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|By Business Wire||
|February 13, 2013 01:07 AM EST||
NEXON Co., Ltd. (“Nexon”) (3659.TO), a worldwide leader in free-to-play online games, today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2012. Fourth quarter revenues grew by 39% and operating income increased 5% year-over-year, both exceeding the Company’s outlook. Full year revenues grew 24% year-over-year, and full year operating income grew 25%.
“2012 was a pivotal year of transformation for Nexon, during which we completed several transactions that have reshaped our business model as our dynamic industry continues to evolve. We invested for growth in our PC business and in the important – and rapidly growing – mobile arena, while maintaining our strategic and operational focus and delivering another year of solid growth,” said Seungwoo Choi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nexon. “We enhanced our mobile business through the successful acquisitions of inBlue and gloops, positioning Nexon as the leading third-party mobile game developer globally. Since acquiring these companies, both have outperformed our expectations and each is set to deliver a strong 2013 lineup for the domestic and international markets. Importantly, through our recent alliance, DeNA is running strong marketing promotions for our games on the Mobage platform. We expect continued strength in our PC business over 2013 as we begin to realize the returns from the large publishing deals we signed in 2012.”
“Longer term, we expect to see continued convergence between the PC and mobile devices. As a content creator, this trend presents significant opportunities for Nexon and increases the number of ways consumers can enjoy our games,” continued Mr. Choi. “These industry trends, coupled with the groundwork we have laid, position Nexon well to deliver growth and value to our shareholders.”
Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2012 Financial Highlights
- Total consolidated revenues were ¥30,937 million, an increase of 39% over the fourth quarter of 2011 (or 30% on a constant currency basis).
- Operating income was ¥9,778 million, a 5% increase from the fourth quarter of 2011. Operating income margin was 31.6%, as a result of the addition of significant new mobile revenues at lower margins, increased marketing expenses, amortization expenses from our gloops acquisition and changes in the geographic mix shift as the increase in Japan mobile revenues caused our higher-margin China business to decrease as a percentage of total revenue.
- Net loss for the quarter was ¥94 million, below the Company’s outlook, due to a write-down related to Nexon’s investment in JC Entertainment. Additionally, tax expenses were higher than expected due to a new interpretation of Korean tax regulation. Write-downs were also taken on smaller impairments of IP and goodwill of minority investment subsidiaries.
- Adjusted net income 1 for the quarter was ¥1,033 million.
- Basic earnings per share were a loss of ¥0.22. Adjusted earnings per share were ¥2.38.
|1||Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP measure that excludes the non-cash amortization of goodwill related to our acquisitions (and negative goodwill in the case of acquisitions occurring before April 1, 2010), which is required under Japanese GAAP. We provide this information to investors for the purpose of comparing our net income with that of companies that do not amortize goodwill or negative goodwill associated with acquisitions in their financial results, including those reporting in accordance with U.S. GAAP.|
Revenue by Region1,4
|(Millions of yen)|
|YoY % Change|
|China||¥ 8,281||¥ 11,074||¥ 9,862||34||%||19||%|
Europe and Others2
|1||The above table presents a breakdown of our revenue based on the region in which revenues originate. It is not a presentation of our revenues according to Nexon entities.|
|2||Others consists of United Kingdom, other Asian countries, and South American countries.|
|3||Constant currency percent change is the growth rate had the currency rate not changed from Q4 2011.|
|4||Revenues are Nexon Group’s consolidated revenues, which include gloops’ revenue.|
|5||Constant currency is calculated differently under Japanese GAAP compared to U.S. GAAP. Instead of fixing the exchange rate at the end of each quarter, we apply one of the approved methods under Japanese GAAP and take the cumulative average from the beginning of the year. For example, the Q2 rate is the average from the beginning of year through Q2. Also, when converting currency for China revenue, Tencent pays Nexon Korea in USD, which is converted to KRW in Nexon Korea’s books and then converted to JPY for reporting purposes.|
Fourth Quarter Actual Results versus Outlook
The following table shows Nexon’s results relative to the Company’s outlook. In future disclosures, Nexon intends to present its revenues in two categories: mobile revenues and PC revenues.
|Q4 2012 Actual Results versus Outlook|
|(Millions of yen, except per share data)|
|Net income (loss)||3,188||~||5,099||(400||)||900||~||1,080||1,013|
|Adjusted net income||3,597||~||5,507||74||900||~||1,080||1,013|
|Basic EPS (LPS)||7.34||~||11.74||(0.92||)||2.07||~||2.49||2.33|
Fiscal Year 2012 Financial Highlights
- Total consolidated revenues were ¥108,448 million, an increase of 24% over the prior fiscal year.
- Operating income was ¥47,874 million, an increase of 25% over the prior fiscal year. Operating income margin was 44.1%, slightly higher than the 43.7% in 2011.
- Net income for the year declined 1% over the prior fiscal year to ¥25,401 million.
- Adjusted net income for the year was ¥27,711 million, up 2% over the prior fiscal year.
- Basic earnings per share were ¥58.71. Adjusted earnings per share were ¥64.05.
First Quarter 2013 Business Outlook
In an effort to provide shareholders with more precise information, Nexon plans to provide a quarterly outlook rather than a full year outlook beginning in the first quarter of 2013. The Company will continue to provide additional detail and commentary regarding longer-term trends in its quarterly shareholder letter and other investor communications.
Nexon expects Q1 2013 revenue in the range of \28.5 billion to \30.3 billion for PC and \7.4 billion to \8.1 billion for mobile. Management expects the PC business will benefit from Nexon’s content update schedule, which will be more evenly weighted between Q1 and Q3 than it was in 2012. Nexon’s mobile business, which consists of gloops, inBlue and other studios, will benefit from a solid lineup of marketing initiatives, particularly on the Mobage platform through our recently announced alliance with DeNA. Further detail regarding Nexon’s Q1 2013 outlook is provided in management’s letter to shareholders, which is available on the Company’s investor relations website.
|(Millions of yen, except per share data)|
|Q1 2011||Q1 2012||Q1 2013|
|Revenues||¥ 20,809||¥ 30,377||¥35,965||~||¥38,519|
|Adjusted net income||7,968||12,738||8,923||10,401|
Earnings per share2:
FX Rate Assumptions3
|1||Adjusted to reflect the 1:100 stock splits that occurred on July 21, 2011.|
|2||Based on the assumptions above, every one Japanese yen move against the U.S. dollar would have an impact of 0.32 billion yen on revenue and 0.15 billion yen on operating income for the three months ending March 31, 2013.|
Conference Call and Webcast
Nexon management will host a conference call in English on February 13, 2013 at 10:30 p.m. Japan Standard Time (JST) / 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) for analysts and investors to discuss Nexon’s financial results and outlook. The call can be accessed via live audio webcast on Nexon’s Investor Relations website at http://ir.nexon.co.jp/en/.
A transcript of the conference call will also be available on Nexon’s Investor Relations website a few days after the live webcast.
Shareholder Letter and Financial Statements
Please visit the Investor Relations section of Nexon’s website at http://ir.nexon.co.jp/en/ to view management’s fourth quarter letter to shareholders and financial statements.
About NEXON Co., Ltd. http://company.nexon.co.jp/
NEXON Co., Ltd. (“Nexon”) (3659.TO) is a worldwide leader in free-to-play online games. Founded in Korea in 1994, Nexon developed one of the world's first graphics-based massively multiplayer online games. Nexon also pioneered the concept of microtransactions and the free-to-play business model, setting a new standard in which play is free, and users have the option to purchase in-game items to enhance their experience. Nexon currently services more than 60 online games in more than 100 countries and since its founding, Nexon has generated more than 1.3 billion player registrations. The Company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and its shares are listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
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The landmark Lace Market Hotel in Nottingham—which closed during the global financial crisis—has been purchased after six months on the market. New South Africa-based owners announced plans last year to reopen the hotel, but put it up for sale in March this year for an estimated £3.8 million as an unfinished project, saying they were unable to manage the redevelopment from so far away.
According to the Nottingham Post, the hotel has now been bought by two private investors from London who have brought in a specialist hotel management company to get it up and running again by the end of October.
While the investors are still anonymous, Bangkok-based Compass Hospitality, which runs hotels in Thailand and Malaysia, has been tapped as the management company. It is also building up a presence in the UK, with the Lace Market Hotel joining a group which also includes establishments in Cardiff, Cheltenham, Shrewsbury, Eastbourne and Halifax.
Contractors are on site finishing off the refurbishment work at the 42-room hotel, which will also include a restaurant and the adjoining Cock & Hoop pub.

