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Apple Japan unit ordered to pay $118 million tax for underreporting income: media
- Wall Street propped up by tech, discretionary stocks
- Boston Scientific (BSX) to Acquire EndoChoice (GI) in ~$210M Deal
- Oil down 3 percent on fading hopes for output deal in Algiers
- Dollar gains against euro on Deutsche Bank fears, falls vs Mexican peso
- Pre-Open Stock Movers 09/27: (GI) (KITE) (INFI) Higher; (NAT) (SXL) (RICE) Lower (more...)
Momoko Toyotake tries to use Apple's new iPhone 7 in the new jet black colour on display, after the new iPhone 7 went on sale at the Apple Store at Tokyo's Omotesando shopping district, Japan, September 16, 2016. REUTERS/Issei Kato
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TOKYO (Reuters) - An Apple Inc iTunes unit in Japan was ordered to pay some 12 billion yen ($118 million) in tax by local authorities after underreporting income, media reported Friday.
The unit has since paid the amount, the reports said.
The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau determined that the unit, which sends part of its profits earned from fees paid by Japan subscribers to another Apple unit in Ireland to pay for software licensing, had not been paying a withholding tax on those earnings in Japan, according to broadcaster NHK.
Apple could not be immediately reached for comment outside of U.S. business hours. The tax bureau declined to comment.
Apple and other multinational companies have come under much tax scrutiny from governments around the world. The European Union has ordered Apple to pay Ireland 13 billion euros ($14.6 billion) in back taxes after ruling it had received illegal state aid. Apple and Dublin plan to appeal the ruling, arguing the tax treatment was in line with EU law.
($1 = 102.0700 yen)
(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
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On the Friday 17th January 2014, TechCabal, “Nigeria’s leading tech online publication“, announced the inaugural version of its start up competition, TechCabal Battlefield with the support of Stanbic IBTC, Iroking, Jobberman, Konga, Etisalat and others. TechCabal searched out young Nigerian technology mavens to compete for fame, glory and the ultimate prize of $20,000 — the largest reward of its kind for tech start ups in Nigeria ever.
The competition which is now officially underway with the emergence of seven finalists out of a fiercely competitive pool of over ninety applicants. The successful contenders will proceed to training with seasoned professionals in technology and business, preparing them for the an epic finale at which they will present their ventures to an experienced panel of judges as well as an audience of press, investors and the general public.
TechCabal’s Founder and Editor, Bankole Oluwafemi believes that Nigeria’s next generation of technology start ups are about to emerge and will likely outdo their successful predecessors – the iROKOs, Jobbermans, Paga and Kongas of the ecosystem. Technology entrepreneurship is not only now mainstream but is now a key driver of the economy, as ICT now constitutes 8.5 percent of Nigeria gross domestic product. This is the generation that will not only solve local problems using technology, but will also play a huge role in lifting Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa out of poverty.
The TechCabal Battlefield finale is slated to take place on Friday 21st of February 2014, and is free to attend by technology enthusiasts, investors and all excited about innovation in Nigeria and Africa. There will also be a global livestream that can be viewed all over the world. More information about the event, and attendance registration details can be found on TechCabal.com.
Out of 92 applications and a fiercely competitive shortlist of twenty, the final seven startups have emerged. They are:
500Shops is an e-commerce as a service platform that allows any business owner to setup a complete online store in minutes — www.500shops.com
Adugbo is a digital platform that enables the contextually relevant discovery and promotion of products/services offered by local merchants/small businesses. Via a suite of web/mobile apps offering specific location-based services, Adugbo aims to become the digital interface to your city — www.adugbo.com
Callbase is a telephone system for modern distributed teams that makes it easy, affordable and more efficient for organizations to manage and measure voice communication with customers, partners and others — www.callbase.com
CasaGrupo is an online real estate crowdfunding platform that provides exclusive, well curated, safe and profitable real estate investment projects to its members. By aggregating funds over the internet, CasaGrupo is able to reduce monetary exposure per deal to a minimum of N100,000 — www.casagrupo.com
Decoded is a music platform that aids in the discovery of African music with a focus on the lyrics. Decoded provides users with the ability to experience the diverse and intricate cultures within Africa through the unique lens of musical and literary composition — www.decodedlyrics.com
GoKool is an online shopping platform offering Nigerians genuine auto parts and electrical accessories, a need which is currently underserved in Nigeria’s growing e-commerce industry. GoKool’s aim is to provide their customers the assurance of high quality in a market filled with substandard products — www.gokool.com.ng
Prepclass is an online portal that helps students prepare for popular examinations. The startup’s initial focus is on the nationwide JAMB exams — www.prepclass.com.ng
The seven finalists are going on Battlefield Academy — each startup will be paired with a mentor from the Faculty that will help them think through their product, business and presentations. Members of the TechCabal Battlefield Faculty include Tomi Davies (Lagos Angel Network), Editi Effiong (Anakle), Femi Taiwo (INITS), Mark Essien (Hotels.ng), Ojoma Ochai (British Council) and more.
TechCabal Finale Details
Date: Friday 21st February 2014
Venue: Four Points by Sheraton, Victoria Island, Lagos
The TechCabal Battlefield finale will have a panel of five judges, including Jason Njoku of iROKO Partners, Akin Oyebode of Stanbic IBTC, Ayodeji Adewunmi of Jobberman, Gbenga Sesan of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, and one mystery judge to be revealed soon will decide which start up will leave the arena with glory, fame and the ultimate prize of $20,000.
The TechCabal Battlefield is proudly sponsored by Stanbic IBTC Bank, iROKING, Jobberman, Konga, Etisalat, with support from VC4Africa, Ventureburn, Capital Square, Easy Taxi, Ebonylife TV, YNaija, BellaNaija and RELOADED Magazine.
BellaNaija is a Media Partner for the 2014 TechCabal Battlefield

