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Leak: Microsoft hasn’t released Surface Duo yet, but Surface Duo V2 is in works
- Microsoft is reportedly working on a Surface Duo V2.
- The first-generation Surface Duo hasnâ€™t been released for sale yet.
- Microsoft will purportedly handle all Android updates for the devices.
Microsoft hasnâ€™t released the Surface Duo yet, offering a dual-screen foldable form factor and Android integration. But it now looks like the firm is already working on a follow-up device.
Android Central reports that Microsoft is now working on a â€œSurface Duo V2,â€� citing their sources close to the matter. The outlet doesnâ€™t have any more information regarding the new device though.
Nevertheless, the first-generation model shown off late last year had a Snapdragon 855 SoC. So youâ€™d assume that a chipset upgrade would be in the works, along with 5G connectivity perhaps. A move to a foldable screen would also be a logical next step for a Surface Duo V2, provided that the technology has matured sufficiently and that Microsoft isnâ€™t too committed to dual screens.
Android Central also reports that Microsoft is bringing development of Android for the Surface Duo in-house. The Redmond company was apparently relying on third-party firm Movial to develop Android for the Duo, and Movial has now been acquired by Microsoft.
Itâ€™s believed that this new in-house team will deliver post-launch firmware updates for the Surface Duo, enabling new features over time. This team is said to be responsible for Android on the Surface Duo V2 as well.
Microsoft has a mixed track record when it comes to updates on mobile devices, as Microsoft-powered phones suffered from platform reboots that left users in the lurch. In saying so, the firm has nailed PC updates for a long time now, so hopefully the Redmond company is taking this approach to the Surface Duo line.
What would it take for you to buy the Surface Duo? Take our poll below!
More posts about Microsoft


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What a great news is this? All that we have been waiting for. An official online Apple store has opened in the UAE.
What this means is we in the UAE will be among the firsts to have the iPhone 5, I reckon. Now you can order most of the Apple products online with few clicks. By taking this step, Apple has taken a big bite out of the ‘apple’ of retailers and online stores who used to charge premium on all Apple products.
I believe this should have happened quite sometime ago. Anyway, now that it has happened, Congratulations and click away Apple fans!
[button link=”http://www.apple.com/ae/” rel=”nofollow” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] Click here to visit Apple UAE store! [/button]
How to apply for a Golden Visa for High School Students in Dubai? According to GDRFA, a high school student with outstanding academic performance can now apply for a ‘Golden Visa for Outstanding...
How can You start a transport company in Dubai? The United Arab Emirates is the undisputed leading business hub in the Middle East and Africa with easy access to Europe. The pleasant corporate...

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By Euro Weekly News Media • 03 January 2017 • 12:17
CBD has often been used to ameliorate the symptoms of epilepsy
THE UK medicines regulator is going to class a cannabis-based ingredient called cannabidiol, or CBD, as a medicine starting from 2017.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced it has “come to the opinion that products containing cannabidiol (CBD) used for medical purposes are a medicine” and is planning to regulate its use and distribution.
The other main ingredient of cannabis is THC, the part of the drug that makes a person high, but can also cause paranoia and anxiety which has not been legalised.
CBD on the other hand has been found to have a general calming effect which is why some have started using it for medicinal purposes.
“MHRA will now work with individual companies and trade bodies in relation to making sure products containing CBD, used for medical purpose, which can be classified as medicines, satisfy the legal requirements of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012” said a MHRA spokesperson.
The medicines regulator states patient safety is their primary concern and people using CBD should get in touch with their GP to answer any questions.
Some believe that by classing CBD as a medicine, the medical marijuana debate can be opened up for discussion.
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Hyderabad-based Coral Printpack took the initiative of observing world water protection day with all its employees on 22 March 2018.
All the employees of Coral were made to assemble at its newly built rainwater harvesting pit where R Srinivasa Rao, managing director and Anuradha, director of Coral addressed its employees regarding the importance of freshwater and also for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
Anuradha said, “It is imperative to protect the drinking water by planting trees, rebalance the water cycle and save the rainwater.”
She added, “All the employees took an oath to save and protect the water and also develop a rainwater harvesting pits at their premises.”
Coral also celebrated the world packaging day on 24 March 2018.
On this occasion, R Srinivasa Rao managing director of the coral said, “We wish to contribute to the development of packaging technology, trade and training, and add value to the packaging of food, beverages and virtually every product used by consumers and industry.”


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Turns out Brits aren’t the only ones who can’t get enough of floral tablecloths: Cath Kidston, the brand famous for slapping chintzy designs on everything from tissues to umbrellas, has published figures showing group sales rose by 19% in the year to the end of March, breaking the £100m barrier for the first time.
The retailer said it was buoyed by international sales, which rose 53%, while UK sales rose by a more moderate 21%.
It opened 33 new stores, bringing its total up to 118 – for the first time, it has more international stores than it does in the UK. Among notable new openings were a concession in Harrods, which opened last week, and it plans to open 30 more shops this year, including flagship stores in Shanghai and London’s Piccadilly.
Its best-selling item, according to chief exec Kenny Wilson, is a £50 red polka-dot bag (one for the yummy mummies).
He added that the company had made ‘significant investment in people and infrastructure to support future growth’.
‘With the broad appeal of our products across the globe and the strong customer response to our brand… we look to the future with confidence,’ he said.
So there’s an answer for brands like Mulberry, which are struggling in Asia: go twee or go home.
- Image credit: Flickr/katchoo.be


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And he’s not the only one.
A Reddit user, u/thechadman27, recently shared a distressing experience on the platform, revealing how he lost all his Apple Music playlists, which he had been curating over the past eight years.
This incident has sparked a significant discussion within the Reddit community about data retention policies and practices of major tech companies, particularly focusing on how these policies affect consumers who need to temporarily pause their subscriptions
Eight Years of Music Down the Drain
Upon resubscribing to Apple Music after a six-month hiatus, the OP found that all his playlist collections from the last eight years had been deleted.
Having been a loyal user since around 2016 or 2017, the OP has accumulated a vast collection of playlists. These did not only serve as a personal music library but also as a repository of memories linked to various life events, including friendships, lost loved ones, and significant milestones.
This loss was particularly shocking to the OP, as in previous instances of unsubscribing and resubscribing, his playlists had always been restored.
The OP contacted Apple Support to see if there’s a way to return the lost playlists.
However, Apple Support’s response confirmed that the playlists are gone for good, further compounding the user’s dismay. In the end, he expressed his disappointment, highlighting how life’s circumstances sometimes require pausing subscriptions and criticized Apple’s policy as unfriendly to consumers who find themselves in such situations.
Debate in the Community
The Reddit community quickly rallied around the user, sharing their thoughts, experiences, and advice on the matter.
Many users were quick to criticize Apple’s approach, questioning how a company of its stature and technological capability could fail to protect user data such as playlists. These users labeled Apple’s approach as “anti-customer.” They speculated that Apple doesn’t save playlists as a tactic to maintain ongoing subscriptions.
Others debated the obligations of service providers to maintain user data after subscriptions end, with a few siding with Apple’s policy. They argue that the company is not obligated to store user data indefinitely, especially for non-paying customers.
However, this perspective was challenged by others, including the OP, who argued that playlists, being essentially text files, could be easily and cost-effectively stored on iCloud or locally on devices.
“You subscribe to stream music. Playlists should have nothing to do with it. Before AM, iTunes used to save playlists, ratings, etc on your device. In the same way, They could just store the playlists’ info, which is just text, on iCloud, which you pay for, or on the device locally. It’s a common practice to store app data.
It’s a simple fix that costs them nothing except a few lines of code. But it’s a deliberate move by Apple to punish its customers if they don’t remain subscribed.” responds the OP.
The Apple Music Flaw that Risks Playlist Deletion
Apparently, the OP’s case isn’t new. People have been telling their own stories of how they lost all their Apple Music playlists after unsubscribing and resubscribing.
Some users have speculated that Apple Music will only hold on to your playlists if you resubscribe within three months after unsubscribing. However, other accounts negate this thought, as some users lost all their playlists just days after unsubscribing.
There are also some users who shared their own experiences where they didn’t lose all their playlists. But, their Apple Library still wasn’t the same after resubscribing.
It’s clear that Apple Music highly discourages people from unsubscribing as much as possible unless they think they won’t return to Apple Music at all. But, since life happens, and sometimes you really need to unsubscribe for a while, the community has acknowledged the importance of backing up your music before unsubscribing.
Redditor u/SkipK advised exporting playlists via File > Library > Export Library to preserve their metadata. Many also suggested duplicating playlists across streaming platforms like Spotify, Qobuz, and Tidal for added security.


