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We all get to travel quite a bit in our industry... As a traveler, we get confronted with a wide range of technologies/platforms both during the booking/pre-arrival phase as well as the actual checkin and stay in a hotel room.
In the first viewpoint of this panel, several experts weighed in that the Hospitality Industry does not properly invest in technology innovation. Apple spent about $15 billion in research last year alone… or 5.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from the laboratory and into business and consumer applications. The result is a fundamental shift in how software is built, and what it's capable of doing. And while we're still a way off from the artificial general intelligence portrayed in the movies, artificial narrow intelligence is a reality that's already powering some of the most successful technology businesses today, including Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple.
The PMS' role as the center of a hotel's technology ecosystem is coming to an end. Crucial guest data sits locked up in today's disconnected data silos, making it very difficult for hotels/brands to optimize and bank in on the 'digital guest journey'.
For over a decade I have heard industry pundits, consultants, other experts, and myself say that the hospitality industry lags behind other industries in innovation, investment, and adoption of new technologies.


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The company has announced the Mi VR Play, an entry-level, competitively priced virtual reality headset, reports TechCrunch. However, there’s a catch: You can’t buy one just yet. The company will only be making the Mi VR Play available to a limited amount of beta testers that signed up to test the new device. While over a million of those enrolled to be beta testers, less than 5% will get the opportunity. Those that do will be offered the chance to buy the new VR headset for just RMB 1–yep, that’s about 15 cents.
— Hugo Barra (@hbarra) August 4, 2016

domain: news


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UK firms have reacted angrily to plans for the sweeping changes to tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit, with business leaders slamming the government’s approach as “cack-handed”.
Wide-ranging organisations accused policymakers of rushing out plans for major changes in trade terms without consulting firms first, leaving them with no time to prepare.
Under the plans, tariffs will be cut to zero on 87% of goods imported to the UK as a temporary response if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal. The changes were announced as the government attempts to mitigate a £9bn food-price shock from a no-deal Brexit. However, the prices of some imported goods will rise, including meat, shoes and some cars.
Allie Renison, head of Europe and trade at the Institute of Directors, said that while cutting tariffs unilaterally was a necessary and welcome part of a country’s trade policy, the government had failed to do it in an open and consultative way.
“The belated, cack-handed way in which the government has handled its no-deal planning is one of the main reasons why many businesses will not be prepared for this outcome by 29 March,” Renison said.
“Politicians should be under no illusion: this package of mitigating measures do not help make the case for no deal. They are rather a reminder of the spike in invidious choices we would face as a country amidst a backdrop of chaos.”
Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the CBI lobby group, described the announcement as a “sledgehammer for our economy”.
“This tells us everything that is wrong with a no-deal scenario. What we are hearing is the biggest change in terms of trade this country has faced since the mid-19th century being imposed on this country with no consultation with business, no time to prepare,” she said.
“This is no way to run a country. What we potentially are going to see is this imposition of new terms of trade at the same time as business is blocked out of its closest trading partner.”
Unite, Britain’s biggest union, and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the main body representing the car industry, called on the government to take no-deal off the table immediately.
Steve Turner, Unite’s assistant general secretary for manufacturing, said: “Reducing tariffs to zero on the majority of imports, including steel, in the event of a no-deal Brexit would destroy jobs and leave UK manufacturers competing with both hands tied behind their backs.”
Business groups and major companies have been outspoken in their campaign against leaving the EU without a deal, which they argue will harm exports and cause chaos at UK ports, disrupting vital imports.
Mike Hawes, the SMMT’s chief executive, said: “No policy on tariffs can come close to compensating for the disruption, cost and job losses that would result from no deal. It’s staggering that we are in this position with only days until we are due to leave.”
Meanwhile, David Potts, the chief executive of the supermarket chain Morrisons, said that as two thirds of its food came from the UK – including all beef and poultry – it would not be affected by many of the tariffs.
“It falls to retailers to continue in a very competitive framework by which British consumers get great value,” he said.


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For those observing the social media landscape in Japan it is very clear that Mixi is struggling to compete.It remains the final native social network in the Japanese market against the international giants Facebook and Twitter.
Once the largest and most popular Japanese social network, Mixi was founded in 2004, but contrasting with its previous success, the SNS looks to be destined for a similar fate as America’s MySpace.
One clear indicator of this is the keyword trends from past three years on the two major search engines Yahoo and Google Japan. Mixi was the third most popular search term on Google in 2011 before dropping to 6 in 2012, and 2013 saw the local SNS dropped completely from the top 10 list.
The case for Yahoo is almost exactly the same: From 2 in 2011, to 6 in 2012, and 16 in 2013.
As mentioned in our June news last year, Mixi was flexing many different methods to survive in the Japanese SNS market, such as exploring the smartphone app market.
It remains to be seen what this new alliance will bring forth and whether it can stop Mixi’s increasing downward spiral.


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Toyota eyes record 9.2 million unit global output in 2021
Newsfrom JapanEconomy Society
Toyota Motor Corp. plans to increase its global output to a record high of around 9.2 million vehicles in 2021 as sales have been recovering from the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The target is higher than the current record of 9.05 million units in 2019 before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, marking a roughly 20 percent increase from 2020.
Just like other automakers, Toyota was hit by the pandemic. But the impact was less severe than its rivals, helping Toyota group reclaim the crown as the world’s top-selling carmaker in 20...


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South Korea’s Monetary Providers Fee, or FSC, announced Tuesday that nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, shall be taxed beginning subsequent 12 months. In line with The Korea Herald, this tax legislation modification would impose a 20% tax on earnings from digital belongings that exceed 2.5 million gained ($2,102) as of Jan. 1, 2022.
The FSC’s vice chairman Doh Kyu-sang specified that just some NFTs could be categorized as digital belongings and subsequently topic to “different earnings” taxes, referring to these used for funding or cost on a big scale. Tax authorities are in control of defining the complete scope of taxable NFTs.
This announcement, nonetheless, differs from final month’s stance when the FSC had issued a public assertion reaffirming that NFTs will not be digital belongings and wouldn’t be regulated. Korean lawmakers now seem to view NFTs in the identical taxable gentle as cryptocurrencies. A deliberate tax on cryptocurrency beneficial properties was set to take impact on January 1, 2022, however might now be delayed resulting from political pushback.
South Korea has lately taken many measures to control the crypto market, in a focused effort towards cash laundering. In line with The Korea Herald, all 25 exchanges reviewed in response to the August tips have been discovered to have “insufficient ranges of preparedness” with none of them assembly all of the registration necessities.
Associated: South Korea’s crypto regulation is now increasing to international companies
Because the NFT market quickly expands in South Korea and the world, the talk over regulation versus innovation stays controversial.


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Original Comics Tie Into Upcoming Summer 2016 Game Release
Coming to iOS and Android devices in Summer 2016, Heroes of Skyrealm blends a core of team-based action RPG gameplay with an addictive towers-and-traps strategic layer, as a ragtag crew of sky pirates, steampunk robots, and arcane warriors fight back against an invading empire from beyond the horizon.
Set several years before the game, the Heroes of Skyrealm comic tells the story of Darius, a young magic user in the spacefaring Unbroken Armada. After a routine mission to Skyrealm goes awry, Darius is thrown into the battle of a lifetime – and uncovers a secret that will change this unfamiliar world forever. Can Darius’ powers free him from the den of a pirate queen? Will the ingenious inventor Beth survive the coming war?
The Heroes of Skyrealm comic is a joint creative collaboration between Mechanist and Dynamite, with members of the game’s production team working closely with the comic’s creative team to ensure it ties in tightly with the game. The story is by game writer Edwin McRae, with scripts being provided by Rik Hoskin, art by Ilaria Gelli, and colors by Aditya Nugraha.
“Going into Heroes of Skyrealm, we knew we needed to recapture the character focus and world-building that helped our other games connect with audiences, while also making sure that it was easy to pick up and play,” says Mechanist Games founder David Lindsay. “Comics turned out to be the perfect medium to showcase a new side of Skyrealm, an era before our heroes became the rebels you control in the game.”
“This is a new kind of storytelling for us – and it’s a big leap to let someone ‘borrow our toys’,” continues Lindsay. “But it’s been a great thrill to watch the creative team breathe new life into the world, and to make an adventure that really stands on its own.”
Dynamite’s Director of Business Development Rich Young says, “This is an exciting opportunity to be able to work with Mechanist Games and help them launch this amazing game, and further develop the fantastic world they are creating. This new series will give players a deeper understanding of the game and its world, enhancing the overall experience.”
Look for Heroes of Skyrealm – both the game and comics – coming your way this summer! Comics will be available through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, Dynamite Digital, iVerse, and Dark Horse Digital. Players can also unlock the comic from within the game itself! For more information, check Heroesofskyrealm.com and/or Dynamite.com.