domain: news


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September 10th / Thomas Flanagan / Link to Rethink Research article
Norwegian conditional access specialist Conax, now part of Kudelski, has revealed a platform expansion that includes additions to its Contego unified security hub – featuring UHD forensic watermarking, secure Android TV and a new product for IPTV.
There is currently a host of announcements from every security firm aimed at jostling for position in the UHD content market – based on MovieLabs new security specifications, and this deal heads Conax in that direction, and the new system involves a deal with Civolution’s NexGuard UHD watermarking.
“Subscriber-level watermarking is the next frontier in the prevention of illegal re-distribution of premium content, in particular movies and premium sport, which is quickly becoming a serious global threat for premium pay TV operators,” noted Jean-Philippe Plantevin, SVP of products and solutions at NexGuard.
Conax recently secured a deal with Supercanal in Argentina, to launch a new pay TV platform offer using the Conax Contego multi-DRM security hub – implemented by integrator Bold MSS. Last week also saw French video compression provider Ateme integrate its Titan software transcoder with Nexguard SDK in a forensic watermarking product for 4K and UHD content.
Further developments for Conax include a partnership with the operator StarTimes in its African operations, to develop a media gateway for households without internet – for easy and secure sharing of live TV to multiple devices. StarTimes will integrate Conax’s security client Conax Trusted Link, as well as the technical blueprint for designing and deploying a secure multi-room service. The combined “Whole Home” project aims to provide improved services for households in Africa, improving the ease to share Live TV and PVR within the home, without requiring an internet connection. First established in China, StarTimes now has more than five million DTH and DTT subscribers across 16 countries.
Conax’s parent Kudelski Group has seen a big turnaround over the past few years from the days when it was a disparate group of pure security businesses, but assets, sales and shrewd acquisitions, such as Conax, have secured its footing and the Swiss group seems to be growing stronger. It is also expected to bring cost savings by improving sourcing arrangements for smartcards and better leveraging SmarDTV services in the CAM business.
At IBC 2015, Nagra will demonstrate how service providers can leverage connected TVs to deliver IPTV and OTT services securely and easily to new and existing customers and will showcase how they can acquire and distribute content with its Anycast in 4K resolutions. As far as participation is concerned, Nagra recently said it has completed the “first steps” in allowing pay TV operators to deliver Netflix on set tops – using its anyCast Connect client and OpenTV 5 connect ware. This comes about nine months after the two decided to put aside the legal differences concerning patent litigation in the US, involving a deal with Kudelski, integrating its video security technology with Netflix OTT services.
Just as we thought we could call it a day, Conax announced another product launch in the form of a new security client for IPTV, Conax Connected Access – supported by its Contego security hub. This new hybrid content protection client is based on a single CAS/DRM technology to securely deliver content over a network to multiple connected devices, including set tops.


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BIG DATA ARCHIVES
The majority of companies worldwide view big data as a strategic—even game-changing—technology development, and they're looking for new ways to maximize the value of those efforts, according to a recent survey from AtScale. The accompanying "
Businesses must boost operational efficiencies enterprisewide if they want to keep up with rapid market and technology shifts. And many are investing in machine data analytics to do so, according to a recent survey from Logtrust and 451 Research. The resulting report, "
The digital universe—which incorporates the data we create, copy, distribute and store—is growing approximately 40 percent a year, and that growth rate is expected to continue into the next decade, as the internet of things (IoT) creates an enormous volume of traffic. The explosive growth of business data has... Read More »
ARTICLES BY DATE


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Storage channel news roundup for Feb. 3-10, 2010
NetApp discontinues development on NearStore virtual tape library
NetApp Inc. has discontinued product development on its NearStore virtual tape library (VTL), fueling speculation that the vendor is looking for a data deduplication data backup partner after failing in its attempt to buy Data Domain last year.
In response to request for comment on NearStore's status, Jay Kidd, senior vice president of NetApp's Storage Solutions Group, confirmed the VTL has been put on mothballs.
"NetApp decided to adjust investment in its NetApp VTL product line to better align resources to market opportunities and demands," Kidd said in a statement sent to SearchDataBackup.com. "We shifted some of the resources from our NetApp VTL development organization toward technologies that best serve our customer base and market demand such as virtualization and ITaaS [IT as a service] solutions. Therefore, our current investment in NetApp VTL is focused on helping our current customers be successful in their existing deployments and implementations.
Get Eric Slack's take on why deduplication doesn't address the fundamental backup problem.
Nasuni Filer offers cloud storage gateway for NAS
Startup Nasuni Corp. is putting its Nasuni Filer into public beta, a product the company says will allow network-attached storage (NAS) customers to get the best of both cloud storage and on-premise data storage by automatically caching active data while bulk data stays with a service provider.
Nasuni is emerging from stealth with founder and CEO Andres Rodriguez (formerly chief technology officer at Archivas, which was bought by Hitachi Data Systems in Feb. 2007) at the helm. Its first product, the Nasuni Filer, is a virtual appliance that runs on VMware. It can be downloaded from the Web and resides in a server at an end user's data center. It offers an interface to cloud data storage services using the CIFS standard file network protocol, rather than requiring customers to provide their own application integration into a Web services-based cloud data storage service. Meanwhile, the customer can either manage a relationship with one of Nasuni's cloud storage service partners or have its relationship managed by a channel partner.
Read this tip on whether Linux NAS makes sense for you and your customers.
EMC: No plans to kill Clariion
EMC Corp. said it's not planning to phase out its Clariion midrange storage-area network (SAN) disk system in favor of Celerra multiprotocol storage, despite speculation running through the enterprise data storage industry.
A few EMC employees posted denials on Twitter last week after the rumor showed up in posts, and an EMC spokesman emphatically denied to SearchStorage.com that there were plans to consolidate Clariion and Celerra or kill off one of them.
"The speculation is not true," EMC declared in the statement. "EMC's midrange storage lines, Clariion and Celerra, are market-leading, flagship EMC platforms. Clariion and Celerra each experienced double-digit revenue growth in EMC's fourth quarter of 2009. It's clear that customers get tremendous value from these platforms, and we are increasing our investment and innovation in them."
Read the full story on EMC Clariion.
Panasas clustered NAS and Amazon S3 cloud data storage help e-Learning provider
An e-Learning software designer and hosting provider set up a hybrid cloud data storage architecture with a combination of Panasas Inc. clustered NAS systems and cloud storage through Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) to handle files and databases.
Connect for Education Inc., a Reston, Va.-based e-Learning firm, replaced direct-attached storage (DAS) and file servers with a high-performance Panasas ActiveStor clustered NAS system in 2008, said CIO Luis Velazquez. The original purpose of the clustered NAS was to support the serving of static content for the e-Learning courses the company designs for college clients.
Read about the steps to building a cloud storage services business.
Riverbed Steelhead 7050 uses solid-state drives to boost WAN performance
Riverbed Technology Inc. launched the Steelhead 7050 this week, a new appliance that uses solid-state drives (SSDs) and a new approach to data protection to improve WAN optimization and offer large customers a more consolidated hardware platform.
One of the use cases Riverbed envisions for the new appliances is data replication between data centers for disaster recovery.
The Steelhead 7050 is now at the high end of Riverbed's Steelhead product line, and will be available in two models: the 7050-L and the 7050-M. Each offers 1 Gbps WAN capacity, but the 7050-L can support up to 75,000 TCP/IP connections, while the 7050-M can support up to 100,000 connections. The 7050-L holds 14 solid-state drives for a total usable capacity of 2.2 TB, while the 7050-M holds 28 SSDs with 4.4 usable TB capacity. Both models use traditional hard drives as "logging" disks, but store persistent data on the SSDs.
Read the full story on Riverbed Steelhead 7050.
Additional storage news
Check out last week's storage channel news roundup.