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Mon, Apr. 13, 11:39 AM
- The Chinese government has threatened to shut down SINA's portal unless it "improves censorship," state-owned Xinhua reports.
- The portal is declared by Internet regulator CAC to have "distorted news facts, violated morality and engaged in media hype." In a likely reference to Weibo's (NASDAQ:WB) microblogging platform, CAC adds "censorship of user accounts has been poor."
- Sina and Weibo have often sparked the ire of government censors in recent years. Weibo (along with peers) began requiring users to register with their real names a couple years ago, following government pressure.
Wed, Apr. 8, 10:58 AM
- Following a big overnight rally in Hong Kong (followed a 3-day holiday during which Shanghai rallied), beaten-down Chinese Internet and mobile stocks have soared in U.S. trading.
- The biggest gainers include many names that are far below their 2014 highs: The group includes Qihoo (QIHU +10.5%), YY (YY +14.9%), Taomee (TAOM +14.3%), Sina (SINA +8.7%), and Weibo (WB +12.1%). Mobile game publishers Sky-mobi (MOBI +12.6%), China Mobile Games (CMGE +8%), and iDreamSky (DSKY +13.4%) are also sharply higher, as are online real estate plays SouFun (SFUN +13.1%), E-House (EJ +6.1%), and Leju (LEJU +9.8%).
- Giants Alibaba (BABA +3.4%) and Baidu (BIDU +4.1%) aren't being left out. Neither are Youku (YOKU +7.5%), 21Vianet (VNET +7.4%), Momo (MOMO +6.8%), Sohu (SOHU +7.7%), Changyou (CYOU +4.5%), Dangdang (DANG +7.3%), Vipshop (VIPS +4.8%), JD.com (JD +3.9%), Jumei (JMEI +6.6%), Sungy Mobile (GOMO +5.8%), China Techfaith (CNTF +7.1%), and KongZhong (KZ +5.5%).
- Alibaba has proposed an asset injection into its money-losing Alibaba Pictures (+36% in Hong Kong) film arm. Sky-mobi has seen Rosenblatt (Buy) hike its target to $11, while noting many Chinese mobile game developers have been bought out; it thinks Sky-mobi's investments in developers could be worth $140M. NetEase has been upgraded by CICC Research.
- Over in Hong Kong, software/cloud services provider Kingsoft (OTCPK:KSFTF) rose 24.2% to HKD$29.50. Messaging/gaming giant Tencent (OTCPK:TCEHY) rose 3.3% to HKD$154.80.
- ETFs: KWEB, CQQQ, QQQC
Tue, Mar. 10, 5:07 PM
- Though it beat Q4 estimates, SINA is guiding for 2015 revenue of $800M-$900M; the midpoint is below an $884.6M consensus. Majority-owned Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) is guiding for Q1 revenue of $93M-$96M vs. a $94.4M consensus.
- The companies have announced Sina CFO Herman Yu will become Weibo's CFO, and Weibo CFO Bonnie Zhang will become Sina's CFO.
- With Weibo providing a boost, Sina's ad revenue rose 14% Y/Y in Q4 to $181.9M. Non-advertising revenue (non-GAAP) fell 18% to $26.6M, with a $4.8M drop in mobile value-added service (VAS) revenue offsetting a $1.9M increase in Weibo VAS revenue.
- Sina's gross margin was 65%, up from 63% in Q3 and 64% a year ago. Operating expenses rose 34% Y/Y to $132.9M (compares with just 7% revenue growth).
- Weibo's Q4 revenue beat was driven by a 57% Y/Y increase in ad/marketing service revenue to $88M; VAS revenue rose 12% to $17.2M. Costs/expenses rose 40% to $95.5M (compares with 47% revenue growth).
- Weibo monthly active users rose 5% Q/Q and 36% Y/Y to 175.7M. Daily active users rose 5% Q/Q and 31% Y/Y to 80.6M.
- SINA +0.8% AH to $36.50; shares went into earnings less than $2 away from a 52-week low of $34.89. WB -1.8% to $14.61 after rising 2.2% in regular trading.
- Sina: Q4 results, PR. Weibo: Q4 results, PR.
Tue, Mar. 10, 4:33 PM
Mon, Mar. 9, 5:35 PM
Wed, Jan. 7, 12:46 PM
Dec. 22, 2014, 5:21 PM
- SINA states police in the city of Shenzhen are probing allegations P2P lending platform Zhonghuizaixian.com misappropriated bankers' acceptances supporting a wealth management product Sina helped sell. Zhonghuizaixian recently said it has received investor claims demanding as much as $8.8M.
- Sina's financial liability might be bigger than that: GeoTeam: "According to Chinese media, there's RMB 260M (USD $42.4M) that may have to be made whole by [Sina's] subsidiary & over 3k investors affected."
- A number of major Chinese Internet companies have launched wealth management platforms via partnerships. The products have seen healthy uptake among Chinese consumers looking for an alternative to the low interest rates provided by state-owned banks.
Dec. 1, 2014, 10:38 AM
- Chinese Internet and telecom names are among the biggest tech decliners as the Nasdaq registers a 0.9% drop. A soft November PMI print isn't helping.
- Giants Alibaba (BABA -4.3%) and Baidu (BIDU -2.8%) are among the casualties. As is Qunar (QUNR -5.8%), which reports after the bell.
- Other Internet decliners: BITA -12%. QIHU -4.4%. CTRP -4.3%. SFUN -7.2%. LEJU -7.5%. RENN -6.3%. SINA -3.8%. WB -3%. YY -3.9%. VIPS -3.8%. SOHU -3.5%. MOBI -4.3%. CMGE -8.6%.
- Telecom decliners: CHL -3.6%. CHU -3.9%. CHA -4%.
- ETFs: KWEB, CQQQ, QQQC
Nov. 13, 2014, 4:52 PM
- Though it beat Q3 estimates, SINA expects Q4 revenue of $204M-$210M, below a $214.8M consensus. On the other hand, majority-owned Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) expects Q4 revenue of $102M-$105M, above a $100.6M consensus.
- Thanks to Weibo, Sina's Q3 ad revenue rose 10% Y/Y to $166.8M, and its non-ad revenue rose 3% to $29.2M. However, portal ad revenue fell by $6.5M Y/Y, and mobile value-added service revenue fell by $7.4M.
- Sina's Q3 gross margin was 63%, +200 bps Q/Q and -100 bps Y/Y. Opex rose 40% Y/Y to $127.1M, handily exceeding revenue growth of 9%.
- Weibo's ad/marketing revenue rose 50% Y/Y to $65.4M, and its value-added services revenue (boosted by its Alibaba partnership) 93% to $18.8M. Costs/expenses rose 51% to $87.8M, slightly trailing revenue growth of $84.1M.
- Weibo monthly active users rose 7% Q/Q and 36% Y/Y to 167M. Daily active users rose 10% Q/Q and 30% Y/Y to 76.6M.
- Sina: Q3 results, PR. Weibo: Q3 results, PR.
Nov. 13, 2014, 4:33 PM
Nov. 12, 2014, 5:35 PM
Nov. 4, 2014, 2:16 PM
- Tong Chen, a Sina (SINA +0.9%) EVP and the company's chief editor since 2007, is leaving to head up Xiaomi's TV ops as the smartphone vendor gets set to invest $1B in Web video content.
- Chen was the media chief for Sina's various Web/mobile properties. Ironically, Xiaomi announced his hiring through its Weibo microblog.
Sep. 15, 2014, 1:21 PM
- Maybe looking to raise cash with which to buy Alibaba (Pending:BABA) this week, investors are dumping a wide swath of other Chinese internet names.
- Qihoo (QIHU -2.6%), Sohu.com (SOHU -5.3%), Baidu (BIDU -3.8%), Sina (SINA -4.9%), Renren (RENN -4%), Weibo (WB -11.3%), YY (YY -7.3%).
- Previously: Alibaba to boost IPO size
Aug. 15, 2014, 9:13 AM
Aug. 14, 2014, 6:05 PM
- SINA expects Q3 revenue of $193M-$199M, below a $199.1M consensus. Subsidiary Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) expects Q3 revenue of $79M-$82M, in-line with an $80.2M consensus.
- Sina's online ad revenue rose 29% Y/Y in Q2 to $184.4M, while its non-ad revenue fell 11% to $28.6M thanks to a $13.6M drop mobile value-added service revenue. The revenue figures include contributions from Weibo.
- Sina's gross margin rose to 61% from 60% in Q1 and 54% a year ago. Opex rose 55% Y/Y (well above rev. growth of 19%) to $116.9M thanks to heavy marketing and R&D investments.
- Weibo's ad/marketing revenue rose 99% Y/Y to $59.6M, and its value-added service revenue rose 130% to $17.7M. Costs/expenses rose 18% (less than rev. growth of 105%) to $87.8M.
- Weibo's monthly active users rose 9% Q/Q and 30% Y/Y to 156.5M. Daily active users rose 5% Q/Q and 32% Y/Y to 69.7M.
- Low expectations appear to be helping Sina out.
- Sina: Q2 results, PR. Weibo: Q2 results, PR.
Aug. 14, 2014, 5:02 PM
SINA vs. ETF Alternatives
Other News & PR


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New home sales continues to climb in April
New home sales increased 4.1 percent in April to 683,000 annualized units, while sales in March were revised down 27,000 units. Compared to last year, April’s sales were 11.8 percent higher. NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long analyzed the data in the Macro Data Flash report.
“New home sales continued to climb last month in a housing market desperate for inventory,” said Long. “High interest rates have had a major impact on the housing market, but the initial impact is subsiding. Its effects are pushing more buyers to purchase newly constructed homes as existing owners are reluctant to pay off their low-rate mortgages.”
Based on current month sales, there were 7.6 months of supply in April, unchanged from March. The number of unsold homes left on the market decreased 1,000 homes to 433,000. This represents a 0.2 percent decline from inventory levels a year ago.
Regionally, sales increased in the South (17.8 percent) and the Midwest (11.8 percent). Sales declined in the Northeast (-58.6 percent) and in the West (-9.1 percent).
continue reading »


