.
Tasty Breads fresh from your oven, and microwave ovens to help restaurants get food to your table... "Made in Eastern Iowa."
If you have a business that's making things and employing people right here in Eastern Iowa, we want to know about it. Submit your information to ABC news (below) or TV9's Ashley Hinson. Email Ashley.Hinson@kcrg.com.


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NEW YORK — Having named a new president three months ago, Kiehl’s Since 1851 showed off a newly renovated and expanded flagship last night.
Philip Clough started as the new president of Kiehl’s on Oct. 1. He succeeded Edgar Huber, who was named president of L’Oréal’s Luxury Products Division on June 26, and to whom Clough now reports.
“The brand has a terrific future,” said Huber this week, “and Philip will lead it into that future.”
Clough, who formerly had been vice president and general manager of L’Oréal’s Matrix brand, joined L’Oréal in 1985 and has spent the last 15 years in a succession of marketing, management and international posts in the company’s Professional Products Division. He was named worldwide general manager of Kérastase in 1998, and in 2000 became worldwide general manager for Matrix, spearheading its international development initiative.
One of Clough’s first goals for Kiehl’s is to continue its international growth, which kicked into gear after parent company L’Oréal USA acquired the brand in mid-2000 from Jami Morse Heidegger and Klaus Heidegger for an estimated$150 million to $180 million.
However, Clough is determined to build the future international markets in a slow, controlled fashion, although he declined to give a final target number. “We don’t want to rush into any of this,” he said. “We want to build a groundswell of support for the brand in the markets where we’re expanding, and it’s extremely important for us to find the proper locations, as well. And most importantly, we’re not prepared to compromise on customer service, which is one of our key values.”
The brand opened a store in Hong Kong in August of this year, as well as at Harvey Nichols in Manchester, England, the same month. A Paris freestanding store is on the agenda, although Clough wouldn’t give specifics as to when. The brand is already available at Colette and Le Bon Marché in Paris.
These doors follow several others that have opened under L’Oréal leadership. They include a 900-square-foot location that opened in September 2002 in London’s Covent Garden; a store-in-store at Munich’s Ludwig-Beck that opened in October 2002, and a store-in-store at Profumo in Milan that opened in November 2002. Kiehl’s is also available in Berlin at Quartier 206 and Parfums Schnitzler in Düsseldorf.U.S. distribution is also a priority, although Clough emphasized that it would be “controlled and organic. Although we are a brand for everyone, we don’t need to be everywhere.”
In the U.S., Kiehl’s is currently in 146 doors, including Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys New York, Nordstrom and eight of its own flagships. It also is available on kiehls.com and via catalog and mail order. In addition to the original store in New York, flagships are located in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Portland, Seattle and Costa Mesa, Calif.
Neither Huber nor Clough would discuss numbers, but industry sources estimate the brand’s total sales volume is currently between $60 million and $70 million wholesale, with steady growth in the 10 to 20 percent range yearly.
Kiehl’s also is honoring its roots with the recently completed update of its original flagship on Third Avenue here. For its first 107 years, Kiehl’s operated from a site located at 105 Third Avenue. When the original building was demolished in the Fifties, Kiehl’s relocated two doors up, at 109 Third Avenue. In the Seventies, the company entered an accelerated period of growth, expanding its distribution for the first time outside its flagship, into Neiman Marcus. In the Eighties, Kiehl’s began expanding to surrounding buildings, in part to house the company’s extensive collection of vintage motorcycles — collected mainly by Aaron Morse, father of former co-owner Jami Morse Heidegger, as well as her husband, Klaus Heidegger.
“It’s exciting for me to arrive right when the place where the brand was born is being completely restored,” said Clough, adding he sees the newly renovated store as “a laboratory for the future, which allows us insight into our consumers, as well as lets us give back to the local community.”
The latest generation of renovation involved reclaiming the ground floor of the new 105 Third Avenue, bringing the store back into its home space. “The restoration was a long project, but it’s completely true to the spirit of the store,” said Huber. “We’re ready to go into the future with a new retail environment. We wanted to offer a place not only to discover new products, but to come and hang out — to keep the social aspect of the neighborhood alive.”The space now measures 6,740 square feet and is a mix of modern and vintage elements. New additions include additional checkout stations, expanded sampling areas, greater floor space for products and a full-service café. Visual elements inside pay tribute to John Kiehl and the Morse family, the founders of the brand, as well as well-known American writers, poets and songwriters who have lived in the neighborhood — as well as four vintage motorcycles. A time line, running across all three storefronts, highlights historical events since Kiehl’s was founded 153 years ago.
As well, Kiehl’s original space, a location known as Pear Tree Corner, will have its own pear tree-planting ceremony on Nov. 12. Peter Stuyvesant, the governor of what was then called New Amsterdam, had planted the original pear tree on the corner in 1647. The original tree was destroyed in 1867.
Peter Kim's Los Angeles-based premium denim line has always had its finger on the pulse of youth. This season, novelty is back in a way reminiscent of early Aughts, with studs, lace-ups, racing waxed denim and more. For more highlights if some of the key brands at the Vegas trade shows, go to WWD.com. #wwdfashion (📷: Patrick Gray; Styles by @thealexbadia; Story by @karihamanaka and @marcy_wwd)
"I was driving back on Saturday afternoon from the beach, and I just saw this sign saying 'Skydiving for $95.' And I was like, I can't not sky dive for $95," says Tom Bateman about a moment in Hawaii while shooting "Snatched." #wwdeye (📷: @vsteves; Interview by @ktauer; Styled by @thealexbadia)


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Construction snarling downtown business
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
SOMERSWORTH — Downtown improvements continue in the Hilltop city, but business is not as usual for many shops and restaurants that are directly effected by interrupted parking and accessibility.
“We're OK. So far so good,” he said. “Most of our customers can park somewhere and walk over to come to the shop for 10 -15 minutes. I can't say the same for restaurants though.”
Nearby at Villa Pizza, 72 Market St., no one was eating in the lounge area and Edward Elmaraghy said business has been affected greatly.
“There's no water today,” he said. “We're doing a lot more deliveries. It's not easy.”
Elmaraghy was curious how long the construction would continue and expressed concern over the length of the project.
Susan DiTroia, Office Manager at Tri-City Flooring, 62 Market St., agreed there have been burdens because of construction.
“I talked to police before because they were ticketing customers. They can't be doing that when they have nowhere to park,” she said. In addition to concerns surrounding the absence of parking, there has also been increased traffic.
“The traffic coming out of Market and High St. makes a cluster. It's hard getting out of here at night,” she said.
“We can't live up to Portsmouth,” she said. “It seems like they're spending a lot of money to do what we're not. We're never going to be a Portsmouth or a Newmarket.”
Some of the other shops and restaurants didn't want to provide a public statement as they felt what they had to say wasn't nice. The word on the street Tuesday was generally that the work is a large “pain in the butt.”
Ground was officially broken to symbolize the start of the city's Downtown Improvement Project on Sept. 18. This phase of work will continue through Nov. 22 and startup again in the spring of 2014.
The latest construction and traffic updates and notices can be found on the city's website at www.somersworth.com.


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A new club seeks to break down barriers in the drinks world and expose Londoners to producers and products that may be less familiar to them.
Borí Table was launched late last year and offers a select group of diners a taste of pan-African cuisine, as prepared by chef (and Masterchef: The Professionals 2020 semi-finalist) Victor Okunowo. The new wine club is the brainchild of sales executive and wine director Henna Zinzuwadia, formerly of Bedales Wines and Akoko. While at the latter, she spoke with the drinks business about her approach to wine. Not bound to a single location, the “gastronomic collective” is likened by Zinzuwadia to an “anthropological pursuit”.
Zinzuwadia told WLC of her desire to remove the “pretension” surrounding wine and shift the focus to “pleasure”: “The wine club is a place where regular people from all walks of life can share their journeys and their stories over a delicious bottle of wine. I myself am on a bit of a personal crusade in perpetuating the inclusion of women and people of colour. BIPOC women especially are so massively underrepresented in the wine industry and that’s a clear indicator telling us this industry lacks cultural diversity – although great strides are being made.”
One method for increasing representation is to promote wines from producers who might not otherwise be on consumers’ radars. Among the bottles showcased at the soft launch was an Aslina Wines Chenin Blanc, made by Ntsiki Biyela, South Africa’s first black female winemaker. There were also offerings from several Californian producers.
Part of the club’s efforts involves breaking away from Eurocentric views of drinks: “Almost everywhere I go I see European tasting notes when describing wines, and often suggested is classic European dishes as pairings,” Zinzuwadia explains. Indeed, there are plans to launch a subscription box that comes with two bottles and an African ingredient to be used in a complementary recipe.
This also means promoting traditional West African drinks, including sparkling palm wine and ogogoro, a high proof spirit traditional to the Niger Delta. Lola Pedro has brought ogogoro to the UK market with her brand Pedro’s. She remarked: “If you come to Lagos you still have to ask for it [ogogoro] under the table.” But in the UK the palm spirit is starting to gain recognition as a premium product, and Borí’s club is one channel through which these drinks may start to gain traction.
Representation in the wine industry was the subject of the recently released documentary Blind Ambition, a film that tells the story of four Zimbabwean refugees who competed in the 2017 World Blind Tasting Championships in Burgundy.
This article was originally published by the drinks business and has been shared with permission.