domain: news


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By Eric Smith
More consumers surfed rather than drove for their purchases on Black Friday as online sales accounted for a record $7.4 billion spent during the holiday shopping extravaganza, according to Adobe Analytics.
The total was up 10.6 percent from digital sales on Black Friday 2018 and just shy of the all-time high for online sales on any day—$7.9 billion spent during last year’s Cyber Monday. Adobe said that record was shattered with Cyber Monday’s final count of $9.4 billion in online sales, up 19.7 percent from 2018.
“Retailers unlocked sales earlier to combat a shorter shopping season while continuing to drive up promotion of the big branded days including Black Friday and Cyber Monday,” said John Copeland, Adobe’s head of marketing and consumer insights. “Consumers capitalized on deals and ramped up spending, especially on smartphones, where activity increased on days when shoppers were snowed or rained in.”
Further migration of shopping on smartphones continued this year with Adobe estimating that 39 percent of all online sales Friday and 61 percent of online traffic was done on phones.
Looking at traffic—both online and in stores—a record 189.6 million U.S. consumers shopped from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year (a period that includes Black Friday and Small Business Saturday), an increase of 14 percent over last year’s 165.8 million, the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics said Tuesday.
“Americans continue to start their holiday shopping earlier in the year, and Thanksgiving is still a critical weekend for millions,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Whether they’re looking for something unique on Main Street, making a trip to the store or searching for the best deals from their mobile device, this is when shoppers shift into high gear. With the condensed holiday season, consumers are feeling the pressure to get their shopping done in time. Even those who typically wait until the last minute to purchase gifts turned out in record numbers all weekend long.”
While analysts reacted positively to the overall buoyancy of Black Friday and the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season, those who focus on the active lifestyle marketplace were more tempered in their reports. Let’s look at a few.
Sam Poser of Susquehanna Financial Group LLLP titled his Black Friday recap to investors “The Haves and Have-Nots.”
He wrote: “Our checks over Black Friday indicate that there is a tale of two cities: those retailers and/or brands who are best at engaging and establishing emotional connections with the consumer, as well as creating enhanced and elevated shopping experiences both online and in-stores, are winning. Those who are failing to accomplish the aforementioned are losing.
“Our checks also revealed that overall promotional activity in the marketplace was in-line with our expectations. Traffic was solid but was likely negatively impacted by Black Friday deals starting earlier vs. LY [last year], which was likely due to the shortened period between Thanksgiving and Christmas vs. LY.”
Based on visits to malls in New Jersey and New York, Poser and his team assessed the following brands as “Haves.”
Deckers Brands (parent of Ugg, Hoka One One, Teva and Sanuk): The company “continues to reinforce its commitment to maintaining the sanctity of the Ugg brand,” Poser wrote. “There was no discounting of Ugg other than select styles that were brought in for Black Friday.”
Canada Goose Holdings Inc.: “Traffic at the Canada Goose store in Short Hills (NJ) was slow in the morning, but picked up significantly as the day progressed. The Nordstrom Men’s store in NYC sold ~$50K of product on Black Friday, which equates to 45-50 jackets, indicating ongoing momentum for the brand.”
Lululemon Athletica Inc.: “LULU was the clear standout with heavier traffic and longer check-out lines vs. any other retailer visited. Staffing levels were also better than any other retailers, and the best-in-class in-store experience remained intact.”
Steve Madden Ltd.: “Traffic at both Steve Madden stores and retail partners (Macy’s, Nordstrom and DSW) was steady. Boot selling has picked up as the weather has turned colder.”
According to Poser, the “Middlers” were:
Designer Brands Inc. (formerly DSW): “Traffic at DSW stores was steady and the checkout lines also remained consistently busy. DBI is not a primary go-to retailer on Black Friday, and business picked up as the day progressed.”
Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc.: “Promotion was in-line with expectations: 25 percent off most product in the stores with some noticeable exceptions including many The North Face and Patagonia items. Traffic was good. Employees noted that the Black Friday sale had started prior to Thanksgiving, so the urgency on Friday was not as great as in years past.”
Genesco Inc.: “Journeys was not overly promotional and experienced steady traffic throughout the day. 25 percent discounts on many items, including Timberland and Converse. Very few Vans were on sale, and Crocs had no product discounted.”
And the “Have Nots” included:
Foot Locker Inc. – “Traffic was steady at Foot Locker, Champs, and Foot Action locations. The Black Friday Yeezy drop, which virtually sold out before it hit stores, helped drive traffic. However, Champs experienced system problems, which caused delays in delivering the Yeezy to customers who arrived at Champs to pick up their reserved preordered pair.” Also, “FL faces increasing competition from the re-emergence of Finish Line post the acquisition by JD Sports.”
Under Armour Inc. – “Under Armour product at Dicks Sporting Goods was being promoted at more aggressive discounts than the blanket 25 percent off that was in effect for Black Friday.”
Another recap came in from Edward J. Yruma, Matthew DeGulis, Kasey O’Brien, Abbie Zvejnieks, Bradley B. Thomas, Andrew Efimoff and Brett Andress of KeyBanc Capital Markets. While their Black Friday recap focused on many non-active lifestyle brands and retailers, the firm did call out upbeat periods for Peloton Interactive Inc. and Yeti Holdings Inc.
Their summary: “Based on our observations, we believe consumer spending heading into the holiday season is off to a healthy start. Across our coverage list, we believe trends may be a bit more mixed. Initial industry datapoints suggest mixed results for many physical retailers, with traffic lower for Black Friday, and we believe the shift to e-commerce (and the emergence of ‘Black November’ and a ‘Cyber Post-Thanksgiving Weekend’) weighed on brick-and-mortar results for the start of the holiday season.”
Matt Powell of The NPD Group wrote in his recap of the weekend that “2019 will go down as the year we went from ‘Black Friday’ to ‘Blah Friday.’ Limited edition drops got a tepid response, and markdowns ruled the day.”
Challenges remain for some retailers, most notably the lag in brick-and-mortar sales coupled with a late Thanksgiving that pushed back Cyber Monday until December and shortened the holiday shopping season. Those factors could spell trouble.
Powell went on to say that retailers didn’t offer any new discounts or really any new brands in their holiday promotions, failing to either “surprise” or “delight” their customers.
“With no hot brand of scale and no true hot item, it will be very difficult for sports retail to show gains,” he wrote. “At the same time, the brands have already made this the most promotional holiday ever, offering steep discounts as high as 50 percent off. This can only get worse in the coming weeks.”
Photos courtesy Ugg