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WD Launches India's First Door-to-Door Hard Disk Warranty Service for Resellers and End Customers Across the Country
Western Digital today announced the launch of its unique "WD ExpressSM" warranty replacement program, whereby WD collects in-warranty WD hard drives and delivers replacement WD drives directly to the homes and businesses of its India customers, including distributors, resellers and end customers. A first of its kind to be offered by a storage vendor in India, WD Express is another component of WD's long-term plans to meet the needs of customers in India and grow its presence in the country.
Beginning today, the service will be available to all WD distribution customers in India through RT Outsourcing, the company's service partner in India. The replacement operation will combine an online product-return system (Return Material Authorization - RMA number generation) and national toll-free customer helpline with a door-to-door courier arrangement for drive replacement.
This service is available on all drives sold through WD's India distribution channel. As per the program, in the event of a drive failure, customers can register the drive's serial number and generate RMA numbers on the company's website at www.westerndigital/support. After the pick-up address is confirmed with the customer through WD's toll-free helpline (1800-11-93-93), customers can expect a courier service to pick up in-warranty failed drives from their doorsteps within one working day. A replacement drive is then couriered to the customer within a span of three working days of the failed drive reaching the central warehouse.
In addition to this new service announcement, starting April 01, 2006, all WD enterprise, desktop and notebook hard drives purchased from authorized WD distributors in India will carry a standard five-year limited warranty. As a result, customers in India who have purchased WD drives after April 1, 2006, will no longer need to upgrade their warranties via the online warranty extension system
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. I recently enjoyed John Covach’s History Of Rock Coursera course. In an early lecture, he explains how the Nazis’ desire to protect Hitler from assignation led to the invention of
Google's storage plans are getting cheaper. The company has launched a new storage plan called Google One, which offers significantly better deals than Google Drive storage plans. There's no need to switch, because all current Drive storage
One did it with a new acquisition. MindX, a game-based assessments company based in London, has been acquired by HireVue, best known as one of the oldest video interviewing solutions. The announcement was made last week. “The MindX game-based
“In the first wave of transformation, businesses standardized processes. Think Henry Ford and the assembly line, where steps in the overall process were broken down, measured, and optimized to achieve gains in efficiency. The second wave of
Successful people maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them. They stay focused on their past successes rather than their past failures, and on the next action steps that will get them closer to the fulfillment of their
I recently witnessed an act of compassion and friendship so unexpected, it moved me to tears. And it happened in a very unlikely place: Pelican Bay super-maximum security prison. I support a program called Defy Ventures, an organization that works
“It’s not surprising that many of the behaviors that hold men and women back would be different. After all, women often have very different experiences at work. And experience shapes habits and responses.Familiar habits and responses may feel
There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who feel a little nervous before big presentations . . . and liars.For all of us in the first group, this 86-second Pinkcast — it’s a phone show, folks! — offers a simple, science-based technique for
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("=Intel 1Q Net Down 55%; 2Q Rev View In Line With Street," published at 4:51 p.m. EDT, incorrectly said the company's stock was at the lowest level in 12 years in the second paragraph. A corrected version follows.)
Still, shares recently fell 5.8% to $15.08 in after-hours trading, even as the results topped Wall Street's estimates. The stock had gained nearly a third in value since March 6 amid the broader market rally.
Intel, which didn't provide official guidance citing economic uncertainty and limited visibility, said for internal purposes it was planning for second-quarter revenue to be flat compared with the first quarter. That view is in line with analysts' estimates.
Intel is the first major high-tech company to post results for a period that has seen falling demand for everything from PCs to wireless phones to software. Still, the chip industry is widely expected to lead the tech sector's rebound, and Intel's results are expected to offer the best early indication of how far off the industry is from some level of stabilization.
The world's largest computer-chip maker reported net income of $647 million, or 11 cents a share, down from $1.44 billion, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier.
The results included a loss of $113 million on equity investments, compared with a loss of $59 million a year earlier.
Revenue dropped to $7.1 billion from $9.67 billion. In January, Intel projected about $7 billion in revenue.
Analysts expected earnings of 3 cents on revenue of $6.99 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.
Intel's closely watched gross margin fell to 46% from 53.8% a year earlier. In January, the company predicted gross margins in the "low 40s."
The 40-year-old chip giant had sales declines in all regions, including a 25% drop in North America. About four-fifths of Intel's revenue comes from outside the U.S.


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Foldable smartphones. Digital signs wrapped around building walls. Wearable devices that turn your wrist into an all-in-one camera, computer and heart monitor. Displays curling over car dashboards. Curved big screen TVs on living room walls.
Many of these things are coming… soon. After more than a decade of development work, flexible displays should start moving out of the research labs and prototype production and into a modest number of devices in late 2013 or early 2014.
Despite technical challenges still associated with making thin, unbreakable and conformable displays, market trends point to a promising future for this young industry.
IHS estimates that shipments of flexible displays will grow nearly 250 fold between 2013 and 2020, fueled by demand from a broad array of applications. Flexible display shipments are expected to reach 792 million units globally in 2020, up from 3.2 million in 2013, according to a recent IHS report entitled “Flexible Display Technology and Market Forecast.” The report projects that market revenue for flexible displays will grow from just over $20 million to $41.3 billion during the same seven-year period.
The growth drivers for flexible displays are similar to those that have propelled other technology developments.
Firstly, companies must continually differentiate their products from those of competitors, particularly in fast moving markets like smartphones and tablets. Designing and using flexible displays for next-generation products could give them that edge, especially coming off the innovative touchscreen advancements ushered in by the smartphone revolution, said Vinita Jakhanwal, director for mobile and emerging displays and technology at IHS.
“In the mobile device market, there is constant pressure on companies to do something different,” Jakhanwal said. “Now that the basic functionality of the devices is similar, handset manufacturers are looking for ways to differentiate themselves.”
Another driver is keeping consumers happy with new features while delivering lighter, thinner and more rugged devices, Jakhanwal added.
“Most of the mobile devices are becoming slightly larger,” Jakhanwal said. “The displays are getting into the five or six-inch diagonal size. Consumers are also using and consuming a considerable amount of content on their mobile devices.”
But while consumers might appreciate a larger screen, they don’t want their mobile devices to get bulkier or heavier, Jakhanwal said. Flexible displays could enable larger, unbreakable screens without increased weight or power consumption, she added.
Not Without Challenges
But as with any new technology, underneath the encouraging projections lie obstacles that have to be overcome before flexible displays will gain first-adopter traction and eventually widespread commercial approval.
Flexible displays still face technology challenges, including long lead times needed for developing fully flexible screens, the development of complex thin film encapsulation techniques, new methodologies for testing plastic substrate reliability and the development of high-temperature processes for creating the displays, several industry watchers noted.
From a broad industry perspective, patience will be required in sorting through what flexible display technology is used in which applications.
Currently, several different technologies are being explored and advanced. Some of the more promising include:
- Organic light-emitting diode (OLED), a thin-film-display technology commonly found in mobile device and televisions. Samsung and LG Electronics [JB3] are leading investors in this area and are ramping up their fab lines for mass production of flexible OLEDs. Companies such as Corning have also partnered with market leaders to provide specialty glass substrates to support OLEDs. IHS predicts OLEDs will be the leading flexible display technology every year for the foreseeable future, accounting for 64 percent of shipments in 2020. The firm projects that the market for OLEDs will grow to $94.8 million next year, up from $21.9 million this year.
- Organic thin film transistor (OTFT), a proprietary transistor design from Cambridge, UK-based Plastic Logic, which develops and manufactures color and monochrome flexible displays that can be processed at low temperatures. The displays, even the active layers, are made completely with plastic and do not contain any glass, making them unbreakable. According to Michael Banach, Plastic Logic’s director of research and partnerships, the company’s flexible transistor array backplane enables the fabrication of flexible electrophoretic displays (EPD) that offer a true paper-like experience, sometimes referred to as “epaper.”
- Graphene, a one atom-thick layer of graphite or a two dimensional form of carbon. Because of its lightweight characteristics, graphene, the thinnest and strongest material available today, could be used in flexible displays, according to Andrea Ferrari, director of the Cambridge Graphene Centre, a research center that opened in February. Nokia Research Center has also invested in graphene technology, and is participating in the European Union's Graphene Flagship initiative to continue R&D in this field.
In addition to technical differences, it will take a few product generations before full flexibility is attained, said Jakhanwal. IHS classifies flexible displays into four generations of technology.
Now entering the market are first-generation durable display panels, which will likely be the dominant product type until about 2017, she said. These panels use a flexible substrate to attain superior thinness and unbreakable ruggedness, but they are flat displays that cannot be bent or rolled, according to Jakhanwal.
Next will come bendable and conformable flexible displays which can be molded to curved surfaces. The third generation will allow end users to manipulate rollable displays. Further out, the price of fourth-generation flexible displays—disposable displays—will drop enough that they can serve as a replacement for paper, Jakhanwal said.
There are other technical and process issues as well, said Dipak Chowdhury, division vice president and Willow Glass program director at Corning Glass Technologies, adding that his view is more based on anecdotal experience rather than data.
While it’s widely accepted that flexible displays must use OLED technology because liquid crystal displays can’t achieve the needed flexibility, producing OLEDs requires a very high temperature process, Chowdhury said.
There are also challenges related to the reliability of the thin film transistor layer, the high temperature tolerance of the substrates and the barrier properties and durability of the barrier, according to Chowdhury. Other issues involve getting plastic backplanes that can sustain the process temperature ranges and making sure the OLED displays are hermetically sealed, he added.
While large companies are working to overcome these challenges, they are difficult problems to solve, Chowdhury said. “Some companies have solved them, but they cost an enormous amount of money,” Chowdhury said. “Others are still working on improvements.”
Corning’s solution, for instance, is Will Glass, a glass product that bypasses some of the plastic substrates’ limitations and works well with OLEDs, he said. The thin, strong and flexible glass, has a is produced on a continuous “roll-to-roll” process (a demonstration can be seen here).
And, of course, there are cost considerations to weigh. Besides understanding what the market value proposition is beyond having a cool new gadget to show off, the inherent process of migrating to flexible displays could give companies sticker shock.
“The major selling points will be that, yes, it’s flexible, but also that the displays are lightweight and robust,” said Barry Young, managing director at the OLED Association. “But, it’s no doubt going to be much more expensive than having a four or five-inch display that’s made out of glass.”
OLED display production, which includes thin-film encapsulation to protect the OLEDs from the environment, costs at least twice as much as producing a glass display, Young said. Production yields are also likely to be lower than yields of glass, which is a much more mature technology, he added.
Although challenges loom, there is no shortage of ideas about how flexible displays could be used in commercial applications.
“There is a big difference between what you can do in a lab and what you can do to make a working, nice-looking prototype and a final finished product,” said Ferrari from the Cambridge Graphene Centre. “There are all sorts of crazy suggestions out there, but I wouldn’t want to dismiss any of them. You never know, maybe one of the ideas will be implemented and lead us in new directions.”
The OLED Association’s Young added that the nascent market will likely get off to a modest start before engineering imagination spins off into innovative and creative paths.
“Longer term, you could envision all sorts of products,” Young said. “For example you could think of a display that is two or three millimeters thick with one side having some of glue that could be used to paste the display on a wall or refrigerator. And then you can get into the conformable displays, panels that could be used on a car’s dashboard.”
The first wave of commercially available flexible screens are likely to be used mostly in smartphones, tablets and TVs, according to several executives. The largest application for flexible displays during the next several years will be personal electronic devices, according to IHS.
Samsung and LG, as already mentioned, are leading in these areas.
While a Samsung spokesperson declined to answer questions or provide product details, the company announced its Youm flexible displays at CES earlier this year, with mobile devices winning the on-stage spotlight. Panel production was widely expected before the end of the calendar year, but news surfaced on etnews in April that Samsung hit a technical snag with its flexible display encapsulation technology, delaying the production schedule.
LG Electronics also didn’t respond to an interview request for general market trends and possible flexible display end-market uses, but it’s common knowledge that LG Display is ramping up flexible display production. The Korea Times reported in June that LG Display was looking to mass-produce flexible panels for major clients starting in the fourth quarter.
Both companies also rolled out super thin, curved 55-inch OLED televisions, which began selling in the US this summer for upwards of $13,000 to $15,000.
Going forward, the trend could move towards reaping additional benefits from the unbreakable attributes of flexible displays, and then later, leverage their conformable nature, said Plastic Logic’s Banach.
That could lead to demand growth for flexible smart cards, smart tags and wearable electronics, said Paul Cain, Plastic Logic’s head of business planning.
In addition to tablets and smartphones, Cain said Plastic Logic is also seeing traction for flexible displays in applications such as digital signage and smart labeling. “Of the newer applications where flexibility enables new design paradigms, wearables are currently very high profile,” Cain said.
Banach added that Plastic Logic’s technology also has a number of non-display applications. The company recently collaborated with ISORG, a printed electronics startup based in France, in creating the first plastic, flexible image sensor, he said.