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Key specs for Samsung Display’s new QD-OLED TVs have been revealed by third-party certification company SGS, the South Korean display manufacturer has announced. According to SGS the new panels are capable of hitting a brightness of 1,000 nits, and can display over 90 percent of the BT.2020 color space, which both represent substantial improvements over current OLED TVs on the market, otherwise known as WOLEDs.
The figures are in line with those that were put out by YouTube channel LinusTechTips (LTT) last week, in a video that was sponsored by Samsung Display. So it’s notable that these relatively impressive specs have now been validated by an independent certification company, albeit only partially.
LinusTechTip’s video compares the QD-OLED’s specs with LG’s G1 OLED, which was its flagship from last year and has an OLED Evo panel. According to LTT, Samsung Display’s QD-OLED hit almost 200 nits in fullscreen brightness, rising to 1000 nits over a 10 percent patch, and 1500 nits over a 3 percent portion of the screen (in general, the less of an OLEDs screen it has to illuminate, the brighter it can get). In contrast, Rtings review of the LG G1 has it hitting a maximum peak of 167 nits in fullscreen brightness, 827 nits on a 10 percent window, and 846 on a 2 percent window.
The new QD-OLED panels also reportedly have an impressively wide color gamut compared to the G1. While Samsung’s new panel can reportedly display over 90 percent of the BT.2020 color space, and 120 percent of the DCI-P3 color space according to SGS, Rtings reports the G1 can only display around three quarters of the BT.2020 space, and around 100 percent of DCI-P3.
Importantly, Samsung Display’s new panel appears to achieve this without sacrificing the existing benefits of OLED displays. These include pure blacks where no light is being emitted at all, not to mention excellent viewing angles compared to typical LCD TVs. In fact, SGS says the viewing angles of Samsung Display’s QD-OLEDs are even better than existing OLEDs, maintaining 80 percent of luminance when viewed from a 60-degree angle compared to 53 percent for a conventional OLED.
An important caveat is that all of these comparisons were made with LG’s 2021 flagship, which is due to be superseded this year when it releases a new lineup of OLED TVs. LG Display also has a new generation of OLED panels of its own, dubbed OLED EX, which it says offer increased brightness levels of up to 30 percent. Whether that’s enough to remain competitive with Samsung’s new panels remains to be seen.
We’ll still have to wait for consumer TVs to actually make it to market using both panels before we can be completely sure of these readings, but it’s looking like an impressive set of results for Samsung Display’s latest technology. And Samsung’s display arm produces panels for a variety of companies, so it won’t just be Samsung’s own TVs that benefit.
The question still remains when, exactly, Samsung Display’s new panels will actually go on sale. Interestingly the first QD-OLED TV to be announced wasn’t from Samsung Electronics, but was instead from Sony which said its Bravia XR A95K will use a QD-OLED panel from Samsung Display. Alienware also has a QD-OLED computer monitor in the works. When Samsung Electronics will eventually release a QD-OLED TV of its own is anyone’s guess.


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We didn’t see a MacBook 2022 turn up at the big Apple Event that just happened, to our surprise, but those keen to see a new laptop from Apple shouldn’t despair – the rumor mill is still sending strong signals that the redesigned MacBook Air remains incoming for 2022.
The latest from reliable Apple leaker Ming-Chi Kuo is that we can expect the MacBook Air revamp to enter mass production late in Q2 or in Q3, so at any point from June through to September. The launch would presumably come shortly thereafter.
Predictions for new MacBook Air in 2022:1. Mass production in late 2Q22 or 3Q222. Processor: M1 chip3. No mini-LED display4. All-new form factor design5. More color optionsMarch 9, 2022
This laptop would be built around an M1 chip, Kuo reckons, and it won’t run with a Mini-LED display.
The MacBook Air will sport a completely new design, as the rumor mill has contended for a while now, and an “all-new form factor” with “more color options” to be had. Again, the latter assertion about colors has been floating around for some time, with the expectation that the Air will adopt an iMac-like color palette of options.
Analysis: Going with the M1 – really? But what kind of M1?
Of course, design aside, the juiciest and most surprising assertion here is that the M1 SoC will power the incoming MacBook Air. The most recent chatter from the grapevine indicated that the M2 would be the chip of choice for the new Air, but it seems that may not be the case.
Maybe the use of the M1, and lack of any Mini-LED, could point towards Apple looking to keep the price tag of the Air more wallet-friendly, perhaps? Or is this some kind of typo from Kuo, who meant to write M2 but didn’t, maybe? The latter seems unlikely, of course. In fact, the former idea doesn’t seem too convincing either.
What Kuo doesn’t say is what kind of M1 chip might be used. So, it’s possible that a peppier spin, let’s call it the M1X, to pick another name that’s been floating around in the past (and could still theoretically be employed) might be destined to be the engine of the new MacBook Air.
Whatever the case, we’d expect a new MacBook Air launch to come equipped with a meaningfully more powerful CPU, and we can only hope on the pricing front (or that the current model could be maintained as a budget option, if nothing else).
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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).


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McDonald’s recently announced that it was shutting down 169 of its 430 outlets in India, following the termination of its franchise agreement with CRPL (Connaught Plaza Restaurant) due to alleged breach of franchise terms.
Why did mcdonalds fail in India?
McDonald’s is headed for a crisis in India. … The closure of 43 Delhi outlets in July, following a licence expiry, was another reason that compelled the chain to terminate its ties with CPRL, McDonald’s said in a statement following the notice issued to CPRL.
Is McDonald’s successful in India?
The global fast food major, McDonald’s, has finally recorded a profit of ₹6.52 million (US$92,426) in India since the time it debuted in the country in 1996. McDonald’s India reportedly saw a loss of ₹3.05 billion last year, while the total accumulated loss for the food major since its launching was ₹4.21 billion.
What was the problem with McDonald’s in India recently?
One of the recent problems that McDonald’s faced is closing of its 169 outlets in the North and East India because of a protracted legal fight between the fast food chain and its estranged partner Vikram Bakshi. oils, utensils and equipment for veg and non-veg items and not to add pork and beef in its products.
How many Mcdonalds are there in India in 2020?
McDonald’s India is stepping up its operations in western and southern markets of the country by doubling its outlets with an investment of Rs. 750 crore in the next five years. “We currently have 213 restaurants, and are looking to add up to another 250 restaurants by 2020, which would entail an investment of Rs.
Can Muslims eat McDonalds?
McDonald’s is the largest fast food franchise in the world with 68 million customers entering its doors every day, including Muslims. … McDonalds’ unequivocally state their restaurants are not certified halal, they make it clear for customers not to expect anything to be halal.
Why did KFC fail in India?
Also, the anti-KFC movements claimed that KFC sold food that was cooked and fried in pork fat. Given all these accusations against KFC, the fast food restaurant did not reap sufficient revenue to continue its operations in India. As a result, KFC had to abandon the Indian market.
Who is owner of McDonald?
McDonald’s Corporation is an American fast food company, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States.
|Key people||Enrique Hernandez Jr. (Chairman) Chris Kempczinski (president and CEO)|
Why did McDonald’s enter India?
McDonald’s entered India in 1993. The company had to invest a lot of money because the average Indian had limited purchasing power. McDonald’s used a joint venture strategy to enter India. … Vikram is of Connaught Plaza Restaurants, and Amit of Hardcastle restaurant in India.
Does McDonald’s own land in India?
Of its 34,000 outlets in 118 countries, 80% are through this franchise route. But when it entered developing countries, McDonald’s often did so via the ownership model. A case in point was India, where it entered in 1995, with two 50:50 joint ventures, one with Bakshi and the other with Jatia.
Who owns MACD India?
In India, McDonald’s is a joint-venture company managed by two Indians. While Amit Jatia, M.D. Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. owns and spearheads McDonalds in west & south India, McDonald’s restaurants in North & East India are owned and managed by Vikram Bakshi’s Connaught Plaza Restaurants Private Limited.
Is McDonald’s halal in India?
Global fast food chain faces backlash on Twitter after revealing that all its restaurants in India are halal certified. Many questioned why McDonald’s was serving halal meat in India where 80 percent of the 1.3 billion people are Hindus. …
Does McDonald’s support Israel?
Currently McDonald’s has 180 restaurants in Israel, with 50 of them under Kosher supervision, meaning they are closed on Shabbat and Jewish holidays, have no mixed meat and dairy products (such as cheeseburgers), and for Passover serve the meat on Passover buns.
What country eats the most McDonald’s?
10 Countries That Consume Way Too Much McDonald’s (10 That Can’t Stomach It)
- 14 Consumes The Most McDonald’s: Canada.
- 15 Can’t Stand It: Bolivia. …
- 16 Consumes The Most McDonald’s: France. …
- 17 Can’t Stand It: Iran. …
- 18 Consumes The Most McDonald’s: China. …
- 19 Can’t Stand It: Bermuda. …
- 20 Consumes The Most McDonald’s: USA. …
What is McDonald’s tagline?
The new slogan is “Lovin’ Beats Hatin,” a riff on McD’s current slogan of “I’m Lovin’ It.” But people are calling the new brand phrase “terrible” and “piss-poor.” According to The Wall Street Journal, the new slogan will be incorporated into an ad campaign early next year that aims to promote happiness over Internet …