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In Oregon, the cost of a medical marijuana card is $200. For patients that don’t require much medical marijuana, they say it’s more cost effective to purchase in the recreational market. Recreational sales are now making up for 70-percent of the state’s marijuana sales.
Patient Nicole Shaffer says she’s used medical marijuana for four years, according to OPB FM Radio. She let her card lapse because it costs less for her to purchase from the recreational market. She isn’t the only patient doing so.
Shaffer said, “To buy, like, a $12 gram here and there is going to be way more cost effective than to go out and spend $200 on a medical card.”
The number of medical marijuana patients in Oregon has dropped 10,000 since recreational marijuana became legal. Roughly 80-percent of the state’s medical marijuana dispensaries have applied to sell recreational marijuana. Little Amsterdam Dispensary closed its medical marijuana dispensary.
Renee Barnes says that the sales were split nearly evenly between recreational and medical marijuana.
Barnes said, “Now we see about 70 percent recreational and 30 percent medical customers.”
Medical marijuana patients are permitted to purchase more marijuana at lower prices. That isn’t stopping them from going to recreational shops though. Barnes thinks the state favors recreational marijuana to medical marijuana.
Barnes said, “You know it’s kind of maybe become the ugly stepchild.”
Dr. Christian Le of Green Earth Medicine is frustrated with the state’s ignored promise of favoring medical marijuana over recreational marijuana. The tax revenues recreational marijuana sales seem to get more attention.
Medical marijuana sales aren’t taxed in Oregon but recreational marijuana sales are taxed up to 20-percent. He says the state is allowing the medical marijuana market to wither away.
Le said, “The people who made cannabis legal, as it is today, are actually being thrown to the curb. Whether it’s people in the industry making profits off it or whether it’s the state making taxation out of it, that seems to be 99 percent of the focus.”
Medical marijuana growers are also affected. They’re subjected to the same regulations as recreational growers but don’t grow on the same scale. The fees are becoming too much for medical marijuana growers. Oregon continues to create tighter regulations for both industries, but it’s medical marijuana industry seems to be suffering the most.


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Las Vegas Market has announced that 15 new, relocated and recommitted home décor showrooms, collectively totaling more than 60,000 square feet, are confirmed for Winter 2021 Market, running Jan. 24 – Jan. 28, 2021.
Temporary exhibits will return for Winter 2021 Market, running Jan. 24 – 28, with hundreds of innovative and emerging gift and home décor resources showcased in the brand-new Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas.
High Point Market exhibitors are adapting to the shifts and disruptions from COVID-19 by offering off-Market times for buyer appointments within their High Point spaces.
Las Vegas Market has announced that its temporary exhibits will return for Winter 2021 Market – running Jan. 24 – Jan. 28 – with hundreds of innovative and emerging gift and home décor resources showcased in the brand-new Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas.
The American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation has opened nominations for Future Leaders who represent rising industry stars recognized for their leadership, personal growth, communications skills and commitment to the industry. The Foundation will select Future Leaders and facilitate vibrant discussions over dinner with inducted Hall of Fame members during the April 2021 High Point Market.
Capel Rugs debuted an assortment of collections at the October 13-21 High Point Market ranging from value-packed, versatile machine made rugs to detailed hand knotted designs. Although traffic was light at Market, the company was pleased by the level of activity it generated during the nine-day event.
The one and only High Point Market of 2020 concluded on October 21, wrapping up a 9-day expanded Market that was executed with a multitude of safety measures in light of the ongoing pandemic. Despite the noticeable differences, Fall Market exhibitors are exuding optimism and reporting strong order writing from the show.


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Under the new system, securities held in clients` Demat accounts cannot be used for margin payment, but must be pledged to the broker after the client`s authorisation and pledged to clearing companies and exchanges. Customer authorization must be obtained via a one-time password (OTP) and emails. Any shortfall in the collection of margins will result in a penalty for customers and trading members. In an earlier letter to Sebi, the Brokerage Industries Association said the proposed margin was 300% higher than the actual levy should have been. It should be noted that, under the new standards, clearing companies will aim for a minimum margin throughout the session and will require brokers to collect additional margins from clients if they fall below. Investment dealers who do not should expect a penalty. «The impact of Phase 3 of the initial margin standards (75% margin requirement) was seen in the treasury and commodities segments, while derivatives volumes grew month-over-month,» ICICI Securities said in a note. The brokers` warning follows Wednesday`s increase in the pre-margin requirement to 100% Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities Ltd, said the higher initial margin will affect trading volume if the overall trend in stock markets becomes sideways or bearish. «With widespread optimism, investors are generally willing to trade even with higher margin requirements in the stock markets,» he said.
According to Kamath, another unintended second-order effect will be that the minimum margin required will most likely have to be even higher than the spread (standard portfolio risk analysis) plus exposure to F&O positions. Under the new maximum margin standards, investment dealers are required to collect minimum margins for leverage-based trades in advance, compared to the previous practice of collecting them at the end of the day. Markets could see a sharp drop in trading volume and a reduction in liquidity in the coming days, as the capital markets regulator implements its initial margin standard of 100 percent, warned the Association of National Exchanges Members of India (Anmi), one of the country`s largest securities dealer associations. Earlier this month, the anmi investment dealers` association had written to sebi and the Ministry of Finance to express the proposal to have a 100% higher margin for intraday transactions. SEBI`s new peak margin rules will come into effect on September 1. Buying and selling shares now requires an initial margin. If you want to buy Reliance Industries shares worth Rs 1 lakh, you must have Rs 20,000 in cash in your account and the remaining money must be paid within two days. Margins will be increased to 100% from September 1, according to the market regulator, as part of the final phase of the new rules on peak margins, securities brokers will be subject to a penalty if the margins collected by traders in the case of spot market shares are less than 100% of the trading value and additional scope + exposure for trading products. Derivatives.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India`s (Sebi) new mandate in margin trading, which gradually came into effect last year, increased the initial requirement to 100% from Wednesday. Sebi increased the initial margin requirement from 25% to 50% effective March 1, 2021 and to 75% in June. Nithin Kamath, founder and CEO of Zerodha, a popular trading platform, tweeted: «The dreaded day for brokers, exchanges, intraday traders has arrived.» Under the new peak margin standards, margin requirements are calculated four times during each trading session. It will also include intraday trading positions. Sebi decided last year to introduce maximum margin standards to curb speculative transactions and limit the leverage offered by securities dealers to their clients. New seBI Margin Rules: The New Margin Rules of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will come into effect on Wednesday (1 September). Under the new maximum margin rule, traders must provide a 100% margin in advance for their trades. It is likely that the new rule will affect intraday trading. In addition, under the new system, investors are no longer required to use shares held in their Demat accounts for margin payments, unless those shares are pledged to the broker following an appropriate client authorization process. The customer`s authorization is done by e-mail and one-time password (OTP). And customers have to pay a penalty for any lack of margins. Funds from shares sold on delivery today cannot be used for new same-day transactions.
You can use the money for new transactions the next day. For example, you sold Shares of Reliance worth Rs 100,000 today. You can`t use that money today to buy new shares of other companies. However, there will be no changes to the rules for options and futures. Traders are not happy with the new peak margin standards as they now have to park more money to meet the margin requirements for trading. In fact, trading futures and options (F&O) is also becoming more expensive. The new margin rules may affect the volume of intraday trading, as brokers would not be able to offer the same leverage as before. On the other hand, the new margin system should strengthen the risk management system and make markets more efficient in the long term. K.K. Maheshwari, chairman of Anmi, told Mint that the new maximum margin will have an impact on trading volume. «We will also see a reduction in intraday position in the derivatives segment. In addition, volumes are likely to shift from the futures segment to the options segment as traders will try to get better leverage.
We will also see the conversion of long-risk trading into higher-risk trading with a longer or lower stop loss,» he said. The new 75% maximum margin standards imposed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to curb speculative trading came into effect today, June 1, 2021. Margin trading means that traders buy stocks by paying a marginal amount of the actual value to the brokers in question. Under the new margin rules, 75% of the margin required for all positions in shares and derivatives will be withdrawn in advance by brokers. In particular, SEBI introduced the new maximum margin rule for day traders a year ago. It will be implemented gradually. In the first phase, traders should hold at least 25% of the maximum margin between December 2020 and February 2021. This margin was increased to 50% in the second phase between March and May and is to be increased to 75% in the third phase between June and August and finally to 100% from 1 September. Since last year, Sebi has gradually introduced new rules for margin trading. Between December 2020 and February 2021, traders had to pay at least 25% of the maximum margin. The margin was increased to 50% between March and May and will be 75% from June to August.
Margins will be raised to 100% from September 1, according to the market regulator. Even traders are disappointed because they have to spend more money to bet on the stock market, especially in intraday and futures trading. It can be noted that traders must also pay a penalty if the maximum margin standards are not met during a trading session. Previously, the investment dealers` association ANMI had called the market regulator`s new maximum margin rule unfair and even called on Sebi to reconsider its maximum margin standards, especially in the context of intraday transactions. According to experts, the new peak margin rules will be a blow to intraday trading, as margins are now increased in advance as opposed to the previous practice of collecting at the end of the day. .