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Nintendo’s remit is to produce new and innovative games that whet our appetites and show us what untapped potential there is in the video gaming of today and tomorrow. It’s with this in mind that the company bring us Wii Fit, the in-home personal trainer that has the potential to cut obesity levels in gamers and non-gamers alike.
Similar to Wii Sports, which comes bundled with the Wii, Wii Fit encourages active gaming with the use of the console’s latest nifty peripheral, the Wii Balance Board.
Unfortunately, more often than not Wii Sports ends up as something you just pull out of the cupboard at parties and it’s not yet clear whether Wii Fit will meet the same dusty demise in the back of the entertainment unit in your living room.
The company has honed in on a way for people to tone up and exercise in the comfort of their own homes, without the prying eyes or athletes foot infested pools indigenous to the local gym and it sales suggest the world is dying to get in shape with Wii Fit.
Wii Fit will hit US shelves after a more than warm reception in Japan. Selling over a quarter of a million copies in its first week, Wii Fit passed the 1 million sales milestone within one month of its December 1, 2007 release.
Following its release in the United Kingdom last month, Nintendo UK stated they are working hard to ensure that enough stock is available to meet demands. The statement came after retailer, Woolworths claimed the title was selling at a rate of 90 copies per minute.
The worries of perserverance and continuous use aside, it looks as though sales certainly won’t be a problem for Wii Fit in the US. According the Associated Press, online stores such as Amazon.com, GameStop and Wal-Mart were all sold out during the pre-launch sales.
Wii Fit retails at $89.99 and is available as of today (19th of May).


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Could see pickups coming back in sectors such as IT, financials and consumers, says Prateek Pant of WhiteOak AMC
Updated: 19 Jul 2022, 07:48 AM IST
TL;DR.He says the scope for investors to take exposure to equity is tremendous, whether they do it through active or passive funds. There is a room for all styles and all categories, he opines
Pant says there are opportunities in every market as long as fund managers buy good businesses at attractive values.


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It’s the most XXL sized MINI ever, a full 20cm longer than ever before, and there's even five seats for grown ups. Oh, and the boot’s a good size too. We speak of course of the 2017 MINI Cooper Countryman and Countryman SD All4.
INSPIRED by a summer of tennis, Peugeot, the official platinum partner of the ATP World Tour, has today announced the availability of an all-new Avantage Edition of the 208, 308, and 2008 and 3008 SUV models.
Exhaust Notes Australia is your destination point for the latest automotive news and reviews, on two wheels and four, as well as features and opinions.
We'll bring you the latest motoring and motor sport news from around the globe - and we'll have some fun doing it - because nobody said we had to be serious all the time.


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Over the years, Amazon has slowly but surely built an entire fleet of delivery and transportation vehicles to maintain its foothold on the behemoth of a business it has created. According to Business Insider, Amazon reportedly has an incredible number of vans used for the “last mile” of delivery, bringing product from the company’s warehouses to our doorsteps, with over 100,000 vans nationwide. As one could clearly understand, one company maintaining as much volume and control over the delivery of its own product certainly effects the ability for drivers to gain valuable work from a multitude of manufacturers and retailers. However, up until this point, there has been one key aspect of Amazon’s business that has allowed for drivers and the trucking industry to breath easy; the company has long welcomed third parties for shipping its product that goes beyond that “last mile.” Unfortunately, the trucking industry now may be facing a harsh reality, one that sees Amazon bringing all of its delivery resources in-house and creating a fleet that handles the entire delivery process for its business.
As we recently wrote, the trucking industry is already facing a steep drop-off of its own workforce due to retirement and an overall lack of incentives to take on the grueling job. Additionally, the industry has found it much more difficult to keep large fleets of trucks on the roads for trucking companies as retailers and manufacturers continue to consolidate and tighten their grip on shipping costs. That’s why the most recent sightings and word of Amazon’s branded Class 8 tractors are certainly cause for concern. Just last year Business Insider wrote an article on how Amazon was playing a significant role in the driver shortage. At the time of that piece being written, the online publication noted that “Amazon only operates 300 semi-trucks – FedEx, by contrast, operates more than 20,000 semi-trucks.” Additionally, in 2017 it had then been reported that the company was also reportedly attempting to bring 30,000 drivers into its company for solely its “last mile” services. Fast forward two years and we are not only seeing the driver shortage as be far more of an issue, but the trucking industry as a whole has been negatively affected. Most importantly, this is all prior to Amazon actually using the thousands of semi-trucks it has now purchased in 2019.
Amazon’s past decision to lure trucking industry drivers to its company has clearly had an impact on the industry as a whole. Unfortunately, the driver shortage is likely the least of trucking companies’ concerns at the moment. For example, in its article from 2018, Business Insider noted that the move by Amazon led some trucking companies to “primarily target the ‘spot market,’ which is for shipping agreements made only a few days before goods are shipped.” The reason for the trucking fleets to move to the spot market was primarily because this area in the market was far more lucrative than signing a third-party contract that could result in the manufacturer spending far more than is necessary over a longer period of time. At this time, the industry is suffering due to “spot market” rates crashing, not necessarily due to a driver shortage. Overall, while there have only been a few sightings of Amazon’s new tractors, the reality is that one of the world’s largest retailers is about to take the next step to maintain complete control over all of its business.
It cannot go without being said that the ramifications of Amazon bringing its delivery in-house will hinder much more than just the trucking industry. Large decisions such as these have ripple effects that will ultimately affect us all. Earlier in 2019 we wrote about how the trucking industry is losing many drivers, thus forcing older drivers to continue past retirement and potentially hiring drivers who may not actually be all that qualified or properly trained for the job. Such instances then potentially lead to older, overworked, and improperly trained drivers that are asked to drive thousands of miles across the country. Clearly there are circumstances that lead to traffic collisions and fatalities on the road, but decisions such as this, although rightfully made, certainly don’t make them any less likely to occur.