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The suicidal communistic policy of importing food from foreign countries for extremely low costs has now shown its real face. When some gigantic corporations spread their tentacles in the third world countries that opened many ways for various trade deals.
The USA is the largest food producer in the world, but anyway, we still import chicken and eggs from China and fruit with questionable quality from Mexico. Now, we have to fight salmonella. Read the report below:
There is a reason why America has strict food safety rules – because bad food can literally kill you.
Which is why both the left and right sides of the American political spectrum have watched in horror as more and more of our food supply is imported.
From low wages countries like China and Mexico who, if they even have rules for food safety, don’t enforce them like we do.
Cheap goods come at a cost.
We destroyed our middle class with cheap Nike shoes from China and now we are ruining our health with imported Chinese chickens.
If you knew were imported a ton of chicken and eggs from China would you ever eat it?
Well we do and they try to keep it secret.
Like they do fruit coming out of Mexico.
That can kill a fellow right quick if he is unlucky.
And that is what they would have us do – hope for luck and close our eyes when we eat.
I thought we got rid of all the hope and luck when we sent Obama packing?
Thirty-two more salmonella cases, including 10 hospitalizations, linked to yellow Maradol papayas from Mexico have been reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This brings the number of people affected to 141 across 19 states resulting in one death and 45 total hospitalizations.
The salmonella outbreak has been traced to Maradol papayas from the Carica de Campeche farm in Mexico.
They are sold under the brand names Caribeña, Cavi and Valery.
The CDC and the US Food and Drug Administration are urging consumers to not eat papayas from the farm or from the brands Caribeña, Cavi and Valery. The companies have issued a recall.
But it is hard for consumers to tell which brand of Papaya they are consuming because, well, they are papaya’s and don’t have packaging.
The states affected so far are: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.As the CDC says, “When in doubt, don’t eat, sell, or serve papayas; just throw them out.”
What do you think about this? Are you still going to support a ban on imported food products from third world countries? We need standards and good quality, that comes before the prize.
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Google Chromecast infringed upon three patents of Touchstream Technologies, Inc. and should pay $338.7 million in damages, a Western District of Texas jury decided on Friday, as reported by Law360.
The verdict [PDF] shows the jury agreeing with Touchstream’s allegations that Google violated patents 8,356,251, 8,782,528, and 8,904,289 (Touchstream Technologies Inc. v. Google LLC, case number 6:21-cv-00569 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas).
The ruling comes after Touchstream filed a complaint in June 2021 claiming that it met with Google in December 2011 and was told that the tech giant wasn’t interested in partnering with it in February 2012. Google then released Chromecast in 2013. The complaint points to the first Chromecast and the second and third generations, Chromecast Ultra and Chromecast with Google TV, as well as other Chromecast-integrated products, as infringements of Touchstream patents.
The complaint claims that Touchstream founder David Strober in “as early as mid-2010” saw demand for the ability to move videos typically viewed on small screens, like a smartphone display, to a larger screen, like a TV or monitor. Strober eventually sought to use a device, like a smartphone, “to cause a video to play on a second screen, even if that video resided elsewhere (like the public Internet),” the complaint says, adding that Stober had a “working prototype” by the end of 2010 and his first patent application filed by April 2011.
All three of the Touchstream patents in question are titled “Play control of content on a display device” and detail “a system for presenting and controlling content on a display device” that uses “a network, a server system coupled to the network and comprising one or more servers, a display device coupled to the network and having a display, and a personal computing device operable to transmit a first message according to a specified format over the network to the server system.”
The patents’ abstracts continue: “The server system stores an association between the personal computing device and the display device. The first message identifies user-selected content and a media player to play the content. The server system is operable, in response to receiving the first message from the personal computing device, to provide to the display device a second message identifying the user-selected content and the media player to play the content. In response to receiving the second message, the display device is operable to obtain a first media player needed to play the content, to load the media player and to present the content on the display.”
Google denied infringing on Touchstream’s patents and has claimed the patents are invalid, based on the principle of obviousness, which argues that inventions that are apparent to the general public due to previous inventions can’t be patented.
In court filings, Google states that the patents in question are “hardly foundational and do not cover every method of selecting content on a personal device and watching it on another screen,” as Law360 noted.
Google also reportedly argued that Chromecast differs from the technologies in Touchstream’s patents because Chromecast uses a server system and display device, while Touchstream’s patents detail separate entities for the server system and display.
Google has also argued that Touchstream is only a licensing entity with no products or customers and therefore has asked the court not to ban sales of Chromecast. Touchstream’s “only business is to attempt to monetize patents. If Touchstream receives damages, it will have fulfilled its only business purpose,” Google said, as quoted by Law360.
Google declined to comment further on the statement on what the legislation means for Chromecast products to Ars Technica.
Google to appeal
In a statement to Ars, Google spokesperson José Castañeda said:
We strongly disagree with the verdict and will appeal. We have always developed technology independently and competed on the merits of our ideas, and will continue to defend ourselves against these meritless claims.
Google is challenging the validity of the three Touchstream patents at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, with rulings expected by October, Law360 noted.
Ars reached out to lawyers for Touchstream at Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP about the case and Google’s claims that Touchstream’s only interest is in patents. Ryan Dykal, an IP partner working on the case, said:
Touchstream filed for patent protection and spent a year developing its technology before meeting with Google under the guise of an NDA. The trial record shows that despite the protections from the NDA and the patent filings, within weeks of their meeting Google began secretly building [its] infringing casting technology. After Google flooded the market with 140 million infringing devices–often sold at or below cost—Touchstream continued building its business until it was forced to enforce its rights starting in 2017. The jury was presented with all of the facts and concluded that Touchstream’s patents are valid and Google infringed.
Google declined to comment on Touchstream’s statement.
Touchstream also has patent infringement lawsuits against Altice, Charter, and Comcast, Law360 noted. Touchstream claims that the companies’ apps and/or set-top box technologies violate similar patents, including the aforementioned 8,356,251 patent that Touchstream accused Google of infringing.


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Tesla has called for “hardcore” cost-cutting across every facet of the company, despite its massive capital infusion just a few weeks ago. According to Elon Musk, at present burn rates, the company has less than a year of cash reserves.
For a limited time, the PCMag Shop is selling the Google Home Hub at a massive discount. While this handy touchscreen smart device retails for $149.99, you can save $65 when you make your purchase on the PCMag Shop before Sunday night.
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Philips Is Considering Leaving From The United Kingdom
Philips is Considering Leaving from the United Kingdom at Hard Brexit. Philips may be relocating its production from the United Kingdom if it comes to a so-called hard Brexit. CEO Frans van Houten of the medical technology company said that.
Van Houten states such a strong Brexit, in which the European Union and the British do not make good agreements about access to each other’s markets a ‘serious threat to the competitiveness of our British sites’.
Philips, which has some 1,500 employees in the United Kingdom, is not the first company that calls for precision about the upcoming Brexit and warns about the outcomes of a fight separation.
Jaguar Land Rover, Airbus and BMW already preceded Philips.
For the Dutch electronics group, the hard Brexit is one of the options that are taken into account.” We have to make plans for the worst scenario, ‘says Van Houten.
Philips has, among other things, a factory where baby care products are made in England.
If the United Kingdom is no longer part of a customs union with the European Union, then the export costs of those products will increase significantly.
Since the British opted for a Brexit in a referendum, Philips is already struggling with the free pound.
Even if Philips no longer manufactures products in Great Britain, the company will remain active on the British market.
According to Van Houten, Philips remains “devoted to our current and potential customers” in the country.


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iPhone was launched yesterday but it is a VoIP phone by Linksys accompany owned by Cisco. They had this trademark registered way back in 1996. Gizmodo was correct iPhone was launched on Monday.
The life is tough but it has been made tougher by the Apple for now over the year the Blogs and the media went mad with iPhone the name clicked and now this forthcoming phone from Apple has been or rather was branded ‘iPhone’.
Now what is Apple going to do certainly they are not that fool and they will have to come up with a better name for their phone.
But we in the industry will also have to start looking for a new name until Apple decides and what can it be: ipac, imac, iapple, music phone, loving phone, most rumored phone, time waste phone. I concede the last four names are as bad as they can get.
One more thing if the phone coming out of Apple is good then who cares what it is called or will be called but plz give suggestions what this new phone can be called.


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Google will stop showing all ads on offending websites in its Chrome browser starting next year, the search giant announced today. Weeks of speculation that
Hey, big spenders: Apple today revealed how much developers have earned through the App Store, and from this figure we can glean just how much
Sonos systems are great. They enable you to control the music from wherever you are in the house, and sync multiple speakers to the same
Soundbars make a lot of sense. On their own, most TVs simply don’t have the capacity to output stunning video and exceptional audio. Unless you’re
Thanks to improvements in wireless technology Bluetooth speakers have fast become the de facto fast and convenient way of listening to music while in your
We've all been faced with a decision when buying a new pair of headphones: Do we go for the nice, expensive pair of headphones that
After surpassing 10,000 skills earlier this year, Amazon has given its Alexa digital assistant yet another ability to make it more useful for everyday use.
There's never been a better time to buy a brand new Amazon Echo or Amazon Echo Dot. The two are going on sale this week


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Sony PlayStation Store could return next week
As I am sure you all know that as of today the PlayStation Store is still offline. Latest news from Metro.co.uk has this to say…
Sony confirmed on their PlayStation forums that they would be doing maintenance work on the PlayStation Network between 7pm UK time on May 31 and 1am the next morning.
The maintenance will prevent anybody logging into the system during those hours – but players who are already signed in will be able to continue playing unaffected (well, that’s the plan, anyway.)
The maintenance suggests that Sony are planning to use the downtime to restore the PlayStation Store – something that seems likely, given that Sony had given May 31 as the only confirmed date by which they pledged to have fully restored their online services. Sony also said earlier this week that they hoped to have the Store back up and running by the end of the month.
In other news, Sony boss Howard Stringer has admitted that he didn’t know the PlayStation Network was also successfully hacked into in 2008 – but denied that Sony had been complacent in its approach to online security. He managed to make this claim at the same time as saying that Sony didn’t think there was much chance anybody would try to hack into the network.
‘We have a network that gave people services free. It didn’t seem like the likeliest place for an attack,’ he said.