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14th Asagaya Bali Dance Festival
Time Out says
Asagaya's Bali festival returns again this year, supplying two evenings of free gamelan and traditional Indonesian dance. Bonus marks to anyone who can explain exactly why there's a Balinese festival held in Asagaya every year, but it sounds like a pretty tempting proposition either way. Also, all that dancing is bound to make you hungry, so don't forget to check out the many food stalls selling Indonesian grub and beer, among other things.


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SHENZHEN, China, June 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As one of the largest e-cigarette manufacturers and solution suppliers in the world, KIMREE will announce its new refillable e-cigarette -- JS042 Plus pairing with the first dual vape transformation technology.
How to produce more vapor is one of the biggest technical barriers in the traditional e-cigarette industry. According to KIMREE, JS042 Plus refillable e-cigarette is the first to adopt the revolutionary mouth-deep lung dual vaping transformation technology, providing strong power continuously to deliver stronger vapor with the latest atomizer. It means users can vape longer and produce much more vapor from just a single puff, even though JS042 Plus has a small and exquisite body.
KIMREE's design team always focuses on serving e-cigarette users. The metal construction body, smooth leakage-proof cap, and advanced technology of adding e-liquid from the tip of the cigarette body of the JS042 Plus all fit the design philosophy of perfect ergonomics. Meanwhile, the golden appearance of JS042 Plus enhances its overall visual texture, like a coat of armor on a vigorous general, which brings to the user a premium visual experience.
Liu Qiuming, president of KIMREE, said, "We created a unique atomizer which can produce much more vapor but with a smaller size. And its strong power provides JS042 Plus outstanding atomizing performance so that it can rivals competitors that have higher power. Furthermore, we believe the mouth-deep lung dual vaping transformation technology not only enables JS042 Plus to satisfy common e-cigarette users, but also could make it a new favorite of fashionable vapor enthusiasts."
As one of the largest e-cigarette manufacturers and solution suppliers, KIMREE owns three standard e-cig factories. In 2014, KIMREE became the only e-cigarette company that filed with the SEC to list on the NASDAQ. The company owns more than 2,000 domestic and international patents, and was on the list of top ten filers of international patent under Patent Cooperation Treaty applications in 2014, after Huawei Technologies, Co. and ZTE Corporation. KIMREE is also the only e-cigarette company on the list of top ten fliers of international patent applications. For more details, please visit www.kimree.com.
SOURCE Huizhou KIMREE Technology Co., Ltd.