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In a rapid development and coming in as quite a shock to tech enthusiasts, NITI Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant, has claimed on Twitter that India’s mobile data consumption have overtaken everyone else and is now number one. That may not come as a shocker for many, but his claim of India consuming more mobile data than China and the United States is just mind boggling for sure.
Here’s his tweet in which Kan talks about how India is now consuming more than 1.5 Billion gigabytes of mobile data on monthly basis alone:
— Rohit Bansal 🇮🇳 (@theRohitBansal) December 22, 2017
Times of India broke the news about Kant’s claims which is startling mobile data experts. It is believed that cheaper and more widespread access of 3G, 4G and LTE services across the South Asian country have allowed millions of people to finally become regular users. With a staggering population of over 1 Billion people in India alone and internet access rapidly expanding throughout its borders, this amount of consumption may keep on expanding at a faster than imaginable rate.
There was no exact source used by the Niti Aayog CEO to back up his claims, but he isn’t the only one making such massive statements. Not too long ago, Chairman of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, was also quick to point out how his new telecommunications operator, Reliance Jio, was also meeting customer demands of over 1 billion gigabytes of mobile data per month.
We did a story earlier in February of 2017 on how Reliance Jio had amassed over 100 million customers in just 170 days.
“Jio users consumed more than 100cr GB of data per month on the Jio network. That’s more than 3.3Cr GB a day,” Ambani said during a press conference after hitting the milestone.
One of the reasons Indians are now consuming so much mobile data is because there are packages out by telecom companies, such as Reliance Jio, that allow users to get 1 GB of data per day, every day for as little as $4.5/month. That is outstandingly cheap if compared to any other country around the world.
Indians Also Spending 70% of their Online Time on Facebook, WhatsApp, Music and Entertainment Apps
In another report released by Indian investment firm Omidyar Network, the source of all this data consumption was found. India’s mobile data consumption has gone sky high thanks to the availability and adoption of Facebook, WhatsApp and other apps for music and entertainment purposes.
This report went as far as to claim that a huge chunk, as much as 70% of the total time Indians were spending time online, was being spent using these apps. Leaving as little time as possible for anything else in the virtual world.
In the world of entertainment, YouTube is the biggest shareholder in India as 40% of the time spent on ‘entertainment’ apps goes to the world’s largest video streaming and sharing service. Only 17% of Americans spend as much time on YouTube as compared to Indians.
What do you think about these claims regarding India’s mobile data consumption? Where does it go from here? Let us know in the comments section below or on the official TechBizWeb.com Facebook page!


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Maldives has been on the move towards being plastic free in order to obtain its sustainability goal. As the country compromises of small low-lying islands, the nation is in immense danger of becoming a victim of climate change. With this, Maldives has been compelled to make some major and necessary changes in order to kickstart the green initiative in the country.
One of the major steps that were taken towards becoming more sustainable was the move towards making the Maldives a plastic-free nation. The biggest step towards making this initiative a success was taken back in 2021 with the Government announced the ban on single-use plastic in the country. However, just like any other major initiative, the ban on single-use plastic was to be carried out in stages. One of the biggest difficulties in such an initiative definitely has to be the fact that the Maldives as a country highly depends on imported goods, which usually come in single-use plastic packages.
The impact of this initiative can be seen now, almost two years later as some of the goods that Maldivians are used to buying in single-use plastic packages now come in glass bottles. Nobody thought that banning single-use plastic packages would be a reality, but today, people purchase imported sweetened nuts in small glass containers.
And now, the Government has started yet another major change that came into effect on the 18th of April 2023. The Government has announced that a MVR 2 fee will be charged for every plastic bag that is given from stores. This change is being brought under the Waste Management Act (WMA) which was effectively brought into action on January 2022 in order to find proper ways to dispose of waste while also encouraging people to produce less waste.
Statistics show that the Maldives has an extremely high level of plastic waste, and the Waste Management Act along with the ban on single-use plastic are some of the major measures being taken towards a more sustainable future where plastic waste is reduced in the Maldives.
However, there are a few cases where the fee is exempted:
- The bags that are given at duty-free stores after a purchase
- Plastic bags that are used for fresh fish
- Dustbin bags that are purchased by Waste Management Company or other entities that I working towards cleaning up waste
The single-use plastic bags fee is going to be collected through MIRA along with other sales taxes. This adds to the burdens and obligations of the retailers who are mostly small and medium enterprises.


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Airbus has launched the world´s first 3D-printed motorcycle ´Light Rider´. It is the lightest motorcycle in the world thanks to the material it was made of. Only 50 of them will be produced and sold for €50.000.
Article by: Chris Zeigler
Source: The Verge
Airbus subsidiary APWorks is using its 3D printing expertise to build what it calls “probably the world’s lightest motorcycle,” a lithe, bicycle-like all-electric machine weighing 35 kilograms (77 pounds) held together with an intricate web of aluminum. Actually, it’s more than aluminum: it’s what APWorks calls “Scalmalloy,” a custom aluminum alloy powder “with almost the specific strength of titanium” that the company uses to build incredible structures by fusing thin layers of the material together.
The result, called Light Rider, looks amazing. APWorks says it’ll go 80km/h (50 mph) and run from 0-45km/h in 3 seconds, which keeps this fully out of superbike territory — think of this as a lightweight, street-legal runabout that just happens to look unlike anything else on the road. The battery is swappable and offers 60 km (35 miles) on a charge. The Light Rider isn’t ready for cheap mass production, but it’s not far off: the company will build just 50 of them for €50,000 ($56,100) apiece, probably more as an advertisement of APWorks’ component fabrication capabilities than anything else.


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The next-gen supercar pays homage to the fifth Ford GT to ever exist.
Ford is sending off the famous GT with another tribute to an iconic model from the ’60s. The Blue Oval has just unveiled a new Heritage Edition inspired by one of the very first prototypes to roll off the line back in 1964.
The special edition, which will debut during this week’s Monterey Car Week, takes cues from the seminal GT/105 prototype—the fifth GT to exist. This car also happens to be the only surviving ‘64 prototype still sporting its original livery. (The first two prototypes were scrapped after collisions while the other early examples have been repainted.)
The next-gen GT is finished in Wimbledon White paint with Antimatter Blue accents and an over-the-roof triple racing stripe. The contemporary interpretation is also replete with glossy exposed carbon fiber components, including the front splitter, side sills, mirror supports, engine louvers and rear diffuser. It rides on 20-inch carbon fiber wheels that are tinted in a matching blue hue.
The interior features a mix of black leather and black Alcantara as well as Lightspeed Blue Alcantara seats with silver stitching highlighting the GT logo.
Under the hood, there’s a clear distinction between the two four-wheelers. The new Ford GT boasts a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 that’s good for 660 horses. Its muse was powered by a naturally aspirated V-8.
Since the current-generation GT first debuted at the Detroit Auto Show in 2015, it’s spawned several Heritage Editions that pay homage to the Fords of the past and their distinctive racing liveries. Just last year, the marque unveiled a special speedster inspired by the very car that won the Daytona 24 Hour Continental in 1966. This may be the final Heritage Edition we see, though, given 2022 marks the final year of GT production.
“This is the first Ford GT Heritage Edition that goes beyond celebrating race wins—this one goes deep, and honors the earliest of Ford supercar heritage,” Mike Severson, Ford GT program manager, said in a statement. “The Ford GT ’64 Prototype Heritage Edition is a modern interpretation of the original, with no mistaking what this car is paying tribute to.”
If you want to see the formidable duo in the flesh, the 2022 Ford GT ’64 Heritage Edition will be on display at The Quail and Pebble Beach this week alongside the 1964 GT/105 prototype.
Check out more photos below:


