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Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a new galactic adventure starring Mario, Luigi, Peach, and the raving Rabbids. Here's everything we know about the upcoming Switch exclusive.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a silly tactical shooter coming to Nintendo Switch. Preorders are now available.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (a.k.a. BotW 2) has Link exploring a world above Hyrule. It's currently available for preorder.
Metroid Dread, against all odds, really is happening. Here's everything you need to know about Metroid Dread for Nintendo Switch.
E3 2021 is squarely in the rearview mirror and Nintendo put on quite a show. We've got a lot to be excited about for the rest of the year.
E3 2021 wouldn't be complete without a presentation from Nintendo. A new Nintendo Direct detailing the rest of 2021 and early 2022 is here! Here's everything that was announced.
A special Zelda-themed Game & Watch is releasing later this year. It features three classic Zelda titles and a bonus minigame.
The E3 2021 Nintendo Direct revealed new information about the highly anticipated Breath of the Wild sequel. We now have an official title, look at gameplay, and a release date.
We got to see some new Breath of the Wild 2 gameplay during today's E3 Nintendo Direct. This includes enemies, mechanics, and locations.
Mario Party Superstars brings back five classic boards and several minigames from the Nintendo 64 era. It comes out later this year and is already available for preorder.
Looking forward to Metroid Dread? Here's how to preorder a physical or digital copy now.
Nintendo has revealed a new 2D Metroid title, the first in 19 years. It shares a name with a legendary cancelled Metroid project.
This Game and Watch system with an impressive gold finish is part of Nintendo's Zelda 35th anniversary celebrations.
One of the best action games on the Switch returns with more content. Rejoin Link and his allies on the battlefield in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity's first DLC pack arrives on June 18.
The new two-player WarioWare game, called Get It Together, is set to release on Sept. 10, 2021.
During Nintendo Treehouse at E3, the company revealed that Kazuya from Tekken would be the latest fighter coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
E3 2021 is a completely online event this year. Here's how to tune in to the Nintendo Direct along with all of the news we expect to see this year.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin releases in July. Today during E3, Capcom announced a free trial coming this June.
Master your iPhone in minutes
iMore offers spot-on advice and guidance from our team of experts, with decades of Apple device experience to lean on. Learn more with iMore!


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Richard Dawkins, the country’s leading atheist, has challenged Marks & Spencer over their decision to give Muslim staff permission to refuse to serve customers buying alcohol or pork products.
Muslim staff who do not wish to handle alcohol or pork have been told they can politely ask customers to pay at another till.
The policy landed the company at the centre of a social media storm, with widespread criticism as well as humourous tweets of photographs of products such as the company’s festive glazed ham recipe.
Professor Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, joined in the condemnation, tweeting: “These Marks & Spencer tweets may seem frivolous. But they are serious examples of the kind of RIDICULE religious discrimination deserves.”
A Facebook page calling for a…

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Are investors farsighted or foolhardy? A little of both, in our view—but there’s no question that Wall Street believes in an electric future. EV startup Rivian went public last week, raising nearly $12 billion to give the company a valuation of around $77 billion. Since then, RIVN stock has soared, making the company one of the world’s most valuable automakers.
As of this writing, Rivian is worth more than Daimler, GM or Ford, which owns a 12% stake in the startup. Another dubious distinction: Rivian is now the most valuable US company with no revenue (Lucid previously held that coveted title).
The company has just begun producing its R1T electric pickup truck, and so far, it has delivered only a handful. However, it claims to have some 55,000 reservations for the pickup and the R1S SUV, and has big ambitions to produce 1 million vehicles by 2030.
It’s an impressive start, but not unexpected. Ever since it stole the show at the 2018 LA Auto Show, Rivian has been considered the cream of the latest crop of startups. The support of Amazon, which owns a chunk of the company, and has ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans, is a huge asset. CEO R.J. Scaringe is by all accounts extremely well-qualified, and has thus far shown no tendency to alienate supporters with stupid public statements, or to embroil his company in shady scandals. The fact that Rivian chose to take the traditional IPO route, instead of the low-budget SPAC shortcut, only adds to the company’s air of seriousness and respectability.
Rivian is off to an excellent start, but now it must navigate the Valley of Death—that is, it has to ramp up production enough to start bringing in revenue before investors lose patience and cut off the cash spigot. The ramp-up will consume billions of dollars over the next couple of years—Rivian said in a financial filing that it did not expect to fulfill the 55,000 orders for the truck and SUV until the end of 2023. The Amazon deal should help, providing a handy cash cushion that (for example) Tesla never had. Amazon hopes to have 10,000 of the Rivian e-vans on the road next year.
Rivian’s target customers are wealthy and adventurous, and so are its investors. A successful Rivian is precisely what the EV industry needs at this moment—an all-electric rival for Tesla and an additional goad for the Dinosaurs of Detroit. Let’s hope Rivian can “keep the world adventurous forever.”


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Despite the recent AR-buying craze, which has left many companies focused on simply satisfying demand and not creating new models, Yankee Hill Machine (YHM) has still found time to innovate and enhance the AR platform. The new YHM Model 57 in 5.56mm NATO, its first all-billet-machined AR, represents a whole new direction for the company. In the upcoming March 2014 issue of Rifle Firepower, author Jorge Amselle wrings out the new beast and delivers the results.
Amselle writes, “The rifle is a direct-impingement-operated, semi-automatic AR carbine chambered in 5.56mm NATO, but in appearance as well as on the range, it is more Terminator meets RoboCop than run-of-the-mill AR… According to YHM, the move toward billet receivers arose from both a desire to build unique custom features into the receivers themselves, which you cannot easily do with forgings, and the recent difficulty the entire industry experienced in the availability of forgings due to increased demand. With its own CNC machines now set up to manufacture its own receivers, the company never have to worry about a shortage of these parts.”
To learn more about YHM Model 57—its extremely unique design and range performance—check out the March 2014 issue of Rifle Firepower, available on newsstands and digitally December 17, 2013. To subscribe, go to https://www.tactical-life.com/subscribe/.


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What happened to Sony should have companies worried. The FBI says what happened to Sony was so sophisticated a hack that it can penetrate 90% of net defenses. That is some hack and reason to take pause before sending those emails that you thought were private. As of now the FBI, Mandiant, and Sony all have not yet explained what makes this hack so unprecedented and sophisticated. No one really knows who was behind the hack. Some think it was North Korea but the country denied involvement even though it cheered the Guardians of Peace for implementing the hack against Sony.
The Sony Pictures hack may be done but like the Snowden files, the leaks will keep coming for months and months. As more information comes to light about how it took place it becomes clear there were mistakes. Just like Target could have done more with its security, Sony could have done a lot more as well.
“We have tremendous respect for Kevin Mandia and the team he’s assembled at FireEye’s Mandiant, but we completely disagree with the statement he made over the weekend. He is clearly offering Sony the opportunity to hide behind the veil of advanced persistent threats. ~Ken Levine, president and CEO of security service provider Digital Guardian
The data breach Sony had a few weeks ago at the hands of Guardians of Peace (GOP) was the largest hack in a long time. The group got away with 100 terabytes of data containing sensitive information. The data had digital versions of unreleased Sony movies some of which were released to the torrent sites. It had personal details about employees such as emails, social security numbers, and addresses. The data of the celebrities that work with Sony has already caused issues for executives at the studio and we are sure more dirt will come out. However, what can cause the most damage is the information on the current and future business plans.
The level of sophistication is extremely high and we can tell…that [the hackers] are organized and certainly persistent. In speaking with Sony and separately, the Mandiant security provider, the malware that was used would have slipped or probably gotten past 90% of Net defenses that are out there today in private industry and [likely] challenged even state government. ~FBI’s assistant director of the cyber division Joseph Demarest