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It’s a media cliché that more has changed in the last ten years in journalism than in the century before that. Yesterday’s big news thatARTnews and Art in America are merging is our gem-perfect art version of this story.
The terms of the merger are tooth-achingly complex.Tthe real implications are unclear, and the statements put out by editors Lindsay Pollock (Art in America) and Sarah Douglas (ARTnews) – both colleagues whom I greatly respect – give the impression, by their lack of details, that this is unclear because it’s simply not clear in the first place.
It looks like the print ARTnews will now be dedicated to “themed issues,” whatever that means (I’m guessing it will be phased out). Art in America sticks around, but Peter Brant, the newsprint mogul who is selling it off, says the merged art-mag conglomerate will “focus on digital content and online news reporting across all platforms.” So it’s not likely to be the art-historically focused Art in America of old.
You can read this as just a local earthquake caused by the larger tectonic shifts of the publishing industry. But art publishing has its own peculiar dynamics. One of these is that a great, great many art titles are vanity projects, backed by a rich person for the same kinds of reasons that rich people like to buy art in the first place.
So what happens in the art mag world doesn’t just tell you about the ill health of print, but also about the changing values of particularly wealthy people. Both Art in America and ARTnews represent their own permutation of this pattern.
From the Art in America side, the detail of the story that sticks out at me is this: While Peter Brant is selling off his art magazines, including not justAiA but also the Magazine Antiques and Modern, he is specifically not selling off Interview, which remains under his private control, despite the fact that it is a money sink just like the rest.
Andy Warhol founded Interview and Brant is a famous lover of Warhol. So it is hard not to read this decision as a statement of the Warholian priority of values: the connection to celebrity and fashion is what is to be prized and shielded; the doughty old project of producing ideas about fine art needs to be rationalized.
Flipping the story around and telling it from the ARTnews side, you have a different story of the evolving values of the art industry. The former publisher of the magazine, Milton Esterow, was hardly a flashy guy, having made his name as “reporter and assistant to the cultural news director” at the New York Times before getting hold of ARTnews in 1972, when it was a languishing part of the Washington Post group.
Esterow ran ARTnews for four decades with a deliberate style and journalistic emphasis, before selling it last year to Sergey Skaterschikov, a character mainly known for Skates, a company that focuses on art market analysis. “I love it and have a great strategy for ARTnews, stay tuned,” Skaterschikov declared at the time.
For months, the word on the street has been that Skaterschikov was already been shopping around ARTnews. So, whatever that “great strategy” was, it did not involve any long-term vision. Basically, the whole looks now like an attempt to flip the art magazine property, much as people flip artworks.


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Solar Firm in Ghana Continues Expansion to Mali
Peg Africa, a Ghanaian solar firm operating in other West African countries, ie.Ivory Coast, and Senegal, including Ghana has extended its services in Mali.
With this extension, Mali becomes the fourth West African country to receive the pay as you go solar from Peg Africa after Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal.
The company uses pay as you go technology to supply energy to users in these West African contries who could not access eletricity in the past. They supply the energy with low cost mobile payment systems.
Comparing Peg Africa service to other services, the company claims that half of their 450,000 customers earn less than $3 per day raising to $97 per month profit after tax. Earlier, customers in the Peg four African market were spending almost 30% of their salary on batteries, kerosene, fuels, candles etc in able to access electricity.
Customers of Peg Africa’s four markets spends 30 percent of their income on polluting fuels such as kerosene, candles, and batteries according to statistics. With Peg Africa introdution, clean solar energy will be serviced to home systems which cost around $2 per week after an initial down payment of around $10 for a system that includes lighting, a phone charger and an optional radio as well as an additional charge on TV.
Hugh Whalan and Nate Heller founded Peg Africa in 2013. The company has gone on to serve 450,000 daily users in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Senegal through 550 commission-based sales agents with a solar energy pay as you go firm which helps users to get the credit report on their services.
With Mali’s 20 million population, only 34.8% of people have access to electricity and that number decreases in rural areas to around 20% having access in rural areas. According to statistics, 75%, approximately 15million population in Kenya lives in rural areas.
Peg Africa aims to expand its reach in other West African countries in 2021. According to their CEO, they aim to open new markets every 12 – 18 months. Already, they have raised $30 million in investments this year according to reports. With a $25 million Series C funding round in March 2019, bringing its total funding to $56.5 million.
ElecriFi, an electrification financing initiative funded by the European Union, announced to invest $5 million into supporting the company. This deal was made in September 2019.


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Dacuda at the Qualcomm 4G/5G Summit
October 18, 2016 —
Dacuda is taking part and exhibiting at the Qualcomm 4G/5G Summit in Hong Kong. We are beyond excited to join the conversation with device manufacturers, operators, software, and hardware tech elites from all over the world, to discuss and strategize market trends and technology developments.
What are we showing at the Qualcomm 4G/5G Summit?
Have you realized that your smartphone has the potential to function as a 3D scanner? 3D Scan the world around you using just your smartphone!
Our CEO, Dr. Peter Weigand, will give a talk at the Summit at 13:50 – 14:10 pm, Oct 19th, titled “Software to turn standard smartphones into 3D scanners”. Naturally, we are also present with a Booth where we are demonstrating our 3D Scanning capabilities with the latest Android hardware, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Stop by if you are in the area, we would be happy to have you give it a try!
Why do I need to 3D Scan with my Smartphone?
We are on the mission to make 3D experiences accessible to every consumer by making 3D sensing as easy as taking video. We focus on computer vision to redefine the capabilities of smartphone cameras with real-time 3D algorithms. We help scale existing 3D use cases to consumers with app-based scanning and novel experiences for augmented and virtual reality.


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Holy smokes, who’d a thought? Sheesh. I’ve mentioned before I’m a member of the National Weight Control Registry, a group of about 5,000 people who’ve lost on average 73 pounds and kept off more than 30 pounds for six years. The actual criteria to join the registry is having lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for one year. I lost 80 pounds over 17 years ago now, so I’m qualified. 😉
Recent findings suggest that it doesn’t matter what method you use to lose the weight, but keeping it off tends to be a combination of low fat and exercise. Suzanne Phelan, a Brown University Medical School psychologist who led the research stated that, “Only a minority of successful weight losers consume low-carbohydrate diets.”
Registry participants who reported being on low carb diets also reported eating more fat, which prompted Colette Heimowitz a spokeswoman for the Atkins diet organization to say, “the carbs aren’t low enough for them to be successful,” and that they should have replaced carbs with more protein rather than more fat.
Meanwhile the battle rages on. Use what works for you. If you love carbs, then low carb is likely not the best choice. Instead try high complex carbs such as whole grains and brown rice with plenty of steamed and raw vegetables and fruits for snacks. On the other hand if nothing makes you happier than a juice piece of steak, perhaps low carb is a good way for you to go. Each of us must find the right balance that works best for ourselves, rather than listening to the diet gurus “diet-o-the-week.”


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Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Sainul K Abudheen
Aucupa Innovative Solutions Pvt Ltd, a Kochi-based mobile app developer, has rolled out a personal security app called iFollow, which will send out alerts when the user is in danger. An Android app, iFollow is free to download and essentially targets women users. You can add up to three personal con...


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On 25th October – 1st November 2015, LaSalle College Jakarta presented a Halloween event in a week at Mall Kota Kasablanka – Jakarta.
LaSalle College Jakarta showed to the visitors about some unique concept on our booth with theme: “Holow – Ween”, such as; a mysterious box that displays for virtual 3D reality from Digital Media Design program, exhibition of Interior Design and Photography, and also we had a Make Up booth for visitors who wanted to makeup with a Halloween theme.
On Saturday and Sunday were the main core of this event, because we had a photography competition for 2 days with a total prize value of Rp15.000.0000 (cash, meal voucher and makeup voucher) and also interactive games. On those days we also had DJ performance, trunks show for 2 collections from Fashion Design students, Kelly Vallerie and Alifia Maqnuun and also live acoustic performance from Faradiba one of our student from Fashion Business program, also one of Zombie figure.
The Halloween event was quite successful with the enthusiastic of visitors who participated in the photography competition. During a week, the visitors came to enjoy the mysterious box that exist in our booth. And there were many children who wanted to make up like a Halloween character, such as; zombies, vampires and others. We hope next year LaSalle College Jakarta can still create a Halloween event with more unique concept and more entertaining as well.