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Business and trade relations between Scotland and Indonesia have taken a leap forward following a B2B agreement between SCC and BritCham Indonesia.
The deal was signed in Edinburgh last Wednesday by BritCham Indonesia executive director Chris Wren, and Tim Allan, President of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce.
The signing, conducted in the presence of the Indonesian Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Dr Rizal Sukma, and Keith Brown MSP, cabinet secretary for the economy, commits both parties to share information and pool resources with the joint purpose of improving Scotland’s trading activities in the world’s fourth most populous nation.
The event to promote ties with the vast Southeast Asian nation also saw the signing of a milestone agreement between high-growth Scots space and technology services company Astrosat, with Indonesian conservationists Global Alam Lestari (PT GAL) and Forest Carbon.
Stretching over 3000 miles, comprising 17,000 islands with a population of 256 million, Indonesia presents a “major opportunity” for Scottish businesses and educational institutions, according to SCC President Tim Allan.
He said: “The country is too large for Scotland to ignore. This new agreement is a step towards changing the currently underdeveloped state of our business relations with this exciting market.
“The experience of our successful and recently completed Trade Mission to China is that business flourishes when businesses spend time together. Although government and its agencies can create the circumstances, only business can do the deals, and the purpose of today’s agreement is to strengthen this B2B ties between us.”
SCC’s intention to boost trade between Scotland and Indonesia was endorsed by the Indonesian Ambassador to the UK Dr Rizal Sukma, who said the country aims to increase exports to the UK, while encouraging more foreign direct investment into the country.
His support was echoed by Cabinet Secretary for the Economy Keith Brown MSP, who held a private meeting with Ambassador Rizal Sukma following the signing. Mr Brown pledged that the Scottish Government would increase its engagement with Indonesia and announced that its overseas trade and inward investment agency SDI was boosting its presence in Indonesia by deploying a representative in Jakarta.
Mr Brown said: “It was a privilege to meet with Ambassador Rizal Sukma alongside British Chambers Indonesia members and Scottish Chambers of Commerce today. This is an important new agreement which will benefit Scottish businesses wishing to expand into Indonesia. Businesses such as the Musselburgh-based satellite technology company Astrosat will have access to additional support as they expand their services into South Sumatra to support Indonesia’s ecological ambitions.”
Steve Lee, CEO of Astrosat said: “Today’s signing marks the start of a longer-term partnership, based on world-leading technology built in Musselburgh but applied on the other side of the world to help sustain Indonesia’s drive to conserve an unspoilt natural wilderness. It’s an exciting example of the benefits of better commercial and knowledge-sharing links between our two countries.”
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US entrepreneur Elon Musk has officially broken the world record for the largest loss of personal fortune in history, according to a report from the Guinness World Records.
Musk, famed businessman who cofounded six companies including car company Tesla and rocket firm Space X, lost approximately $182 billion since November 2021, the report said quoting Forbes magazine.
“Although the exact figure is almost impossible to ascertain, Musk’s total losses far surpass the previous record of $58.6 billion, set by Japanese tech investor Masayoshi Son in 2000,” Guinness World Records said on its website.
According to Forbes, Musk’s net worth dropped from a peak of $320 billion in 2021 to $138 billion as of January 2023, largely due to the poor performance of Tesla’s stock.
The majority of Musk’s money is tied up in his Tesla stock, the report said, adding that the value of that stock fell 65 percent in 2022.
According to the report the sharp drop in Tesla’s stock value declined after Musk bought social media platform Twitter for around $44 billion.
“The tumultuous takeover, coupled with Musk’s polarizing behavior on the platform, sparked the biggest Tesla stock sell-off since the company went public in 2010,” the report said.
However, Musk, who sparked controversy after laying off a number of staff when he took over Twitter and putting heavy demands including long working hours on remaining employees, is still the world’s second richest person, the report said.
Elon Musk says he can’t get fair trial in California, wants Texas instead
Twitter will relax ban on political advertising
Musk says drastic cost-cutting averted $3 billion Twitter shortfall


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Two TGI Fridays Buildings Hit the Market for Lease [Updated]
Two East Side buildings that are home to TGI Fridays are available for lease, Cushman & Wakefield announced.
C&W’s Joanne Podell, Ian Lerner, Brandon Singer and Chris Stanton have been appointed as the exclusive leasing agent for the three-story, 12,615-square-foot 34 Union Square East at 16th Street and the six-story, 21,000-square-foot 604 Fifth Avenue between 48th and 49th Streets.
As Commercial Observer previously reported, Union Square Fridays hasn’t fared very well and is just breaking even after four years in business, according to proprietor Dennis Riese, the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of The Riese Organization, which owns the license for Fridays in Manhattan. He told CO in August, he expected to put the Union Square building on the market for a rent just shy of $2 million. Mr. Riese didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment this morning.
“Each of these properties offer tenants innovative retail locations along some of New York City’s greatest retail corridors,” Ms. Podell, a vice chairman at C&W, said in prepared remarks. “C&W is excited by the opportunity to market these spaces, and we look forward to creating a mutually beneficial and harmonious relationship between our clients and their new tenants.”
Update: This story was edited to reflect that Dennis Riese was planning to put 34 Union Square East on the market for $2 million a month in rent.


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After an initial public offering raising a higher than expected US$51.6 million on Thursday, state-owned Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) now starts looking for strategic investors to sell a 20 percent stake.
Vu Anh Minh, chief of the transport ministry's businesses administration, was quoted by news website VnExpress as saying that any business interested in becoming the corporation's strategic shareholder should file applications soon.
Many businesses have already offered to buy into ACV, including state-owned bank BIDV, which wants to acquire a 5 percent stake, and France's major airport manager Aeroport de Paris eying all the offered stake, he said.
In its search for strategic shareholders, ACV prioritizes businesses which operate in aviation sector and are operating at least 10 airports, Minh was quoted as saying.
Under criteria set by the transport ministry, eligible businesses must post a minimum revenue of $1.5 billion a year, and have an equity of $2 billion, the website reported. They must also record no losses, and their profit must be equivalent to at least 10 percent of their revenue in 2014.
ACV closed its IPO with more than 77.8 million shares sold at an average of VND14,300 per share, compared to the starting price of VND11,800.
The sale represented a 3.47 percent stake in the corporation, which also completed selling another 0.13 percent to its employees.
The sole manager of 22 airports around the country, ACV recorded more than 46.5 million passengers in the first nine months, up 22.3 percent year-on-year, according to its figures. The amount of goods saw an increase of 16.1 percent, to over 716,000 tons.
ACV, which also has 13 subsidiaries, mostly operating in ground services, posted an annual increase of 14 percent in its revenue and 30 percent in net profit in 2012-14, VnExpress reported.
Its net profit is forecast to be nearly VND1.72 trillion ($75.51 million) this year.


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Thousands of tours, cruises, holidays and hotel breaks cancelled as coronavirus crisis pushes firm into administration
The owner of coach holiday operator Shearings has collapsed into administration, with 2,460 immediate job losses and thousands of holiday cancellations.
Specialist Leisure Group (SLG), which also owns brands including UKBreakaways.com, Wallace Arnold Travel, and hotel chains Bay Hotels, Coast & Country and Country Living, said all tours, cruises, holidays and hotel breaks in the UK and abroad have been cancelled and would not be rescheduled. The company stopped taking bookings on Thursday.
UK holiday firm SLG collapses with 2,500 job losses


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How Machine Learning Is Changing Accounts Payable Invoice Processing for Third-Party Logistics Companies
One of the biggest challenges of invoice processing for logistics companies concerns the time-consuming, in-house processes that require multiple users to manually extract and enter data into various internal software systems such as CargoWise.
In these times of great economic uncertainty amidst all the COVID chaos, it’s more important than ever to maintain strong supplier-customer relationships and keep cash flowing throughout the supply chain.
All invoices need to be received, reviewed and approved before payments can be made and the businesses you work with simply don’t have the breathing room to accommodate lengthy delays – and your survival is dependent on theirs.
Similarly, in-house, you don’t want to be dedicating already-stretched resources to deal with a mounting backlog of exceptions, disputes and inaccuracies.
Automated machine learning invoice processing and data capture is the solution.
Invoice processing can easily become disorganised – even under normal operating conditions, let alone with new remote working policies, distributed teams, furloughs and layoffs to contend with. The beauty of automated accounts payable invoice processing is that it brings order to the chaos – precisely what’s needed at this moment in time.
A report from PwC finds that almost half of organisations (48%) expect to accelerate automation in response to the crisis – a trend that is forecast to continue even when employees return to the office.
The reason, as pointed out by Arun Sundararajan, an NYU Stern School of Business professor in a recent Protocol article about the COVID-19-driven automation boom, is that a “crisis can be sort of a catalyst or can speed up changes that are on the way – it almost can serve as an accelerant.”
Mark Muro, a Senior Fellow and Policy Director who researches automation at the Brookings Institution, concurs: “There’s a lay view that automation might slow because the technology is expensive and firms would be hesitant to make capital investments,” he says – adding, crucially, that this view is wrong. “Economic literature over the last decade shows that these investments are made especially during a crisis.”
Machine Learning led Invoice Processing from Shipamax
At a time when improving efficiencies and keeping customers happy is of hugely critical importance, manually logging AP invoices is costly, time-consuming and as prone as ever, to human error.
Automated invoice processing solutions can solve these problems, are easy to implement and offer a quick and substantial return on investment.
Machine learning led invoice processing technology from Shipamax eliminates the need for staff to conduct labour-intensive manual data entry processes.
Our technology connects directly to any email inbox or unstructured data source and automatically extracts data from emails and attachments in real-time, outputting a clean, structured feed that is pushed directly into your ERP or TMS system – without any manual intervention whatsoever.
It has an extremely high degree of accuracy (up to 99%) and can reduce manual data entry costs by more than 80% – benefits that will last long after the current crisis has passed.
What’s more, there are no implementation fees, easy onboarding and a consumption-based pricing model that can be scaled up and down according to your business needs.
Specialised for the logistics industry, why not join our monthly 15 minute live group demo for more information on our industry leading plug-and-play machine learning invoice processing and document automation platform


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UK-based Traveltek Group has established a Middle Eastern representation office in Dubai, capitalising on growing demand for advanced travel booking solutions on the market.
Representatives of Qatar Tourism Authority were hosted by H.E. Maitha Saif Al Mahrouqi, undersecretary, Ministry of Tourism, Oman on July 09, with a programme of meetings and visits to tourism attractions across the Sultanate.
The ongoing partnership between GTA Middle East and Geneva Tourism & Conventions Foundation (Geneva Tourism) has proven successful in promoting over 50 of Geneva’s hotels and bringing exclusive benefits to the Middle East travel trade industry.
Travelport and Unique Caribbean Holidays (UCH), trading as Sandals and Beaches, have recently signed a global distribution system agreement, enabling agents to compare and select flights alongside UCH's packages.
The African Business Aviation Association (AfBAA) has strengthened its commitment to educating the African business aviation sector by signing two memorandum of understandings with leading international aviation training organisations.
HotelsCombined revealed that in 2016, the UAE and Saudi Arabia were among the top destinations in the GCC visited by business and leisure travellers from the UK, accounting for 10 percent of all visitors, with Australia and the US following.