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California smash and get burglars use sledgehammers in Beverly Hills jewellery theft
Beverly Hills business enterprise proprietors and inhabitants are on superior alert soon after millions of…
Beverly Hills business enterprise proprietors and inhabitants are on superior alert soon after millions of dollars of higher-close jewelry and watches were stolen for the duration of a brazen broad daylight smash-and-seize burglary wherever the suspects employed sledgehammers on Tuesday.
Law enforcement claimed at the very least 5 masked suspects in black and grey hoodies broke by the thick, tempered glass window of Luxurious Jewels of Beverly Hills located at the 200 block of South Beverly Push at about 1:45 p.m.
The theft was captured on online video by many onlookers. In one video clip, a driver who handed by the jewelry store recorded the suspects grabbing products out of the smashed storefront window.
Peter Sedghi, operator of the jewelry retail store, instructed The Publish he was in his office when he heard what he in the beginning assumed ended up gunshots.
“I informed my worker, ‘Get on the floor,’” Sedghi claimed. “As before long as I listened to what I assumed had been gunshots ultimately end, I grabbed my gun. First, I manufactured sure my workforce were being Ok. I then went outside the house, but they were being already long gone.”
Sedghi claimed it took the suspects eight or 10 moments to strike the tempered glass with the sledgehammers right before they ended up equipped to last but not least smash by it.
Sedghi estimates the burglars stole goods truly worth concerning $3 to $5 million.
The suspects then ran off on foot in the alleyway behind the retail outlet and took off in a automobile.
“We promote higher-end jewelry and watches so they took massive diamonds, huge necklaces, Rolexes, Patek Philippe … they knew just what to just take,” Sedghi mentioned. “Thank God, no a person was hurt.”
Lt. Giovanni Trejo, Beverly Hills Police Division spokesman, told The Submit the suspects arrived in front of the jewelry store in an SUV that was described stolen out of the Long Seaside, Calif. region.
The suspects took off in one more auto, but investigators are however hoping to ascertain the make and design of that second car or truck. There could be other suspects who were waiting in the getaway car, Trejo claimed.
“The identification of the suspects at this stage is not apparent, even their genders, for that make any difference,” Trejo claimed. “They seem to be males, but we have not established that but. Because it was so quickly and swift, it is going to get a minimal bit of time to make guaranteed that we arrive to the right conclusions.”
Considering that the criminal offense occurred at a busy location and all through the day, police are urging witnesses to come forward with video clips or any data connected to this incident.
“You have all of these five individuals who have the nerve to operate up to a place and dedicate this crime,” Trejo said. “It is about. People and residents ought to generally be warn, specifically when they are out and about in the streets. You just under no circumstances know what could happen, so you must normally be inform for any hazard that could compromise your safety. What I would like people to do — if they observed what occurred or turn out to be conscious of any information and facts connected to this crime– is to give us a get in touch with so we can comply with up.”
Trejo mentioned detectives are nonetheless reviewing movie footage from inside the retail outlet.
Monday’s smash and get incident has Beverly Hills and inhabitants from neighboring cities, together with close by West Hollywood and the Fairfax District, on alert as robberies continue on to spike.
Two reported gang associates — Khai McGhee, 18, and Malik L. Powell, 21, were being sentenced on Feb. 15 to a dozen many years behind bars for keeping a person at gun issue and robbed him of his $500,000 Richard Mille wristwatch as the male was having at the Beverly Hills celeb hotspot, Il Pastaio, on March 4, 2021.
A 3rd man– 41-yr previous Marquise Anthony Gardon, was also sentenced in link. to the March 2021 armed theft.
Last thirty day period, Beverly Hills Police arrested two men– Jeremy Hays and Ronald Christopher Mendez-Cantu, Jr, both of those 19, and a 15-yr aged suspect for a sequence of robberies in 2021 in the city and surrounding parts in Southern California. Having said that, several suspects related to these 2021 robberies are continue to on the run.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore on Tuesday launched figures that showed robberies around the past year has increased by 18 % in the Los Angeles spot.
Citywide robberies the place firearms had been utilized also observed an uptick by 221 incidents as opposed to 2021, or a 44 per cent enhance.
“Most relating to is that there has been an improve in the stages of violence applied throughout these robberies and the frequency in which a firearm was applied,” Moore reported.


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Lil Wayne has just released the music video of his latest single “NFL,” featuring Gudda Gudda and Hoodybaby in partnership with Amazon Prime Video. The song was released as the soundtrack for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video this football season.
Additionally, Lil Wayne created an exclusive Amazon Music playlist, titled “Handpicked with Lil Wayne: My Songs for Game Day” which features 28 tracks.
In the playlist you can find Lil Wayne’s 2016 collaboration with Chance the Rapper and 2 Chainz, “No Problem” and T.I.’s star-studded 2008 hit “Swagga Like Us” with contributions from Kanye West, Jay Z, Lil Wayne and M.I.A.
The playlist also includes one song from Eminem and it’s “Till I Collapse” from “The Eminem Show” (2002). You can listen to the full tracklist below:


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Audi E-tron: deposits being taken for Jaguar I-Pace rival
Audi unveiled four E-tron prototypes at the Geneva motor show
Marketing boss says Audi’s first EV will be a “game-changer” for the brand; it’s due to be revealed later this year with a 310-mile range
Audi has opened order books for the E-tron electric SUV, with £1000 deposits being taken for its first bespoke electric vehicle.
First deliveries of the car aren’t due until early 2019, although the car goes into production late this year. A production version will be revealed ahead of the car’s official sales launch. Deposits also gain potential buyers access to Audi events.
Audi won’t yet talk production or sales numbers but says it has test-marketed the E-tron in two EU countries and reports potential demand for the model to be in the “double-digit thousands”
“The E-tron will be a game-changer for Audi,” said marketing boss Bram Schot. “It’s our first electric model, and it’s going to be a volume model.”
The production E-tron will be revealed at the Brussels motor show on 30 August, as the first of three battery electric vehicles (BEVs) that Audi will launch by 2021.
By 2025, the company promises to have 20 electrified models on sale, with half of those being BEVs.
The E-tron will have a range of models with different capacity battery packs and motor power outputs.
Audi has also raised the possibility of Audi Sport-tuned versions of the SUV. “The question is ‘when?’” said Schot. “The electric powertrain gives really good performance, so the driving experience gives such a good feeling.”
E-tron models could also be sold on a monthly subscription, which would allow buyers to switch between different Audi models to suit particular driving demands. “We’re actively looking at every option,” said Schot.
Audi has been using a 250-strong E-tron development fleet over the past year to rapidly build mileage and finalise the set-up of the EV.
The car’s design looks to have been toned down compared with the 2015 E-Tron quattro concept (see gallery) that previewed it, with a slightly less butch front end and less raked rear windows. But the concept’s light designs, which include a strip to connect the tail-lights, appear to have been retained.
The E-tron is predicted to have a range of at least 500km (311 miles) and is built on a development of the electrified platform that Porsche is using for its Mission E electric saloon. It’s powered by three electric motors, with two driving the rear wheels and the other powering the fronts.
This set-up was used in the E-tron quattro concept, which was said to provide maximum combined outputs of 496bhp and 590lb ft, a 0-62mph time of 4.5sec and a restricted top speed of 131mph – a preview of what’s to come with the production model.
This set-up will also be used in Audi’s second electric SUV model, which itself was previewed by the E-tron Sportback concept shown at the 2017 Shanghai motor show. This features a more swept-back design and will make it to market one year after the regular E-tron.
Audi has previously said the E-tron will “cost about the same as a well-specced Audi A6”, suggesting it will have an entry-level price of at least £60,000. The I-Pace is priced from £58,995.
Audi sales and marketing boss Dietmar Voggenreiter said that Audi has chosen to launch the E-tron in 2018 because battery technology is now mature enough to be able to offer a range of more than 500km (311 miles). This figure is “crucial”, he said, because consumers won’t accept less. Charging infrastructure is also now growing rapidly — another key reason for choosing a 2018 launch date.
“A 400-500km range must be possible and we must have a fast charging infrastructure,” said Voggenreiter. “Both things are coming in 2018. The battery energy density is there and there’s already a lot of charging infrastructure in Europe, the US and Asia.”
Voggenreiter said Audi was involved through the Volkswagen Group with rival firms such as BMW, Daimler and Ford in ensuring that there’s a fast-charging network for longer-range electric vehicles to use.
“It’s not our job to invest in charging points,” he said. “We’re pushing and organising this, though, and working with our partners on it.”
Voggenreiter referred to the ‘chicken and egg’ situation of limited charging infrastructure to date: there has been no need for third parties to install chargers because there are not enough cars to use them, and vice versa. “No cars, no infrastructure, but in the next two years there will be lots of investments,” he added.
First customer deliveries of the E-tron are scheduled for the beginning of 2019.
Audi has opted not to launch its electric cars under a sub-brand, like BMW has with its i models and Mercedes-Benz with its future EQ range. Instead, it’s using E-tron, which has been a suffix on hybrid Audis, as a model name in its own right.
The new SUV is intended as a stand-alone, milestone launch model to introduce the technology, employing a similar strategy used by Audi with ‘quattro’ in the 1980s.
Speaking last year about the car’s name, Audi boss Rupert Stadler said: “It’s comparable to the first Audi Quattro, which was known simply as the Quattro. In the long term, the name e-tron will stand for a pure electric driveline structure.”
Voggenreiter said the e-tron name will be used on a range of follow-up electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, where it will appear mostly as a suffix, as is the case with the existing A3 e-tron. It’s likely that Audi’s next-generation models will all get electric versions, and an A8 e-tron is most likely to be the first candidate.
An SUV body is important for the E-tron, because it’s the most on-trend bodystyle, said Voggenreiter. “A lot of customers have been asking when we’ll bring this car to market,” he said. “There’s certainly demand in the premium segment; it’s the right product. It’s a real SUV, with Audi design language.”
Voggenreiter suggested that Audi’s future range of e-tron models will have slightly different styling from the Marc Lichte-designed new look that’s currently being rolled out across the rest of the brand’s line-up.
“The e-trons are close to the designs of Lichte but in different packages,” he said. “There isn’t an engine in the front.”
The size of the E-tron suggests it’s a Q6 in all but name, but Voggenreiter hinted that the Q6 was a separate project altogether. He cited speculation that the Q6 should be a “four-door SUV-coupé” based on the Q5, in a similar style to the forthcoming Q8 being spun off the Q7.
But he said the E-tron isn’t the Q6 because it’s “not a four-door SUV-coupé, but a sporty SUV”.
Julian Rendell, Sam Sheehan and Mark Tisshaw
Source: Autocar Online


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In the first week of August, electric heavy truck manufacturer Nikola revealed they reached a deal worth $144 million to acquire the battery pack supplier Romeo Power. This would give Nikola direct control over an important quadrant of its supply chain.
This all-stock transaction puts the value of California-based Romeo at 74 cents per share, which is a 34 percent premium on Romeo’s closing stock price on Friday (July 29). Of course, this favorable partnership helpd close Romeo’s shares up 27 percent just a few days later, with Nikola also cosing up, though only 8 percent higher.
Furthermore, the deal dictates that Tesla will offer Romea $35 million in interim funding so they can maintain their operations until the transaction can be finalized and closed. Nikola communicated their faith that the deal will save them as much as $350 million across the next four years.
Taking the other name of the famous scientist, inventor, and engineer who designed the alternating-current (AC) electrical system, Nikola is similar to Tesla in that both companies make and sell electric vehicles. The former, however, focuses on an important auto sector whose electrification benefits are oft overlooked: large trucks.
On the other hand, Romeo specializes in manufacturing battery modules and battery packs used in large electric commercial vehicles, on the basis of lithium-ion battery cells made by other companies. Since they started shipping their electric semi-trucks several months ago—with a projection to ship upwards of 500 total trucks by the end of the year—Nikola has long been Romeo’s biggest customer. Accordingly, then, this acquisition appears to make a lot of sense.
Indeed Nikola CEO Mark Russell explains, “Given our strong relationship with Romeo and ongoing collaboration, we are confident in our ability to successfully integrate and deliver the many expected strategic and financial benefits of this acquisition.”