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Mankind Pharma announces IPO price range of Rs 1026-1080/share
Mankind Pharma, the manufacturer of Manforce Condoms and other popular healthcare products, has announced the share price range for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). Private equity firm ChrysCapital, which backs the company, has set the share price range between Rs 1,026 and Rs 1,080 per share, valuing the company at Rs 43,264 crore at the upper end of the band. The IPO, which consists of an offer for sale of up to 40.06 million shares, will open for subscription on April 25 and close on April 27. The firm plans to raise as much as Rs 4,326.36 crore at the upper end of the price range.
Tata Steel engages in offshore green loan talks for up to $400M
Tata Steel Ltd., one of India’s leading steelmakers, is reportedly in discussions with several lenders, including Bank of America Corp., HSBC Holdings Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., to secure a green loan worth up to $400 million. According to unnamed sources, the loan’s funds will be used for capital expenditure and could have a tenor of around five years.
GMR Group, India’s largest domestic private airport operator, is partnering with its French partner, Groupe ADP, to upgrade the retail experience at its airports worldwide. The move is aimed at boosting non-aeronautical revenue at airports such as Delhi, which cross-subsidizes airport charges with 30% of its non-aeronautical revenue. The two companies plan to leverage Groupe ADP’s expertise in design to create the next generation of retail at airports, with the aim of keeping Indian consumers shopping in Indian airports rather than at outstation hubs.
Mahindra Finance plans Rs 8,000 Cr debenture raise in FY24
Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (Mahindra Finance) has announced plans to raise up to Rs 8,000 crore through debentures in FY24 to support the growth of its business. This move is in addition to the credit lines it already holds for bank funding, as reported by Rating agency CRISIL.
Adani Ports gets ‘buy’ rating from CLSA, target price raised to Rs 790
Adani Ports and SEZ has received a “buy” rating from brokerage firm CLSA, with the target price raised to Rs 790 from Rs 700, according to CNBC TV18. The company has adjusted its capital expenditure plans for fiscal years 2022 to 2025 and is now focusing on reducing its net debt/EBITDA ratio to 2.5x, the report said. With the Adani group’s concerns easing, Adani Ports and SEZ is set to refocus on its core business, with guidance for double-digit growth in its EBITDA for fiscal years 2022 to 2024.
BVG India wins 100 MW SJVN green energy solar project BOS order
SJVN Green Energy Ltd (SGEL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SJVN, has signed an agreement with BVG India Ltd for a balance-of-system (BOS) package for a 100 MW solar project in Punjab, according to a statement by Nand Lal Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director of SJVN. This marks SGEL’s first awarded BOS contract, with a total value of INR 132.64 crores.
Bajaj Electricals stock soars on massive block deal
Bajaj Electricals Ltd experiences a significant surge of almost 3% in its shares, which is the largest jump since March 3rd, during the morning trade on April 19th, due to a massive block deal where approximately 2.14 million shares, equating to 1.9% of the company’s stake, were traded.
Zomato clarifies shutdown of Blinkit stores, stock surges 5%
Zomato, the popular online food delivery platform, has provided clarity on the temporary unavailability of the Blinkit instant groceries app, which led to the shutdown of several Blinkit stores. The company attributed the disruption to changes made to the delivery partner payout structure across the Blinkit business. Zomato revealed that the changes were made to improve customer experience, address the needs of delivery partners, and reduce fraudulent activities by a few delivery partners in the system.
JK Tyre invests Rs 800 Cr to boost annual output to 34 Million units
JK Tyre and Industries is set to increase its current capacity by 2 million units per annum by the end of the financial year 2023-24 in response to growing demand from automakers. To achieve this, the Indian tyremaker will be investing Rs 800 crore in a scaling-up exercise, according to a senior company official who spoke to Moneycontrol.
Mastek Q4 Results 2023: PAT of Rs 72.57 Cr Consolidated
Mastek releases Consolidated Quarterly Results for March 31, 2023. Mastek has announced an increase in total income from Rs. 664.69 Crores as of December 31, 2022, to Rs. 708.77 Crores as of March 31, 2023. The net profit for the company has decreased from Rs. 64.18 Crores as of December 31, 2022, to Rs. 72.57 Crores as of March 31, 2023. However, the earnings per share (EPS) have improved, increasing from Rs. 20.95 on December 31, 2022, to Rs. 23.48 on March 31, 2023, according to the company’s statement.
NBCC bags Rs 208 Cr infrastructure project from PWD Puducherry
NBCC (India) Limited has been awarded a significant infrastructure project worth INR 208 crore by the PWD Puducherry. The project involves comprehensive design, engineering, and project management consultancy (PMC) services for various infrastructure works.
ICICI Securities Q4 Results 2023: Net Loss of Rs 262.68 Cr Consolidated
ICICI Securities releases Consolidated Quarterly Results for March 31, 2023. ICICI Securities has announced an increase in total income from Rs. 879.88 Crores as of December 31, 2022, to Rs. 885.21 Crores as of March 31, 2023. The net profit for the company has decreased from Rs. 280.95 Crores as of December 31, 2022, to Rs. 262.68 Crores as of March 31, 2023. However, the earnings per share (EPS) have improved, increasing from Rs. 8.68 on December 31, 2022, to Rs. 8.12 on March 31, 2023, according to the company’s statement.
Tata Communications Q4 Results 2023: PAT Down to Rs 326.03 Cr Consolidated
Tata Communications releases Consolidated Quarterly Results for March 31, 2023. Tata Communications has announced an increase in total income from Rs. 4559.09 Crores as of December 31, 2022, to Rs. 4630.45 Crores as of March 31, 2023. The net profit for the company has decreased from Rs. 393.88 Crores as of December 31, 2022, to Rs. 326.03 Crores as of March 31, 2023. However, the earnings per share (EPS) have improved, increasing from Rs. 13.82 on December 31, 2022, to Rs. 11.44 on March 31, 2023, according to the company’s statement.
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A corporate tax measure on the November ballot could raise $3.4 billion a year and add more than 20,000 jobs to Oregon's economy in the next decade, according to a report released Wednesday by economists at Portland State University.
But the university's Northwest Economic Research Center found all of the job growth fueled by the measure, known as Initiative Petition 28, would come from expanded spending in the public sector: 33,600 additional government jobs by 2027.
During the same time period, the state could add 13,500 fewer private sector jobs than it would have without the corporate tax, according to the report.
The report was funded by the union-backed nonprofit Our Oregon behind the ballot measure, at a cost of $45,000, said Katherine Driessen, a spokeswoman for the initiative campaign.
It's the latest report to emerge on the tax measure and its potential fallout in recent weeks, giving ammunition to supporters and foes alike in what's shaping up as one of Oregon's most expensive election fights.
"It is beyond this study to make any claims that this outcome is either bad or good for Oregon -- that expanded government services are either more or less valuable than privately provided goods and services," the economists in the Portland State study wrote.
The employment findings stood in marked contrast with a forecast state economists released in May. That report, by the Legislative Revenue Office, predicted the tax measure would result in 20,000 fewer jobs by 2022.
Both reports, however, raised concerns that this type of tax -- known as a gross receipts tax -- could be passed on to consumers, with the burden falling disproportionately on low and middle income households.
Initiative Petition 28 would charge certain C corporations a 2.5 percent tax on their gross annual sales in Oregon above $25 million.
Northwest Economic Research Center senior economist Mike Paruszkiewicz wrote in an email that "rather than substantively contrasting with the results of the recent (Legislative Revenue Office) study, our estimates broadly agree."
The university economists pointed out that this type of tax causes "tax pyramiding," a scenario in which goods are taxed at various stops in the supply chain, "resulting in a higher effective tax rate than the stated tax rate."
Later in the report, they urged against minimizing the potential tax stacking, but said "the degree or intensity is difficult to measure without knowledge of individual firms within business sectors."
Since businesses can pass the tax to consumers, gross receipts taxes also "share many characteristics with sales taxes, and thus a greater burden on lower income households," the economists wrote.
Driessen dismissed those concerns, saying the Portland State economists were unable to model specifically how regressive the tax might be.
"We would not create a measure that was regressive or that would result in a lot of pyramiding," Driessen said. "We were really specific and intentional about it."
The Portland State economists attributed much of the difference from the legislative forecast to different baselines for economic growth in their economic models. The Portland State study predicted an amplified effect on the public sector from economic "shocks" such as the tax measure.
Legislative economists also had the advantage of access. They could review the tax returns of some of the corporations that would pay the gross receipts tax -- information unavailable to the Portland State economists.
Legislative Revenue Officer Paul Warner said that helped to confirm some of the state's findings on the economic impacts of the tax.
"I think it did give us a better sense whether the results made sense in those individual industry categories," Warner said.
Rebecca Tweed, coordinator for the campaign to defeat the tax measure, said in a statement that the state's analysis remains the most reliable.
"The Legislature's economists made clear," she wrote, that the tax "would be passed on to Oregon consumers in higher prices for essentials they buy every day, including groceries, utilities, insurance, medical care and gasoline."
-- Hillary Borrud


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When The Donald tells you something, anything actually, be prepared to check, check, and check again with knowledgable and credible sources. Why you ask. The answer is simple and straightforward. Because with over 10,000 verified mis-statements and outright right lies who in the hell can trust anything he says? I know I sure don’!
President Donald Trump is justifying raising tariffs on Chinese imports on grounds they are helping the U.S. economy and are mostly paid by China. The opposite is true, economists say.
According to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, almost $15.3 billion in duties imposed by the Trump administration last year were assessed on imported goods from China as of April 10. Actual collections could lag and be lower with refunds and other factors.
While Trump has suggested on Twitter and in public comments that tariffs are somehow being charged to or paid by China, economists say that’s misleading. U.S. importers are responsible for the duties, and ultimately U.S. businesses and consumers pay through higher costs, they say.
“Our results imply that the tariff revenue the U.S. is now collecting is insufficient to compensate the losses being born by the consumers of imports,” a study published in March by economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Princeton University and Columbia University concluded.


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Verizon Communications has reportedly launched an auction to divest its data centres as the company looks to focus on its core business.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the Reuters excluisve reported that Verizon’s 48-data centre colocation portfolio generates about $275m a year in earnings.
The company is planning to yield over $2.5bn from sale of the assets, which include the data centre portfolio it secured via its $1.4bn purchase of Terremark Worldwide in 2011.
Verizon failed to reach a deal with a buyer when its first explored a sale of a larger part of its enterprise business that also includes the former MCI assets.
The company negotiated with CenturyLink in 2015 for its enterprise business.
Apart from Verizon, other US firms such as AT&T and CenturyLink are also evaluating strategic alternatives for their data centre assets.
Last year, Windstream divested its data centre business to TierPoint for $575m.
Verizon held discussions in 2015 to raise approximately $10bn through the sale of its assets to meet debt commitments.
The potential offloads are being seen as a response to the rise of the web scale cloud providers like Microsoft Azure, Google for Work and AWS.


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Microsoft is retooling the latest version of its Windows operating system to address complaints and confusion that have been blamed for deepening a slump in personal computer sales.
There are lots of websites and software available, but you may not have thought of smartphone apps for doing your taxes.
Google Maps have found their way back to the iPhone.
Cell phone apps have introduced a very real privacy concern to consumers and companies – and free apps have been found to track users’ address books and locations.
The only thing that anyone definitely knows about the new iPhone is that Apple is planning to show off something on the 12th and a new iPhone couldn’t have come in at a more important time for the tech company.
With the cost of gas prices today, we need every advantage to finding the best prices. Look no further than your smartphone next time you need to fill your tank.