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SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Mid-cut fatty alcohols prices in Asia were weighed down by buying resistance owing to weak demand, market sources said on late Wednesday.
Demand from major consumer -China market - was lacklustre owing to high domestic inventory. Some players also felt demand was typically slower during summer season.
Import volume of industrial fatty alcohols to China in May dropped 12.76% to 19,186 tonne as compared to a month ago at 21,992 tonne.
However, the recent improved China industrial manufacturing reading in June, likely positive result from government economic stimulus program, might be lifting some optimism in the Asian market, sources added.
During the week, restocking activities were ongoing slowly in certain countries in northeast Asia, southeast Asia and south Asia.
However, some buyers continued to buy cautiously owing to uncertain market outlooks and supply situations.
Spot C12-14 fatty alcohols prices fell at the lower-end by $20/tonne, to $1,580-1,630/tonne FOB (freight on board) SE (southeast) Asia in the week ended 9 July.
According to some southeast Asian end-users, offers from producers dropped by around $60-70/tonne from a few weeks ago to $1,600-1,650/tonne FOB SE Asia, amid softer feedstock trends and buying resistance from buyers.Feedstock palm kernel oil (PKO) prices were softer over the past two weeks, fuelling the bearish sentiment for mid-cut, C12-14 fatty alcohols.


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Jonathan Clements, former columnist for the Wall Street Journal and now the Director of Financial Guidance at myFi.com, sent me a copy of the press release for a recent survey that was conducted for his firm.
Here are some of the findings:
If the current financial crisis were a baseball game, the typical American thinks weâ€™re at the end of the fifth inning, according to a recent survey of 5,000 people conducted for myFism, short for â€œmy financial life,â€ a new financial service from Citi. myFi is part of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (member SIPC).
In the study, Americans seem to blame the crisis partly on excessive consumer spendingâ€”and many are looking to cut back:
63% say theyâ€™ll spend less on holiday gifts this year.
61% plan to reduce spending on major purchases over the next 12 months.
56% are looking to spend less on travel and vacations.
61% say they will eat out less.
Who’s to blame for the credit crisis?
This, too, is interesting:
Whoâ€™s responsible for the current mess? Thereâ€™s plenty of blame to go around. Among those surveyed, 72% blame the financial crisis on excessive spending by American consumers, 64% blame Wall Street, 62% blame excessive borrowing by homeowners and 59% blame the federal government.
This must have been one of those “choose all that apply” types of questions. I am surprised that nearly 60% of those surveyed blame the government!
Finally, the last thing I want to point out is that only 32% of those surveyed thought now was a good time to buy stocks. This is surprising to me because stocks are down so much this year. How much further would they have to drop in order to be considered a good buy? I have a sneaky suspicion that in the minds of most people, the more stocks drop the less of a bargain they becomeeven though the opposite is true.
You can read the rest of the press release here. If you have any questions, leave a comment and I’ll see if I can get Jonathan to answer them for you.


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Amazon has won a victory in its hard-fought campaign to stop workers at an Alabama warehouse forming the company’s first union, in a tough blow for the US labor movement.
Workers at the Bessemer, Alabama, plant have voted 1,798 to 738 to reject the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Counting concluded on Friday morning, and attention will now focus on some 505 challenged ballots , but the margin of victory was too greatto change the outcome.
“Challenges are not sufficient in number to affect the results of the election,’” the National Labor Relations Board said in a statement.
The union immediately said it would launch a legal challenge to the result, which is likely to look at the high number of contested ballots and union allegations of unfair tactics during the campaign. Amazon shares rose 0.8% on Friday, adding to earlier gains.
The fight to form a union in the warehouse in Bessemer, a suburb north of Birmingham, we eagerly watched by America’s labor movement as one of its most important battles in recent history. Some 5,800 workers were eligible to vote on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) as the first unionized Amazon warehouse in the US.
In a statement, the RWDSU president, Stuart Appelbaum, said: “We won’t let Amazon’s lies, deception and illegal activities go unchallenged, which is why we are formally filing charges against all of the egregious and blatantly illegal actions taken by Amazon during the union vote.
“Amazon knew full well that unless they did everything they possibly could, even illegal activity, their workers would have continued supporting the union.”
The union’s struggle has attracted the support of a range of leftwing politicians and some Republicans eager to court working-class voters. But Amazon had fiercely resisted the effort.
Amazon is the US’s second largest private employer after Walmart, with 950,000 employees, the majority of whom work in its massive warehouses, which have been the subject of numerous reports of hazardous and grueling working conditions.
The union drive was the biggest unionization push at the company since it was founded in 1995, and workers faced fierce lobbying from both sides ahead of the vote.
Labor organisers hope the publicity surrounding the vote – even in defeat – will spur other unionization attempts, especially in the south, which has been long been a hostile place for unions.
Some 3,215 total ballots were received by the NLRB. A simple majority of votes determined the winner.
However, the eligibility of about 500 ballots was challenged, mostly by Amazon, according to the RWDSU. Union organizers are already making noises about fighting the election, alleging that Amazon has fought the union drive unfairly and intimidated its workers to prevent them making a fair and free choice.
Brandon Magner, a labor lawyer and author of the Labor Law Lite newsletter, said: “These objections, if sustained by the regional office, could set aside the election result and cause the NLRB to order another election.”
Post-election hearings are held 21 days after ballots are tallied.
Amazon strongly and publicly opposed the union, from seeking to delay the election, pushing for in-person voting, hiring expensive union avoidance consultants, forcing workers to participate in captive audience meetings, flooding workers with anti-union messaging and encouraging them to vote against it, sponsoring local media content, and waging PR fights against critics.
The union drive has come as Amazon has emerged as one of the biggest winners of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company’s profits have soared amid pandemic lockdowns, as has its share price. Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, was listed as the world’s richest man by Forbes magazine last week for the fourth consecutive year, with a personal fortune of $177bn.
Before the election, Amazon successfully pushed to expand the bargaining unit for the election from 1,500 employees proposed by the RWDSU to over 5,800 employees. The union obtained more than 3,000 union authorization cards to warrant the election in late 2020, but it is unclear how many of those employees remained employed with Amazon to be eligible to participate in the election.
An unnamed person filed an unfair labor practice charge in February against Amazon in regards to the anti-union website.
Mike Foster, the lead organizer for the Bessemer effort, said the union organizing drive offered thanks to the expressions of support they had received from around the world for their effort.
“By no means is this the end. Failure isn’t in my category, I don’t even know what that means. We’re going to fight and continue to fight,” said Foster. “This battle has just begun. I don’t know how to do nothing but fight.”
Emmitt Ashford, an Amazon worker, expressed frustration and anger over the result, but offered hope and encouragement moving forward.
“This is just the spark that has started a fire across the United States. The labor movement is alive,” said Emmitt “Our time will come around again and next time we will win, but at the same time, we’ve done so much, inspired so many people, and gained so much support.”


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TechnologyJul 22, 2014 1:48 PM By Mike O'Brien
In order to focus completely on its ecommerce Speed Commerce has completed the sale of its legacy distribution business segment to WYNIT Distribution, LLC.
TechnologyJul 22, 2014 12:16 PM By Mike O'Brien
While the Chinese ecommerce market is growing wildly, getting goods there can prove tricky, attendees were told at Multichannel Merchant’s Growing Global conference.
TechnologyJul 02, 2014 5:12 PM By Mike O'Brien
Data from its PowerUp rewards program has helped fuel omnichannel growth for retailer GameStop.
TechnologyJun 26, 2014 2:00 PM By Mike O'Brien
Retailers and retail experts contacted by Multichannel Merchant were mixed in terms of the impact of the new Amazon Fire phone.
TechnologyJun 24, 2014 12:31 PM By Mike O'Brien
In a new study from PwC, commissioned by JDA Software, 83% of retail executives said their supply chains were not optimized for omnichannel.
TechnologyJun 19, 2014 12:15 PM By Mike O'Brien
GoECart has partnered with Bongo International to make global ecommerce easier and quicker for GoECart customers.
TechnologyJun 04, 2014 3:52 PM By Mike O'Brien
Shoe Carnival said its transition from 3PL to ship-from-store is foundational in terms of its overall omnichannel strategy.
TechnologyJun 04, 2014 10:12 AM By Aaron Kline
Although the merchant community is focused on updating hardware to prepare for the EMV migration, they also need to prepare for an influx of fraudsters online. Merchants should consider the four following factors in order to prepare for this rise in online fraud.
TechnologyJun 03, 2014 5:36 PM By Danny Wajcman
When it comes to optimizing your website, ignorance is not bliss. Capturing constructive feedback is critical to building a site with a strong conversion rate that maximizes the potential of every customer.
TechnologyJun 03, 2014 12:30 PM By MCM Staff
Retailers must blend the physical and digital worlds into a seamless omnichannel experience to attract and retain today’s empowered shoppers.
by David Fish
Posted 19 hours ago
by Curt Barry
Posted 2 days ago