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Roblox Stock Is Hunting To Level Up Again After Taking Earnings Hit
Analysts anticipated EPS of $4.41 on revenue of $68.98 billion, according to Zacks Investment Research. The iPhone maker's spring solution launch event is scheduled for Tuesday. 66% ahead of settling for a 31% achieve above its 250 IPO price. Chevron (CVX) and Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) gave up a lot more than 1% every single. It remains in possible acquire range, which tops out at 645.75. The graphics-chip maker is an IBD Leaderboard stock and was up on an analyst upgrade. Plby Group (PLBY) soared 16% to a new higher. In the fabless chip group, Nvidia (NVDA) rallied far more than 4% to a new high in heavy trade to regain a 615 buy point of a cup base. The on the internet game platform, which came public March 10, is an IBD Leaderboard stock. Roblox (RBLX) jumped 5% Thursday to climb back above a 79.20 get point of an IPO base and recover component of Wednesday's 8% drop. If you loved this article therefore you would like to be given more info concerning id For Roblox Music kindly visit our own web site. Apple stock reclaimed its 10-week moving typical final week. It's about 7% away from the entry. Apple, up 1.8%, is shaping the suitable side of a cup base with a 145.19 acquire point, according to MarketSmith chart analysis. Among other blue-chip winners, Amgen (AMGN) and Visa (V) rose practically 3% each. Coinbase Worldwide (COIN), which made its debut on Wednesday, gained 2%. On Wednesday, shares of the most significant U.S. The stock 1st broke out on Tuesday. Nvidia's base is very first stage. Gold mining, medical, chip and software stocks led the upside amongst IBD's 197 sector groups. The base count reset following the present base undercut the prior pattern. Novocure (NVCR) and Inmode (INMD) rose far more than 4% each. The relative strength line, which compares a stock's performance with the S&P 500, is approaching its February higher. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) climbed 1% as it continues to come across upside resistance at its 50-day moving average.
Due to the fact the pandemic has nixed all in-person charity events, JDRF Game2Give has organized game bundles and charity streams. "With COVID-19, gaming has been this avenue for folks to connect. More than 1.6 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes, and 38 million adults and kids worldwide. A single of the group’s ambitions is to educate people about the difficulties of dealing with the illness. The game executives behind this project include things like former Telltale Games CEO Dan Connors, former Kongregate chief business enterprise officer Josh Larson, and Tilt 5 COO Hans ten Cate. I interviewed him and Connors about their practical experience getting youngsters with sort 1 diabetes, and you’ll find their stories below. And connecting persons that have the shared interests of gaming and also a personal connection to kind 1 diabetes is really highly effective. Larson is the director of JDRF Game2Give. "Gaming has stretched across so quite a few platforms," Larson said in an interview with GamesBeat.
They own the items, for the first time. Counter-Strike: International Offensive has a notoriously hot gray market place, with players reportedly spending north of $100,000 for distinct weapon skins. The notion of selling in-game items for genuine cash is not new, but the ownership that comes with blockchain technology is. There are current marketplaces exactly where players purchase and sell game keys, digital weapons and uncommon cosmetic gear, although these operate on legally dicey ground. Players often don’t own the issues they’re bartering - the game developer does. Linden agreed and added, "When these gray markets pop up, they are not protected. "Players clearly see the worth, and they want to invest in and sell things from each other… You do not know if you happen to be going to get the assets, there is a lot of fraud in these items, there's a lot of laundering, there's a lot of different factors, and negative issues have happened in these gray markets. "We've seen gray markets pop up around most common games, almost each and every well-liked game," Koch said.
The courses are cartoonish, but not mini-golf crazy. Oculus Speak about a game that never seems to get old. Oculus Want to revisit '90s games, which includes the experience of sitting on the floor with a controller playing games on a Television? A space with puzzles to resolve also has a dollhouse, which is a great model of the space you are in. Vertical Robot Red Matter was a single of the most effective-searching Oculus Quest games, and an update for Quest 2 pushes the graphics even additional. I uncover the complete factor a little meditative. It is like living in your own weird puzzle dollhouse universe, and it is amazing. The original 80s-set Pixel Ripped 1989 is now inside as add-on DLC, as well. If you subscribe to only a single CNET newsletter, this is it. Your tool-filled space suit glides about and grapples with the brilliantly evoked planet, which often has Half-Life vibes. Then you enter the pixel world, and it gets stranger. Get editors' top picks of the day's most exciting testimonials, news stories and videos. The puzzle-solving, atmospheric, brooding adventure is set in an alternate-timeline Cold War in space. You can do that currently with a tiny retro 16-bit console, but Pixel Ripped pulls it off uncannily in VR. Even though Space Pirate Trainer has been about considering that the launch days of the HTC Vive, the uncomplicated arcade style is ideal. Vertigo Games VR can turn your sense of reality inside out, and A Fisherman's Tale is the greatest variety of out-of-body knowledge. You can attain into your personal space and as you do, a larger hand from above enters your area. The placing realism is surprisingly very good. You happen to be a kid in a residence, playing games that don't exist. You stand nevertheless, shoot at aliens and shield oneself. Survive as long as you can.
Coinbase is going public by way of a direct listing as opposed to a conventional initial public offering. 50 distinctive digital assets. The Nasdaq late Tuesday announced a $250 reference price for the Coinbase stock direct listing. Coinbase is drastically lucrative and has seen massive development as interest in Bitcoin and other digital assets booms. Dow Jones futures had been up about .1% vs. Bitcoin is currently trading above $64,500. Bitcoin-associated plays such as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and Riot Blockchain (RIOT) were major winners Tuesday. In a virtuous circle, the Bitcoin cost has buoyed Coinbase, while Coinbase IPO buzz is buoying Bitcoin. The Bitcoin cost topped $63,000 for the initially time on Tuesday, clearing $64,000 early Wednesday and receiving as high as $64,899. Q1 income of $1.8 billion exceeded complete-year 2020 income of $1.3 billion. It's the very first cryptocurrency exchange to go public. Coinbase is the largest U.S. That would give Coinbase a $65 billion valuation.


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Compete Releases Ranking of Top 50 Web Sites for January 2010
Tax Season Kicks Off; Consumers Plan Their Escape via Travel Sites
BOSTON - (February 24, 2010) /PRNewswire/ — Compete, a Kantar Media company, today released its ranking of the top 50 Web sites for January 2010. At the category level, tax and travel Web sites saw the most dramatic traffic increases in January 2010. The top five fastest growing Web sites in January were tax related, while five of the top 20 high-growth sites were dedicated to travel. In aggregate, the top travel sites attracted more than 21 million unique visitors (UVs), while the tax and accounting category saw more than 29.6 million UVs.
Death and Taxes
Consumers marked the official beginning of the tax season in the US by visiting sites in Compete's "Financial Services: Accountancy and Tax Service" category. As the fastest growing site category in the first month of the year, traffic was up 292 percent compared to December 2009 and 11.5 percent over January 2009.
Taxact.com experienced the largest month-over-month growth in this category with 6.87 million UVs, representing a 42.14 percent year-over-year growth. Taxactonline.com (6.41 million UVs), Intuit.com (11.97 million UVs), and HRBlock.com (7.87 million UVs) also experienced triple-digit month-over-month growth.
On the Road Again
Travelers started planning their winter getaways in January 2010, causing a spike in Compete's travel categories. Vacation Rental sites (5.27 million UVs) drew 37.6 percent more traffic than in December 2009, Cruise Agencies (4.1 million UVs) grew 31.4 percent in terms of online traffic, and Independent Hotels and Resorts (5.54 million UVs) experienced a 23.84 percent spike.
Travel Web sites also made a strong showing as some of the fastest growing sites on the Web in January. Travelocity topped the list with 10.85 million UVs and 32.2 percent month-over-month growth. Hotwire.com grew 31.45 percent over December 2009 to reach 6.04 million UVs, while TripAdvisor.com pulled in more than 11 million travelers, growing 24.4 percent month-over-month and 34.5 percent over 2009.
Top 50 Moves
Also making headlines this month, Facebook overtook Yahoo as the number two site on the Web with 133.6 million unique visitors (UVs) in January 2010. By contrast, Yahoo drew 132.0 million UVs, and Google held the number one slot – from which the site first dethroned Yahoo in February 2008 – with 147.8 million monthly visitors.
Information regarding aggregate Web categories is drawn from the Compete PRO Enterprise edition on Compete.com. For more information on the enterprise offering, please contact email@example.com.
Compete, a Kantar Media company, helps the world's top brands improve their marketing based on the online behavior of millions of consumers. Leading marketers such as Carlson Hotels Worldwide, Hyundai Motor America, Upromise, Chrysler, and Verizon Wireless rely on Compete's services to create effective online experiences and highly profitable advertising campaigns. Compete's online behavior database-the largest in the industry-makes the Web as ingrained in marketing as it is in people's lives. Compete was founded in 2000 and is located in Boston, MA, with offices throughout the U.S. For more information about us, please visit http://www.competeinc.com/, or to join the conversation visit http://www.compete.com/.
About Kantar Media
Established in more than in 50 countries, Kantar Media enables exploration of multimedia momentum through analysis of print, radio, TV, internet, social media, and outdoors worldwide. Kantar Media offers a full range of media insights and audience measurement services through its global business sectors - Intelligence, Audiences and TGI & Custom. Combining the deepest expertise in the industry, Kantar Media tracks more than 3 million brands and delivers insights to more than 22,000 customers around the world. (www.KantarMediaNA.com).
Kantar is one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy networks. By uniting the diverse talents of its 13 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Its 26,500 employees work across 95 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group's services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.
For further information, please visit us at www.kantar.com