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JBS USA has reached a settlement in a lawsuit that accused the company of conspiring to fix the price of pork, even as it was hit with another lawsuit accusing it of the same thing.
JBS agreed to pay $12.7 million to settle claims in a lawsuit brought by “indirect purchasers,” mostly restaurants who bought through a third party pork products originally produced by JBS. This comes on top of a $24.5 million settlement for direct purchasers in the same suit. Other defendants include Hormel Foods, Smithfield Foods and Tyson Foods. JBS does not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement with indirect buyers.
Meanwhile, Nestlé Purina Petcare filed another suit on July 8 alleging pork price-fixing by JBS, along with Smithfield, Tyson, Seaboard Foods and others. As with other such lawsuits, it alleges that the defendants used a news service called Agri Stats – which is also named as a defendant – to keep pork prices high.


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What can a band do when the record store is an antique and they’re just another name in a crowd of streaming options? Have a beer.
Music acts, especially those used to radio airplay, ample non-festival live music venues and album sales, are having a really tough time navigating the modern music industry. According to Nielsen Soundscan, overall music sales rose 3% last year behind a 75% jump in on-demand streaming.
That’s great for Spotify, Google’s
So the days of hooking fans at the record store are over. However, there’s a corner of the retail market where shoppers are still compelled, by law, to shop at brick-and-mortar locations and pick through shelves based on labels and what they’ve heard from friends.
Yep, that’s right: the beer store or beer aisle. Not surprisingly, older music acts have seen this as an opportunity. AC/DC, Kiss, Iron Maiden, Queen, Megadeth and even Rick Astley have slapped their intellectual property on beer or plan to do so in the future. It’s not just the classic rock and pop folks, either: Chance the Rapper produced a beer with Anheuser-Busch InBev’s
Last year, an unsigned band even released its fourth album on a beer can. The Lights Out, based out of Boston, collaborated with Somerville, Mass.-based brewery Aeronaut Brewing Co. to release their album “T.R.I.P. (The Reckonings in Pandimensionality)” with help from an “imperial session ale.” The 7.5% ABV India Pale Ale’s Galaxy came in a can marked with a hashtag that buyers would post on Twitter to receive a link to the album files.
“I know that, at some point, Budweiser and Toby Keith are going to do it, but they won’t get to say that they are the first,” says guitarist Adam Ritchie, who also runs a Boston-based public-relations firm. “We don’t have management, we do it all ourselves, we’re like a startup, and the fact that an independent band and independent brewery could turn something around like this in a matter of months with no hierarchy is just so cool.”
The Lights Out had released three albums prior to this one, but they’d seen the music industry take a few ominous turns. Music venues in Boston and elsewhere were closing, live bands were competing with smartphones for audiences’ attention and the entire way those audiences were finding, listening to and enjoying music were changing. After playing the South by Southwest festival in Austin two years ago, the band retreated and came up with a new strategy.
Drummer Jesse James Salucci, an industrial designer, fashioned a “wearable light show” out of 1,000 LED bulbs, attached it to goggles and instruments, and synced it to the band’s songs. That got the audience to point its smartphones at the band instead, but it also required a change of culture as the band’s venues shifted from barrooms to comic-book and pop-culture conventions.
“The reason it works is because we were a band for eight years before we had this show,” Ritchie says. “We didn’t start out to be this packaged act, which we’ve evolved into for great reasons, but what we’ve seen is that when we play a comic-con, the comic-con fans will then follow us to a rock club. Some of our biggest fans are from the con world.”
That fixed their live-show issues, but they still hadn’t quite figured out how to get their album into fans’ hands. Ritchie considers a new release on Spotifiy as “dragging and dropping a gallon of milk on to a grocery order online” and still relishes the memory of the incense he was burning the first time he came home from the music store with a copy of Pearl Jam’s “Vs.” album. It’s a tactile experience that’s fading and, to new generations of listeners, seems a bit redundant. That said, The Lights Out were able to connect with new fans through social media and get their album into new listeners’ hands strictly because they couldn’t avoid going to a store to pick it up.
While online-beer-delivery services like Brewpublik, Tavour, Swill and Drizly have found modest success in certain markets, state alcohol laws make it incredibly difficult to get packaged beer anywhere other than a store, restaurant or brewpub. The labeling matters, the word of mouth through friends and on Untappd, BeerAdvocate and RateBeer matters, and the physical experience of buying a beer still resonates. While releasing an album through a beer isn’t exactly going to reverse the music industry’s physical album sales and send people sprinting from streaming services, it can still serve the same niche that goes out of its way to thumb through crates of vinyl records and remembers what the store looked and smelled like each time they bought an album. The beer aisle and bottle shop are just two places where that experience is still within reach.
“What we’d like to do is follow Prohibition through history, so maybe the next album we do is released on a bag of legal marijuana,” Ritchie says.
Jason Notte is a freelance writer based in Portland, Ore. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post and Esquire. Follow him on Twitter @Notteham.


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NATIONAL: This year, Canada’s Le Burger Week will expand to a two-week event, running from Sept. 1-14 at more than 1,000 participating restaurants across Canada. Launched in Montreal a decade ago, the annual event expanded to Quebec City, Vancouver, Ottowa, Edmonton and other Canadian cities in 2017. A portion of every burger sold at participating restaurants will be donated to Anorexia and Bulimia Québec and United Way Canada.
Comic convention producer Fan Expo HQ has announced that six of Wizard World’s largest events will be joining its portfolio. Wizard World’s events in Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Portland, St. Louis and Cleveland will be rebranded as Fan Expo events in 2022; in total, Fan Expo will now operate 17 shows in North America, making it the largest producer of fan conventions in the world. Highlights of the company’s portfolio include Fan Expo Canada in Toronto, MegaCon in Orlando, Calgary Comics & Entertainment Expo Fan Expo, Dallas Fan Festival and more.
CALGARY: Calgary’s largest Halloween event, Screamfest, is returning this fall. Attendees will journey through six different haunted houses, ranging from a clown-themed space to the Bates Motel; there will also be carnival games, ax-throwing, food trucks, a beer lounge and more. The event kicks off Oct. 8 and runs on weekend nights until Halloween at the Stampede Park Grandstand.
EDMONTON: The Winter in Summer Music Festival runs today through Aug. 14 at the Edmonton Ski Club. Performers include Whale & The Wolf and El Niven and the Alibi; shows have limited seating capacity and cashless ordering, and tickets cost $35 per day. A second lineup of performers will return from Sept. 17-18.
VANCOUVER: Two Latin American cultural events are coming to Vancouver. The Carnaval del Sol festival kicks off today and runs through Aug. 15; the outdoor, family-friendly festival features live performances, a Latinx Pride Day for the LGBTQ community, morning Zumba classes and more. Meanwhile, The Latin American Experience will take place Aug. 20-29 with a series of limited-capacity live events and hybrid workshops at the Vancouver Playhouse and Performance Works, along with a jazz concert and a stand-up comedy show.
BizBash Buzz is the must-read digest of event industry news from BizBash.com.
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Advertise with BizBash: bizbashlive.com/advertise


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Trump Time Capsule #147: ‘Scion’
Late to this for family reasons, but catching up on an actually astonishing development:
Through the campaign, Donald Trump at times seemed more intent on promoting his business interests than in advancing a political campaign. He took time off this summer to fly to Scotland and tout the opening of a new Trump golf resort. He turned what was billed as a major campaign announcement into a promo for his new DC hotel. A surprisingly large share of the money he’s raised for his campaign’s expenditures has gone to his own businesses (notably Mar-a-Lago).
That is why today’s story, in Travel and Leisure, is so piquant and O. Henry-like. What Trump might have imagined would further burnish his personal brand may in fact be poisoning it. T&L reports that Trump’s new hotels will no longer carry his name!!! Instead they’ll be called “Scion.” Groan, given the actual scions, but fascinating in its own way. From T&L:
Amidst reports that occupancy rates at Trump Hotels have slipped this election season, the company has announced that new brand hotels will no longer bear the Trump name.
The newest line of luxury hotels, geared towards millennials, will be called Scion, the company said.
Wait till this sinks in: the name that Donald Trump thought was his greatest asset, the basis of his claims of wealth, is now such commercial baggage that they’re keeping it off his buildings.
People know the famous chef José Andrés as, well, a famous chef. I had a chance to get to know him a few years ago in strange circumstances in Beijing.
But I think he deserves long-term attention as probably the first “public” person to take personal and commercial risks in a forthright stance against Trump. Shortly after Trump’s “they’re sending rapists” speech, José Andrés said he would not open a restaurant, as previously agreed, in Trump’s new DC hotel. Trump immediately sued him back.
Would that some part of José Andrés’s backbone had been transplanted into the Speaker of the House.