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Apr 15, 2021|
JD Worldwide Upgrades National Pavilion Program: Open, Diverse and Customized
by Ling Cao and Rachel Liu
JD Worldwide is upgrading its national pavilion program to provide more value for both merchants and customers. Announced on Apr. 15, which is the sixth anniversary for JD Worldwide, JD aims to introduce open, diverse and customized solutions for its partners. The upgrade includes a shift from primary focus on sales to integrating more cultural elements from the various countries involved in the pavilions project.
The pandemic has changed how institutions and merchants view e-commerce platforms. Luke Liu, general manager of business development under JD Worldwide said, “Previously our national pavilion mainly focused on selling products, while now we are including more cultural elements as continued requirements to support needs such as increased tourism between the two countries. For example, including a country’s travel guide, as well as information about its history and geography.”
JD will tailor the solutions for each pavilion, making it not only a sales channel, but also an integrated exhibition platform. For example, JD launched the Peru National Pavilion last November, which not only brings various iconic local products to Chinese consumers such as quinoa, alpaca gloves and health supplements, but also introduces the geography and culture of the country. JD Worldwide has also welcomed the Sri Lanka, Chile, Singapore national pavilions in the past year.
In addition, as part of the upgrading program, JD is planning to create a non-stop online world fair this year by organizing a series of such pavilions, enabling customers in China to buy whatever they want, wherever and whenever they want it.
Liu shared, “With years of operation, we have gained expertise in e-commerce, logistics and marketing for serving merchants all around the globe. The program shows our ambition to create a better environment for them, and we hope more and more partners will work with us. Together, we can improve the shopping experience for customers.”
The national pavilion program is also an easier way to help overseas SMEs enter the Chinese market, especially during COVID-19. Compared with opening a store selling a few vertical products, SMEs can use the stronger platform to display their products, while the pavilion can gradually be expanded to become a one-stop channel for customers.
Liu also shared that JD will expand the scale of the business according to consumer demand. Prioritized categories to explore will include luxury, cookies of local specialties and more. JD will also look to directly source products from popular retail platforms such as PG Mall in Malaysia.
JD Worldwide’s National Pavilions project first began in 2015 to introduce a range of high-quality products from a given country, spanning multiple brands, providing best-in-class products sourced from around the world.


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At Rusnak/Westlake Audi, in Thousand Oaks, Calif., employees receive spotlight awards. Usually three to four times a month, employees and managers nominate other employees for doing a great job, and those employees receive a $50 gift card.
In one case, a service porter won an award after giving a woman a ride home and unpacking her groceries. Another time, a technician stopped on the side of the road when he saw a BMW from another Rusnak store pulled over, and the driver needed help.
"It is a very effective way for a larger organization to recognize people in a very specific way," said Victoria Rusnak, CEO of Rusnak Auto Group. "It's important because people work really hard and one of the driving sources for longevity and satisfaction is recognition. It doesn't cost much and goes a long way. People deserve it."
Dealerships give awards to employees for doing more than going out of their way to help customers, though. Some stores award employees for looking out for each other.
Rusnak/Westlake Audi gives employees safety awards. Managers nominate employees who attend every quarterly safety meeting and those who go beyond the standard to sustain a safe workplace.
Especially in a dealership setting, where technicians often work with hazardous tools, Rusnak and some of her dealership departments saw a need to motivate staffers to pay closer attention to safety and minimize injuries. So about five years ago, they started a safety contest. Whichever store had the fewest number of accidents or no accidents would receive the award.
"It heightens awareness," Rusnak said. "When they win the safety award, we throw a nice lunch at the store. It's a friendly way to encourage it."


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Direct flight opportunity: Chia-Yi Tung talks about Quebec and China
With the launch of Montreal – Beijing direct flight, Chinese market is at Montreal and Quebec’s doorstep. Chia-Yi Tung, Orchimedia’s founder and president, is honored to talk about the opportunity with Metro Journal. See Original Report
In the past years, Chinese market has long been ignored by Quebecers. In the interview, Ms. Tung says that Quebec has a unique and appealing image to China, as well as all the resources to attract Chinese market.
The direct flight will bring a large number of Chinese to Montreal: Chinese tourists, investors, overseas students and immigrants. However, one should not forget that the Chinese market is more than the market across the Pacific Ocean and it is also about Chinese audience in Canada.
Ms. Tung also says that with the influx of Chinese, it is important for enterprises or organizations to attract and approach the immense market in a Chinese way, which is more than a simple translation: an adaptation to the culture.
Orchimedia is a Montreal based marketing consultancy specialized in intercultural communication, China branding and Chinese digital marketing. Being in the industry for more than 10 years, Orchimedia commits to deliver the best practice to connect your business with Chinese audience living abroad and in China.


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Harry Reid: Elon Musk Might Be 'Playing' Nevada
Reid told the Reno Gazette-Journal that he thinks Musk has started a "bidding war" between Texas and California for sites on which the electric car startup's massive battery factories will be built.
Muck acknowledged on Tesla's most recent earnings call with analysts that what he termed a construction pad has been created in Nevada, But he said that additional work on the $ 5 billion Gigafactory that could be built there was waiting on moves from the state's government.
Musk seems to be keeping every option - and potential tax and other incentive - open when it comes to this project, which will enable Tesla to have enough lithium-ion battery cells to produce 500,000 cars by 2020. He's indicated that gigafactories could rise in multiple states, and that construction could start soon.
There's no question that Tesla needs the Gigafactory. But beyond that, it's all getting rather vague. And that lends credence to Reid's statements, to the Gazette-Journal, that Musk's ultimate objective is to get the "best deal" for Tesla.
- Survey shows people find no improvement in public toilets across country
- Sebi extends deadline for listed cos to confirm or deny market rumours
- Tom Hanks, a dental plan promotion and an AI
- New 'inverse vaccine' shows potential to treat multiple sclerosis, diabetes: Study
- TDP leaders stage hunger strike In Delhi against arrest of Chandrababu Naidu


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Haptic feedback is the obvious next step in immersion for gamers, one step that many engineers have yet to fully crack. Through a collection of devices by Razer and other companies, the gaming peripheral company is delivering its take on haptics with Razer Hybersense.
"We are finally able to feel what we see and hear all around using the gaming arena, sensing the hiss of enemy fire or feeling the full bass of a monster's growl," says Razer Co-Founder and Ceo Min-Liang Tan in the press release for the announcement. "Much like Razer Chroma where we have demonstrated the power of a connected lighting system across gaming devices, Razer HyberSense syncs gaming devices equipped with high-fidelity haptic motors to enhance immersion in gaming."
Here's a glimpse at how Razer HyperSense works:
Razer HyperSense takes advantage of each device’s position in a traditional PC gaming setup to provide powerful 360-degree tactile feedback and immersion that allows gamers to feel explosions on their right, enemies approaching from behind or an incoming attack from the front. It features advanced haptic technologies developed by Lofelt™, SUBPAC™ and others.
Out of the box, Razer HyperSense intelligently triggers devices to provide high-fidelity feedback based on positional audio or specific sound cues like the impact of a hammer, firing of a rocket launcher or the blowing of a gust of wind from the left to the right. This combination of both environmental audio cues and more immediate sounds around an in-game character will provide complete 360-degree immersion.
If you're attending CES 2019, there's a Razer HyperSense experience available for demo and it is currently using the Razer Nari Ultimate wireless gaming headset, a mouse and wrist rest with haptics by Lofelt, and a haptic-equipped chair from SUBPAC. This haptic ecosystem is only being shown off with traditional gaming setups, but mixed reality applications of Razer HyperSense will surely be explore for VR and AR experiences.
"Razer HyperSense has tons of potential to increase immersion in gaming," says id Software's Tim Willits. "I recently tried the Razer Nari Ultimate, and the added layer of tactile feedback to positional sound made me feel even more engaged and aware of my surroundings. I can't wait to try an entire ecosystem of haptic enabled devices working together to bring to life the world and action of video games."
Check out our CES 2019 landing page for more updates from the event and stay tuned to Shacknews for more!
Charles Singletary Jr posted a new article, Hypersense is Razer's High-Fidelity Haptic device ecosystem
My iFeel Mouseman is coming back!