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Our iPhones are such a major parts of our lives today, that we can hardly remember a time before we weren't attached to them at the hip—er, ear. Understandable because, if you can believe it, it's been exactly one full decade since the first iPhone model ever hit the market. Who would have thought that fateful day 10 years ago would change everything?
“iPhone is an essential part of our customers' lives, and today more than ever it is redefining the way we communicate, entertain, work and live,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement celebrating the iPhone's anniversary. “iPhone set the standard for mobile computing in its first decade and we are just getting started. The best is yet to come.”
So let's go back in time in honor of the iPhone. Boy, how times have changed.
Here it is. The OG smartphone. Though this clunky, thick iPhone laid the groundwork for what would become the model we know and love today, it lacked a few major components. Namely, an App Store. Seriously, there was a time you couldn't play games on the iPhone.
2008: iPhone 3G


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VMO has unveiled its first edition of the new-look Fernwood magazine. Sporting a fluoro-pink masthead and ‘THE’ poster girl for body positivity ‘Amy Schumer’ on its cover, the 84-page glossy magazine has relaunched in style.
With content expanding beyond health and fitness to include dedicated sections for travel, beauty, fashion, tech and motoring, Fernwood magazine has evolved to become a true women’s lifestyle publication.
CEO Val Morgan Group Dan Hill says; “VMO is proud to deliver a magazine that’s dedicated to supporting and motivating today’s active women. We look forward to releasing subsequent issues and bringing this content to life via a premium, in-club digital network.”
Distributed throughout 69 health clubs nation-wide, the magazine has already proven popular with Fernwood members, flying off the shelves and attracting an influx of positive feedback.
Fernwood Head of Marketing, Lisa O’Brien comments; “Fernwood magazine has been a much-loved part of our member experience for many years now. The recent refresh by VMO has really taken this product to the next level – it’s a sophisticated, high-calibre publication full of engaging health, wellness and lifestyle content that speaks to Australian women.”
The Fernwood partnership sees VMO reaching an additional audience of 70,000 highly active women who visit their health club an average of three times per week. With 80% of Fernwood members aged 20-50, the network offers advertisers a unique opportunity to connect with a traditionally hard-to-reach audience.
The Sep/Oct edition of Fernwood Magazine is currently in production, scheduled to release on the 19th September.
Former agency executives Tim O’Neill and Tim Fouhy have launched the auto technology startup Summon. Australia’s first full e-commerce service for prestige cars. O’Neill and Fouhy both worked together at Accenture Interactive, before co-founding Reactive a digital agency bought by Accenture in 2016, now they’ve combined their knowledge and expertise to create Summon. Summon offers […]
To honour the fantastic feats of the Australian Paralympians, Hootsuite has revealed the top trending hashtags and social media data of the Paralympics. The top trending hashtag during the Paralympics period, #tokyo2020, received over 38,000 tweets and retweets, amounting to 1.7M+ impressions, while other popular hashtags included #paralympics, #readysettokyo and #paraswimming. According to Hootsuite’s research, […]
SOON, a futures think tank focused on human insights, has launched today tracking trends, developments and disruptions across people, products and the planet. Led by internationally renowned futurist, social scientist and trend forecaster Sarah Owen (pictured centre) in partnership with TABOO directors Andrew Mackinnon (right) and James Mackinnon (left), the independently Australian-owned futurist company uncovers […]
ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network Australia has announced a new podcast, SAS Australia Debrief hosted by 2020 recruits Merrick Watts and Sabrina Frederick. The podcast is made for anyone that can’t get enough of Aussie celebs putting themselves through the toughest test of their lives on the Seven Network’s hit show SAS Australia. Or anyone that wishes […]
Rakuten Advertising has launched ‘A 5-Stage Blueprint for High-Performance Affiliate Marketing’, designed to educate and inform both advertisers and publishers about the strategic role that the affiliate channel is now playing in marketing strategies. The blueprint is based on input from members of the Rakuten Advertising International Collective (RAIC), comprising affiliate marketing specialists from leading advertisers […]
Nine has announced the return of State of Originality, Australia’s biggest advertising prize, with $1 million again up for grabs to the brand and agency that creates the most original ad in the 2022 State of Origin Series. This year Nine launched State of Originality, challenging Australia’s marketers to help make State of Origin not […]


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In a surprise announcement during the pre-order commencement of the iPad launch, Apple said that the device has a text-to-voice feature that gives it the capability to read e-books aloud. The app that gives it this capability is called iBooks, and Apple explains that “iBooks works with VoiceOver, the screen reader in iPad, so it can read you the contents of any page.”
And for EPUB titles that are not offered through the iBooks store, you can manually add them to iTunes and then sync them to the iPad:
“The iBooks app uses the EPUB format — the most popular open book format in the world,” Apple’s site reads. “That makes it easy for publishers to create iBooks versions of your favorite reads. And you can add free EPUB titles to iTunes and sync them to the iBooks app on your iPad.
That’s good news for iPad customers, because that means bookworms won’t be limited to the offerings in the iBooks store, which are based on partnerships that Apple inked with publishers.
The new detail about audio dictation should raise more questions. Amazon’s Kindle 2 reader shipped with a function to read e-books out loud, and the Authors Guild made a fuss alleging copyright violations that would cut into sales of audiobooks.
“They don’t have the right to read a book out loud,” said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “That’s an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law.”
The guild contended that authors should be awarded audio-licensing fees for e-books. Responding to the criticism, Amazon said “no copy is made, no derivative work is created and no performance is being given.” Nonetheless, Amazon in late February 2009 gave rights-owners the choice to enable or disable the audio function title by title.
There’s no word on whether the Author’s Guild will pursue a similar complaint against Apple.
The National Federation of the Blind has already applauded Apple for including VoiceOver in the iPad.


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Elon Musk’s cream has once again risen to the very top Thursday after his competition for the world’s richest person, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, had his value slip to a paltry $187 billion.
Musk and Arnault, who heads up a corporation dedicated to luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Dior, are often battling it out for the top spot on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
Arnault spent several months in the top space as luxury goods flew off the shelves, but the stock has done quite as well as Teslas in recent months. Even though it was reported today that Musk’s most recent acquisition, Twitter, lost two-thirds of its value following the sale, Musk is back on top.
The golden horde Musk sits on top of rose by $55.3 billion over this time last year, while Arnault’s only rose by $24.5 billion. In third is our yacht-owning friend Jeff Bezos at $144 billion followed by Bill Gates at $125 billion and CEO of Oracle Larry Ellison with $118 billion.
In late 2021, Elon Musk experienced a significant decline in his ranking on the list of the world’s richest individuals. This drop was primarily attributed to the decline in Tesla’s stock value, which had a substantial impact on Musk’s overall net worth. As a considerable portion of his wealth is tied to Tesla stock, the company’s stock slump resulted in a decrease in Musk’s fortunes.
Tesla faced challenges during that period, including soft sales and negative publicity following the Twitter sale. These factors led to a decline in investor confidence, causing the stock to plummet by 56 percent in December 2021.
This decline in value brought Tesla’s stock price down to an unusually low level of $108, which was considered atypical for the company.
It’s worth noting that the information provided about Tesla stock trading at $206 might be outdated, as my knowledge is based on information available until September 2021. Therefore, for the most accurate and up-to-date information, it’s advisable to refer to reliable financial sources.
Furthermore, the statement mentions Musk’s salary of $56 billion from Tesla last year. However, it’s essential to clarify that this figure seems incorrect or misleading.
Musk’s compensation from Tesla has been notable but not in the billion’s range. To get the most accurate information about Musk’s salary or compensation from Tesla, it’s recommended to consult official reports or financial statements from the company.
It is crucial to verify the specific details mentioned here using current and reliable sources, as the provided information may contain inaccuracies or be based on outdated data.
Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of companies like SpaceX and Tesla, has undeniably accumulated immense wealth over the years.
However, the statement sarcastically suggests that Musk remains humble and grounded despite his financial success. It highlights some instances where Musk’s actions may seem contradictory to the notion of humility.
The reference to $100,000 being affordable for everyone looking to take a ride to Mars reflects the exorbitant cost associated with space travel. While Musk has expressed his vision of making humanity multi-planetary and enabling the colonization of Mars, the price tag attached to such endeavors makes it unattainable for the majority. This implies that his ambitions, though admirable, may not be entirely inclusive.
The mention of charging customers $15,000 for aspirational software alludes to the pricing strategy of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software.
FSD is an advanced driver-assistance feature, and while the price tag might be seen as high for some, it is a significant investment in the development of autonomous driving technology. It can be argued that the high cost is aimed at funding further research and development.
The statement’s final remark about spending $44 billion on a social media site “just for the lolz” refers to Musk’s involvement with the acquisition of the social media platform Twitter. This remark suggests that such a substantial investment in a platform primarily known for its casual and humorous content seems excessive and potentially frivolous.
In summary, the statement implies a degree of irony, suggesting that despite Elon Musk’s vast wealth, some of his decisions and actions may not align with conventional ideas of modesty and prudence.
- Elon Musk told Chinese Tesla workers late at night their hard work ‘warms my heart’ — 6 weeks after some complained
- Elon Musk is accused of insider trading by investors in Dogecoin lawsuit
- Twitter’s Head of Trust Ella Irwin resigns, becomes second to quit the job since Elon Musk takeover
- Elon Musk Close To Once Again Becoming The World’s Richest As Tesla Shares Surge Amid His China Visit
Information source:- jalopnik