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Has COVID-19 lent mileage to the Auto sector?
TAM AdEx data reveals that on TV, the sector's ad volume per day has surged five-fold this June compared to May
After a year-long low, the auto sector seems to have finally found some respite. Interestingly, gains are expected to come from the COVID-19 led ‘social distancing’ norms.
Going by the latest TAM AdEx data, the ad volumes of cars have grown 105 times while in the case of two-wheelers the numbers have been up three times. Tractors, which did not advertise in April 2020 did 4000+ ccms of ad space this May. The data further shows that Print advertising for the category saw a five-fold rise in May.
Coming to June, the category is seen to have increased its ad spends further. According to the data, the sector's ad volume per day on TV surged five-fold during June 2020 compared to the previous month. Even on the radio the Ad volume/day for the sector grew three times in the same period. Similarly, the ad space per publication per day for Auto rose four times in June. On the digital medium, ad insertions per day for the sector shows a 13% jump between May and June.
The growth in the sector is also visible by its presence among the top categories of advertisers. Among the top ten advertisers category, Yamaha Motor and Hyundai Motor tops TV and Print respectively with more than 1/4th of the ad volume share.
Yamaha Motor India led the top advertisers list on TV with a 27% share, followed by Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India at 10%, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki India at 8%, and Hyundai Motor India and KIA Motors Corporation with 7% shares respectively. Jaguar Land Rover India, Hero Motocorp, Apollo Tyres, Suzuki Motorcycle India were among the top ten advertisers. For print media, Hyundai Motor India led the list with 32% share followed by Maruti Suzuki India with 21% share. Other advertisers in the top ten list were Hero Motocorp, Renault India, Tata Motors, Avigna Motor Sports, MG Motor India, Skoda Auto, Sonalika International Tractors and Indus Motor.
On Radio, Maruti Suzuki India leads with 41% share, while on Digital it is Isuzu Motors India at 27%.
Also, Maruti Suzuki India and Tata Motors are common advertisers across all mediums. There were 55 new brands on TV, 65 on Radio and 351 on Print in the current period as compared to the same period last year.
There were some categories, within the auto sector, that did not advertise in the month of May but were seen advertising in June. For instance, categories like Auto-Air Fresheners advertised on TV, whereas the tractors' category was seen advertising on radio this month. Auto spares and tyres have advertised on print while automobile ranges have done so on digital.
According to the data, ‘Two Wheelers’ and ‘Cars’ accounted for 80% of the Auto sector’s advertising on TV and Print respectively. Whereas ‘cars’ as a category contributed the highest share on radio and digital with 78% and 58% of shares respectively.
Speaking to exchange4media, Vijay Kaul, DGM, Marketing Communications, Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd. confirmed that the AdEx spends has grown significantly in June as per third week’s data. “We have seen a positive trend from May onwards for the scooter category as per online search trends. This is likely to continue as more people will try opting for private modes of transport as safety will be the utmost priority,” Kaul said.
The auto brands are currently aggressive on the digital platform with unique customized communication and lucrative financial offerings, perhaps to overcome the liquidity crunch. “For the next few months, it’s evident that we will see a higher skew towards digital spends. Impact / Performance / Programmatic and TV will surely be key drivers," he added.
Experts have clearly attributed the change to the pandemic. Vivek Srivatsa, Head - Marketing, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors said, “The coronavirus pandemic has brought about a significant change in the perspective regarding transportation usage in the minds of consumers. Due to the impact of COVID-19 and the implication of strict social distancing norms, we anticipate that there will be a considerable decrease in the use of public transport and shared mobility. Therefore, the demand for personal mobility will increase due to the customer’s need to ensure personal safety.”
Kaul reiterated the opinion, saying: "The pandemic has brought about a drastic shift in consumer buying habits and behaviours. It’s likely to slow down on shared mobility options as people will prioritise social distancing and personal hygiene. This would effectively build higher preferences for affordable personal mobility, which could boost sales for auto manufacturers. Also demand for pre-owned vehicles will see a growth. As per research conducted by Kantar shared mobility will take a hit by 55% as people will stop using the public mode of transport.”
With inputs from Sonam Saini
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Ayondo served writ of summons from ex-CEO over S$165,800 claim
CATALIST-LISTED fintech company Ayondo has been served a writ of summons and a statement of claim from its former CEO, Robert Lempka, that alleged a repudiatory breach of the termination agreement between the company and him.
This is over a sum of S$165,800 for which Mr Lempka has claimed Ayondo failed to make payment under the termination agreement.
The latest announcement, made on Sunday, follows from Ayondo's announcement on April 17, when it said it had received a statutory demand from Mr Lempka for the company to pay this sum related to his resignation from the company. Ayondo said it was served the writ of summons on April 26.
The firm said it is seeking professional advice on the matter.


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Clothing at a low prices, but in fashion design
Outside of one store in Boston, Primark plans to open even 7 other stores in the US. Their locations are not known yet, but according to the official statement, these stores should be located close to areas of high-urban density. During the next month, Primark stores would have been opened in King of Prussia Mall in Philadelphia and in one of the shopping malls on Staten Island in New York City.
Primark brand has been existed in the field of fashion industry for more than 40 years; it was founded in 1969 in Dublin, Ireland. Surprisingly, in its home country Ireland, it is not known as Primark, but Irishmen know it as Penneys. Primark sells clothes with the low-budget strategy. The company uses cheap sources, simple designs and materials. This is achieved by buying in bulk.
Primark currently has its stores, except in Ireland, in eight other countries in Europe. The United States will be the tenth country where Primark opens its stores - and the first that is outside Europe.


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The Moto G has become one of the most intriguing, yet inexpensive quad-core smartphones on the market. When you add in prompt Android updates, who wouldn’t want to buy this device?
For customers at AIO Wireless, the Moto G on AIO’s network is now set in stone, although AIO (an AT&T MVNO) allows customers to bring unlocked devices of all kinds onto its network. The Moto G will become available both online and in stores on Valentine’s Day (February 14) for those who want to buy their phone from the same carrier to whom customers pay their monthly bill.
The Moto G’s specs and features are not that commanding, but the device does offer a 4.5-inch display for consumers who do not want to ride the 5-inch-display wave that’s turned popular these days. As for AIO Wireless, the budget Android smartphone could not have come to a better carrier. Google, when it owned Motorola, established the Moto G to be a smartphone best equipped for AT&T’s network; since AIO is owned by AT&T, it makes since to see the phone come to prepaid customers.
AIO, however, is not alone; US Cellular will now carry the 8GB Moto G today, February 10th, and offer the budget smartphone on its new no-contract plan. The off-contract US Cellular plan now offers you 500MB of 4G data, unlimited 2G data, along with unlimited calls and texts for $50 a month. Some say that there are 1GB and 2GB data options for off-contract US Cellular customers, with the highest-paid prepaid agreement standing at around $65 a month with 2GB of data.
AT&T, to turn competitive in the prepaid space, now offers 500MB of 4G data for $40 each month (basic feature phone plan), 2.5GB of 4G data for $50, and 5GB of data for $60 a month. AIO Wireless once offered 7GB of 4G data for $70 a month, but has dropped its current data offering by 2GB for reasons unknown. As for the price of the AIO Moto G, you’re looking at $149.99 – a price drop from the $180 price tag for the Moto G via Google’s Play Store website. US Cellular shines even better: you can get their off-contract plan with a Moto G that costs just $99 out-of-pocket.
India seller FlipKart started selling the Moto G last week, and it seems as if FlipKart will likely become a Motorola seller in days and years to come. FlipKart’s 16GB Moto G model sold out in 15 minutes.
Anybody interested in picking up the Moto G with either carrier?


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Brielle Biermann’s New, Lighter Hair Color Is Subtle But Stunning
The Don’t Be Tardy daughter's new, sunkissed hair is perfect for summer.
Brielle Biermann made the switch from blonde to brunette last year and has been rocking dark locks ever since. But now, the Don’t Be Tardy daughter is making a subtle but stunning change, taking her hair to a lighter shade that’s perfect for summer.
On July 25, Brielle took to Instagram to show off her new, honey-tinged hair color. As captured in the series of photos, the 23-year-old, who was most recently sporting shiny espresso strands, lightened up her rich, dark locks with some gorgeous, caramel blonde highlights.
The beachy, sunkissed color is not only perfect for the season, but also extremely versatile. The pretty bronde hue looks great whether styled into sleek straight strands or soft waves, as Brielle demonstrated in a series of photos shared by her stylist.
Though Brielle is obviously loving her latest hair makeover, this might not be the end of her hair color experimentation this summer. The Don’t Be Tardy cast member is already thinking about her next shade, as she hinted at while displaying her freshly colored 'do on Instagram.
“Should we go red next @hairby_chrissy?” she asked in the caption of the photo.