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Two weeks into 2016 and it has become increasingly clear that the roadmap to success has changed. Social media, organic content, Snapchat, Instagram, and influencers have all gone from add-ons to key customer acquisition strategy. Last year I saw astronomically good response rates to organic content.Read the full article
Travis Pastrana Skydives Without a Parachute
Travis Pastrana jumped from a single-engine Cessna from 12,500 feet over Arecibo, Puerto Rico. He was only wearing sunglasses, socks and surf trunks while holding a can of Red Bull. He was not wearing a parachute.


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The job market continued to expand in March, thanks to these industries
215,000 jobs were added last month, with gains concentrated in a few key sectors.
The March jobs report is out from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the results met expectations with 215,000 jobs added last month. While not as spectacular as the 242,000 added in February (since revised up to 245,000), it’s still a nice, solid number—in line with the signs of a solidifying job market and ahead of economist predictions of 213,000.
The retail sector saw the biggest gains, adding 48,000 new jobs. The majority of these occurred in general merchandise stores (12,000), but health and personal care stores and garden supply stores also saw gains of 10,000. Monster’s own data confirmed this growth, with the latest Monster 100—which identifies the companies that created the most job listings in the past seven days—including retailers like Forever 21 and The Men’s Wearhouse.
Health care and construction had a strong month as well, with both adding 37,000 positions last month. The former isn’t a shocker—health care is typically a growth area—but it’s pleasant surprise to see construction keeping pace, particularly during a cold month. (For comparison, the sector saw gains of 19,000 in February). Health care, meanwhile, accounted for 12% of the Monster 100 in April.
A few industries also saw declines in March. Mining employment dropped by 12,000, continuing its downward trend since peaking in September 2014 (it’s shed 185,000 jobs since then). The manufacturing sector also fell by 29,000, mainly in durable goods industries (-24,000).
All told, March was another solid month for jobs. According to Bloomberg, a continued streak of over 200,000 jobs most likely denotes a healthy labor market, while the low unemployment rate—mostly unchanged at 5%—is another positive. Average hourly earnings also bumped up by seven cents to $25.43, after dropping by two cents in February (they’ve risen by 2.3% so far this year).
The April jobs report comes out Friday, May 6. But to find out who’s hiring now, check out the latest edition of the Monster 100.
Like what you’ve read? Join Monster to get personalized articles and job recommendations—and to help recruiters find you.
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Beyond the city limits, Alpharetta rules the technology roost going by the name “Technology City of the South” for the more than 600 tech based companies based there. In 2012, the city created the Alpharetta Technology Commission, made up of the leading small and large technology companies. Members of the commission identify and pursue investment opportunities and policy decisions for the city’s tech companies and the industry overall.
While Silicon Valley is still the place to be for easy capital and no shortage of networking, many investors and tech companies nationwide are now viewing Atlanta as a growth market.
The Forbes story also listed Salt Lake City, Denver, Portland and Seattle as cities to watch for their growing presence in the technology industry.
For the seventh year in a row, Atlanta was named the top moving destination by Penske Truck Rental in its 2016 ranking.


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National Consumer Week 2012 is not far off now – the launch date is 12 November. Our theme this year is ‘cold calling -don’t buy it’ – the aim is to empower the most vulnerable consumers to say no and stay safe in their homes.
We will be promoting the no cold calling ‘super sign’ which enable householders to create their very own, instant no cold calling zone . The sign tells cold calling doorstep traders to leave - if they don’t, it is a criminal offence.
The ‘super sign’, along with posters and leaflets, will be available to download from our website soon!
Our 2011 National Consumer Week campaign ’good sports don’t fake it’ has been shortlisted for a CIPR pride award – the winner will be announced 11 October.
More information on our current and previous campaigns can be found here.


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Zemeho’s Valinta music player launches to help app and game developers.
Zemeho has an innovative team of professionals and youth who love games and music. Photo: Zemeho
Oulu-based Zemeho has launched their music streaming player Valinta for mobile apps and gaming, and it is included now on Fingersoft’s Fail Hard game that has reached over 10 million installs.
Our [valinta] now in @Fingersoft FailHard! Favorite #music in #games #PGCLondon #MGF2016 https://t.co/yAnzTTYrCc pic.twitter.com/K68QkJBZyn
— [valinta] by Zemeho (@zemeho) January 14, 2016
With Valinta, the fans can now enjoy their favorite game with the music of their choice. The service lets gamers control the music thus improves game retention, and the plugin is free for mobile developers to integrate into their apps.
Zemeho wants to welcome developers to join the growing ecosystem, where current partners already have 450 million installs for their games. From music industry perspective, Valinta provides a channel to reach millions of listeners.


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TV-viewing options expanded Thursday with Amazon (AMZN) announcing it added HBO and Cinemax to Amazon Channels for a monthly fee, upping its battle with Netflix (NFLX), Walt Disney (DIS), AT&T (AT&T) and other providers of video streaming services.
Amazon Prime members can access HBO and Cinemax through Amazon Channels, on its Amazon Prime Video platform. HBO and Cinemax will join a line of more than 80 video subscriptions that include Showtime and Starz. Viewers can access HBO and Cinemax for a monthly fee of $14.99 and $9.99, respectively. Prime members can receive a 30-day free trial.
Amazon's new offering follows AT&T's launch of DirecTV Now, the latest contender to enter the over-the-top streaming service arena. The service, which costs $35 a month for now, will join other providers of OTT streaming video such as Dish Network's (DISH) Sling TV and Sony's (SNE) PlayStation Vue. Other video viewing options in addition to Netflix include Hulu, the subscription video on demand service owned by Disney, 21st Century Fox owner News Corp. (NWSA), Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner (TWX). Hulu offers ad-supported and ad-free subscription videos on demand.
IBD'S TAKE: With a big jump over the past two years, Amazon.com shares took up residence on IBD Leaderboard, an exclusive list of the very top stocks near or at buy points. But the stock Leaders can change fast. Amazon is down 12% from its Oct. 6 all-time high and fell off the board, at least for now. Investors should keep daily track of Leaderboard.
On Wednesday, Netflix added the option of allowing subscribers to download movies and TV shows, at no additional cost. The benefit is that users can download a movie to their Netflix network and watch later on mobile devices, thus saving them from having to pay cellular data fees for streaming.
Amazon stock fell 0.92% to 743.65 in the stock market today, as tech stocks in general were diving. Netflix stock, once down more than 2%, ended up a fraction, at 117.22.
Reports surfaced last week that Amazon has been in talks to broadcast live sporting events, including talking with the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and the National Football League.
On Thursday, CBS (CBS) said it would stream NFL games on its CBS All Access subcription streaming service, starting Dec. 4
Last week, Amazon said it would expand its video streaming to more than 200 countries, ratcheting up the competition with Netflix. Netflix airs in some 190 countries, with China the only major holdout.
Editor's Note: Corrects headline to reflect fact that this is an expansion of the availability of HBO and Cinemax on Amazon Prime.