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Scaling for good: can McDonald’s raise the bar for sustainable food?
At Environmental Defense Fund, we believe that environmental progress and economic growth can and must go hand in hand. EDF+Business works with leading companies and investors to raise the bar for corporate sustainability leadership by setting ambitious, science-based goals; collaborating for scale across industries and global supply chains; publicly supporting smart environmental safeguards; and, accelerating environmental innovation.
This is the 10th in a series of interviews exploring trends in sustainability leadership as part of our effort to pave the way to a thriving economy and a healthy environment.
Let’s turn back the clock to 1990. It was a milestone year for McDonald’s, as the company opened its first restaurants in Moscow, mainland China and Chile. It was also when the largest restaurant company in the world joined forces with Environmental Defense Fund to launch a groundbreaking partnership that would find ways to reduce McDonald’s solid waste. The results? $6 million in savings, more than 300 million pounds of packaging eliminated, and 1 million tons of corrugated boxes recycled.
2018 is shaping up to be a big year for McDonald’s too, with a packaging waste goal set in January and an announcement to reduce emissions across its supply chain in March. Led by Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain and Sustainability Officer Francesca DeBiase, McDonald’s has raised the corporate leadership bar with these ambitious sustainability targets. But now, the difficult and complex work of meeting these goals begins.
I caught up with Francesca ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit this week to ask her about what the roadmap to meeting these goals looks like, and how they’ll collaborate with their suppliers and the industry to prioritize action on the areas where McDonald’s has the biggest opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including responsible beef production
Here’s an edited transcript of our conversation.
You spent nearly 10 years in finance roles at the company before becoming head of McDonald’s supply chain and now, you also wear the chief sustainability office hat. How does your expertise in finance and supply chains influence your role as a sustainability champion?
For me to make the sustainability case to our leadership, our suppliers, our owner-operators, and our franchisees, I have to understand the business implications behind the changes and the investments that I’m proposing. Finance is the common business language that allows me to do that I can make a stronger case for sustainability when I put it into a business context.
At McDonald’s, our supply chain is our biggest environmental impact. When I talk to our leadership team about making an impact in our supply chain, they know I’m also accountable for making these changes from a sustainability standpoint. That gives me more credibility and greater leverage to embed sustainability into the entire business which is critical.
I actually said I wouldn’t take the job of chief sustainability officer by itself, even though I have a huge passion for it. I felt that I could do so much more by keeping one foot in our supply chain and driving the changes throughout our business.
How did you build the business case for your ambitious sustainability goals?
We talked with owner-operators, customers, nonprofit partners, and our executives to determine the critical areas where we wanted to focus. These areas are at the intersection of being important to our business and having a significant impact on the environment, where we can use our size and scale to drive change. One of those areas was packaging and waste it’s the number-one environmental issue of concern for our customers.
It took a couple of years for us to socialize the idea of a big recycling goal within the company, because when we talk about recycling in every single one of our restaurants, we know that the infrastructure doesn’t exist everywhere the challenge was daunting. But now, the sustainability goals are embedded across the company, and we have an opportunity to talk with consumers in our restaurants, and drive change and influence legislation we’ll be engaging a lot more on policy around recycling than we have in the past.
There is an increasing expectation that sustainability leaders need to set goals that extend across their supply chains. How will you engage the supply chain, whether it’s farmers, producers, or franchisees, in the years ahead?
We’re a 95% franchised organization, and we don’t own any of our production facilities or manufacturing facilities. That’s why partnering and collaborating with others will be key to meeting our goals.
We’re very fortunate though in that we have about a dozen suppliers that make up the majority of our business. We have long-standing relationships with them, which allows us to talk about and invest in long-term goals together. We work with them on sustainability initiatives in the same way we work with them on quality, food safety, and cost.
With our franchisees, we’ve been working with them in finding ways to integrate energy efficiency and recycling into the business goals that we set as we start to renovate and remodel our restaurants. And as we move towards 2020, a portion of our sustainable beef will be going into their restaurants.
Ultimately, our customers equate McDonald’s with beef and we are proud to be one of the largest burger companies in the world. When it comes to our beef supply, this is an opportunity to collaborate with suppliers, farmers and ranchers, other companies as well as scientists and academics to identify, elevate, and support practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, optimize positive impacts through agriculture, and support resilient farms and farmer livelihoods at the same time.
And when you think about how to conserve forests, without good, reliable data, it’s hard to ensure that we’re meeting our goals. We will need to work with credible and verifiable third parties. On the clean energy front, we’ve been working closely with the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA) to help us scale best practices for energy management in our restaurants.
Beef is a big driver for global climate emissions. How does sustainable beef production factor into meeting the new 2020 goal, and what do you say to people who are skeptical about your ability to make progress on sustainable beef?
We know that beef sustainability is an area where McDonald’s has significant potential to be a leader in creating positive change. We embrace our responsibility to work with the beef industry, including farmers and ranchers around the world, to take steps now to meet the world’s beef demand sustainably.
We’ve made commitments to source a portion of beef from sustainable sources by 2020 in our top 10 beef sourcing markets, which make up 85% of our beef purchases.
In addition to our 2020 commitments, we’ve identified four key drivers that will allow us to greatly reduce emissions in our beef supply to help accomplish our climate target: working with farmers to scale best practices in farm management; rebuilding soils though practices such as progressive grazing techniques that help strengthen soil’s ability to hold carbon; ensuring no deforestation occurs in our beef supply chain; and, looking for opportunities to reduce emissions throughout the rest of our supply chain like food waste and energy use.
We’ve also set up a Flagship Farmer Program, to share sustainable agriculture best practices more broadly among the farming community and to celebrate the good work of farmers in our global supply chain.
What’s your favorite thing about the new McDonald’s headquarters in the heart of downtown Chicago?
The building has applied for LEED certification, and we have a green roof as well as a lot of outdoor spaces.
On the first floor of the new building is a McDonald’s restaurant, where we have some really fun international menu items. It is frequently updated but we’ve had a spicy chicken sandwich from Hong Kong, an Angus burger from Canada, a fantastic McFlurry from Brazil, and a couple of salads from France. We’re really trying to showcase the best of the best from around the world in our new headquarters.


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Wireless Charging Market Likely to Reach USD 13.4 billion by 2026
Posted by Tom C on January 3rd, 2023
The overall wireless charging market is expected to be valued at USD 4.5 billion in 2021 and projected to reach USD 13.4 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 24.6% between 2021 and 2026.
The growth of the wireless charging market is attributed to the rising adoption of wireless technology in consumer electronics; increase in sales of electric vehicles; and ability to charge multiple devices. However, compatibility issues restrict the adoption of wireless charging in various industries.
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Transmitters market is expected to grow at higher CAGR during forecasted period
The transmitters market is expected to grow at higher CAGR owing to the growth of new innovation by the startup players in the market. For instance, FLI Charge, a US-based startup, is offering wireless charging technology-based devices that comprise conductive modules and powered surfaces. These devices are suitable for charging smartphones and other consumer electronics, as well as low energy-consuming medical and industrial devices.
The inductive technology segment, by technology, is expected to continue to hold the largest share of the wireless charging market during the forecasted period. This growth is attributed to the rise in use of mid-sized items such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDA), MP3, medical devices, electric toothbrushes, and power tools.
Major Key Players in the Wireless Charging Market
The market for automotive application is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The increasing development and adoption of electric vehicles are also responsible for the rising demand for wireless charging for electric vehicles. Various companies are introducing wireless charging systems for forklifts, scissor lifts, trucks, automated guided vehicles, and golf carts used in warehouses. For instance, Delta Electronics has launched a 30KW wireless charging system for warehouse automation.
The wireless charging market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, owing to the the increased adoption of wireless charging in China and India. However, lockdowns are being observed across countries, which has halted most economic activities. With many region- and country-level economic packages infusing money into the market to boost the economy to come out of recession brought on by COVID-19, recovery from world economic depression is expected between 2021 and 2022.
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text: After reading that the Senate has passed a bill to have online retailers charge sales tax exactly the same as brick and mortar businesses, I am hopeful that Congress will see the impact this will have on their communities. Small businesses have suffered and many have closed because people can save tax dollars by purchasing online. In fact, many people use local retail businesses as testing grounds for whatever they want to buy online. While we all love the idea of getting a deal, it shouldn’t be done on the backs of our local retail businesses. If the same tax is charged online as in person sales, both types of retail would be better served. I hope our Congressmen will realize that when the issue comes to a vote.


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TOKYO—Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 6.5 million vehicles world-wide over power-window switches at risk of fire, the auto maker said Wednesday, the latest in a series of similar recalls involving around 14 million cars.
This is the fourth time since 2009 that Toyota
The recalled vehicles were produced between 2005 and 2006, and between 2008 and 2010, Toyota said. In North America, Toyota will recall around 2.7 million vehicles, it said. Models to be recalled outside Japan include certain Corolla compacts and the Camry sedan.