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Data center computers with Intel's newer chips might reboot more often than normal because of problems with the patches issued to fix the Spectre and Meltdown security flaws.
Nintendo unveiled Nintendo Labo, new cardboard accessories which interact with games for its Switch console.
The latest Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) equipment is set to enable 10nm and 7nm process nodes over the next years, although the transition to the 5nm node with EUV needs futher work.
Samsung Electronics has started mass production of the first 16-gigabit (Gb) Graphics Double Data Rate 6 (GDDR6) memory for use in graphics processing for gaming devices and graphics cards.
Recording and archiving broadcast content is very popular in Japan and the Blu-ray Disc Association has started licensing the next-gen broadcast recordable Blu-ray format. >>>
The Spectre microchip security threat was affecting graphic processors as well as CPUs, and Nvidia has release software patches. >>>
Responding to Disney's lawsuit that seeks to halt the sale of digital movie codes to Redbox customers, Redbox accuses Disney of attempting to stifle competition. >>>
Micrsoft says its Surface Book 2 is coming to all current Surface markets in both 13" and 15" sizes, and pre-order for Surface Book 2 15" begins today in 17 markets. >>>
Meizu has just announced the M6s, a smartphone featuring a The Exynos 5 7872 SoC, a 5.7-inch 1440 x 720 and a 16MP rear camera. >>>
Pioneer has created a new DJ controller for dedicated use with its professional performance application, rekordbox dj. The 4-channel DDJ-1000 features a club-style interface in a portable body. >>>
Tencent Holdings, the developer of the world's top-selling video game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, is trying to spot game cheaters and hackers as it prepares to bring the game to China. >>>
Sony has released a back-illuminated, time-of-flight (ToF) image sensor which is 1/2-type, VGA resolution and it delivers improved depth sensing performance. >>>


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CAC Kicks Off Cinco de Mayo Promo
The 2009 California avocado season will be hitting full stride just in time for the upcoming Cinco de Mayo festivities. To encourage maximum avocado consumption around the May 5 celebration, the Irvine, Calif.-based California Avocado Commission (CAC) has put together a creative promotion plan that leads with celebrity chefs, mouth-watering avocado recipes, public relations efforts and extensive online outreach.
“This year’s avocado consumption forecast for Cinco de Mayo festivities exceeds even February’s Big Game, with just over 51 million pounds of avocados expected to be consumed,” said Jan DeLyser, CAC’s VP of marketing. “We’ll launch the new creative for our California Avocado Growers advertising campaign and our retail and foodservice merchandising programs designed to encourage consumer demand for fresh California avocados will be in place.”
CAC has tapped California celebrity chefs and restaurateurs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger – a.k.a. “Too Hot Tamales” -- to develop new California avocado-centric recipes and serve as the program’s spokespeople. Through media interviews, national print media outreach and a radio news release, the chefs will discuss the popularity of California avocados for Cinco de Mayo entertaining, and also offer quick tips on how to eat avocados in their simplest form to encourage consumers’ use of avocados beyond guacamole. Milliken and Feniger are owners of the critically acclaimed Border Grill restaurants in Santa Monica, Calif., and Las Vegas, Nev., as well as Ciudad in downtown Los Angeles.
CAC will also conduct broadcast television outreach to promote fresh California avocados in conjunction with Cinco de Mayo.


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- The FOMC raised target rates for the federal funds rate by 75 basis points.
- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated “unusually large” increases could be appropriate in future meetings.
- Powell also stated a period of economic slowdown will be necessary to restore price stability.
The Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) raised its target interest rate for the federal funds rate by 75 basis points, or 0.75%, on Wednesday marking the highest back-to-back rate increase since the 1980’s.
The Chairman of the FOMC and Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, addressed the rate increase during the customary follow-up press conference.
Powell began by noting that indicators for spending and production have both slowed, but attested that labor market conditions were still strong.
Additionally, Powell discussed a myriad of subjects including continued supply chain constraints, fears of recession, continued quantitative tightening, the Ukrainian war, and gave insight to future possible FOMC action as it relates to the rising pressures of inflation.
“Another unusually large increase could be appropriate at our next meeting,” Powell warned.
During last month’s FOMC meeting, Powell explained that the committee’s intention is not to induce a recession. However, hints at this meeting towards continued obstacles facing the borrowers of the economy via rising rates leave little room for positive economic growth. In fact, the chairman explained that a recession is more than a probability –– it’s likely to happen due to continued rate increases.
Powell made it clear that further increases are likely to come, and the FOMC believes the economy needs to slow down for the U.S. to reclaim any hope of price stability.
“This process is likely to involve a period of below trend economic growth and a softening of labor market conditions,” he explained. “We think it’s necessary to have growth slow down.”
Ahead of the press conference and news of the rate increase, bitcoin’s price rose above $22,000, briefly touching $23,000. The peer-to-peer digital cash was exchanging hands at $22,800 at the time of reporting.


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A high-level French diplomat posted in Turkey said on Tuesday that France was a strategic partner of Turkey.
Meeting the governor of the northwestern province of Edirne Mustafa Buyuk, French ambassador to Ankara Bernard Emie said France attached great importance to its relations with Turkey.
Emie also said that there were currently more than 300 French companies operating in Turkey and the trade volume between the two countries exceeded 10 billion USD.
During the meeting, governor Buyuk said that he is optimistic that the good relations and the strategic partnership between Turkey and France would go on.
Last Mod: 24 Haziran 2008, 13:37


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This article is more than 1 year old
Sony opens 1394 test lab
Verfiying third-party kit is iLink-compatible
Sony is to test third-party consumer IEEE 1394 devices to ensure their interoperability.
The program was begun this week, says the Nikkei Newswire, with the establishment in Japan of a 1394 network operability verification lab, as the company calls it.
Sony is marketing the lab as a means for companies' whose products support 1394 to ensure compatibility with Sony's products more cheaply than before. Instead of buying in Sony kit, manufacturers take their equipment to Sony.
Sony's plan is to stress the universality of its own 1394 brand, iLink, but the program should help boost the broader 1394 standard, which is becoming better known in its own right.
Sony's lab will initially focus on ensuring compatibility with Sony products, but the company did raise the prospect that the lab may eventually verify compatibility with third-party kit too. ®


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Google released an update to its local search engine algorithm, dubbed the Pigeon update by Search Engine Land (SEL). The update was complex, including a number of changes designed to improve the relevancy and accuracy of local search results.
The biggest impact of Google's Pigeon algorithm update has been seen in the local "7-pack" results, the groups of two to seven pinned, local results that appear on some local queries. It has also impacted Carousel, the scrolling list of local establishments that appears with some searches.
Since the implementation of Pigeon on July 24, the number of search queries that produce local 7-pack results has decreased significantly. According to a recent Moz report, local 7-pack results have decreased by 23.4% since the update. It should be noted that while the cumulative effect was a decrease, certain query results have actually gained pack results.
Among the terms that have lost pack results are “sofa,” “liposuction,” “Social Security card,” “apartments” and “train tickets.” Meanwhile, terms such as “mortgage,” “lamps,” “VA hospital” and “apartments for rent” have gained pack results.
Due to the complex nature of the algorithm update, the changes are somewhat inconsistent. For example, some searches have only lost packs in certain regions. There are a few idiosyncrasies in what Google identifies as local searches -- for example, Moz reported that “California Pizza Kitchen” targets California, while “Buffalo Wild Wings” targets Buffalo, NY.
Average data pack sizes have also changed since the Pigeon update; the number of 3-pack results has jumped, while the number of 7-pack results has declined.
On searches that no longer produce 7-pack results, users instead find greater number of organic search results. The update has been beneficial for local directories like Yelp and TripAdvisor, which now show up on many local search queries. On the other hand, the effect on individual businesses seems to be negative in many cases, especially on queries where the 7-pack results have disappeared.
Have you noticed any changes to local packs on search queries related to your practice area(s)? Share in the comments.


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Will You Drive a Mac? +Drone Racing UK-Style
Gear up on five IoT news bites for Monday
Apple Autonomous Push Don't count Apple out of the self-driving car market. The company sent a five-page letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission emphasizing that "new entrants" to the field should get the same access and green lights as those already testing. And the company also made sure to toot its own horn, so to speak, about its expertise in "machine learning." Will Apple have a self-driving car running in the near future? Will you bring your drive to the Genius Bar with transmission issues? We wont be surprised if we hear about Mac's being tested on public roads one day.
BMW Vs. Uber BMW wants to stay competitive with companies like Uber that charge people for rides, one day autonomously. To that end, the carmaker will test 40 cars equipped with self-driving tools in Munich in 2017. BMW has already launched a ride-sharing start-up, ReachNow, where people agree to share cars and pay by the minutes. One day the carmaker imagines those cars may give rides to users instead. (Via Reuters)
Drone Race UK The UK Drone Show Championship offered a £1,000 prize this weekend, nabbed by a 22-year-old drone pilot racing an FPV drone. Attendees were also treated to a synchronized drone show along with drone makers hawking their, often expensive, wares. (Via The Guardian)
Intel, Amazon Team In smart home terms, the partnership between Intel and Amazon could be a dream team of sorts. The two are banding together on a reported series of projects starting with a smart speaker that would include the Alexa voice AI as part of the feature. The two companies appear to want the offer the design to partner by early 2017, according to an Amazon blog post.
Smart Scent As the holidays approach, keeping the home scented is a nice way to relax into the season. We review a new eco-friendly device called Aera that allows you to adjust how much fragrance you want at any given time.