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China not only has the largest number of consumers, but also some of the world's biggest shopping centers. But China's shoppers are not yet packing the malls.
The Golden Resources shopping center on the western outskirts of Beijing is so big that it has been dubbed the "Great Mall of China". With a floor space of 560,000 square meters, it is 15 times the size of Beijing's Tiananmen Square, the world's largest public square.
More than 1,000 shops on five floors leave few material desires unfulfilled. The luxury mall also includes cinemas, tennis courts and an ice skating rink. The parking lot has space for 10,000 cars.
Fu Yuehong is the manager of the shopping center. She says the mall was the world's biggest when a Chinese-Filipino investor opened it in 2004. Fu says her boss decided that the scale of the shopping center had to be big because China has a big population and the economy is developing fast.
Only a year later the Golden Resources mall was eclipsed by an even bigger Chinese shopping center. The giant South China Mall in Guangdong province is a mixture between a shopper's paradise and a theme park, complete with a replica of the French Arc de Triomphe.
Super-sized luxury malls are a new phenomenon in China. But the country is already home to half of the world's 10 biggest shopping centers. New malls are mushrooming everywhere, even in second-tier cities.
But many Chinese are unfamiliar with the North American concept of driving to a mall to spend several hours shopping, dining and watching movies. Also, not enough customers can afford the mainly high-end goods on sale in many of the biggest malls. On one weekday, Beijing's Golden Resources mall is almost empty.
An 80-year-old woman says she only comes to shop in the mall's supermarket downstairs. She says upstairs, it is too expensive and ordinary people like her do not need any of the high-end products on sale.
But real estate experts say mall developers are investing in the future. Anna Kalifa is head of research at the Beijing office of Jones Lang LaSalle, an international real estate consulting firm."The incomes have risen 50-percent across the country in the last five years, so I personally think these companies would like to secure the prime sites now, betting on future development," she says.
Kalifa says while Chinese customers still have to get familiar with giant shopping malls, Western retail chains such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour, and Ikea are successful in China because they blend in with the local culture. Customers like the stores because they can touch and pick up merchandise at their convenience - just like at the local market.


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Ten years ago, electric vehicles were mainly on the agendas of Nissan and a small group of start-up companies that included Tesla. Today, the ‘legacy makers’ are catching up rapidly; Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Renault and Volkswagen are all significant players in the EV space.
In parallel, new innovators have arrived to provide EV charging, such as Ecotricity, Gridserve and Instavolt, with little sign of the traditional oil companies as we adapt to new ways of refuelling our vehicles. Now that’s all set to change.
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Consumers may choose to switch gas and electricity companies with news that British Gas is to announce an increase in profits of 43 per cent.
The company has attracted criticism because although consumer bills have been reduced by ten per cent, wholesale energy costs for gas and electricity have fallen by more than twice that figure through the course of 2009, reports the Guardian.
Gas consumption in the UK has fallen by seven per cent so far this year, but the firm's residential division is still on course to surpass last year's profit figure by more than £160 million.
Robert Hammond, an energy expert with Consumer Focus, said: "The suppliers are getting away with making huge profits while over five million UK consumers remain in fuel poverty."
He called for all energy suppliers to reduce their prices to avoid the number of fuel poor homes increasing in the UK.
Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, said it needs funds to invest in renewable energy projects throughout the UK.
All the UK's major suppliers have implemented price reductions to varying degrees this year.
If you want to find out more about your energy options and how you could save up to £378 in minutes, click here.


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Now that Samsung's Galaxy S4 has rolled out to the major carriers in the US, smaller options like Cricket are getting involved. The prepaid carrier just announced that it'll start carrying the Galaxy S4, and it'll come in at an exceptionally low up-front cost of $54.99 — nearly $100 less than what T-Mobile is asking for the Galaxy S4. This only applies to "qualified customers," and there will also be an associated monthly device charge to go along with it — much like T-Mobile's new payment plan structure.
Unfortunately, Cricket hasn't revealed exactly how much those monthly payments will be, nor how long they will go on for. But given the fact that Cricket's suggested retail device for the phone is $599.99, we're guessing those installment payments won't be too cheap. It's still cheaper than the $149.99 that T-Mobile is asking up front for the Galaxy S4, If you're still interested, the phone will be available on June 7th, and we expect Cricket will have more details on exactly how much it'll cost per month then.


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Close entry for tourists for at least six months In Bali and throughout Indonesia, and possibly other countries in Southeast Asia, called on an agricultural official in Australia. And this is not a joke: the reason is an outbreak of a new infection, because of which a catastrophe can happen all over the world with a new epidemic more abruptly than covid and full-scale famine. And we are not talking about the recently famous “monkey pox”. Australian meat and livestock analyst Simon Quilty of Global Agriturismo Trends has called for tourists to be banned from entering the Southeast Asian region for at least six months due to the FMD epidemic that is spreading across the Indonesian archipelago. The contagious disease threatens cattle as well as pigs, which are the virus factories for the disease, the analyst said. But the problem is that the Lizard virus of these animals is easily transferred on people's clothes, and tourists are the most favorable environment for this due to their high mobility. And this is extremely disturbing news, especially against the backdrop of the topic of “world hunger”, which is currently being discussed on all continents thanks to Ukrainian grain: now the shortage of meat, both beef and pork, can be added to the grain deficit.
The details are as follows: foot-and-mouth disease was discovered in Indonesia after the illegal trade in infected livestock. Quilty said FMD has rapidly spread to East, West and Central Java, Lombok and many islands in Indonesia over the past month. “If foot-and-mouth disease comes to Australia, all the markets open to us will close overnight,” he said. At the same time, the Indonesian government, according to him, is extremely slow in responding to the epidemic.
But where are the tourists? In his speech, the analyst stated literally the following. “We are really worried about tourists. Every year before COVID, 1.3 million Australians visited Bali. Now we are open again. We create massive traffic through each of our airports in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane – and thus risk spreading foot and mouth disease because it is in Bali – and this disease can be transmitted through clothing. As a country, we seriously need to think about banning people from traveling to Bali, as extreme as that sounds,” the analyst said. FMD importation will be only 18%. In the meantime, the chances are “50/50,” Mr. Quilty said. He stressed that this threat is all the more urgent, since the global food crisis could make Australian meat sharply in demand. “While other key supplying countries are being liquidated, Australia is currently rebounding, opening up opportunities to export beef and sheep meat over the next few years to feed the world. We just need to get over this immediate threat of foot and mouth disease on our doorstep,” said Mr. Quilty.
For those who care about a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “The doctor named a dangerous kind of bread.”