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Australia's share of the $7.5 trillion tourism industry
By Cathy Van Extel on RN Breakfast
Tourism spending in 2012 amounted to $7.5 trillion, and that figure is forecast to be nearly $12 trillion by 2023.
But how much of that will the Australian tourism sector see?
President and CEO, World Travel and Tourism Council


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The sector’s Periodical Publishers Association says latest figures show “an improving outlook for the UK consumer magazine sector”.
January-to-June *ABC* magazine sales are up by a slim 0.3 percent from last year’s historic low of 23.8 million to 24.5 million.
But, looking back at a broader sweep of sales data, as we have done, you see that this year’s sales are the second worst in a decade.
Sales had been fairly consistent during the first half of the decade, but started falling off a cliff in 2005, which, coincidentally, can be fingered as the Year The Internet Went Truly Mainstream in the UK.
The PPA is using the word “robust” to describe July-to-December sales figures, which were down 1.3 percent from last year. Flat truly is the new up.
Many mags – notably those from Future – are trying to cast themselves as premium products with things like “3D HD” covers and timeless bookazines.


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Posted by Vincent Banial
AMD has released AMD Ryzen™ 7, the World’s Highest Performing and Lowest Powered 8-core Desktop PC Processors.
Pre-Orders can be made immediately. Retail availability will start on March 02 2017.
Photo courtesy of AMD
Each AMD Ryzen™ 7 CPU chip each contains
over 4.8 Billion Transistors.
Video is courtesy of the AMD YouTube channel.


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People spend almost of their income on food have been priced out, as price of maize, wheat, corn, rice and other commodities that make up the world’s basic foodstuffs is soaring the poorest people in the poorest countries are the hardest hit. And as prices shoot up helping them is getting tougher too.
For many years the least developed nations have worried about food security, especially countries at war and those battling droughts and other climatic hardships. Meanwhile the world’s richest nations have produced more than enough for their needs and spent more time and effort worrying about the problems related to an abundance of food. These range from the health risks associated with ballooning rates of obesity to subsidies for uncompetitive farmers.
Until few years ago we had too much food, but it was badly and unequally distributed, About a hundred million people, mostly women and children, remain chronically hungry while another million are obese or overweight.
Food is scarcer now thanks to market liberalisation, which helped to cut excess production and lower stocks. At the same time demand for grains and other food commodities has shot up. The biofuel industry is gobbling up an increasing share of the corn and sugar crops. Floods and droughts around the world destroyed much of the harvest.
Concern about the cost of food is even spreading beyond the world’s poor countries. They are eating less too. Efforts to find solutions have been complicated by political manipulation.
This month the Arroyo government want to introduce a noodle. An efforts to alleviate one problem, finding an alternative to oil, has brought strong condemnation from a proponent of another, feeding the country’s starving poor. Her presidential expert on the right to food, calls the growing use of crops to replace Jatropa as a crime against humanity and wants a moratorium on biofuel production.
Periods of high prices followed by times of low prices are common in agricultural markets. What makes the current cycle different from previous periods of high prices is the rise has hit nearly all food commodities. In the past, farmers producing a plentiful crop attracting low prices would switch to one in shorter supply that would earn them more. And stocks are so tight at the moment that there is not much of a buffer if bad weather next year effects crops again.Prices will probably remain high for the coming years while the country is adapting to food scarcity. What happens next will reveal the resilience of the country’s food-supply system and the effects on the country’s poorest and hungriest could be devastating.
Philippine shortage of rice supply which showed consumer prices rising at their fastest rate in a decade, have stimulated intense debate about the nature of the inflationary pressures now emerging in the country and about whether the threat from inflation is becoming more serious.
On the other hand, rapidly rising food costs are, in themselves, cause enough for policymakers to be concerned. Philippines has long worried about food security, and the strong impact of rising food costs on the welfare of most of the population, particularly the poor, creates evident potential for social unrest. The prevailing assessment that the current surge in inflation reflects developments in the farming industry risks masking broader trends that have the potential to complicate efforts to restrain price growth. When food prices are rising , the risk that they could stoke public discontent becomes a very real concern for officials.
Demand aside, there have also been important developments on the supply side. The surging demand for crops that can be used as biofuels may be playing a part in cutting the supply of other agricultural products, as farmers switch land into the newly profitable grains. Some grain-producing regions have also been hit by drought, and others by floods, although this has not been an unusually bad year. More importantly perhaps, costs for agricultural producers are rising very rapidly. In particular, high global oil and gas prices are gradually feeding through into increased costs for related products like fuel and fertilizer. Farmers are now passing these expenses to consumers.
The outlook for rising food price in the short term is not as gloomy as this picture might suggest. Agricultural production is usually responsive to price movements, so higher prices should begin to feed through into higher output, in turn bringing supply up and prices down. As a result, prices for food should fall back ..
However, underlying these short-term developments are more worrying medium-term trends. Agricultural land supply is falling as more is converted for industrial use and as farmers leave the land to work in the cities. Utility-price rises, postponed for now, will have to be implemented if the government is to stand any chance of achieving the energy and water efficiency improvements that it has publicly committed to. The regulatory burden on businesses is also likely to be steadily ratcheted up, creating additional compliance costs.
Rising labor shortages will pave the way for even stronger wage growth, even as the government channels more funds to the poor. Coupled with all of this is a suspicion that official statistics may currently understate consumer price inflation owing to problems with the basket of goods used to measure prices, opening the way for possible upward revisions in the future. The government will have to hope that its monetary policy develops more traction before these forces start to gather momentum.
These problems are not given adequate attention by Arroyo government, it becomes very clear that this is a major issue.Philippine governments should focus more on developing farming, which not only provides food but helps improve incomes in rural areas where many of Filipino’s poor live.It’s important to build up infrastructure, to build up institutions to allow these people to participate in the country’s economy, to take benefit from the higher prices that are coming from agricultural goods to produce new products, both for domestic consumption but also for export. Arroyo governments who subsidise biofuels production did not significantly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and hurt poor by contributing to food price rises.
This article is written by my daughter who is a freshman in University of California.


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Ransomware is set to remain a growing threat for the months to come, becoming more virulent and even more profitable for criminals around the world, a leading security firm has predicted.
McAfee Labs has today released its predictions for the year ahead, highlighting the issues it feels will be the most prevalent in 2018, with ransomware and IoT security top of the list.
The firm says that following the success of major ransomware campaigns in 2017, criminals will only look to continue this trend in the coming months, but will need to create new and more intelligent campaigns.
McAfee says that it expects ransomware authors to target less traditional, more profitable ransomware targets, with high net-worth individuals, small businesses and even individual connected devices coming under attack.
The change will also allow criminals to use ransomware as part of wider cyber-crime campaigns, making it just a part of cyber sabotage attacks.
The company adds that this increased profitability, along with a drive for ever greater amounts of damage and disruption will help grow the cybercrime “business model,” as well as leading to a major expansion of the cyber insurance market, as companies of all sizes look to stay protected.
“The evolution of ransomware in 2017 should remind us of how aggressively a threat can reinvent itself as attackers dramatically innovate and adjust to the successful efforts of defenders,” said Steve Grobman, McAfee chief technology officer.
“We must recognise that although technologies such as machine learning, deep learning, and artificial intelligence will be cornerstones of tomorrow’s cyber defences, our adversaries are working just as furiously to implement and innovate around them. As is so often the case in cybersecurity, human intelligence amplified by technology will be the winning factor in the ‘arms race’ between attackers and defenders.”
Elsewhere, McAfee highlights possible privacy issues surrounding connected smart home devices, which are only set to become more popular in the year ahead.
The firm predicts that manufacturers of such products, as well as service providers, will seek to overcome thin profit margins by gathering more of our personal data — with or without our agreement.
McAfee adds that because customers rarely read privacy agreements, corporations will be tempted to frequently change them after the devices and services are deployed, allowing them to capture more information and revenue - effectively turning the home into, 'a corporate store front'.
However this practice may not last long, as McAfee predicts that believes that there will be regulatory consequences for corporations that push this idea too far.