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After legal battle, Utah town of Springdale to allow chain restaurants
SALT LAKE CITY — A small Utah town outside Zion National Park has repealed a ban on chain restaurants, clearing the way for one of the country's biggest fast food chains to open amid Springdale's mom-and-pop restaurants.
Resident Jack Fotheringham and his business partners have been trying to open a Subway sandwich shop since 2006, all while fighting with the town over a law passed that same year barring chain restaurants.
The town banned "formula" restaurants, or those that use packaging, preparation methods, signs, uniforms, decorations or menu items that are identical to at any other location.
More indepth coverage: Read TheSpectrum.com's original story here.
Fotheringham believes the 2006 ordinance was written specifically to keep the Subway from opening. Springdale Mayor Stan Smith said the ordinance was already in the works.
"It was put in place to protect the character and the feel of Springdale," Smith said. "The restaurants are unique and individual and something you can't get someplace else, and the residents felt strongly about that."
Smith said the town is concerned about preserving its village feel with "parkitecture" free of tall buildings and neon signs that would distract from Zion's towering red sandstone cliffs. As visitors pour through town on the way to Utah's most popular national park, town leaders want them to stop and try out unique local restaurants, he said.
Around the U.S., a handful of towns have passed similar restrictions on chain restaurants or stores. Some town ordinances haven't faced legal challenges. Restrictions in other communities, such as the Florida Keys town of Islamorada, have been overturned by courts.
In 2010, Fotheringham and his business partners sued Springdale officials in a federal lawsuit, arguing they were being discriminated against and the town's ordinance was unconstitutional.
The legal battle dragged on for more than five years, but town officials decided this year that the ordinance was becoming increasingly difficult to defend. The town's insurance carrier also threatened to drop their coverage because the law left them vulnerable to continued legal costs.
This summer, Springdale settled the case by paying Fotheringham's group a $787,500 settlement and repealing the law.
"We were set to take it all the way to a ruling, but at this point, we're just glad it's over and we're happy to be opening," Fotheringham said. He added that the Subway would likely open sometime in the next month.
Fotheringham said they've had signs up in the restaurant's window advertising the potential Subway for years, and every day tourists stop by looking to buy sandwiches at the closed shop. "The Subway has been ready to open for the last six years, and it hasn't stopped anybody from coming here," he said.
Smith said he doesn't know if the Subway will open the floodgates for more chain restaurants. But he said the town is exploring other ways to preserve its feel, such as reinforcing rules about building architecture and designs.
"We like Springdale the way it is," he said. "It's a unique little town and the ordinances are difficult in Springdale, and that's for a reason."


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The output value of Taiwan's optoelectronics industry next year is expected to grow by as much as 20 percent, to break through NT$600 billion, a National Science Council (NSC) official said yesterday.
"The promotion of photonics technologies is an essential part of the government's focus on developing essential industries with high additional values," said NSC vice chairman Liao Chun-chen (
The fair, co-organized by the Photonics Industry & Technology Development Association and the council, kicked off yesterday at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall.
It features themed exhibitions of Opto Taiwan (
According to the council's Electro-Optics Unit, which was established in 1983 to develop coordinated policies for Taiwan's optoelectronics industry, the industry's production value has increased significantly from NT$8.3 billion in 1985 to NT$493.8 billion last year.
Liao said that existing policies were designed to be responsive to an era characterized by globalization and knowledge-based economies.
Under the government's guidance, for instance, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), photonic devices, cameras and scanners were major products before 1995.
The industry then shifted its focus to the production of photonic storage devices, including CD-ROM drives and disks between 1995 and 1999, which was the second stage of growth for the industry.
But it wasn't until 1999 that mass production of thin-film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD) triggered the third wave of growth for the industry.
Taiwan remains one of top three leading manufacturers of LEDs, contact image sensors, scanners, and other products, according to the Electro-Optics Unit.
Officials said that the production of displays would remain one of key economic lifelines for Taiwan in the following years.
The cabinet's "two trillion, twin-star" (
To gain better understanding of the latest developments in the industry, the fair demonstrates new products, such as displays and communication devices presented by more than 300 firms at 600 booths.
In addition, it also features several workshops on market trends, which will be chaired by leading research institutes and organizations, including the Acad-emia Sinica and US-based International Society for Optical Engineering, and the Japan-based Optoelectronic Industry and Technology Development Association.
Consumers are encouraged to browse at the exhibition, because the most advanced products, such as digital cameras, CD-ROM drivers, optics lenses and LEDs are available, NSC officials said.
The event, free of charge, is open to the public each day from 9am to 5pm and runs from yesterday until Sautrday.
PLANNED OUT: The government is lifting sale and export restrictions on 60% of the 20 million masks made daily, but people can still make purchases using their NHI cards Twenty thousand boxes of 50 masks each would be on sale at FamilyMart convenience stores starting tomorrow, Taiwan FamilyMart Co Ltd (全家便利商店) said yesterday. A box of 50 masks would cost NT$249 for those with FamilyMart memberships and NT$299 for those without, with no limits placed on how many boxes a person can buy, the company said. Convenience store chain operator Hi-Life International Co Ltd (萊爾富) said that it would also start selling masks from tomorrow. It has yet to announce details about prices and quantity. Hypermarket chain operator Carrefour Taiwan (家樂福) said that it would start selling packs of five
Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the nation’s leading power management solutions provider, has signed an agreement to acquire Canadian software firm Trihedral Engineering Ltd to bolster its smart production efforts, it said on Saturday. Delta said in a statement that it would acquire Trihedral for C$45 million (US$32.68 million) through its 100 percent-owned subsidiary Delta Electronics (Netherlands) BV. Trihedral specializes in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and industrial Internet of Things software, which would strengthen Delta’s hardware offerings in fast-growing areas such as automation, artificial intelligence and data analytics, it said. “The collection, monitoring and analyzing of data are critical to Delta’s two
From the customer’s perspective, car rental is a straightforward business. The only uncertainty is whether the hire company will charge you for the scratch they discover when you hand back the vehicle. Hertz Global Holdings Inc’s bankruptcy protection filing on Friday last week was a reminder that today even the simplest business models are underpinned by a lot more financial complexity than meets the eye. The proximate cause of Hertz’s demise was of course the sudden collapse in bookings caused by COVID-19 travel restrictions. The company’s monthly revenue last month fell 73 percent year-on-year, a shortfall that even the most resilient
BOOSTING BUYING: A source said that the idea of pre-ordering vouchers online is being considered, but the preliminary plan is for people to buy them at post offices A stimulus voucher program to be rolled out next month to boost consumption would be available not only to Taiwanese, but also foreign nationals and Chinese spouses who hold residency permits, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The government is fine-tuning the details of the program, which involves issuing vouchers for in-store purchases to revive buying amid the COVID-19 pandemic. During a radio interview on Monday last week, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said that the plan is to allow anyone, regardless of age or income level, to buy NT$3,000 (US$99.89) worth of vouchers for


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US corporate monopolies worsen inflation: Fed report
Do not pass go. Don’t collect $200. In fact, why not go ahead and give Mr. Monopoly everything your money?
According to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, growing corporate concentration – when just a few large firms dominate an entire industry – is making inflation worse.
In a new report, the agency finds that when production suddenly becomes more expensive for companies, they often pass those costs on to consumers in the form of higher prices. However, when industries are more concentrated and there is less competition, this price increase becomes about 25 percentage points higher.
In other words, monopolies are not necessarily cause inflation. But since they tend to overcompensate for rising production costs by rapidly increasing their prices, they can make the problem worse. The report did not single out any particular industry, but in recent years, oil and meat packing industriesto name just two, are among those most often cited as being dominated by a handful of conglomerates — to the detriment of consumers.
The authors of the report from the Boston Fed, the regional arm of the US Federal Reserve (currently responsible for controlling inflation)use data from 2005 to 2018. Since then, competition among US companies has only decreased, making their estimate conservative.
“The US economy is at least 50% more concentrated today than it was in 2005,” the economists wrote.
Price increases don’t last forever. Historically speaking, prices typically stabilize after about a year, the Boston Fed found.
Still, these are unusual times. In March, US inflation rose 8.5% from a year earlier, a level not seen since the 1980s. As the global economy emerges from the pandemic, inflation is rampant in many advanced economies, although there are have an open debate on why this particularly hits the United States.
Progressive lawmakers like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren pointed to record profits in industries with particularly high inflation rates as an obvious impetus. (Conservatives have sharply criticized this notion).
Take the oil industry, for example. In the United States, drivers pay about $4.60 per gallon on average, an all-time high, according to the AAA automobile club. The latest data from the Labor Department shows that oil prices have jumped more than 80% since last spring. Over the same period, gasoline prices have risen nearly 44%.
Meanwhile, oil conglomerate Shell posted a record $9.1 billion profit from January to March, and BP reported its most profitable quarter in a decade. While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has undoubtedly messed up the world’s oil supply, politicians like Warren say corporations are taking advantage of the situation.
Now there is data from our central banking system that backs them up.
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Check out all the on-demand sessions from the Intelligent Security Summit here.
Roku is a compelling little device — right now, anyway. The living room box streams Netflix “Watch Instantly” films. These are movies and television shows that Netflix members can watch anytime for free. The mixture of free instantaneous content and a box that costs only $99 is a nice combo. The problem Roku has is that competition from major players is coming fast.
But rather than sit back and die a slow death, Roku is taking a step in the right direction. It’s opening its platform to make it so that any content provider can use the Roku box in the coming months, Roku chief executive Anthony Wood told Wired.
News of Roku expanding its box beyond Netflix content has been known for a while. In fact, back in July I called it a “living room Trojan horse” if it could secure content deals with Amazon’s video service (at the time called Unbox, but now called Video On Demand) and especially the NBC and Fox backed video streaming service Hulu. But this opening of the box to anyone is a new twist.
Depending on who actually pledges to develop on it, Roku could once again be more enticing than products like the Apple TV or Vudu. The Apple TV device added movie rentals earlier this year, and it can also stream video podcasts or any video from YouTube. Vudu also streams movies but it has more recent fare, and more recently added porn — in high definition — to its collection as well.
But Roku’s biggest challenge may be Microsoft’s Xbox 360. Within the next few months, Netflix will be adding its Watch Instantly content to the gaming system as well. For the millions of people that already have an Xbox 360, that makes the Roku useless. That’s why it’s important the device make this open move.
While Wood is a bit vague on all of the details, he does say that there will be a software development kit (SDK) that content providers can use to get on the box.
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings.