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* Media reports say co’s baby formula tainted
* Reports: product causes premature sexual development
* Co refutes allegations; says will take legal action
* Shares fall as much as 35 pct (Adds details from company’s statement, updates share price)
Aug 9 (Reuters) - Shares of Chinese baby-formula maker Synutra International SYUT.O fell as much as 35 percent on Monday after reports in Chinese media linking it to babies developing premature sexual characteristics.
However, in a statement late Monday, the company denied the allegations and said it was in the process of taking legal action to protect its brand.
“We have worked closely with state authorities, including the Chinese Dairy Association and the office of food safety, to test product samples, to prove that these claims are false. We expect that the results of these tests should be made public soon,” Synutra Chief Executive Liang Zhang said.
Earlier, state-run Chinese newspaper Global Times, quoting a report from Beijing-based Health Times, said three babies from Hubei province showed symptoms of breast development and abnormal levels of female hormones.
The months-old infants had been fed baby-formula products tagged with the same lot number produced by Synutra, Global Times said, citing the earlier report.
Synutra, which sells its products in China, said it does not add hormones to its products as suggested in the media reports and has invested heavily in research, quality control, formulations and ingredients.
In 2008, milk formula that was adulterated with melamine, an industrial compound used in making plastics and fertilizer, killed at least six toddlers and made almost 300,000 sick, prompting Chinese-made products to be stripped from shelves worldwide. [ID:nPEK192060]
Shares of the company closed down 27 percent at $12.72 Monday on Nasdaq, after hitting a low of $11.24 earlier in the day. (Reporting by Abhishek Takle and Shradhha Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Anthony Kurian)


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When it comes to fraud, consumers will likely think of common threats like identity theft, credit card fraud, fraudulent bank transactions — the list goes on. However, cybercriminals are constantly evolving, and now online dating sites and applications are in the crosshairs. To be clear, fraud in online dating isn’t new — the term “catfishing” became mainstream following the 2010 documentary “Catfish.” However, recent data breaches have given fraudsters an excessive amount of personal identifiable information (PII) to be used in online dating scams. Furthermore, a 2016 study in Psychology Today found at least half of dating website users have lied about themselves in their profiles. Most are mild lies like weight and wealth, but some users are what would be called more severe “catfishers” and pretend to be someone they are not. Beyond catfishing, thousands of reports of stalking, rape, abductions, murders and physical attacks have emerged from dating sites. A study by Statistic Brain found that 10% of sex offenders use online dating to meet new people.
There is virtually no digital identity verification process when creating an online dating account to ensure the digital identity of the account holder matches the physical identity, nor an ongoing authentication process to ensure an online account is still being operated by the same person. Most dating apps verify through other apps such as Facebook, and it’s easy to create a fake Facebook profile. The hands of these companies are tied – the consumer expectation of a frictionless user experience is higher than ever, but companies must also be able to provide the best security available when creating the ideal user experience.
Data Breaches Have Made Impersonations Easier to Achieve
Roughly 7,500 dating websites exist globally, encompassing 35 million U.S. users. Following a year full of high-profile data breaches, a user’s PII is now more readily available for use by cybercriminals to conduct fraudulent attacks. A 2015 Ashley Madison breach exposed the data of some 37 million users. Last year, a scam took place in South Carolina in which prison inmates set up an extortion ring blackmailing members of the military by posing as underage women online and collected more than half a million dollars. It’s clear that the fraud-related risks of online dating are becoming more apparent and companies must adopt higher levels of security to protect their own ecosystem and customers.
The Cost of Online Dating Scams
Romance scams and similar scams cost consumers more than any other type of internet fraud, with consumers losing more than $230 million in 2016, according to the FBI. Businesses can expect this number to be much higher. Furthermore, online dating sites often facilitate in-person meetings between two people, and it’s an organization’s responsibility to make sure the people are who they claim to be online. As the consequences of online dating fraud escalate, businesses need to implement stronger means of user authentication for online dating sites in 2019. Companies must confidently ensure that people using an online dating app or service are who they claim to be — even after initial account creation. Online sites are trying to recruit as many accounts as possible to boost their numbers and aren’t willing to take the necessary precautions to verify that an account holder’s digital identity continues to match their physical identity. By establishing these standards of identity verification, site users will also benefit. If a user’s profile is 100% verified confirming they are who they claim to be, other users can feel safe interacting with the individual without fear of fraud. As more users become 100% verified, the site becomes safer for everyone to connect and interact. Users are also likely to spend more money on dating sites that have identity verification standards in place.
Leverage Biometrics to Deliver a Secure, Frictionless User Experience
Modern identity verification providers are now providing emerging methods of verification and face-based authentication with seamless user experience, and online dating sites need to follow suit. Consumers demand a frictionless experience when online. However, if companies continue to allow users to create accounts with only an email address or Facebook account, these scams will continue to happen. Because of the proliferation of data breaches taking place over recent years, traditional authentication methods such as knowledge-based authentication and SMS-based two-factor authentication are no longer approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology — they are much easier for cybercriminals to bypass today.
Face-based biometric authentication with a strong liveness detection allows users to access their account through a selfie. Each time a user logs in a new selfie is compared with the original selfie created upon enrollment to ensure only the true user is accessing the account. Liveness detection is also applied to ensure the user is physically present when creating the account and logging in. This is not only more convenient for consumers than traditional methods, but it is also much more secure. The biometric data combined with liveness detection cannot be hacked or duplicated. Even if a device is stolen, the data on the device will remain secure. Just as important, facial biometrics offer a simple one-step solution to the problem of remembering a vast array of PIN codes and passwords. Online dating companies that don’t consider adopting this technology in the future may experience significant losses in both active users, revenue and reputation.
Biometric authentication and identity verification are changing the way consumers interact in the digital world – whether it’s to unlock a smartphone, check-in for a flight or verify a highly sensitive financial transaction is being made by the real user. As this technology continues to evolve and gain momentum, it is critical for online dating companies to do the same to protect consumers with the security they demand, while also providing the convenience they expect.