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March 16, 2018 by
“100% Patch” As promised, Intel has redesigned its upcoming 8th-gen Xeon and Core processors to further reduce the risks of attacks via the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities, CEO Brian Krzanich wrote. Those fixes are on top of the software updates already issued, which now patch “100 percent” of vulnerable Intel products launched in the past […]
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March 8, 2018 by
Spear Phishing What is spear phishing? To define spear phishing, you first have to understand the concept of phishing. Phishing: is an online con game using social engineering and fear tactics in order to get the victim to take the bait. This can be via cold calls, pop-up messages on the computer, text messages […]
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AMD Shares Rally in Pre-market Trading in Response to Nvidia’s Strong Earnings Report
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD saw a surge in premarket trading on Thursday, likely due to investor excitement following the release of Nvidia’s Q1 earnings report on Wednesday. Nvidia exceeded estimates with both earnings and revenue, and issued strong guidance for Q2 revenue as well.
Nvidia attributed much of its success to the strength of its generational artificial intelligence (AI) products and high demand for its data center family of products. Because AMD also has a presence in this sector, investors may believe that similarly strong results could be expected from that company as well.
In premarket trading, AMD shares jumped 8.98% to $117.99, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Given the data center demand and success of Nvidia, it will be interesting to see whether AMD is able to replicate these results. Investors may be looking to buy into AMD in anticipation of this possibility.
This news could also prompt investors to take a closer look at AMD and consider whether the company is a worthwhile investment opportunity.
Overall, this report demonstrates the significant influence that an earnings report from a key tech player can have on the stock market, as investors scramble to take advantage of any potential benefits.
It remains to be seen whether these gains will continue in the long term, but for now, investors seem cautiously optimistic about both Nvidia and AMD.


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‘Nasty’ Corvette Z06 to start at $78,995
The 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 — which General Motors Co. product chief Mark Reuss has called “the big nasty” — will start at $78,995, while the convertible version will start at $83,995.
At those levels, the Corvette Z06 will be the most expensive vehicle GM sells in the United States. The automaker also called it “the most powerful and technologically advanced model in the iconic sports car’s 62-year history.”
Revealed in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Z06 pricetag increases quickly with the purchase of various packages.
For example, the Z07 Performance Package — which comes with Brembo carbon ceramic-matrix brake rotors, adjustible aerodynamic parts on the front and back and Michelin Pilot Super Sport Cup tires — tacks on $7,995.
The carbon fiber ground effects package — which integrates a carbon fiber front splitter, rocker panels and a larger rear spoiler — is priced at $2,995.
The sports car’s 6.2-liter, eight-cylinder engine boasts 650 horsepower, making it the “most powerful production car ever from General Motors,” the company said. Like its sister car, the Corvette Stingray, the Z06 engine has direct injection, cylinder deactivation and continuously variable valve timing.
It also boasts a tremendous amount of downforce, an engineering term describing a car’s ability to hug the road around corners. Most mass-market vehicles are exactly the opposite: They have too much lift when cornering.
“It’s got more downforce than any vehicle General Motors has ever tested from any manufacturer,” Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter said this year. “We haven’t tested them all, but we’ve tested quite a few of them.”
The Corvette Z06 also leverages other technologies introduced on the Corvette Stingray, including the use of lightweight materials and advanced driver technologies, with calibrations tailored for its capabilities. The aluminum frame structure, for example, is 20 percent stiffer than the previous, fixed-roof Z06.
“The 2015 Corvette Z06’s performance and technical capabilities place it in the elite fraternity of supercars,” said Harlan Charles, Corvette product and marketing manager.
The vehicle will be offered in 1LZ, 2LZ and 3LZ trim levels, with interior options including extra leather and carbon fiber


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While iTunes and its sales model still dominate digital music, the record labels appear to be serious about moving to subscription services. Nokia this week announced that some of its phones will access a new subscription service that will be free for a year and that consumers can download all the music they want. And it appears to be the first example of a new business model pushed by execs at Universal Music, a leading record label.
The music industry hopes subscriptions will prove more profitable than downloads as it adjusts to a digital world. Subscriptions remain just a slice of the money spent on digital music—maybe a fifth of the $1 billion being spent this year getting tunes over the Internet. Most of the subscription share has come from monthly fees paid by consumers to services like Rhapsody.
In the deal with Nokia, Universal Music is apparently getting a hefty fee upfront, which presumably will be reflected in the cost of the phones. Consumers in turn get all-you-can-eat music. That's the approach advocated by Universal execs in talks with other record labels. And from comments coming from other music studios, you can expect some of them to sign on with Nokia.
Users can even keep the music they've downloaded on their Nokia phones or PCs. But it can't be loaded onto other music players, at least not yet. Under Universal's plan, the makers of those music players would first need to pay a fee to the labels.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has so far resisted the music industry's pressure to start a subscriptionlike service for iTunes, preferring to allow consumers to pick and choose which songs they want to buy. But Universal's pitch may catch on with other music players trying to find a new way to compete with iPods. If it does, it'll be interesting to see if Apple eventually dances to the labels' new tune.


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Bowl Marketplace Rejects Union Bid
Workers at the much-loved Berkeley Bowl Marketplace on Thursday defeated a union organizing effort, voting 119 to 70 to remain a nonunion grocery store.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 120, which was behind the campaign, said employees voted against unionization because of management threats.
Store managers said the vote was a reflection of employees’ true feelings about the issue.
The store, named for its previous home in a former bowling alley, is a Berkeley institution.


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- Google Adds Color Customization Feature to Fight Apple's iMessage Bubble
- Spotify Rolls Out Music Video Feature for Premium Subscribers
- TikTok Set to Launch New Photo-Sharing App to Compete with Instagram
- Google Pixel 8 Series to Introduce Display Output to Desktop
- EU iPhone Users Can Ditch Apple Maps for Preferred Navigation Apps in 2025
Google Adds Color Customization Feature to Fight Apple's iMessage Bubble
For a long time, Apple iMessage has employed a controversial design of distinguishing messages sent from non-iPhone users as green bubbles. A segmentation has then evolved into discrimination against Android users.
To combat this bias and add a touch of personalization to its RCS messaging service, Google is rolling out a new customization feature for its Messages app. Users can now personalize chat bubbles and background colours with up to eight options, allowing them to turn their iPhone-using friends' chat bubbles green (or blue) on their end. However, sent messages will still appear as green bubbles on iMessage.
While not yet visible to all users, those with the beta version of Messages can check for the feature by navigating to the three-dot menu within a chat and searching for the customization option. Alternatively, users can access it by tapping the three-dot menu and selecting "details" in a chat.
Spotify Rolls Out Music Video Feature for Premium Subscribers
Streaming giant, Spotify, is rolling out the ability to watch music videos on its mobile and desktop apps app in a limited beta launch to its 239 million premium subscribers.
This expansion follows the introduction of "clips" last year, short vertical videos uploaded directly by artists and the incorporation of podcasts and audiobooks, positioning Spotify to compete with industry heavyweights like Apple Music and YouTube.
Starting today, premium users in select countries, including the UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Kenya will now have access to full-length music videos, featuring both global sensations and local favourites
TikTok Set to Launch New Photo-Sharing App to Compete with Instagram
TikTok, popular short-form video platform, is reportedly working on a new app called "TikTok Photos" that would allow users to share photos, similar to Instagram's platform.
Code discovered within the TikTok app hints at this upcoming feature, suggesting a potential expansion of TikTok's offerings beyond its video-centric focus. Notably, the findings suggest “TikTok Photos” as a dedicated app but with seamless integration between the main TikTok app, enabling users to effortlessly share content.
While details about "TikTok Photos" remain limited, it could represent TikTok's efforts to attract users who enjoy photo sharing marking a direct challenge to Instagram's stronghold in the photo-sharing space.
Google Pixel 8 Series to Introduce Display Output to Desktop
For Samsung phone power users, one standout feature has always been Samsung DeX, turning Galaxy phones into portable desktops. However, this feature was missing on Google's Pixel lineup, until now.
The latest Android beta for the Google Pixel 8 series introduces DisplayPort Alternate Mode, enabling users to connect their phones to external monitors or TVs via USB-C. Previously, Pixel phones lacked this capability, hindering their versatility compared to Samsung devices.
While earlier Pixel models missed out on this feature, it's now available on the Pixel 8 series with the Android 14 Beta 3. However, the full desktop mode experience remains under development, with Google likely aiming for a polished release alongside Android 15. For older Pixel models, this feature won't be accessible due to hardware limitations.
EU iPhone Users Can Ditch Apple Maps for Preferred Navigation Apps Starting in 2025
In a nod to regulatory compliance with the EU's Digital Markets Act, iPhone users in the EU will soon have the freedom to replace Apple Maps with their preferred navigation app including Google Maps.
This change, expected with iOS 18 next year, comes as part of efforts to regulate tech giants in the region, including Apple, Google, and others. While Google is expected to follow suit with Google Maps and Waze in the EU, details remain unconfirmed.
The move follows Apple's recent compliance efforts, allowing users to transfer data to Android phones and install apps from sources other than the App Store. However, it's unclear whether these changes will be exclusive to the EU or extend globally.
Follow all of Techloy's coverage of the technology news happening locally and globally and get up to date with what's happening in the key markets within the region.