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Coffee shipments from India, including re-exports, reached 2.90 lakh tonnes till October 3, 2019, marginally higher than the corresponding last year’s 2.89 lakh tonnes, according to latest figures released by the Coffee Board.
The marginal increase was on account of higher re-exports, which stood at 70,201 tonnes as against 68,637 tonnes in the same period last year.
Shipments of India-grown beans were marginally higher at 2.20 lakh tonnes as compared to 2.19 lakh tonnes in the same period last year.
In 2018, India’s coffee shipments stood at 3.5 lakh tonnes, down from the record 3.78 lakh tonnes in 2017. Shipments during the fourth quarter of 2018 stood at 63,217 tonnes.


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Unlocking huge opportunity for travel sellers
InterLnkd, the travel industry’s intelligent shopping mall partner, has revealed holidaymakers have spent a significant proportion of their travel budgets on fashion and beauty products this summer.
Based on sales prompted by InterLnkd – which enables the travel industry to earn a new and free revenue stream by cross-selling fashion, beauty, and essential products – travellers have been spending an average of £180 on these items ahead of their summer holidays.
The tech provider says consumers’ basket values often exceeded £400 and, in some cases, even outstripped their per-head holiday costs. While swimwear, suntan lotion, and sandals remained popular purchases this year, sales have also soared across seemingly unrelated categories including pharmaceuticals and tech accessories.
Robert Goldsmith, Chief Operating Officer of InterLnkd, said: “While we might expect travellers’ spend across fashion, beauty, and essentials to align with the cost of their holidays, this isn’t always the case. Our data shows they are spending a staggering proportion of their holiday budgets on products destined for the suitcase, even if the holiday itself is at the lower end of the price range.
“On average, travellers this summer have spent £180 per person on fashion and beauty products, as well as holiday essentials such as over-the-counter medicine, phone and laptop chargers, and international adapters. With holidaymakers scouring for deals as soon as their flights and hotels are booked, travel sellers are faced with a huge opportunity to offer their customers the products they want and need for their trips, long before take-off.”
Thanks to its intelligent matching engine, InterLnkd perfectly curates the most relevant products for a customer’s travel reservation to offer them recommendations from over 1,000 brands across fashion, beauty, and essentials – ranging from high-end labels to household names.
The unique solution enables travellers to find the products that best complement their upcoming holidays – all while earning the travel seller a new and free stream of ancillary revenue from the products their customers are looking for.


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J.M. Smucker completes the sale of fermented condiment brands in Canada to TreeHouse Foods
The all-cash transaction is valued at approximately $20 million USD, subject to a working capital adjustment.
January 3, 2024 | By MRO Magazine
The J.M. Smucker Co. announced the closing of the transaction to sell its Bick’s® pickles, Habitant® pickled beets, Woodman’s® horseradish and McLarens® pickled onions brands to TreeHouse Foods, Inc. The all-cash transaction is valued at approximately $20 million USD, subject to a working capital adjustment.
The company previously announced the signing of a definitive agreement for the transaction on October 17, 2023.
The company expects the impact of the divestiture to be immaterial to its adjusted earnings per share on a full-year basis. The company will provide additional information about the transaction’s impact on its fiscal year 2024 outlook during the next quarterly earnings call.


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2020 Ford Bronco Order - 2020 ford bronco confirmed | cars today, Fast forward to 2016. a sequel to the craft is on the way, the hulk has become a staple of the hugely-successful avengers movies, the reunited guns n’ roses has earned well over $100 million dollars and counting on their new concert tour – and it’s now been confirmed that the long-rumored 2020 ford bronco is a “go.”. 2020 ford bronco price, release date, news, interior, engine, 2020 ford bronco hybrid – if wrangler could do it…so, what do we know about the bronco? we know that it is coming in the model year 2020 with truck-ish underpinnings. that was said by ford itself, while the majority of other stuff are rumors.. Everything 2020 ford bronco - autoblog, Yes, the ford bronco is back. or at least it will be in 2020. we've gathered all of our intel in this handy guide to help you track this classic suv's development up until the day it returns. as. 2017 ford bronco coming! rumors, engine (diesel, 2017 ford bronco update 12/02/2016: the automotive world is eagerly expecting updates about ford bronco but after the news about the resurrection of this iconic model first time broke out and spread like wildfire it came to calm. 2017 ford bronco is expected to arrive by the end of the next year, and this model would serve as a pre-production showroom exhibit.. 2017 ford bronco price, release date, specs, design, 2017 ford bronco specs. unlike the wrangler which is using a v6 as its only engine, the future 2017 ford bronco is very likely going to be offered with a small selection of powertrains in order to allow it to meet its target price of around $20,000 for a base model. we actually expect it to feature a small 1.5 liter turbocharged inline 4 petrol engine with 180 horsepower and 200 lb-ft of. 2018 ford bronco - coming ! release - cars usa, Overview of 2018 ford bronco. since ford has decided to release its latest model of bronco in 2017 most admirers of ford cars are waiting when their dreams will turn into reality.. Ford motor company - wikipedia, Ford motor company is an american multinational automaker headquartered in dearborn, michigan, a suburb of detroit.it was founded by henry ford and incorporated on june 16, 1903. the company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the ford brand and most luxury cars under the lincoln brand. ford also owns brazilian suv manufacturer troller, an 8% stake in aston martin of the united. 1971 ford bronco sale classiccars., I guess we shouldn’t be surprised: the very first ford bronco produced ended up in carroll shelby’s hands, and he immediately replaced the six-cylinder engine with a 289-cubic-inch v8. earlier this year, ford announced they would add four suvs to the lineup, and it became widely assumed that the. Ford’ future: trucks, suvs, hybrids - detroitnews., Ford’s future: more trucks, suvs, hybrids. ford wants nearly 90 percent of its sales to be trucks and suvs by 2020, and will push into hybrids.
2020 ford bronco is confirmed us cars today → 2020 ford bronco price, release date, news, interior, engine → Everything we know about the 2020 ford bronco autoblog → 2017 ford bronco is coming! rumors, engine (diesel → 2017 ford bronco price, release date, specs, design → 2018 ford bronco is coming back! release cars for usa → Ford motor company wikipedia → 1971 ford bronco for sale on classiccars → Ford’s future more trucks, suvs, hybrids detroitnews →


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Verizon and the Mobile Devices and Home business of Motorola Inc. have teamed up to create and trial set-top boxes that are up to 30 percent more energy efficient than current models, with one new model offering double the amount of storage capacity for digital video recordings.
Verizon will begin trialing the two new models, the Motorola QIP7232 and Motorola QIP7100, in select FiOS TV markets later this year. The QIP7232, the DVR model, boasts a faster processor and more memory.
"The new green Motorola set-tops are an outgrowth of Verizon’s efforts to create our own industry-leading energy-efficiency standards and to grow our business responsibly," said James Gowen, chief sustainability officer for Verizon. "These set-tops will provide a better viewing and multimedia experience for our customers, while helping them lower their energy consumption and utility bills."
The new Motorola QIP set-tops use environmentally preferred materials that do not contain lead, cadmium, mercury or other substances of concern. Packaging for the new set-tops will be 100 percent recyclable and made from 75 percent recycled cardboard.
Nearly 2.9 million Verizon customers receive FiOS service over the company’s all-fiber-optic network, connecting directly to homes and businesses. FiOS provides interactive services including 140 HD video channels; an advanced interactive media guide; social TV, news and entertainment widgets; remote DVR management; multi-room DVR; and much more.
"Motorola has worked closely with Verizon during the development of these new QIP products to ensure they align with Verizon’s environmental sustainability goals," said Larry Robinson, vice president and general manager, Motorola Mobile Devices and Home. "Motorola continues to innovate with our QIP set-tops and will explore opportunities that not only help our service-provider customers reduce their environmental footprint, but also deliver green benefits directly to consumers."


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SFP’s Protecting Ocean Wildlife explored the latest gear innovations and bycatch solutions for addressing fisheries interactions with endangered, threatened, and protected species. This was a unique opportunity for retailers and suppliers to connect with experts in this space and learn more about the latest technologies and initiatives. Exhibits featured best-practice methods implemented in FIPs and by other organizations, including EdgeTech, Smelts, Ashored Inc., Hookpod, International Seafood Sustainability Forum (ISSF), and Birdlife International.
The Open House took place in the Burroughs meeting room (Harbor Wing, Mezzanine Level) at the Westin Boston Seaport District Hotel on Monday, March 14, from 10:30 am-12:00 pm. For more on the event, please see the Seafood Expo North America 2022 page here.