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Toyota Going Strong
Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) continues to do well financially, as shown by its fiscal first-half figures, which cover the period ended September 30.
On a consolidated basis, net revenues for the first half of the fiscal year totaled 10.9 trillion yen, an increase of 36.1 percent compared to the same period last fiscal year. Operating income increased from a loss of 32.6 billion yen to 693.7 billion yen, an increase of 726.3 billion yen, while income before income taxes was 794.5 billion yen. Net income increased from 81.5 billion yen to 548.2 billion yen.
The most notable aspect of the numbers is that the trouble between China and Japan did not hurt Toyota sales enough to badly damage its earnings. Toyota did mention China as a challenge going forward, but management made encouraging comments about the balance of the year:
Although currency fluctuations have continued to affect our profits and the effect of current Japan-China relations on our sales is still unclear, we have revised the forecast we announced at the end of the first quarter to reflect the progress we have been making in our profit improvement activities. We intend to continue strengthening such activities and aim to create a profit structure able to withstand changes in the business environment.
Toyota has benefited from its limited exposure in Europe. However, the much larger factor in its success is that it has regained much of its market share in the United States. American sales for the Japanese company continue to rise more rapidly that any other large manufacturer that sells vehicles in the U.S., a sign that it has overcome supply constraints cause by the Japanese earthquake, as well as reputation issues created by a series of large recalls.
Media reports from the Group of 20 summit indicate that two issues have dominated the meeting - the effects of the U.S. fiscal cliff and Europe's troubled economy and financial situations. No one in attendance who has been willing to talk to the press has any sense of optimism that pressing the United States and Europe will yield positive results. Each one is mired in bickering among its leaders, and that bickering is months if not years old. The Economic Times reports:
"If the United States fails to resolve the fiscal cliff it would hit the US economy hard as well as the world and the Japanese economy, so each G20 country will urge the United States to firmly deal with it," Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said before a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers.
If wishes were horses, all the beggars would ride.
Falling Fuel Prices
Despite concerns that Hurricane Sandy might have hurt gasoline supplies and closed some refineries, gas prices continue to fall, and fall rapidly. According to AAA Fuel Gauge data, the national average cost of a gallon of regular came to $3.470. That was down from $3.543 a week ago and from $3.806 a month ago. Prices have fallen so quickly that only Alaska and Hawaii have average regular prices higher than $4. A month ago, several large states, including California, were above that threshold. The price drop could not come at a better time. Economic growth faces the reaction of individual consumers and businesses to the so-called fiscal cliff. Most experts believe the reaction will be negative enough to drag on gross domestic product. The Congressional Budget Office has even forecast that gross domestic product could drop early in the year. Any factor that might mitigate a rise in taxes and a decline in government spending might provide just enough stimulus to keep the economy's head above water, if only by a little.
Douglas A. McIntyre
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Market Open Tagged: TM


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The terminal will be used for transferring cargo from and to trains with different track gauges - presumably for trade with Russia. The terminal is predicted to be 150 hectares large, said Niks Balodis, leader of a local business association.
Logistics and other transit companies could do business near this terminal. But for the existing businesses it's important to retain the current railroad access structure, and perhaps create new access points, said Balodis.
Kaspars Vingris of the Transport Ministry said that AECOM is currently working on the Salaspils terminal to create technical solutions for a multi-modal logistics center. The details will be worked out according to the local and regional logistics situation in Latvia, the Baltics and globally.
German companies in on the plans have said that they're eager to collaborate once the center is ready, said Vingris.
The consensus about how the center is to operate, what tasks it'll have to accomplish and how municipalities and privately owned businesses will partake in the project.
Although currently there are plans only for a cargo terminal in Salaspils, Neils Balgalis, the spatial planning expert for Rail Baltica Latvia said that other logistics centers could be built in cities like Iecava, Bauska, Vangaži and Skulte. These plans could be put into motion in the next 15-40 years.
Rail Baltica is a proposed high-speed line to link Helsinki with Berlin through the Baltic capitals by 2024.


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Airbnb may raise a massive $500 million round with a valuation of $10 billion, according to an anonymously sourced report from the Wall Street Journal.
Airbnb is said to be raising between $400 million and $500 million, led by TPG, a massive firm that has funded companies ranging from Burger King to J. Crew. If true, this round will bring Airbnb’s total funding to between $726 million and $826 million — the firm previously raised $326 million since its founding in 2008. An Airbnb spokesperson declined to comment on the news. TPG did not immediately respond to VentureBeat’s request for comment.
Correction: A previous version misnamed TPG Capital.


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Oculus VR has confirmed that it has halted sales of its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset in China, following the discovery that local companies were purchasing the development kits and selling them on at an inflated mark-up - a move that has legitimate purchasers disappointed.
Oculus VR recently announced that it had begun distribution of the Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 (DK2), the high-resolution successor to the wildly popular Oculus Rift Development Kit. As the name suggests, the hardware is aimed primarily at developers rather than end-users, but that hasn't stopped the company taking a whopping 45,000 orders since sales opened in March of which only 5,000 have so far been produced.
An unspecified quantity of those 5,000, however, have not found their way to end users. Instead, companies have reportedly been ordering the hardware in bulk under assumed identities in order to resell the devices to an eager consumer base for profit. The problem has been serious enough, in fact, that Oculus VR has taken drastic measures: the closure of sales to China and the cancelling of a number of, but not all, existing pre-orders from Chinese citizens.
'Yes, it is a bummer that we've had to suspend sales in China due to extreme reseller purchases. We need to make sure that we are doing what we can to make sure that resellers that are looking to flip our product for a profit are not taking stock away from legitimate developer purchases globally,
' a company representative confirmed in a statement late last week. 'Our product, in its current form, is a developer kit, meant for developers that develop VR content. We are looking into alternative ways to make sure that our development kits are getting into legitimate developer hands in China. If you are an enthusiast, we kindly ask that you wait for the consumer Rift. It will be worth the wait.
In a comment thread on Reddit
, Oculus VR was asked for clarity on the volume of the problem. 'We were forced to suspend an entire country from purchasing,
' the reply read. 'I'll let you put two and two together.


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Intel will not position its Atom processor for the server market, even as some vendors are building servers around collections of hundreds of low-power Atom processors, a company executive said.
A server that integrates 512 Atom processors with Ethernet switching, server management and application load-balancing was demonstrated earlier this month at Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco by SeaMicro, a vendor of low-power server technology.
The SeaMicro server, and some new servers that use low-power chips based on ARM processors, will address only very niche markets, Kirk Skaugen, Intel’s vice president and general manager of its Data Center Group, said on Thursday.
“We are not opposed to an Atom based server, but we just don’t see broad adoption of the Atom as a server chip,” he said.
ARM processors have the added disadvantage of not being compatible with software written for the x86 architecture, Skaugen said.
He pointed to a recent article, “Brawny cores still beat wimpy cores, most of the time” by Urs Hölzle, senior vice president of operations and Google Fellow at Google, which said that even though many Internet services benefit from seemingly unbounded request and data-level parallelism, as the number of parallel threads increases, reducing serialization and communication overheads can become increasingly difficult.
At some point you are so highly parallelized that you start doing artificial things in programming, that become unnatural, Skaugen said.
People want energy-efficient, raw performance, and that can be found in a Xeon box, and not in a server built around Atom processors, he added.
Intel demonstrated at IDF its next generation Sandy Bridge microarchitecture, which has eight cores which are each symmetric multi-threaded. “So in a two-socket system you will have 32 threads, which is cooler than putting 32 single-core Atom chips,” Skaugen said.
Intel also announced at IDF new processors targeted for servers.
Security technology from Intel’s proposed acquisition of McAfee will also go into server chips, though Skaugen declined to go into details. By coupling hardware and McAfee software in the chip, Intel hopes to shift the focus in security from recognizing and detecting historical threat signatures, to preventing unknown, “zero-day” security attacks by proactively identifying an issue, he said.
Wireless technology from the proposed acquisition of Infineon’s wireless business is less likely to go into Intel’s server products, as these technologies tend to be more relevant on the client side, Skaugen said.


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Even as markets witness tremendous rise in sales of smartphones every year, looks like Panasonic is feeling rather left out. Rumours have it that the Japanese premiere is all set to make a re-entry in to the segment.
The mobile market has seen an unprecedented growth, however, so has the competition gone fiercer. After bowing out of the smartphone industry owing to poor sales and not enough demand for its devices, Japanese manufacturer Panasonic is looking for a fresh start. Buzz has it that Panasonic would be making a comeback of sorts next month at the Mobile World Congress 2014 event in Barcelona.
Panasonic will reportedly showcase a new smartphone at the MWC 2014. Touted as a sturdy industrial grade smartphone much like what we see from manufacturers like JCB in Europe, Panasonic’s new phone won’t however target the average consumer. There is no news whatsoever regarding price and specs of the same, however, gossip around the world indicate the phone will have a standard 5 inch display panel and will be shock resistant. This is all we know as of now, but come February we might get a pleasant surprise from Panasonic.
It is further reported that Panasonic is already in talks with American construction firms to market the device in the region. However, nothing is confirmed at this point of time. So watch out this space for more updates on Panasonic’s plans.