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You & Mr Jones has changed its name to The Brandtech Group to better align the company with its service offering.
The company was founded in 2015 by David Jones, the former CEO of Havas Group.
The company owns a number of specialist firms offering various marketing services to brands. Oliver, for example advises brands on in-housing advertising and marketing functions.
It also provides marketing technology and data services through like firm’s like DP6, which it acquired a majority stake in last fall to bulk up its LATAM offering.
Last spring the firm hired former Mindshare CEO Nick Emery to start media division to better assist brands in that sector.
The group has also been heavily committed to the so-called “metaverse” with early investments in companies like AR gaming and metaverse pioneer, Niantic, which is now valued at $9 billion, as well as, among others, a 2018 investment in the AI Foundation, which builds metahumans.
Since founding the company Jones has used the term ‘brandtech’ to describe the ways technology could connect brands with people beyond traditional advertising, and how it could help companies do their marketing better, faster and cheaper.
“When I created the group six years ago there were two of us and You & Mr Jones seemed like a great name for a tiny start-up,” Jones said.
But the firm has grown sharply in a short time, with over 5,000 employees and more than $500 million in revenue in 2021. “Brandtech has gone from being an idea to being a huge category -- so I felt it was time to reflect that by changing the name of the company.”
To mark its name change, The Brandtech Group is minting the You & Mr Jones logo into an NFT and then fractionalizing it into multiple tokens that will be distributed to company employees. The idea is that the tokens will come with voting rights on charitable donations totaling $100,000 that the group will then make.


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BYOD to escalate security issues
MOBILE| Aug. 7, 2012, 11:40 a.m.
A new report from Juniper Research has found that the number of employee owned smartphones and tablets used in the enterprise will more than double by 2014, reaching 350 million, compared to almost 150 million this year. This represents almost 23% of the total installed base of consumer owned tablets and smartphones.
The BYOD concept has been a growing trend for some years now as employees become more accustomed to using their own mobile computing devices in their jobs, and accessing corporate assets.
The rapid adoption of high end smartphones and tablets including iPhones, iPads and Android devices along with the number of easily accessible apps is driving this concept forward. Cloud based services, accessible from almost anywhere, are also a key factor.
The ‘Mobile Security Strategies: Threats, Solutions & Market Forecasts 2012-2017’ report found that whilst this trend can bring productivity benefits to businesses, it also poses potential security risks. In particular, the report found that the majority of employee’s phones and smart devices did not have any form of security software loaded nor were company materials protected. The new report provides detailed assessments of the mobile security threat and the growing market for security solutions.
Report author Nitin Bhas observed: “While BYOD has become an ‘inevitable’ trend for the enterprise, businesses need to create new end-user IT policies and address the key security issues emerging. New device management policies and security measures need to be put in place”.
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Tigo staff educate customers on new loyalty promotionThe management and staff of telecom company, Tigo, on Friday took time out to interact with customers about ‘Wo suro aaa wondi’. Read More
Tigo Pesa Customers Pocket Tshs. 5.6b in Ninth Quarterly Profit ShareTigo Tanzania has announced another quarterly payment of Tshs 5.6 billion (US$ 2,570,120) to Tigo Pesa users, the ninth time in a row that the telecom is distributing profit to its mobile financial services users. Read More
Visafone test-runs 4G LTE internet servicesVisafone has started the test-run of its Fourth Generation Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) internet technology service for smart phone users in Nigeria. Read More
Glo sustains lead in new internet subscribersGlobacom, Nigeria's data grandmasters, has again bested other operators to the top position in the segment of acquisition of new internet subscribers in the month of June. Read More
Glo offers new subscribers N42,000 value for N5,000 rechargeThe grandmasters of data, Globacom, has launched ‘Glo Jollific8,” a plan designed to give new prepaid customers eight times more value on every recharge made on its platform. Read More
African mobile subscriber numbers pass half a billionMore than half a billion people across Africa are now subscribed to mobile services as the continent continues to migrate rapidly to mobile broadband networks, reveals a new GSMA study. Read More
Vodacom Tanzania deploys PeerApp content-delivery solutionPeerApp, the leading provider of local content-delivery solutions for mobile, telco and cable operators, has announced the sale of its UltraBand content-caching solution to Vodacom Tanzania, the largest wireless telecommunications network, by subscribers, in Tanzania. Vodacom Read More
FEATURED STORYFinancial services sees AI as both opportunity and threat
Banking is already a key area where technology is having an impact throughout Africa, and a new survey assesses the impact artificial intelligence will have on this sector.
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Europe beats China in electric vehicle sales, study shows
Europe’s five largest automotive markets edged past China in electric vehicle registrations in the first quarter of 2020, as China battled the outbreak of the coronavirus and imposed shutdowns countrywide,according to a study by PwC and its strategy consulting subsidiary Strategy&.
Germany, France, the U.K, Italy and Spain collectively registered79,300 fully electric vehicles between January and March, narrowly edging past the77,256 in China, the study found. Unit sales more than doubledin Europe in that period, compared to the first quarter of 2019. In China, sales fell by more than half in the quarter because of the lockdown.
Thetrend could see areversal, as sheltering and lockdown requirements are expected to remain in place inmost of Europe throughout the springand restrictions in China gradually are lifting. More than 80% of China’s almost 84,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been in Hubei, of which Wuhan is the capital. The outbreak in the province peaked in mid-February; according to official statistics, there are now almost no new infections occurring.
Thatpresentsan opportunity for China to regain its position as the top-selling market for EVs.“The Chinese government is again introducing incentives for electric vehicles—both subsidies and tax breaks—and China also has the production capacity, so we believe that China will again take the lead in registrations later this year," Felix Kuhnert, Global Automotive Leader at PwC, said in an interview. Over the next few years, “It will be a neck-to-neck race between China and Europe, with the winner determined by political will, improvements in charging infrastructure, and quality and availability of electric vehicles," Kuhnert said.
When hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles are added into the calculation, alternative energy autosalready have the highest market share in Europe, the study said.
Many auto market segments typically rely on just a handful of models for the bulk of their sales. In the U.S., the battery-electric category is dominated by Tesla Inc.’s Model 3, with Toyota Motor Corp’s Prius Prime leading in plug-in hybrids. Across Europe, Renault SA’s Zoe is by far the best-selling battery vehicle, ahead of Peugeot SA’s 208 EV and Volkswagen AG’s eGolf, while Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s Outlander PHEV was the best-selling plug-in hybrid, according to the study.
In Europe, government support for alternative power vehicles could mean that PwC’s earlier forecast heading into 2020 for 11 million electric passenger vehicle sales globally is achievable, Kuhnert said. The broader car industry will shrink by anywhere between 10% and 40% this year, the study estimates.
“We will see a cash for clunkers program in Europe, but with an ecological element," Kuhnert said, referring to the U.S. government-funded effort of a decade ago to spur car sales. That could improve environmental factors, such as air quality, and also help carmakers meet their carbon emission targets, he said, which in turn could “persuade consumers and voters that such incentives not only help the car industry in the long run, but also have very immediate benefits for society as a whole."


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The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus is now broken due to a series of leaks on the floor provided by @TechTalkTV. The design is similar to what we’ve seen in a number of renderings before, with just about every display design and perforation score on it.
We are now in the launched week of Samsung Galaxy Note 10, leaks could increase significantly before the revelation. Note 10+ has since been discovered and later recorded as being used in a subway in South Korea (via Weibo).
You can see the watermarks on both sides of the screen, indicating that this Note 10 model is a Samsung employee or carrier. The screen is similar to a person using the phone, but it is our first snippet of the device in action – and we can not wait to see more.
Tech blogger, digital marketer, and an avid caffeine-lover trying to indulge in the digital space of writing.
Technology freak, an internet nut, and a part-time philosopher.


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We missed this earlier. Facebook said that it is looking to reduce the amount of sensational or misleading health-related content and posts promoting products or services based on such posts on users’ newsfeeds in its latest content ranking algorithm update rolled out last month. Facebook’s announcement came after a Wall Street Journal report (paywall) highlighted how the social media site and YouTube were awash with content containing potentially harmful information about alternative cancer treatments. WSJ found out that a supplement salesman Robert O. Young whose Facebook page has more than 60,000 likes and followers, suggested in a post that cancer could be cured with baking soda injections and certain liquid concoctions. It also noted that Young was convicted in a San Diego County court in 2016 for practicing medicine without a license. The report noted that in July 2012, Naima Houder Mohamed who was a cancer patient met Young after having seen his videos on YouTube, but died of metastatic breast carcinoma in November 2012 after Young's treatment that costed $ 70,000. WSJ also found that such widespread misinformation sometimes appeared alongside advertisements, videos or pages for proven treatments. How the update works and how it will affect page reach Facebook’s updated algorithm will determine reducing reach of such posts by identifying commonly used phrases and predicting which posts might include sensational health claims or promotion of products with health-related claims. These posts will then be shown lower in a user’s news feed. Note that Facebook has other options here, apart from showing posts lower in someones…
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Amazon announced that it will integrate its logistics network and SmartCommerce services with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
India's smartphone operating system BharOS has received much buzz in the media lately, but does it really merit this attention?
After using the Mapples app as his default navigation app for a week, Sarvesh draws a comparison between Google Maps and Mapples
In the case of the ‘deemed consent' provision in the draft data protection law, brevity comes at the cost of clarity and user protection
The regulatory ambivalence around an instrument so essential to facilitate data exchange – the CM framework – is disconcerting for several reasons.
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It seems the industry will have to embrace the virtual world to some extent for a second year running...
To help our partners and readers keep their finger on the pulse of
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Our readers will be the first to understand industry sentiment around everything from pricing to capacity to terms and conditions and exclusions in the run up to the 2022 renewal.
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Retail behemoth Forever 21 is taking aim at a sassy young blogger for her satirical blog WTForever21.com.
The company has threatened to sue the blog's 26-year-old creator, Rachel Kane, for "trademark infringement, unfair competition, and dilution" for poking fun at clothing items sold at the store.
"I've been shopping at Forever 21 for years and the company actually started in Highland Park, which is about five minutes from my apartment. It was local. I was a fan. What they've done as a...Full Story