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Sagging demand for oil and gasoline has brought double-digit weekly declines to Southern California gas prices, which are now below where they were at this time last year for the first time in 2020, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch. Today’s retail statewide average is $3.28 a gallon for regular unleaded, which is 12 cents less than last week.
The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.36 per gallon, which is 11 cents lower than last week, 21 cents lower than a month ago, and two cents lower than last year. In San Diego, the average price is $3.33, which is 13 cents lower than last Thursday, 23 cents less than last month, and two cents lower than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.43, which is seven cents lower than last week, 15 cents lower than last month, and one cent higher than last year. In Riverside, the average per-gallon price is $3.26, which is 13 cents lower than last week, 21 cents lower than last month, and three cents lower than last year. In San Bernardino, the $3.30 average price is 12 cents less than last week, 22 cents lower than last month, and two cents lower than a year ago today.
“Almost every day this week, we have seen even the lowest gas prices drop further and most consumers should be able to find regular unleaded fuel for close to or under $3 a gallon,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring. “As long as demand and oil prices stay low, we should see gas prices continue to drop.”
The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on March 19, averages are:


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New smartphone OS flags set to fly at Mobile World Congress
New phones based on Firefox OS and Ubuntu will be on display in Barcelona
IDG News Service - The newer smartphone OS entrants competing to chip away at the dominance of Android and iOS are heading to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, and facing a landscape that has changed since last year's show.
Mozilla, Canonical and Jolla are still aimed squarely at Android, but Tizen, backed by Intel and Samsung, faces a more uncertain future, according to analysts.
Last year, phones were shown running all four OSes. Since then, the first phones running Firefox OS and Sailfish from Finnish company Jolla have gone on sale, while Canonical and the Tizen camp have suffered from delays.
Mozilla's Firefox OS has been the most successful, but only about 390,000 Firefox OS phones shipped last year, according to IDC, which expects that figure to rise to 2.5 million this year. That will give Firefox OS a 0.2 percent share of the total smartphone market, IDC said.
For Firefox OS to become a serious contender, it needs more brand awareness, backing from more operators as well as products with improved hardware and software, which is something Mozilla could have in store for an event on Sunday. ZTE has also said it will launch a Firefox OS smartphone, the Open C, at this year's show.
"I believe Firefox could have a chance, because Mozilla has been consistent in its strategy to develop products for the entry-level segment where there are still opportunities. It isn't as crowded as the high-end," said Malik Saadi, practice director at ABI Research.
The Tizen OS, on the other hand, hasn't made much progress since last year, with operators Orange and NTT DoCoMo backing away. While Tizen is working very well technically on commercial-grade smartphones, the surrounding ecosystem of apps and services isn't strong enough for Orange to put out a device, a spokesman said via email earlier this month.
Samsung didn't want to comment on whether it will have a Tizen-based smartphone on display at Mobile World Congress.
"It seems like there has been a warming of the relationship between Google and Samsung with Google's plan to divest the Motorola handset business and the recent patent agreement. So I think Tizen is going to have a difficult show with regards to moving the platform forward," said Ben Wood, director of research at CCS Insight.
A recent rumor is that Samsung plans to use Tizen on a future Galaxy Gear smartwatch. That may make more sense than using the platform on smartphones, because the competition isn't as fierce and the platform's reliance on HTML5 would be less of an issue with fewer and less advanced apps running on smartwatches.
- Secure smartphones are nice, but not enough
- STMicro could enable touchless gesture control of smartphones
- The 'Internet of things,' beyond the hype at Mobile World Congress
- 64-bit smartphones are coming, but Apple's iPhone 5s still stands alone
- New chipsets and devices lay groundwork for LTE-Advanced
- Management vendors show Windows Phone some love
- SAP, BMW research project to connect drivers with real-time offers and services
- Samsung debuts new Exynos chips, questions linger on 64-bit plans
- Motorola to release a smartwatch later this year
- Samsung beefs up Knox mobile management software
- 15 Non-Certified IT Skills Growing in Demand
- How 19 Tech Titans Target Healthcare
- Twitter Suffering From Growing Pains (and Facebook Comparisons)
- Agile Comes to Data Integration
- Slideshow: 7 security mistakes people make with their mobile device
- iOS vs. Android: Which is more secure?
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- The Critical Role of Support in Your Enterprise Mobility Management Strategy Most business leaders underestimate the importance of tech support when they choose an EMM solution. Here's what to put on your checklist.
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- Live Webcast On-demand webinar: "Mobility Mayhem: Balancing BYOD with Enterprise Security" Check out this on-demand webinar to hear Sophos senior security expert John Shier deep dive into how BYOD impacts your enterprise security strategy...
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11:40 05th Feb, 2015
After A Record-Breaking Quarter, Apple Takes On Android As Well | TechTree.com
After A Record-Breaking Quarter, Apple Takes On Android As Well
It’s the iPhone 6 versus the Android smartphones from the multitude of manufacturers.
Steve Jobs would indeed be a very happy CEO if he was alive today. The analysts at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech have outed their quarterly report with respect to the smartphone market, and the results, at least for the USA are indeed shocking.
For starters, Apple actually managed to sell more iPhones this quarter than all the Android manufacturers together. After that mind-blowing quarterly report, there indeed could be no better news that this, for CEO, Tim Cook.
What the above also translates to is that Apple actually got the iPhone right for once and managed to draw in some Android users, thanks to the bigger screen as well. More importantly, its the iPhone 6 (and the Plus) versus the Samsung GALAXY S5 that happened to be the only popular handset to be given as a gift during the holiday season.
In terms of numbers, Apple won by just a 0.1%, which may not be big but indeed tells us a lot about consumer choices in US.
Android still remains the biggest mobile OS worldwide at 66.1%, but Apple did gain the top spot for brand loyalty as well with an 87% landslide in both US and Europe.
Seems like the past SVP of Google, Vic Gundotra’s switch to an iPhone 6, pretty much sums it all up.
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- Mid-range smartphones emerge as customer favourites this festive season, reveals Amazon survey
- COLORFUL Launches Onebot M24A1 AIO PC for Professionals


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Want Want-Led Group to Acquire China Network From MBK
Want Want Group (151), the conglomerate with businesses from broadcasting to food, said it’s leading an investment group that agreed to buy Taiwanese cable-television operator China Network Systems Co. from MBK Partners Ltd.
Chao Yu Pei, special assistant to Want Want’s president, said the group signed the agreement yesterday, declining to provide financial details. The investors agreed to buy closely held China Network’s stock for about $1.4 billion and assume $1 billion of debt, said a person familiar with the matter, asking not to be identified because the accord is confidential.
The purchase would allow Want Want Chairman Tsai Eng Meng, whose food business includes rice cakes and flavored milk, to expand his media assets in a market where almost 80 percent of homes tune in to cable TV. For MBK, the sale would help the private equity fund, founded by former Carlyle Group executives, collect more than double the $600 million it spent buying China Network’s stock more than three years ago.
“If Want Want has media outlets covering the entire Greater China, companies who want to buy advertisements can do it cost-effectively,” said Monika Yang, who helps oversee almost $2 billion at Hamon Asset Management Ltd. in Hong Kong. “They are already very successful in the consumer front.”
Want Want outbid Permira Advisers LLP, which teamed up with Taiwan’s Ruentex Group, Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG) and Bain Capital LLC, the person said. Choosing a Taiwanese buyer will help obtain regulatory approval, according to the person.
Want Want China Holdings Ltd., the Hong Kong-listed unit, advanced 0.4 percent to HK$7.12 as of 2:59 p.m. local time.
The sale comes as Taiwan’s Daniel and Richard Tsai, who are unrelated to the Want Want chairman, seek to clear regulatory approval to buy Kbro Co., the island’s top cable TV operator, from Carlyle Group.
Taiwan’s communications regulator said Oct. 6 it will seek opinions from the public, academics and experts before deciding whether to approve the Tsai family’s purchase of Kbro Co.
Michael Kim, an MBK founding partner, wasn’t immediately reachable on his mobile phone. MBK, which bought China Network with Taiwan’s Koo’s family, effectively controls the cable-TV operator through a preference-share arrangement with the local partner, people familiar with the plan said in August.
Want Want’s Tsai bought a stake in Hong Kong’s Asia Television last year and acquired Taiwan’s China Times Group, owner of at least two newspapers and three TV channels on the island, in 2008.
China Network had 1.05 million subscribers at the end of 2009, giving it a 21 percent market share of Taiwan’s cable-TV market, while Kbro Co. had a 22 percent share with 1.11 million customers, according to a July report from Taiwan’s National Communications Commission.