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2015 Jeep Compass, Patriot Recalled for Fire Risk
AUBURN HILLS, Michigan – Fiat-Chrysler is recalling an estimated 60,107 2015 Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot SUVs in the U.S. because of a fire risk linked to a low-pressure return hose, the company said late last week.
An investigation “discovered clamps in some vehicles produced during a five-month period this year may be out of position,” the company said in a statement. “This may allow rapid loss of power steering fluid. Leakage onto a hot surface may pose a potential fire hazard.”
There are no related injuries or accidents, the company said.
“If the condition occurs, steering is not lost,” Fiat-Chrysler said. “However, greater physical effort may be required to steer the vehicle. Customers who experience this and/or observe evidence of a fluid leak are urged to contact their dealers.”
The company said reported incidents of fluid leaks predominantly involve vehicles with very low mileage.
Jeep dealers will inspect and, if necessary, reposition a clamp that secures the low-pressure return hose. A date has not been specified for the recall. Owners can contact Fiat-Chrysler customer service at (800) 853-1403.
No information about the recall has been posted on the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which oversees vehicle safety in the U.S.
Edmunds says: If you own one of these vehicles and notice a problem, contact your dealer now. Others should wait for their official recall notice and then schedule a service appointment.


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Samsung Galaxy Tab S unveiled: $499 10.5-inch and $399 8.4-inch Android tablets take aim at iPad (hands-on)
Equipped with a new AMOLED display and a svelte design, the Galaxy S Tab, which comes in 8.4-inch and 10.5-inch versions, is Samsung’s latest answer to the iPad. Kocaso MID M9000 9 Inch Tablet users manual News, reviews, and discussion forums dedicated to Android Tablet PCs.
While every other company is busy chasing the 7-inch tablet market, Toshiba (TOSBF) is keeping its eye on people interested in 10-inch tablets. Its new Excite 10 SE Android tablet is fairly similar to its Excite 10 … Read more
In effort to reverse eroding PC sales, HP on Monday announced a new 21.5-inch Android tablet that will be marketed as an all-in-one desktop. The Slate 21 AIO is equipped with a full HD IPS display, … Read more
Increasing competition in the seven-inch Android tablet market means that the company’s Nexus 7 premium slate is struggling to compete. Therefore, according to Digitimes sources, the search giant is considering using screen size as a … Read more
Taiwanese PC maker Acer is rolling out an 8-inch Android tablet, set to arrive in the third quarter. The Iconia Tab 8, announced on Friday, features 1920 by 1200 pixel resolution and an Intel Atom … Read more
Verizon Wireless is now selling its very own tablet branded under its name. Following a series of leaks, the carrier announced the Ellipsis 7 tablet this morning. It’s an Android tablet that looks like it … Read more


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LEOMINSTER (CBS) — A group of Brownies and Girl Scouts say they won’t let the thief or thieves who stole their cookie money win. The girls now want to push even farther and raise more money for their troops.
On Monday, troop leader Joan Levine’s husband came home to find the front door open and the inside ransacked. Among the items stolen; $4,500 worth of cookie money and three cases of cookies. The family also had their DVD player, laptop, camera and Wii stolen.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Laurie Kirby reports
Levine says the cookie money was a result of more than a week’s worth of work for her girl scouts, including four booth sales held over February vacation.
“The girls make about 61 cents per box so they stole about $300 to $350 of profits from each troop,” she told WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
Levine speculates someone either saw her taking cases of cookies in and out of her home over the past few weeks or, someone followed her home from a cookie sale. So far, police have no leads.
“They want to keep going,” Levine said of her troops. “I was expecting maybe they didn’t want to do it anymore but they’re not going to let this get them down. They want to do even more than we had planned. I’m pretty proud of them.”
Levine said they’ll figure out how to do the things they wanted to do with the profits from cookie sales.
The annual girl scout cookie sale is not just a way of raising money for the troop but also a way girls can learn about finances and money management.
“They should be ashamed on themselves,” Levine said. “They should really return that money back to those girls. They worked very hard for it and they don’t deserve it.”
MORE LOCAL NEWS FROM CBS BOSTON


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McDonald's Israel refuses to open branch across Green Line
The chain, owned by a founder of Peace Now, rejected an invitation to open a new restaurant in Ariel.
McDonald's Israel turned down an offer to open a restaurant in Ariel because it is located in the West Bank.
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Ford decision has shaken the people in Europe. It has decided to close three factories in Europe. This will make 5700 people jobless. The company says it wants to save $500 million in cost this this because car sales is doing down at an alarming rate. This year will suffer a lost of $1.5 billion because of poor demands of cars from consumers in Europe.
News reports say that Renault and G.M are also in trouble. G.M is negotiating wit union so it can close its Opel plant in Germany.
French automaker Peugeot is also in problem and wants to close its plant in Aulnay-sous-Bois. It appears that European economic crisis is deepening. The closure will these plants will create more problems for government who are trying to revive economy and create jobs.


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Intex has released a new Aqua-series smartphone in the Indian market. Priced at Rs. 5,799, the new Aqua Note 5.5 can be now grabbed from Amazon India in Champagne Gold colour.
The smartphone runs on Android 7.0 Nougat and is powered by 1.2GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737 processor.
Intex has also included 2GB of RAM, 16GB of onboard storage, microSD card slot and dual-SIM support in the phone.
You can check out the full specifications later in the post.
The phone will be competing with the likes of Xiaomi Redmi 4A, which on Tuesday got an upgraded version with 3GB RAM. The new version will retail for Rs. 6,999. Redmi 4A’s 2GB RAM version is sold for just Rs. 5,999.
Intex Aqua Note 5.5 specifications
Display: 5.5-inch HD IPS screen
Processor: 1.2GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737 processor
Memory: 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, microSD card slot
Cameras: 8MP rear camera with LED flash, 5MP front shooter
Connectivity: 4G VoLTE, dual-SIM support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS
Battery: 2800 mAh
OS: Android 7.0 Nougat
In related news, Intex has recently launched another budget Android phone in the country. Dubbed as Aqua Style III, the smartphone is being offered at Rs. 4,299 and comes with 5-inch FWVGA screen, quad-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, and Android Nougat.


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Typically the rule of thumb when planting in Colorado is to wait until after Mother’s Day. That means many are getting ready to plant this weekend.
CBS4 Money Saver Suzanne McCarroll took a look at the deadlines and the cheapest ways to ship presents.
Eating out can really add up for a family, but there are ways to enjoy dinner for four without breaking the bank.
With Christmas only a week away families are looking to stretch their dollar, so they often hit the outlet malls.
The staff at Cheapism.com went shopping to compare prices at Walmart versus Amazon’s website.
CBS4 Money Saver Suzanne McCarroll has a tool that compares which warehouse club has better deals on certain items.


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0G0erman automaker Daimler-Benz and the American vehicle manufacturer Chrysler Group merged in 1998 for a $36 billion consideration. Now, Daimler is marketing its American luxurious manufacturer for just $seven.4 billion. What went awfully erroneous?
Automotive records reflect that most of the failures in the field involved person vehicles. But at present, a failure of additional intensive magnitude mainly because it is a person defined by a company not just car, has stunned the field. The news arrived like a bomb particularly for the personnel of the ailing American automaker. Even the Stillen cold air ingestion could not circumvent the heat of the issue.
The nine 12 months mergence of the vehicle giants has come to a halt by means of the Cerberus Money Management’s acquisition of an eighty.one per cent stake in Chrysler. The New York-dependent personal equity firm promised Monday to restore Chrysler “to the very first ranks of the U.S. and international vehicle field.”
Daimler will keep 19.nine per cent stake and obtain synergies that however have not happened. “We certainly overestimated the opportunity of synergies,” Dieter Zetsche, the main government of DaimlerChrysler, said at a news meeting Monday at the company’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. “I really don’t know if any amount of owing diligence could have given us a much better estimation in that regard.”
The acquisition of Chrysler marks the very first time a person of the Detroit Big A few automakers will be in the palms of a personal equity firm. As this sort of, the circumstance has drawn a variety of interpretation and evaluation. There are all those who say the merger, which faced substantial cultural differences, was doomed from the get started.
“You had two organizations from various nations around the world with various languages and various designs come with each other still there were being no synergies. It was simply an work out in empire-constructing by Juergen Schrempp,” said Dave Healy, an analyst with Burnham Securities, referring to the then-Daimler-Benz chairman and why the merger failed. “Mainly Daimler has now paid out Cerberus to acquire Chrysler off its palms,” Healy extra.
At first, the approach was for Chrysler to use Daimler parts, factors and even vehicle architecture to sharply minimize the price to make foreseeable future vehicles. But troubles surfaced when Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz luxurious division, whose factors Chrysler would use, was averse to contribute to Chrysler. Eventually, all Chrysler obtained were being some steering and suspension factors, a transmission and a diesel motor and number of offers.
In return, Daimler had hoped that Chrysler would radically raise its standing in the North American vehicle current market. But owing to tough competition from Asian automakers, Chrysler fell brief. Billed as a “merger of equals,” the $36 billion offer turned out to be anything but, analysts said. Shortly, control of the put together company fell to Daimler Chairman Schrempp.
“Eaton panicked,” Lee Iacocca, said. “We were being creating $one billion a quarter and had $twelve billion in cash, and while he said it …Continue Reading