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ReadWriteBody is an ongoing series where ReadWrite covers networked fitness and the quantified self.
Another week, another Apple Health glitch.
This time, it involves one of the most promising aspects of Apple’s push into health tracking: blood-glucose monitoring. For people with diabetes, that’s a crucial issue, and anything that promises to simplify the task could actually improve their health.
Apple has temporarily yanked the blood-glucose feature from its Health app, according to a post in its support pages (first noticed by MobiHealthNews). The issue has to do with how various countries measure blood glucose. Some do it in milligrams per deciliter, while others do it in millimoles per liter.
See also: Apple’s Health App Is An Embarrassment
Apple’s HealthKit, its system for building fitness apps that connect to Apple’s built-in Health app and each other, understood both units of measurement. But the Health app itself didn’t, which meant users in some countries couldn’t manually enter the correct numbers—or worse yet, entered the wrong numbers, not realizing the change in units.
This follows other glitches in Apple’s Health app—like instances where the app will fail to display any data, requiring you to restart your phone.
An Apple representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Third-party apps, like iHealth Labs’ recently launched Gluco-Smart, can still use HealthKit to feed data into the Health database on users’ phones. It just won’t display in the Health app until Apple fixes the bug.
This is not the first time Apple has botched blood-glucose measurements. In June, when it unveiled HealthKit, it published a slide showing glucose in “milliliters per deciliters”:
And it follows a very rocky launch for HealthKit, which was supposed to be ready when iOS 8 launched last month. Apple pulled it abruptly to fix bugs, leaving fitness- and health-app developers in the lurch.
All of this brings up a question I’ve raised before: What, precisely, are all the medical experts Apple has hired doing, if not paying attention to this kind of thing? Why are partners like the Mayo Clinic not scrutinizing HealthKit’s data model and Health’s user interface for these kinds of flaws?
Why aren’t we holding Apple to the same standards of perfection here that we expect from its hardware? For that matter, why aren’t we holding it to higher standards, considering the damage that can be done if someone’s medical data gets screwed up?
Photo of Wireless Smart Gluco-Monitoring System courtesy of iHealth


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why consumers don't punish big polluters for greenwashing lies
- Written by Adam Austen Kay, Lecturer, School of Business, The University of Queensland
Stigma is an awful burden for business. But what if – for some companies – stigma is an asset?
That’s what I and an international team of researchers set out to investigate in a new paper published in the Journal of Management Studies.
We examined how consumers around the world responded to firms in stigmatised industries like oil and gas that are found “greenwashing”, meaning they claim to do more for the environment than they really do.
We anticipated that the market would punish greenwashers, but we thought it would treat firms seen to be “dirty” rather differently.
Specifically, we thought the market would either
punish dirty firms more, as might the judge of a repeat offender in court; or
punish dirty firms less, as might parents who overlook poor behaviour by their child with outdated excuses like “boys will be boys”.
What we discovered has important implications for greenwashing and important implications more broadly.
What we found
In a study tracking 7,365 companies in 47 countries over 15 years, we found that consumers financially penalised firms for greenwashing – but not if those firms were stigmatised as dirty.
In other words, the market imposed a kind of tax on companies for greenwashing, unless they were already regarded as big polluters.
In order to find out why stigmatised greenwashers were exempt from this market tax, we conducted a follow-up experiment.
Read more: 'Toxic cover-up': 6 lessons Australia can draw from the UN's scathing report on greenwashing
After a pre-study to determine which industries are most regarded as “dirty”, “clean” or “neutral” (the answers were oil and gas, solar and wind power, and stationery and office supplies), we presented 458 consumers with a statement from the corporate citizenship report of a firm in one of these three industries.
In the statement, the firm professed its core values of honesty, integrity, and environmental sustainability. The only difference between the three versions of the statement was the industry the firm was in.
Read more https://theconversation.com/boys-will-be-boys-why-consumers-dont-punish-big-polluters-for-greenwashing-lies-194902


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Blog Post - 3BL Media, LLC
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ABOUT 3BL Media, LLC
3BL Media provides a cloud-based, multi-channel news and content distribution platform for innovative companies.
Journalists, investors, customers and other stakeholders now have more choices than ever as to where and how they get their news and information. From email to news terminals to social media platforms and web portals, many options are available. And different people respond differently to various message formats: blogs vs. press releases vs. videos vs. articles.
3BL Media clients know that distributing multiple message formats, through multiple channels, produces results.
The Distribution Revolution(tm) means that organizations can distribute their press releases, blogs, videos and other media assets through social media, new media and traditional media channels, creating the greatest opportunity for the target audience to encounter and interact with your content.
Guest Post: The CSR Challenge For Companies Doing Business In China
China’s emergence as an economic force has been both rapid and relatively recent. It was only in 2001 that China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), allowing it access to foreign markets with very low tariffs on Chinese exports. In exchange, China had to lower its own tariffs on imports and follow the terms of trade governed by the WTO and its members.
For foreign businesses operating in China, the past few decades have been challenging when it comes to corporate social responsibility and sustainability. To separate myth from reality, I wanted to get an “on the ground” perspective. So at the annual BSR (Business for Social Responsibility)conference, I spoke with Jeremy Prepscius. Based in Hong Kong he is BSR’s Vice President, Asia-Pacific.
James Epstein-Reeves is a Chicago-based expert on corporate social responsibility, philanthropy, and cause-marketing. Having recently served as the Director of Community affairs for the multi-billion dollar office supply company OfficeMax, James led the company’s philanthropy and volunteer program.


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In FIFA 22, EA have begun dropping mini-releases of new players in each promo event, giving players more cards to bolster their squad with. However, many FUT users feel this is actually a money-making tactic, designed to separate fans from their cash.
Promotions are a vital part of FIFA 22, and one of the biggest reasons that millions of FUT users come flooding back week after week. Regular players normally have solid gold teams after a few weeks of playing, so promo cards become the best way to drastically improve a squad.
However, in this year’s game, EA SPORTS have changed up their approach in releasing special items like Rulebreakers or Winter Wildcards. Not only does a full team drop on Fridays, but a small mini-release comes a couple of days later.
While some players may welcome the extra injection of special cards, others feel it is a desperate ploy from EA to make even more money.
The most recent Headliners event brought two full squads of new cards which have shaken up the FIFA 22 meta once again. But EA’s decision to once again release three extra players after the full team hits packs has riled the community.
When you consider that some promos this year have featured two main teams, each followed by a mini-release, you can see why. Some of the cards that have come in these extra batches have been expensive, meta players that would have been more than worthy of a spot in the main team.
One of the players included in the latest mini-release was Headliners Fofana, an incredibly overpowered card that will be highly sought-after. Reddit user “murdoch-” slammed the move, calling it a “greedy” tactic from EA that is “hurting the consumer.”
Each new rollout of special cards sees an uptake in the number of packs that are opened, and FIFA Points bought. Players seem to feel bringing out exceptional cards away from the usual Friday release day is a way of enticing people to splash the cash a second time.
EA first began this new schedule at the beginning of FIFA 22, and have shown no signs of changing ever since. “Frustratingly, it probably does make them more money and it will probably be the new norm,” said one reply.
As we move into the second half of FIFA 22’s lifespan, and with Team of the Year on the horizon, fans will be hoping that EA take a more user-friendly approach going forward. Whether it means releasing the extra cards as an SBC, or simply including them in the main release.


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Now that the first weekend during which the iPad 2 was available is over, sales estimates are coming in left and right, and they tend to be quite positive. Piper Jaffray, for example, believes that perhaps 500,000 iPad 2s flew off shelves, and Wedbush Securities thinks a number in the neighborhood of 1 million is possible.
To start with the less optimistic guess: Philip Elmer-DeWitt, who got a look at the Piper Jaffray report, wrote, “[Senior Research Analyst Gene] Munster is sticking with his estimate of 400,000 to 500,000 iPad 2s sold, compared with 300,000 iPad 1s in its first weekend last year.”
Then DeWitt continued, “The difference is that nearly all those iPad 2s were sold in one day; stocks were essentially depleted by Saturday and not replenished. In its calls to retailers over the weekend, his team was unable to find a single iPad 2.”
Piper Jaffray contacted retailers in New York and Minneapolis, by the way, and we can confirm that Target stores in Lexington, Kentucky ran out, as well.
As for Wedbush Securities, analyst Scott Sutherland told Reuters, “We would not be surprised to see Apple sell closer to 1 million iPad 2s in the opening weekend.”
Either way, that’s quite impressive. Most people are willing to admit that the iPad 2 doesn’t represent a huge leap forward compared to the original iPad, and the price didn’t come down at all, so it looks like demand for Apple-branded tablets is just rising on its own.
That appears to have pushed Apple’s stock up this morning (0.06 percent), even as the Dow and Nasdaq are already way down (1.08 percent and 1.18 percent, respectively).