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This remarkable Canadian short probes how online experiences can undermine a relationship.
As part of his long journey back from a massive hemorrhagic stroke, an athlete leans on exoskeleton robotics to regain his mobility and strength.
The popular service for sharing photos on Twitter is set to close today, but its founder says the Twitpic domain and photo archive have been "given" to Twitter, so photos and links will be around awhile.
After announcing it had found a mystery buyer, the company again announces its plan to shut down at the end of the month.
Just a week before its planned closure after a trademark battle with Twitter, the image-sharing service has been saved. But it's not sharing the details yet.
Doors open at Apple stores across the globe as the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus hit the shelves.
Photo-sharing service's founder claims microblogging site threatened to cut off access to API if the startup did not abandon its trademark.
NASA JPL and Makerbot have announced the winners of their Thingiverse Mars Base challenge to design and 3D print a human habitat for the Red Planet.
Ever wondered what your skeleton looks like in motion? Take a look at these gifs of joints in action under X-ray.
The online retail giant launches Zocalo, a storage and sharing service designed for companies.


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Microsoft has released further details of a group of server and virtualisation products due next year that will set the tone for how well the company will compete in the enterprise software market.
It announced pricing and licensing details for Windows Server 2008, its long-awaited server product due for release in February, and revealed that the commercial name for its virtualisation product will be Hyper-V, formerly known as Viridian. The announcements came on the first day of IT Forum, its largest customer conference in Europe.
On its website, Microsoft is billing the official launch of Windows Server 2008, which will take place in Los Angeles on Feb. 27, as "the most important enterprise launch in company history." That launch will also showcase Visual Studio 2008, the company's application development tools, and SQL Server 2008, its database.
Windows Server 2008, formerly known as Longhorn, has been delayed several times, but since September some customers have been testing the release candidate, the term for when software is in its final stage of refinement before release.
The company is vowing no more delays: Microsoft was absolutely on schedule for the launch of Windows Server 2008 in February, corporate vice-president for server tools and marketing, Andrew Lees, said.
Microsoft would release five versions of Windows Server in February, Lees said: Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web Server and a version for Itanium-based systems.
Within six months of the Windows Server 2008 launch, it will also release Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter versions incorporating its Hyper-V virtualisation software.
Virtualisation enables one physical server to host several operating systems, which can be assigned to run certain applications. It means one physical server can be worked harder, often reducing the need for more server hardware, which in turn bring benefits such as lower power bills for datacentres.
It's complicated technology, however, both for management and security, and only about 5 percent or less enterprises are now actively using virtualisation. However, the market for virtualisation products is expected to grow rapidly over the next few years, according to market analyst IDC.
Virtualisation also means that enterprises can opt to run more copies of free OSes, such as Linux. "Virtualisation poses a substantial risk to Microsoft, since the benefits of free alternatives, such as Linux OSes, Apache for Web serving and MySQL for database are enhanced when customers begin running multiple instances of them on each devices," according to a May report by analyst, Directions on Microsoft.
Microsoft is trying to build excitement around its virtualisation product to catch VMware, a subsidiary of EMC, which leads the market by a wide margin. Microsoft would try to best VMware by providing management tools that allowed, for example, an administrator to quickly deploy another virtual server if one was backlogged with tasks, Lees said. Microsoft's virtualisation tools also allowed a view into how the OSes and applications were performing and allowed modifications, he said. "We will provide a more comprehensive strategy around how to manage and utilize server deployment in terms of the server virtualisation and management of that datacentre," Lees said. Pricing for Windows Server 2008 would be no more than 1 per cent higher than for Windows Server 2003, the company said. The following prices are for a one-off purchase of a perpetual license, although volume licensing customers may get cheaper deals:
- Windows Server 2008 Standard without Hyper-V: $US971 (with five CALs)
- Windows Server 2008 Enterprise without Hyper-V: $US3971 (with 25 CALs)
- Windows Server 2008 Datacenter without Hyper-V: $US2971 (per processor)
- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems: $US2999 (per processor)
- Windows Web Server 2008: $US469
When the versions incorporating its Hyper-V virtualisation technology become available, they will be priced as follows:
- Windows Server 2008 Standard: $US999 (with five Client Access Licenses (CALs)
- Windows Server 2008 Enterprise: $US3999 (with 25 CALs)
- Windows Server 2008 Datacenter: $US2999 (per processor)
Microsoft said it would also release a stand-alone hypervisor for running other operating systems, called Hyper-V Server, priced at $US28 regardless of the number of processors. "If you have a machine that doesn't have Windows at all, then you would buy that in order to run instances of say Linux or Sun," Lees said.
Microsoft is continuing its cooperation with XenSource, a virtualisation vendor, which was acquired by Citrix last month. That project enables both Windows and Linux machines to perform well if hosted in a virtual environment on the other OS.
"We have very tight integration of running Linux on Windows," Lees said. "It [Linux] runs incredibly well."
He said if virtual Linux ran well on Windows, it would ultimately make more people choose Windows Server. On the application side, however, people would choose to run Linux with their applications or not based on the merits of Linux versus Windows.
In other announcements, Microsoft made available its [FastCGI extension] for its Internet Information Services 6.0 Web server. The extension enables faster use of application frameworks built in scripting languages such as PHP. Microsoft will also release another Community Technology Preview of SQL Server 2008 this month.


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Mogo to amass Moka in $ 64million deal because it plans to begin free inventory buying and selling
The 2 corporations have signed a binding letter of intent, whereby Mogo will buy the entire issued and excellent shares of private finance FinTech start-up Moka, previously Mylo, for five,000,000 extraordinary shares of Mogo. As a part of the deal, Mogo will assume a $ 3 million debt to Moka.
Following the conclusion of the deal, Mogo plans to increase its MogoWealth product providing by introducing commission-free fairness buying and selling.
Mogo mentioned the acquisition will improve its person base by 40% and velocity up the deliberate launch of the corporate’s free inventory buying and selling answer later this yr. The transaction, which stays topic to regulatory approval and different customary closing situations, is anticipated to shut within the second quarter of 2021. By the transaction, Mogo goals to change all of Moka’s securities for shares of Mogo.
Mogo Founder and CEO David Feller known as the addition of Moka’s digital financial savings and funding merchandise, platform and crew to Mogo’s portfolio as “one other necessary step” within the pipeline. Mogo’s journey to changing into “the premier digital pockets for Canadians”.
Following closing of the deal later this yr, Mogo plans to increase its MogoWealth product providing by introducing a commission-free inventory buying and selling answer, with the corporate aiming to capitalize on the rising recognition of buying and selling with of customers.
Resolution will put Mogo in competitors with Toronto-based FinTech start-up Easy wealth, which at the moment supplies Canada’s hottest fairness buying and selling platform in Wealthsimple Commerce.
Mogo additionally competes with Wealthsimple on the crypto entrance with MogoCrypto, a platform that permits customers to commerce Bitcoins for a payment of 1 % per transaction. Going ahead, Mogo plans to introduce free cryptocurrency buying and selling sooner or later. Final September, Wealthsimple launched Wealthsimple Crypto, which presents commission-free buying and selling of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
RELATED: FinTech Startup Mylo Turns into Moka, Launches in France as A part of European Enlargement
Final month, Mogo additionally introduced plans to amass a 20% stake in cryptocurrency startup Coinsquare for $ 56.4 million. Coinsquare serves because the buying and selling platform for MogoCrypto, which Mogo first launched in 2018. Mogo claims to be the one firm regulated and publicly traded by FINTRAC on the TSX and NASDAQ that gives Canadians with a “easy and straightforward means. cheap to purchase and promote bitcoin. “
“Moka will complement our present MogoCrypto account and kind the core of MogoWealth, making Mogo’s digital pockets probably the most complete answer in Canada,” mentioned Feller.
Launched in July 2017, Moka is a financial savings and funding software with greater than 500,000 customers. Recognized for its rounding characteristic, which robotically rounds day by day purchases to the closest greenback and invests the spare foreign money in personalised and diversified exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Moka additionally permits customers to speculate by TFSAs, RRSPs and different non-registered accounts. .
By including Moka customers, Mogo goals to extend its complete member base to 1.7 million.
If Moka shares are efficiently transformed into Mogo shares, Desjardins Capital, Nationwide Financial institution of Canada and Ferst Capital Companions will develop into Mogo shareholders.
RELATED: Mogo to Purchase 20% Stake in Coinsquare for $ 56.4 Million As Crypto Area Heats Up
“Moka has constructed a powerful customer-centric know-how platform, and as half of a bigger, extra numerous and well-capitalized digital platform, we’re enhancing the chance to develop our enterprise and, most significantly, to offer our members have entry to much more digital merchandise. and instruments to enhance their monetary well-being, ”mentioned Philip Barrar, founder and CEO of Moka.
As a part of the deal, Barrar is ready to affix Mogo’s administration crew within the newly created function of Chief Innovation Officer, and Liam Cheung, Moka president and companion at Moka Tactico shareholder. , is anticipated to affix Mogo’s board of administrators.
Previous to founding Tactico, Cheung was instrumental within the creation of Constancy Clearing Canada, which supplies clearing, custody and administrative help providers to brokerage companies established in Canada and to the Canadian brokerage branches of US companies. He was additionally president of the unbiased on-line brokerage agency JitneyTrade.
Mogo’s President and CFO, Greg Feller, known as the acquisition determination extremely strategic, noting that the deliberate transaction would improve Mogo’s subscription and transaction income progress and permit it to increase into Quebec.
Moka generated roughly $ 6.5 million in income in 2020. The startup at the moment manages round $ 250 million in property throughout Canada and Europe. Final yr, Moka launched operations in France.
Photographs courtesy of Moka