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Microsoft Increases Xbox Live Subscription Prices
Although Nintendo has seen fit to lower prices today, Microsoft has decided to take the road less traveled.
Today, Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb announced that Microsoft will increase subscription prices for Xbox Live beginning November 1, 2010. (Just in time for that Call of Duty: Black Ops game everyone is talking about!)
In the United States, annual subscription prices will increase to $59.99 (up from $49.99), three-month plans will increase to $24.99 (up from $19.99) and one-month plans will rise to $9.99 (up from $7.99). Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom will also see increases.
In response to the change, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) vice president of analyst service Jesse Divinich noted, "When taking into account for inflation ($50 in 2002 is roughly $60 in 2010) and the additional services available to Gold subscribers in 2010 [...] a $10 price increase still represents an incredible value to consumers."
According to its own data, the EEDAR claims 30% of Xbox 360 owners have played a game online "15 times or more in the last 3 months," compared to 23% on the PS3 and 10% on Wii. Nintendo and Sony do not charge consumers for online gaming. Sony recently launched a subscription service of its own, giving PlayStation Plus subscribers an assortment of bonuses for an annual fee.
Although the EEDAR believes the price increase "will do little to impact the positive momentum of the Xbox 360," Shacknews asserts that comments attached to this post will most certainly skew on the negative side.


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Arlington Garden was recently recognized by state Sen. Anthony Portantino as California Nonprofit of the Year for Senate District 25. The nonprofit group celebrated with its annual fundraiser, “Autumn in the Garden.” Also during the event, the fountain was dedicated to the memories of garden founders Betty and Charles “Kicker” McKenney. On hand in the crowd of 200 people were Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek, L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, state Sen. Anthony Portantino, and Councilwoman and designer Mayita Dinos leading the dedication with a champagne toast. Other key contributors included fountain underwriter Bob Bozzani, fountain designer Cha-Rie Tang and Miguel Martinez of All Shades Construction. Patina Catering and Domaine de Cala as provided food and wine at the celebration. Michelle Matthews serves as executive director of Arlington Garden.
Home Fountain Dedicated at ‘Autumn in the Garden’ Fundraiser


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Narendra Modi, India's abstemious prime minister, has come up with an idea for a fizzy drink cocktail that sounds most promising.
Modi said in Karnataka, multinational soft-drink giants like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola should try and mix aerated drinks with 5 per cent of fruit juice to help distressed farmers find a new market for their produce.
"We drink Pepsi, Coca Cola and I do not know how many similar beverages are available in the market. The trade runs into billions of rupees. I have asked the companies if they can blend 5 per cent natural fruit juice in the beverages they make," Modi said after inaugurating the country's first integrated food park in the state.
"I am not asking for much. If 5 per cent of juice from fruits produced by our farmers is added, the farmer will not be forced to search for a market to sell. A single decision can ensure billions of rupees of trade," he said.
Modi added that he has already asked government research bodies to work on the possibility of blending cola drinks, which are widely considered unhealthy, with natural fruit juice.
If this happens, farmers will not be forced to dump their produce or let it go waste because of unremunerative prices, and the country can save Rs30-40,000 crore by reducing the wastage of food products through processing.
In his 20-minute speech, Modi stressed the importance of improving storage facilites, processing, and value additions, which is the main purpose of the park.
Perhaps hinting at a loosening up of proscriptions on genetically modified foods, he also underscored the need for adopting more scientific methods of farming.


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Apple is reportedly planning to launch a 6.1-inch iPhone 14, a 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max, and a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max in September this year. Now, the tipster @TheGalox_ on Twitter has claimed that the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max will cost $100 more than their predecessors. Also Read - iPhone 14 Pro to cost more and have 128GB base storage option
According to the leaker, the iPhone 14 Pro will start at $1,099 (up from $999) and the iPhone 14 Pro Max will be priced at $1,199. Also Read - How to cancel your Spotify Premium subscription: A step-by-step guide
The rising component costs and Apple’s determination to differentiate Pro and non-Pro iPhones, will see the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max increase to $1099 and $1199 respectively. Apple is also expected to replace the iPhone 13 mini with a Max version could lead to a price hike of about $300.
Apple iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max specifications
Rumors have suggested the 2022 iPhone 14 series will come with several improvements, including a new design over the Pro model, a better camera, and more. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are also said to come with a taller profile and better camera module to fit the new internals.
Both the Pro models of the iPhone 14 series would be equipped with a triple rear camera setup housing a 48MP wide, 12MP ultra-wide, and telephoto lens. The upcoming iPhone 14 series would support an 8K video.
The Apple iPhone 14 Pro model will come with 8GB of RAM and a 120Hz refresh rate display. However, the iPhone 13 model devices are available with a storage option of 128GB. However, the analysts believes that the base storage capacity of the iPhone 14 series devices will be 64GB.
In terms of design, the camera bump on the 2022 high-end iPhone will be 4.17 mm thick, or 0.57 mm larger than the bump on the iPhone 13 Pro Max. The space that the bump occupies on the back of the iPhone will also increase in size by about five percent in each dimension, going from the current width of 35.01 mm to 36.73 mm and height of 36.24 mm to 38.21 mm to accommodate the new camera hardware.


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Carpet manufacturer Shaw Contract has reported a growth in sales as turnover more than doubled.
According to its latest filed accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021, total sales rose 106% to £30.3m from £14.7m in 2020.
UK sales were up 58% to £20.9m from £13.2m, while rest of the world sales rose 571% to £9.4m from £1.4m.
Gross profit increased from a loss of £816,000 to a profit of £2.4m, while pre-tax losses resulted at £1m, widening from a loss of £726,000 recorded in the previous year.
Stated within its report, the company said it invested in capital equipment at the plant in Sanquhar, Scotland, which has enabled the business to be highly adaptable to customer’s needs.
The company added that it has faced “very steep” increases in costs for raw materials, transport and energy prices.


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NEW YORK — In spite of lackluster business in jewelry and belts, accessories departments are blossoming with spring gains, with some stores showing percentage increases into the low 20s.
For a variety of fashion retailers, ranging from Saks Fifth Avenue on the high end to J.C. Penney in the more moderate market, handbags have been one of this spring’s best classifications so far. Scarves, hats and sunglasses have also shown strength in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, many merchants identified jewelry and belts as the two biggest victims of ready-to-wear’s current minimalist trends and unstructured, flowing fabrics.
At Saks here, handbags have been the top classification with double-digit gains, while belts while belts have been slowest, said Anne Keenes, senior vice president and general merchandise manager of accessories.
Handbag business is being driven by two influences, Keenes said — casual and structured. The strongest showings have come from the DKNY, Louis Vuitton, Furla and Sharif lines.
Millinery business has also been fueled by soft, relaxed shapes, as well as more structured silhouettes, she said. A wig hat by Eric Javits has been a big hit.
“In areas such as hats and handbags, there seem to be extremes that are analogous to what we’re seeing in ready-to-wear now,” Keenes pointed out. “The merchandise is either very ladylike and proper, or very casual and unstructured.”
Fashion jewelry, Keenes noted, has been somewhat soft, although she said business in bridge and fine jewelry has been trending up.
Gail Brail, accessories buyer for the Florida division of Jacobson Stores, Winter Park, Fla., said her overall business was up 23 percent over the same period last year.
Hats and hair goods, she noted, have been among the stars. Turnover in soft hair accessories such as headbands and bows, for instance, is up 40 percent. Whittall & Shon’s wig hat, with a detachable hairpiece, has done so well that “we can’t keep it in stock,” Brail said.
Brail added that jewelry business has been steady, but noted that she had steered away from the trend toward small, understated pieces and gone with big, bold styles instead. “Price has been no object in jewelry,” she said, naming manipulated metals, turquoise, silver and natural looks as the leading trends.
In belts, however, she said her business has been down from a year ago, with the only decent action coming from narrow-width pieces and items that reflect the natural trend.
Jewelry has been a trouble spot for others, including Henri Bendel here.
“Our total accessories business is definitely up from a year ago, though it’s not trending as far ahead as it should be, primarily because of slow jewelry business,” said Rob Goldfarb, merchandise manager of accessories for Bendel’s.
Goldfarb said that while jewelry was the classification hardest hit by the minimalist trend for him, “we have had a few bright spots in our private label sterling silver line.”
Scarves, on the other hand, have been one of Bendel’s best spring performers, led by one $38 private-label item in an open weave that sold out of the stores in two weeks.
“It’s definitely true that good scarf business can affect necklace business, and I think we’ve been seeing that,” Goldfarb said.
Bendel’s has also been recording brisk turnover in hair accessories, hats and handbags, he said. Strong labels have included Colette Malouf in hair goods; Kokin, Eric Javits and Marina Killery in millinery, and Donna Karan, DeVecchi, Desmo and Furla in handbags.
Price resistance has not been a problem in these classifications, Goldfarb added. The average purchase price of hair accessories, for example, has been $55 to $60.
Simonetta Morrison, vice president and divisional merchandise manager for Bergdorf Goodman here, said her total accessories volume was up in double digits in March, following a slow February. Key areas have been handbags, sunglasses, scarves and hats; vendors Prada, DeVecchi, Desmo, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Oliver Peoples and Armani stood out as leaders.
Buying activity has been at both ends of the price spectrum, Morrison said. Items such as a $120 Robert Lee Morris bangle and a $200 Armani scarf have been checking out on the less expensive side, while an oversized classic bag by Chanel at $1,650 has been a bestseller on the higher-priced end.
Morrison said her store has seen some weakness in fashion jewelry, “although we expected it because of the ready-to-wear looks.”
The one exception, she said, has been a Giorgio Armani fashion jewelry collection that has posted a 50 percent sell-through since it recently hit the floor. One retailer seeing generally strong jewelry business is The Icing, Enfield, Conn. Dan Schuster, merchandise manager for the accessories specialty chain, said jewelry been his company’s most stellar area.
“We really specialize in dressy, special-occasion jewelry, so spring is a naturally good season for us because of all the proms and weddings,” Schuster said. “I know jewelry has really been downplayed on the runways and in fashion magazines, but we’re just doing great with it.”
The Icing’s increases so far for spring have been in the high teens, Schuster said, and have been driven by handbags and the silver trend across all classifications, in addition to jewelry.
At Barneys New York, a handbag line by designer Henry Beguelin that retails from $525 to $1,200 has been one of the hottest sellers, according to Judy Collinson, divisional merchandise manager for accessories.
“It’s a business we’ve built slowly over time,” Collinson continued. “We started it off in our downtown store here and now we have a whole area for his collection in the uptown store.”
Scarf designer Georgine von Etzdorf’s silk devore line, which sells from $250 to $295, has moved well. So have hats in the $150-to-$400 range from various vendors, Collinson said. In addition, sterling silver jewelry in eclectic design motifs has been strong.
Accessories posted double-digit gains in January and February for J.C. Penney. March figures were not yet available. Anne Gravseth, merchandise manager for accessories at the Dallas-based chain, said handbags and sunglasses have been among the best-selling groups. The retailer also was one of the few that listed belts among the top categories.
“We’ve also been seeing some very big scarf sell-throughs in some of our stores, which bodes well for fall scarf business,” Gravseth noted.