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Bloomberg Línea — Jeeves, a Mexico-based financial services company that helps businesses operate globally, is looking to improve its contribution profit numbers in 2023, according to the CEO and founder Dileep Thazhmon.
“For us, the biggest number is not gross margin. It’s not even gross profit. It’s contribution,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg Línea.
The CEO said Jeeves’ gross margins are currently at around 70%, but the focus for this year is on profit. He explained that contribution profit, which takes into account all costs, is a more important number to the company.
A Brex-like firm, Jeeves is a developer of corporate card software designed that allows companies to pay invoices electronically, consolidate spending, and manage vendors and payments in the local currency. It has late-stage clients such as dLocal (DLO), Nubank (NU) and Kavak, serving businesses with 60 to 2,000 employees.
“For the second half of this year we are coming with three core products: business credit and corporate card, cross-border payments, and prepaid cards,” Thazhmon said.
By prioritizing contribution profit and expanding its offerings, the company hopes to continue growing even amid a tough environment for credit and venture firms.
According to PitchBook, the company received an undisclosed amount of debt financing in the form of a senior secured loan from Pollen Street Capital in August last year.
The company reportedly raised an additional safe amount of money with a sovereign wealth fund.
The CEO says Jeeves has enough funds for the next three years. Thus, Jeeves is doubling down on its payment product, which currently accounts for around 40% of its revenue.
The company is also expanding its offerings, with plans to add cross-border payments and prepaid cards that customers can use to bring their own money and spend against it. The prepaid cards will be collateralized, allowing customers to spend more while also reducing risk.
Jeeves’ CEO noted that the shift toward a global focus was already on the company’s roadmap but has been accelerated due to the pandemic.
The startup has already expanded to Mexico and Colombia and plans to add coverage in Brazil and the United Kingdom. Thazhmon aims to provide a way for businesses to operate globally without needing to worry about financial barriers, approaching to be a banking platform rather than just focusing on credit engine.
The SVB aftermath
Jeeves raised $180 million of Series C venture funding in a deal led by Tencent Investment in February 2022, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $2.13 billion. SVB Capital, the venture capital and credit investing arm of Silicon Valley Bank, also invested in that round, followed by global investors such as GIC, Andreessen Horowitz, and many others.
However, SVB’s collapse also affected the lending market.
According to Thazhmon, there is now increased demand for companies to have access to credit in the US and Mexico, and this has led to more investment coming into the market, as companies look for alternative sources of funding in the wake of the collapse.
Interest rates impact the lending market
An environment with higher interest rates changes the lending market, and which is the biggest hurdle for startups like Jeeves, as they make the business tighter.
Thazhmon highlighted that in order to make money, companies need to charge more, which then leads to a different risk profile for companies that are able to offer high interest rates. While the largest companies in the market are able to cater to this segment, Jeeves’ CEO noted that their focus is on the 3,000-5,000 fast-growing companies that make up their long tail. This includes companies that operate in multiple countries, such as the Colombian market where their platform is used by multi-country companies.
Jeeves decided to add prepaid deposits as a way to meet the increasing demand for access to credit. According to the CEO, credit underwriting has changed in recent years, and the market has shifted. As a result, the company is seeing a lot of inbound demand for credit, and adding prepaid deposits will allow customers to move money into their accounts and spend again.
Thazhmon said this move is particularly important for new customers who want to be under the “stack boxes” of everyone, as they do not have a history with the company yet.
Full cost of lending includes losses, provisions, and hedging
Jeeves has credit facilities for securitization. For Thazhmon, it is important to look at the full cost of lending, including losses, provisions, and hedging, and not just the interest rate.
He said Jeeves is focusing on getting the contribution number positive. When asked about non-performing loans, he said that the unicorn has minimum long term loans and only deal with short term loans that vary by market. For them, long-term loans are anything over six months, and Jeeves has a minimum threshold to avoid risk.
Mexico is Jeeves’ biggest market, and the company is now looking to add more pre-funded loans in Europe, and specifically in Brazil, where Thazhmon sees a lot of potential for growth.
“Our future as a company relies on the future of the operation in Brazil,” he said.
The payments and capital products that Jeeves offers are already bringing in close to 50% of the startup’s revenue. The company’s focus this year is on contribution profit, while next year the goal is to increase revenue from the previous year. The company’s long-term objective is to build the product to a level that is publicly recognized, and to go public within the next four or five years.
Brazil, in particular, is a significant market where the company is investing in both product development and expanding its customer base.
-- Updated to fix quarters to years


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AI (Sleepless AI), a Game-Fi Platform, to Be Listed on CoinW
CoinW, the world’s pioneering cryptocurrency trading platform, will list AI (Sleepless AI) and AIx4 ETF products, an airdropping token for Solana. For all CoinW users, the AI/USDT trading pair and AIx4 ETF products will be officially available for trading on 4th January 2023, at 10:00 (UTC). To celebrate the listing, the AI bounty program with 5,000 USDT rewards is launching.
Revolutionizing Gaming with Emotional Support and AI Narratives
Sleepless AI is a groundbreaking Web3+AI gaming platform. At its core, Sleepless AI has set out on a mission to revolutionize the gaming landscape by seamlessly integrating advanced AI and blockchain technologies. The platform aims to provide unparalleled emotional support and immersive gaming experiences through AI companion games. The project, developed by the esteemed Sleepless AI Laboratory team, leverages the expertise of its core team from the paper-folding game industry, with proven success in Web2 products and mature business models.
Key Highlights of Sleepless AI:
1.Web3 Female-Oriented Virtual Boyfriend Game (HIM): Sleepless AI introduces HIM, its first Web3 female-oriented virtual boyfriend cultivation game. Combining AI and Crypto technology, HIM creates fully-dimensional virtual boyfriend characters, catering specifically to the gaming preferences of female users.
2.Investment Backing: The project has garnered attention from notable investment institutions, including Binance LABS, FoliusVentures, and ForsightVentures.
3.Token Utility: Sleepless AI utilizes two tokens – Diamonds for in-game item purchases (available for acquisition through BNB, stablecoins, and $AI), and $AI as the governance token. $AI holders can vote on in-game upgrades and future content, while also enjoying fee-sharing and token discounts.
4.Tokenomics: The Sleepless (AI) token has a total supply of 1,000,000,000 AI, with an initial circulation of 130,000,000 AI (13% of the total supply) and a mining supply of 70,000,000 AI (7% of the total supply).
5.Community Impact: With an impressive Twitter following of 82,000, Sleepless AI has become a focal point by combining AIGC and popular gaming genres, breaking new ground in the Web3 space with its unique female-oriented 2D games.
6.Noteworthy Achievements: Sleepless AI’s innovative approach, combining AIGC and popular gaming genres, has positioned it as a standout project in the Web3 sector. Its ability to break traditional high-cost structures and achieve stable operation and organic user growth through a freemium model sets it apart from its competitors.
$5,000 USDT Limited-Time Offer for CoinW Community
To celebrate the listing, the AI bounty program will be up for grabs from January 4, 2024, at 10:00 AM to January 7, 2024, at 15:59 PM (UTC). By participating in activities such as registration, trading, and retweeting, CoinW users have the opportunity to share in a prize pool of $5,000 USDT. To claim your rewards, please click here.
CoinW is a pioneering crypto trading platform that prioritizes security, transparency, and user-centric principles. With advanced technology, deep liquidity, and a wide range of supported cryptocurrencies, the company has amassed a broad user base to become one of the world’s most secure crypto exchanges. Committed to security, transparency, and compliance, the CoinW exchange upholds the highest regulatory standards and actively contributes to the advancement of the crypto industry. To learn more about CoinW, you can visit the official website, and follow CoinW’s Twitter Account, Btok, and Telegram Group.
About AI and HIM
HIM is crafted by the Sleepless AI Laboratory team, leveraging the core team from the paper-folding game. The project builds upon their extensive experience in the Web2 domain, with successfully validated high-traffic products and mature business models. Combining NFT/token mechanics with AI storytelling, HIM focuses on catering to the gaming preferences of female users. With a track record of serving over 400 million users, the team possesses the capability to develop projects from 0 to 1. HIM’s inaugural Web3 project is a second-dimensional virtual boyfriend cultivation game tailored for women, integrating AI and Crypto technologies to create a fully-dimensional virtual boyfriend persona.