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More than 100 vintage, antique and collector cars participating in The 2014 Hemmings Motor News Great Race are rolling into the Patriots Point, landside of the USS YORKTOWN.
These very rare cars are all model year 1972 or older. They will be on display from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet the drivers and learn more about their entirely authentic cars.
In addition to the Great Race cars, more than 80 vehicles from local car clubs will also be on display. Those vehicles can be viewed starting at 2 p.m. Food, beer and wine will be available at that time for purchase from Sticky Fingers Smokehouse Express.
Admission to the 2014 Hemmings Motor News Great Race show is free, however, parking will cost $5.Photographs of antique Autos with Scrappy


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Voom HD Networks’ Treasure HD will present live coverage from an auction of Dick Clark memorabilia presented by Guernsey’s Auction House in New York.
The Rainbow Media Holdings-owned service will debut an hour-long preview show featuring highlights of the sale, celebrity interviews and background information Nov. 25 at 1 p.m. (EST).
Then the auction will air live Dec. 6, with viewers being able to participate by phone or online.
“Dick Clark’s personal collection of memorabilia includes some of the most important pieces from the history of popular music,” Treasure HD executive producer and director of programming and production George Lansbury said in a prepared statement.
“Coverage of this landmark event will not only appeal to the 70 million Americans who share a passion for collecting, but also to music and pop-culture enthusiasts everywhere,” he added. “This latest auction from Treasure HD reinforces the network’s commitment to deliver compelling, original programming appealing to collectors worldwide, while contributing to our vast growing library of HD programming.”
The smarter way to stay on top of the multichannel video marketplace. Sign up below.


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Jobs on offer at Aldi branches including Aylesbury, Buckingham and Milton Keynes
and live on Freeview channel 276
Supermarket chain Aldi is creating around 90 new jobs in Bucks ahead of the festive period, as it gears up for its biggest ever Christmas.
The supermarket is looking to fill temporary and permanent positions in its Bucks stores to help replenish stock and assist customers during this busy period.
Applications are now open for jobs at Aldi branches including Rimmington Way and Cambridge Street in Aylesbury; The Place Retail Park, Stantonbury, McConnell Drive, Westcroft and Kingston in Milton Keynes; and Buckingham.
In addition, Aldi is currently recruiting for more than 850 roles across its 11 regional distribution centres around the UK, including warehouse selectors, logistics assistants and lorry drivers.
Aldi recruitment director Kelly Stokes said: “This year we’re recruiting more people than ever over the Christmas period to support the growing number of customers that are switching to Aldi.
"That includes a mix of temporary and permanent positions, as well as looking to fill both in-store roles and positions at our regional distribution centres.
“Our amazing colleagues play a vital role in keeping our shelves stocked year round, which is why, once again, we’ll also be keeping our stores closed on Boxing Day as a thank you for all of their hard work.”
Store assistants earn a minimum hourly rate of up to £10.50 nationally and £11.95 inside the M25. Aldi also remains the only supermarket in the UK to offer paid breaks, which for the average store staff member is worth more than £830 a year.
Visit the website for more information and to apply.


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In today’s competitive environment, the rise of startups and emerging tech companies can prove to be highly beneficial to corporations. These businesses provide advanced solutions just for major business issues. Examples of successful partnerships between corporations and startups involve Amazon’s acquisition of Ring, which was created simply by Cleveland-based Wifi Environment. One more example can be Medtronic’s exchange of CardioInsight, a startup that helped boost its atrial fibrillation solutions.
The Office for Advertising of Sector and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has recognised 4, 500 new companies seeing that start-ups. Numerous are based on high end industries, just like clean technology, information technology, and biotechnology. Some great benefits of working with these startups are many, including increased job creation, greater range, and more quickly development. The biggest concern for these startup companies, however , is the fact they may be not yet celebrated to the general public.
To solve this issue, startups and emerging technical are making it easier than ever designed for consumers to exchange value. Facebook . com, for example , launched a chatbot that can reduces costs of searching experiences and accept payment information. The power of conversation technical is largely untapped, and fresh tech startups are creating their own assistants to solve prevalent problems or perhaps resolve buyer requests. When adopting these kinds of trends isn’t a guarantee of success, startups that integrate them into their products can gain a competitive advantage over competition.
Venture capital companies will only seriously evaluate online companies if they can prove that their very own claims about technology and market potential are accurate. To avoid this pitfalls, various startups self-finance themselves employing sweat equity. This way, they avoid the diluting effect of external capital, and build https://rockstarstartup.co.uk/2021/06/06/how-do-you-choose-data-room-ma-and-safe-on-a-provider/ up their believability until they will approach outside capital providers. This can be known as “bootstrapping”.


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You may recall that when Apple announced its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature, which allows iPhone users to opt out of being tracked by third parties who want to send them personalized ads, Meta co-founder and chairman Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t thrilled. was with Apple. He paid for full-page advertisements printed in newspapers such as: The New York Times† The Wall Street Journaland The Washington Post†
Meta Blames Apple’s App Tracking Transparency Feature For Hiring Freeze And Share Price Drop
Facebook (now Meta) paid for open ads in major newspapers seeking to criticize Apple for its app-tracking transparency feature
- Loss of signal due to iOS changes (ATT).
- The war in Ukraine.
- The “general macroeconomic environment.”
- Easing the lockdowns so that people spend less time online.
Wehner’s memo makes it clear that Meta’s problem with Apple’s App Tracking Transparency has less to do with hurting small businesses than hurting Meta. In the memo, the CFO wrote: “We are experiencing headwinds, including slower sales growth than expected at the start of the year.”
Global recruiting head Miranda Kalinowski sent her own memo stating that Meta will stop hiring engineers immediately. She wrote: “We are still figuring out what this means for each organization, but it will impact hiring goals for nearly every team across the company. Based on this refreshed guidance, we know we can achieve our hiring goals across the board. need to adjust line with Eng[ineering]†
Her memo would indicate that vacancies in technology in the field of Machine Learning will still be filled. Going back to CFO Wehner’s memo, the director mentions Meta’s plan to replace the data lost from Apple’s ATT using AI. In addition, the memo tries to give a happy face to Meta’s business prospects at the moment.
Apple says transparency on app tracking won’t force Meta to make changes to its businesses
“We are in a strong position with a healthy business and we are optimistic about the opportunities to accelerate growth again, in particular by unlocking new revenue streams through monetization of roles, incorporating AI into our advertising system to reduce signal loss by accommodating iOS changes, growing business messages, and bringing the metaverse to life,” the CFO wrote.
Apple points out, as always when the topic is pressed, that app tracking transparency doesn’t require Facebook to make changes to its businesses. “We believe this is a matter of standing up for our users. Users need to know when their data is being collected and shared with other apps and websites – and they should have the choice to allow it or not.”
The Cupertino-based tech giant’s response says that “App tracking transparency in iOS 14 doesn’t require Facebook to change its approach to tracking users and creating targeted ads, it simply requires them to give users a choice.”