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Chinese spend billions on Singles' Day
Chinese shoppers spent more than $1 billion in the first five minutes of Singles Day on Friday, e-commerce giant Alibaba said in the world`s biggest online shopping promotion.
Singles' Day -- named for the repeated digit 1 in the date November 11 -- was created by Alibaba in 2009.
Now in just 24 hours it surpasses the main US online spending spree, the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday.
Total gross merchandise volume, Alibaba's key measure of online sales, had surpassed the 2014 total of 57.1 billion yuan (now $8.4 billion) by 6:54 am, the company said, putting it more than half way to reaching last year`s figure.
In the US, desktop sales for the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday last year stood at $7.2 billion, according to Internet analytics firm comScore.
Alibaba`s New York-listed stock has been buoyant this year in spite of worries over slowing growth in China, as consumer spending has expanded while the old industrial economy struggles due to overcapacity and sluggish demand.
ALSO READ: 'China's contribution to world economy to remain around 30%'
China`s economy expanded at its slowest in a quarter of a century last year and has eased further this year, as Beijing tries to shift growth drivers from investment and exports to domestic consumption.
Alibaba kicked off this year’s event with a gala in the southern city of Shenzhen on Thursday night, inviting international and domestic stars from basketball player Kobe Bryant to pop rock band OneRepublic.
Singer Katy Perry was also originally scheduled to perform but cancelled at the last minute due to a family emergency, she said on a verified account on China`s Twitter-like weibo.
Analysts said the event, which has gained more and more traction in the past few years, is key to Alibaba.
The day`s turnover was only "a very small fraction of its total annual sales", independent ecommerce analyst Li Chengdong said, but was "a confidence index for the firm".
"If they do well in this, it is a boost to investors` confidence,” he told AFP.
But sales growth may not match last year`s 60% rise, he warned, in the face of economic worries and stricter regulation.
ALSO READ: China's GDP growth stable at 6.7% in third quarter: Govt
China’s commerce watchdog SAIC summoned Alibaba and 14 other ecommerce companies earlier this week, banning them from making up fake orders and lifting prices before giving out discounts.
Alibaba itself has sought to downplay the importance of the turnover statistic.
"I don`t have any requirement for the sales figure," Alibaba quoted Chairman Jack Ma as saying in a statement on its verified weibo, adding the day was all about “happiness and joy”.
Online shopping is a bright spot in Beijing`s efforts to transform the economy, growing 26.1% in the January to September period according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
That outstripped both overall retail growth of 10.4% in the period, and official gross domestic product (GDP) expansion of 6.7% in each of the first three quarters.
ALSO READ: China's producer price index rises for 1st time in nearly 5 years to 0.1% in Sept
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The government of East African country, Rwanda, has signed three agreements with Alibaba Group establishing an electronic world trade platform (eWTP) hub in Rwanda. The agreements ultimately aim to promote Rwanda’s economy through increased cross-border trade, capacity building and tourism.
Rwanda becomes the first country in Africa to establish an Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) hub following an MoU signed by President Kagame and Jack Ma of Alibaba Group. What did Ghana get after HE Akufo Addo and Minister of Communication met Jack Ma?
— NANA APPIAH ACQUAYE (@NACQUAYE) November 5, 2018
Importantly, the eWTP means Rwanda is now the first African country to trade directly with China via the Alibaba platform.
What is eWTP?
The move is the latest effort by Alibaba founder, Jack Ma, to recreate the “Silk Road” trade route. Since 2017, Mr Ma has pursued the agenda of a new electronic trade movement that would connect many countries and businesses, allowing them to make commercial exchanges anywhere in the world.
“For human beings the first globalisation was the Silk Road. Today in the Internet age, I think we should transfer the Silk Road to an e-road,” he said in 2017. “The e-road is to connect every country. The e-road is to give inclusive opportunity for everybody,”
#JackMa: In order to face the future, we need to build up new facility, eWTP- Electronic World Trade…T means Trade;
We think through these four Ts, we can enable all the small business succeed. #eWTPAfrica pic.twitter.com/Zt4sGvi4ED
— The New Times (Rwanda) (@NewTimesRwanda) October 31, 2018
And the electronic world trade platform (EWTP) is the key to achieving this. The idea is “foster a more effective and efficient policy and business environment for cross border electronic trade.” According to the company, the benefit of this initiative will see faster customs clearance, logistics support and significantly reduced tariffs.
The platform is expected to make it easier for smaller businesses to reach out and compete on a global level.
Alibaba launched the first eWTP hub in China, and by 2017, it unveiled plans to launch another hub in Malaysia. The Malaysian hub will serve as a centralized warehousing, customs clearance and logistics facility. It is billed to be completed in 2019.
What Does the eWTP Mean for Rwanda?
By virtue of the new agreements, Rwanda becomes the first African country to host an eWTP hub.
Jack Ma: People ask, "Why Rwanda? There are so many countries in Africa." When I first came I was shocked by its ability to embrace change. If every country was like Rwanda think how powerful could Africa be. My answer is, "Why not Rwanda?" #eWTP @RwandaGov @RDBrwanda pic.twitter.com/iWwdqJJrTf
— Alibaba Group (@AlibabaGroup) October 31, 2018
“The Electronic World Trade Platform opens up new frontiers in e-commerce and tourism for Rwanda, and will also boost the capacity and competitiveness of our entrepreneurs and business people,” said Rwandan president, Paul Kagame.
And according to the Alibaba, the deal makes it easier for Rwandan SME businesses to sell their products to Chinese consumers using the Alibaba platform.
For now though, information about how this agreement would work is still scanty. And there’s no indication that the platform would spread to other African countries anytime soon.
Nevertheless this represents the latest attempt to open African commerce to the wider world. MallforAfrica has made impressive strides to promote African commerce in the US via the eBay platform. It even launched a platform allowing Africans to sell directly to Americans.
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A few days ago, the New York Times predicted that Microsoft might soon unveil a Windows 8 tablet "of its own design." The Wall Street Journal is now throwing its weight behind the rumor, and it has some interesting speculation about Microsoft's possible motives.
The company has been pushing hardware makers to release ARM-based Windows RT-powered tablets, the paper says. However, according to IDC analyst Crawford Del Prete, those hardware makers "have expressed some hesitation about the devices . . . in part because they are expensive to make and it is uncertain that anyone wants to buy them." By releasing and heavily promoting the first Windows RT tablet, Microsoft could jumpstart the new category—though, obviously, at the risk of miffing some of its partners.
That actually ties in with an old Bloomberg story from a few months back. Bloomberg predicted a cornucopia of Intel-powered Windows 8 devices, but it said "fewer than five" Windows RT devices would be available at the operating system's launch. That certainly doesn't suggest a high level of excitement among Microsoft's hardware partners.
In any case, we'll be able to confirm the veracity of the rumors soon enough. The WSJ says Microsoft is poised to unveil the device at an event in Los Angeles later today. Another story by the Associated Press says Microsoft's announcement will come "after the market closes" today.
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JioMart, which was piloted in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan for various products, went live with its grocery offering in 200 cities over the weekend posing competition to the likes of Grofers, BigBasket etc.
“Orders post the national launch are being serviced by Reliance Smart and Fresh stores, Sahakari Bhandar stores (owned by Reliance retail), etc. and is not yet fully leveraging the kirana network (as on-boarding of kirana stores is still ongoing),” brokerage firm Credit Suisse said.
However, initial challenges such as inventory limitation remain for JioMart to fulfill orders across the nation, the brokerage said.
The Mukesh Ambani-led retail arm currently operates 621 Reliance Fresh and Reliance Smart stores and sells over 200 metric tonnes of fruits and over 300 metric tonnes of vegetables every day, as per company data.
Post the development, JioMart lists all the major grocery categories like fruits and vegetables, staples, dairy and bakery, snacks, beverages, personal care, home care and baby care.
“In terms of pricing, Reliance has extended the Smart promise of 'minimum 5% off on MRP' to all products on JioMart. The discount is higher on its private label brands, and is competitive to branded products,” Credit Suisse added.
Brokerage firm CLSA said eventually, it is possible Reliance integrates its entire retail offerings including fashion, lifestyle and consumer electronics, onto one super ecommerce platform and mobile app while recent partnerships with Facebook-owned WhatsApp for JioMart will help in increasing monetisation opportunities.
“This, along with a pan-India extension of partnerships with mom & pop stores after a successful beta test and ramp-up of this new commerce venture is crucial in Reliance’s grand plan of converting Jio’s 400m+ subscribers into customers for its ecommerce and other offerings,” CLSA said in a report.
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- Crypto Exchanges Accused of Laundering ₹1,000 Crore
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing at least ten cryptocurrency exchanges for allegedly laundering more than ₹1,000 crore identified as proceeds of crime of the accused firms under investigation in the instant loan app case in which most have a China link, said people aware of the matter.AIFs Due for Closure Struggle to Sell Holdings in Startup Firms
Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) that are scheduled to wind up in the next few months have been struggling to sell their holdings in unlisted ventures and startups, as investors stay clear of risky investments due to tightening liquidity.New RBI Norms Keep 3rd Party Out of Digital Lending Process
The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday said disbursal of loans and collection of repayments must be executed only between borrowers and entities regulated by it, and that no third party should be involved in this process.
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