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Most big banks have decided to drop debit card fees they recently instituted after customer outrage about the move lead to the closing of accounts.
The fees came about as a solution to recover revenue lost due to federal legislation that capped the amount banks could charge retailers for debit transactions.
"It's not to my benefit to pay them to have access to my money," Keith Clark of Oakwood said.
Clark said he closed accounts at two separate banks because of the fees and is seeking a local bank.
Wells Fargo instituted the fees in October as part of a five-state pilot plan.
"We listened to our customers and decided to cancel the pilot," said Jamie Dexter, Wells Fargo communications consultant.
The $3 fee would have appeared on bank statements after Nov. 14, but customers will now not be charged.
"No matter what, nobody is getting charged," Dexter said.
Bank of America canceled its $5 debit fee and Regions will refund the debit fees customers have been charged.
Lee Ramey and his wife banked with Regions for several years. As the owner of JSS Landscaping in Gainesville, Ramey and his wife had four accounts with the bank.
After his wife opened one of the statements and found a fee for $19 they decided they'd had enough.
"We decided to look for another (bank) that was not charging," Ramey said.
Ramey said he never had to pay a fee as long as he maintained a minimum balance and used direct deposit.
"I think I'm going to go with a smaller bank, a local bank," Ramey said.
Susan Williams, marketing director of Peach State Bank & Trust said nearly 50 percent of their new customers this month have come as a direct result of the fees. She said because her bank only has one branch they have to try to accommodate customers by not charging fees at ATMs and offering unlimited transactions.


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HP Inc. today introduced the HP Scitex 9000 Industrial Press and HP HDR245 Scitex Inks, enabling more sign and display print service providers (PSPs) to capture industrial production speeds at an entry-level investment.
Mid-volume PSPs face a gap in the market, requiring faster production speeds than what entry-level equipment can deliver but at a lower cost of ownership than high-end industrial presses. With the new HP Scitex 9000 Industrial Press and HP HDR245 Scitex Inks, HP is expanding its HP Scitex High Dynamic Range (HDR) portfolio, now installed in over 30 countries worldwide, and reinventing the mid-volume industrial category by making high-quality production at speed even more affordable.
“Sign and display PSPs are constantly challenged with finding the right printing solutions that fit both their business needs and budget,” said Xavier Garcia, vice president and general manager, Large Format Printing, HP. “The affordable new HP Scitex 9000 Industrial Press and HP HDR245 Scitex Inks enable more customers to take advantage of the quality and productivity of HP Scitex HDR printing technology for higher-value jobs, while offering a clear upgrade path for customers as their printing needs evolve over time.”
Competitive offering for mid-volume market
The HP Scitex 9000 Industrial Press provides up to 90 beds/hour engine speed. With its manual media handling, productivity is operator dependent and can reach up to 60 beds/hour. Reaching up to a 500,000 m2/year (5,381,955 ft2/year) duty cycle, the HP Scitex 9000 Industrial Press enables customers to print a range of applications, including point-of-purchase signs and displays. Additionally, the press is upgradeable, allowing customers to scale production according to their quality and productivity needs as their businesses grow.
New HP HDR245 Scitex Inks offer cost-effective production on flexible as well as rigid and select plastic medias, providing higher quality at faster speeds. The new, low odor inks enable longer runs with minimal maintenance intervention and can eliminate the need for additional protective overcoats due to their flexibility and surface durability, ultimately reducing production times as well as operational costs. HP HDR245 Scitex Inks provide a wide color gamut with up to 86 percent pantone coverage and print longevity of up to two years outdoors.
The HP Scitex 9000 Industrial Press will be commercially available beginning June 1, 2016.


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comScore (http://www.comscore.com), a company that measures the digital world, has released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three0month period between October 2009 and January 2010. The report shows that iPhone usage grew.
The comScore report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone operating system (OS) platforms in the U.S. according to their share of current mobile subscribers age 13 and older, as well as popular activities and content accessed via the subscriber’s primary mobile phone. The January report found Motorola to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 22.9% market share, while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 43% market share.
In the three-month average ending in January, 234 million Americans were mobile subscribers ages 13 and older, with device manufacturer Motorola ranking as the top OEM with 22.9% of U.S. mobile subscribers. LG ranked second with 21.7% share, followed by Samsung (21.1% share), Nokia (9.1 percent share) and RIM (7.8% share).
42.7 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones in an average month during the November to January period, up 18% from the August through October period. RIM was the leading mobile smartphone platform in the U.S. with 43% share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, rising 1.7 percentage points versus three months earlier. Apple ranked second with 25.1% share (up 0.3 percentage points), followed by Microsoft at 15.7%, Google at 7.1% (up 4.3%), and Palm at 5.7 %. Google’s Android platform continues to see rapid gains in market share.


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Indigenous clothing line celebrates First Nations players, fans
EDMONTON -- A new line of clothing created by a First Nations hockey player is hoping to pay it forward to a new generation of Indigenous players.
Harlan Kingfisher grew up playing in Indigenous hockey tournaments, saying they played a key role in his life growing up.
It's also inspired his clothing line Smudge the Blades that carries shirts and sweaters with slogans saying: First Nation hockey sensation, Smudge. Snipe. Celly. and Hockey Kokum.
But the clothing is as much about the huge crowds gathered watching, extended family and elders — all of that missing during the pandemic.
"It's a cultural celebration, hockey, in the First Nation Community. It's sad we didn't have any tournaments this year, but it's also amazing that I could launch this line and everybody be really positive about it and enjoy wearing it," said Kingfisher.
This is a new venture for the full-time power engineer. His family doubles as his models, showing off his hats and hoodies. But with former Oiler Jason Strudwick and first-ever First Nation female hockey Olympian Bridgette Lacquette have helped Kingfisher spread the word.
"There's a lot of First Nation entrepreneurs or people with ideas, and they're afraid to make the jump. But anyone else who wants to do something like this I just say go for it because the Aboriginal community support is just amazing," said Kingfisher.
"Seeing their faces when they send me pictures, it's an amazing feeling being the brand owner who decided to just go ahead and do something like this."
He hopes the sayings resonate beyond First Nations fans. Some of the proceeds will go to programs Canada-wide, to help Indigenous kids who can't afford gear to take up the game Kingfisher loves.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk


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OPPO is firing 20% of its employees after merging it with OnePlus
OPPO fires its employees after merging it with OnePlus
BBK Electronics, the Chinese giant that owns OPPO, OnePlus, Vivo and Realme, made an interesting decision in the middle of this year to merge OnePlus with OPPO. Both brands remain independent of each other and continue to launch products separately, but now they share resources and even a research and development department.
This move also indicates that OnePlus will not be a “unique” brand, because its phones and other products will definitely look like OPPO. In addition, Bloomberg has now revealed that the merger with OnePlus caused OPPO to lay off 20% of its workers. According to the company’s website, they have more than 40,000 employees worldwide, that is, about 8,000 people have been fired.
OPPO is a giant company, so laying off 20% of its workers seems very worrying. But in reality, this number refers only to those working on its software and hardware teams. Let’s not forget that a company of this size is divided into many teams and departments dedicated to different tasks: marketing, manufacturing, design, research, finance, etc.
The point is that by integrating OPPO with OnePlus, it seems that OPPO no longer needs a large number of workers, and software development processes have also been improved. Every company when they see the potential for cost savings in something, feel free to take action to make it happen and that’s what happened here.


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Shenmue 3 got a new trailer at E3 2019, and it looks rough around the edges compared to most of what we saw. But that’s made it so great.
Search Results for deathloop
Todd Howard has revealed a few new details about Starfield, Bethesda’s first new IP in 25 years.
Square Enix’s Showcase was the best part of E3 2019. Combining enthusiasm with big releases and reveals, Square Enix stole the show.
This is PSU’s complete list of all E3 2019 News and Announcements. This provides a quick overview of every announcement …
Bethesda has confirmed details on the DOOM Eternal Collector’s Edition, which comes with access to two DLC packs for the shooter.
Persona 5: The Royal first english trailer drops during E3 2019! You can check out our first look at the English version of the upcoming JRPG.


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Illinois has become the fourth state in history to enjoy a month with more than $450m in bets, after the state set a new record for monthly handling after its November results.
In November, bettors put a record $451m in wagers, which is an improvement of almost four percent from $434.6m in October, according to ‘approximate’ data released by the Illinois Gaming Board.
During November 2020, only New Jersey ($931.6m) and Nevada ($609.4m), the two oldest legal sports betting markets in the US, and Pennsylvania ($491.9m) made more bets.
The November bets generated $41m in operators’ adjusted gross revenue, down marginally from the state record of $42.2m in October revenue. Those earnings generated $6m in government taxes.
Rivalling mature and large markets
Jessica Welman, analyst for PlayIllinois.com said: “Illinois’ success is more than just a large population fuelling impressive numbers that dwarf smaller states.
“Illinois is rivalling markets such as Pennsylvania that are far more mature and just as large, and it’s doing it because the top online sportsbooks in the country are investing heavily in the market and Illinois bettors are responding with an unprecedented fervor.”
Analysts have suggested that the growth of Illinois “remains unprecedented,” with New Jersey not exceeding the barrier of $450 m until its 18th month and Pennsylvania hitting $462.8 m in September 2020, 23 months after launch.
Online sports betting accounted for the vast majority of all bets, with retail sportsbooks shuttered for the second half of the month.
With only five online operators, Illinois is still home to a comparatively short roster of sportsbooks, but among those anticipated to launch in the coming months are Penn National’s Barstool-branded app, BetMGM, and Unibet.
Joe Boozell, analyst for PlayIllinois.com added: “At this point, it makes sense to adjust our expectations up for the market.
“The retail market was shut down in November, and this was the first month since the market really heated up in July that the sports schedule was slower than the month before, and yet sportsbooks still made gains. Such resilience shows that Illinois is maturing more quickly than anyone imagined.”