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When’s the last time you ate something healthy? Yeah, I know, it’s been awhile for me as well..
The Chicago-based meal kit delivery service Home Chef recently surveyed over 1,000 Americans about their eating and cooking habits, and the results were pretty shocking, to say the least. Can you believe that 75% of people never, barely, or only occasionally eat healthy foods?!
Surprised at those numbers, we dug deeper to find out why this is the case. Here’s what we found:
- Over 40% of people said the convenience of fast food and delivery is why they don’t eat healthy, while nearly the same amount of people said they simply don’t have time to eat healthy meals.
- Over 40% of people don’t consider themselves to be good enough cooks to allow them to eat healthy all the time.
- Of those who made food at home, 91% of them admitted that they usually made too much food, leading to overeating.
The crazy thing is that over 50% of those surveyed believe that they may be overweight, but they’re not doing anything to eat better because of a lack of time and the convenience of unhealthy food, as well as a lack of cooking skills and remedial healthy food knowledge.
But over 80% of respondents agreed that a meal kit delivery service like Home Chef containing easy-to-follow recipes and pre-portioned ingredients could help them and their families eat healthier.
“The time it takes to find healthy recipes, go grocery shopping and prepare a meal can be a deterrent to healthy home cooking,” said Pat Vihtelic, founder and CEO of Home Chef. “Home Chef takes care of the time-consuming tasks of meal planning and grocery shopping, while offering easy-to-follow instructions to simplify home cooking. Our goal is to make it possible to have healthy, satisfying home-cooked meals without the hassle.”
You see that Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Chicken Breast with Zucchini and Yellow Squash Ribbons pictured above? That’s just one of the many Home Chef gourmet meals available each week, at a cost of just $9.95 per serving. It looks pretty delicious, and it’s super healthy to boot!
So if you’re ready to make a change for the healthier, visit homechef.com and order your first meal today.


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THE automotive market place, Auto Trader, has acquired van specialist leasing broker Vanarama.
Auto Trader has paid £200m to acquire the share capital in Autorama, the owner of the Vanarama brand.
The FTSE 100 company said it was attracted by Vanarama’s position as one of the leading platforms for leasing deals and its partnerships with OEMs, funders and retailers.
In turn it would transform Vanarama from its current light commercial vehicle specialism and let it expand into cars by accessing Auto Trader’s brand.
There is a large structural opportunity for a new car leasing marketplace driven by the growth in electric vehicles, new manufacturers entering the UK market, lower take up of company car schemes and a shift towards new digital distribution models. Leasing provides consumers a cost-effective way to access a new car with a model that is consistent with any future move toward usership.
To ensure we have the greatest choice of cars to buy online, we could not ignore the growing demand for leasing deals. In Vanarama, we have found an industry leading leasing platform that delivers a great consumer experience and significant sales for its partners. This acquisition will strengthen our existing leasing business and will enable us to offer both the biggest choice of vehicles and a seamless digital experience from search to sale.Nathan Coe, chief executive officer, Auto Trader
Andy Alderson, Vanarama’s chief executive officer added: “We have sold over 120,000 vehicles for our manufacturer, retailer and lease company partners. Over the last few years we have invested significantly in our technical capability to help our partners respond to consumer demand for a digital buying experience. We are hugely excited about the prospect of being able to accelerate our growth plans and deliver even more value to our partners as part of the Auto Trader Group.”
The deal sees Auto Trader paying an initial tranche of £150m in cash, with a further £50m in shares to be deferred subject to customary performance conditions 12 months after the completion date.
In its statement to the market, Auto Trader said Autorama, as at 31 December 2021, had £27m of gross assets and for the calendar year 2021, made net revenue of £26m, selling c14,500 vehicles and had an EBITDA loss of £6m, which included marketing costs of over £9m.
Completion of the deal will be subject to regulatory approvals.
Read our analysis of the deal
Click here to read: Why has Auto Trader bought Vanarama?
Ralph Morton is the leading journalist in the leasing broker sector and editor of Broker News, the website which provides information and news for BVRLA-registered leasing brokers. He also writes extensively on the fleet and leasing market in both the UK and Europe.


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Legal news for product liability attorneys. Toyota complaints on the rise since recent recalls.
Product liability attorneys-Toyota Motor Corp. has increased consumer complaints about sudden acceleration that has led to crashes, injuries, and deaths.
Washington, D.C.—In the wake of Toyota’s massive recalls, complaints of sudden acceleration that led to death and injuries have spiked in recent weeks with a total of 34 deaths since 2000. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) http://www.nhtsa.gov/ reported that in just over a week, complaints about Toyota’s Prius hybrid increased by 1,000, as reported by MSNBC.
Since Toyota Motor Corporation recalled 8.5 million vehicles across the globe over the last four months due to problems with the gas pedal, floor mats and brakes, the reputation of the world’s No. 1 automobile manufacturer is in jeopardy. Some claimed that the increased complaints show awareness of the massive recall and pending lawsuits among consumers, but the government stated they usually get an increased amount of complaints following a recall. After NHTSA began their investigation into the 2010 Prius gas-electric hybrid on February 3, 2010, they have received 124 consumer complaints. NHTSA also reported “through Feb. 11, the government had a total of 1,120 complaints alleging 34 crashes, six injuries and no deaths.” So far testing conducted by Toyota, NHTSA and Exponent, which is an outside consulting firm that was hired by Toyota, has revealed that there is no evidence of problems with Toyota’s electronics.
MSNBC reported that analysis of government data revealed “In 2009, Toyota received the most complaints that year — a total of 130 for Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles. Ford and its Mercury brand received the second-highest with 14, followed by General Motors and Honda vehicles with 9. Among Toyota vehicles in the 2009 model year, the Camry led the list of models with 52 complaints, followed by Corolla (17), Tacoma (16) and Prius (13). The AP found eight of the top 10 vehicles with complaints over vehicle speed control were manufactured by Toyota. In the 2008 model year, Toyota vehicles received 176 complaints of vehicle speed control, followed by Ford with 44 and Chrysler with 25. In that year, Prius had 31 complaints, followed by Tacoma with 28 and Camry with 25. Since Jan. 27, NHTSA has processed 686 complaints from consumers about problems related to “vehicle speed control” on cars and trucks manufactured by Toyota, nearly all of them submitted through NHTSA’s Web site or by e-mail.”
Legal News Reporter: Nicole Howley-Legal news for product liability lawyers.


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BT's new vehicle tracking system has set some kind of record by finding its first stolen car before it had gone live.
The car, an Audi A4, belongs to David Thomas — project manager for the new BT Trackit system. It was stolen from outside his house on 2 November and was recovered, undamaged, the same day.
Thomas was alerted to the theft by BT’s Secure Operating Centre. Using satellite-based tracking technology the car was pinpointed and the local police were informed and were able to recover the vehicle. The car had been abandoned six miles away.
"I couldn’t believe it when I discovered my car had been stolen," said Tomas. "I suppose it was an opportunity to put BT Trackit to the test for real."
The theft and subsequent recovery of the vehicle was announced by BT on Monday, the same day that Trackit was officially launched. A BT spokesman insisted that the company had not invented the story.
BT Trackit allow BT to pin-point the exact location of a vehicle in the UK and other parts of Europe, using GPS tracking. The system was developed by BT redcare, the secure wireless data solutions business of BT Group. The company claims that it achieves the toughest insurance industry security standard, Thatcham's Category 5.
But this security comes at a cost. A BT Trackit Unit for your car will cost £299.99 and installation will cost another £149.00. There is also an annual service charge of £149.00.
BT claims the service is "20 percent cheaper than a leading provider of Category 5 products" such as Tracker Network.
The car owner keeps this smartcard on their person.
The black box is fitted alongside the car's engine. When the owner approaches the car, the smartcard interacts with the rest of the system and authenticates the user. Someone without the card can still start the car, but the system will then be alerted.