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|Ayitey Powers and Bukom Banku|
Though the masses attention is currently on boxer Bukom Banku over his skin bleaching and NDC endorsement saga, a few on social media are trying to divert the attention to a video fellow boxer, Ayitey Powers sent from the United Kingdom.
A 12-seconds video which was first (we probably saw it first from him) shared by Twitter user, Jayberete, is going viral, diverting attention from Banku’s appalling skin bleaching saga.
Ayitey Powers is seen in the short video telling everyone about his current location and trying to speak the typical British English.
For the first time, we are hearing Ayitey saying “Init”. Very funny. Watch the video below and the reactions from the tweeps as well.
Hahahaha….This man paa 😭😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/sXoDJNJwpb
— Jude .M. Berete (@jayberete) May 25, 2016
Now get the comments here;
@jayberete Init! 👌🏾
— Mr. Annan (@2nd_Nerd) May 25, 2016
@jayberete London fever ampah😂😂😂
— MUFASA (@STAN_badass) May 25, 2016
@jayberete he said init 😂😂😂😂😂
— June 26th (@kazimomar) May 25, 2016
@jayberete looool innit 😆😆
— Omogbajumo (@tobzzie) May 25, 2016
@jayberete people dey!
— Kofi Black (@Blackboi009) June 2, 2016


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“Once a Canadian national champion, the company is seen as ripe for a sale after misjudging the smartphone revolution,” Paul Taylor and Neil Munshi report for The Financial Times.
“After starting her career in New York’s financial services industry five years ago, Carrie Sin was rarely without her BlackBerry. Like millions of white-collar workers around the globe, she felt a sort of enforced allegiance to it. ‘I always had it for work and it was easier to stick with one device. Also, I was used to the keyboard,’ she says,” Taylor and Munshi report. “But the appeal of her BlackBerry began to wane as more of her friends bought iPhones. Socially, it was like being stuck at the office while everyone else was at a party. “I was left off group texts and the running joke when my friends would email about new apps would include something like: ‘Carrie has a BlackBerry so her only app is [to use it as a] paperweight.'”
Taylor and Munshi report, “So in May, she finally made the switch. The experience, says Ms Sin, was ‘life-changing. Really.’ She is not alone. In the fiscal first quarter BlackBerry’s subscriber base fell by 4m to 72m. Its longtime strength – corporate users such as Ms Sin – has been unable to insulate it from the touch and app-driven smartphone revolution unleashed by Apple’s iPhone.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “RIM. Dead Company Walking.” – MacDailyNews, August 5, 2010
Why potential buyers won’t line up for beleaguered BlackBerry – August 12, 2013
Beleaguered BlackBerry explores sale of company– August 12, 2013
Beleaguered BlackBerry shares drop 7% as Z10′s U.S. launch gets subdued reception – March 22, 2013
Gartner: Beleaguered BlackBerry in an ‘extremely difficult’ spot – March 19, 2013
Why the Z10 won’t save beleaguered Blackberry – March 11, 2013


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Augmented reality start-up Blippar is set to relaunch after its assets were bought by property tycoon Nick Candy’s investment firm Candy Ventures.
Blippar fell into administration last month following a dispute over additional funding. Candy Ventures had been one of Blippar’s major backers, alongside Qualcomm Ventures and Malaysian government fund Khazanah Nasional, which had reportedly blocked Blippar’s access to the emergency investment it required from Candy.
Blippar’s operations have been deployed into a new business – Blippar Group Limited, Blippar AR Limited and Blippar Limited were all registered on Companies House between 23 and 25 January.
The business will continue to trade as Blippar and will be headed up by Blippar co-founder Ambarish Mitra.
It will also employ “many of Blippar’s original key engineers,” according to a statement from Candy Ventures, which added its product offering will focus primarily on developing an augmented reality creation and publishing platform called Blippbuilder “which will make it easy for everybody to create augmented reality”.
“The augmented reality market is growing exponentially and Blippar was an early innovator and leader in this space,” said a Candy Ventures spokesperson.
“Rish and the team built a great business, which had to adapt to the challenges of a constantly evolving industry. With the right application of its powerful AR technology, there is huge potential for the new company to drive innovation in AR and position itself at the forefront of the industry.”
Founded by Mitra and Omar Tayeb in 2011, Blippar was a so-called ‘unicorn’ – start-ups valued at $1bn (£765m) or more.
But it had struggled to monetise its product and generate recurring revenue and in its most recently filed accounts, for the year ended 31 March 2017, the company had reported a pre-tax loss of £34.5m, on sales of £5.7m. While 261 staff worked at the company when these accounts were filed, it is thought that this number had fallen to around 75 at the time of its administration.
Blippar’s technology has been used in a number of high-profile cross-media campaigns and promotions, including the Rugby World Cup in 2015.
In 2017 the business suffered reputational damage after it emerged Mitra’s CV included false claims.


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Besides good call quality, a long battery life is the most important quality a cell phone can have. After all, if you have to carry around your charger for frequent power sessions, it really defeats the purpose of a "mobile" device. Fortunately, CNET tests the talk time battery life of every cell phone that we review. And for higher-end phones we also test features like the music player battery life and video time. For more on that process, check out our video of how we test phones.
After the Windows Phone 7 launch passed without so much as a mention of Project Pink, Microsoft's other new phone project started to fade into memory. Today, we can confirm: Pink's coming, and Verizon's the carrier. UPDATE: First live shots.
A tipster passed us a load of third-party marketing materials, in which a promotional plan for Pink is laid out in detail. (Campaign specifics and most graphics have to be withheld to protect the innocent, but rest assured, they're legit.) The documents don't talk about specs or software details, or more importantly why the hell Microsoft thinks this weird little pebble is a good idea, but there's plenty we can learn:
The early Pink renders leaked to us back in September? Those are exactly the same ones included in the proposal.
Of the two phones in prior leaks, only one shows up here: The Turtle vertical slider. It's a messaging phone, basically--one part Pre, and two parts Sidekick. (Or maybe three.)
Verizon is a launch partner for the device, and probably an exclusive carrier. The branding and marketing in the documents suggests a joint Microsoft/Verizon launch, but another carrier isn't completely out of the question.
The phones aren't running Windows Phone 7, unless it's hidden behind a different interface. Virtually all rumors around the Pink platform implied as much, and again, this appears to be something fundamentally different.
Social Networking! It's all over the proposal, and presumably, the phone.
It's suggested that the platform has apps of some sort. For a phone like this to share apps with Windows Phone 7 is pretty much impossible--the minimum hardware requirement for a Windows Phone looks out of reach for this little black lump--so this one's a big question mark. Is it another SDK? Or closed app development like we've seen on the Zune HD? Web apps?… Read more
Most people are happy with their feature phones , but if you're finding you've outgrown yours and need more functionality, it might be time to upgrade to a smartphone. A smartphone can offer you more advanced contact, e-mail, and calendar functions, additional productivity apps, a better Web browsing experience, and so much more. If you've been hesitant to graduate to a smartphone because it seems too technical or excessive, think again. The handsets in our gallery below are good starters, offering ease of use and the essential tools for messaging, voice calls, and productivity. Fair warning: most of … Read more
Google is giving Android users another method for searching their smartphones: finger-drawn letters.
The company has launched a new app called Gesture Search, which lets Android 2.0 users find items by drawing a letter on the screen. Draw an "A," for example, and all contacts, bookmarks, applications, and songs that begin with an "A" appear on the screen.
Neatness doesn't count. If your handwriting is sloppy, and your "A" looks like an "H," Gesture Search will bring up items that start with "A" and "H," according … Read more
New York's Skype is on the fritz today so only Bonnie's voice joins us from The Big Apple. Or maybe she's not in New York at all? It's all about the economy these days as Sprint cuts the price of an unlimited plan and Nokia and T-Mobile role out a bargain smartphone. Also in the podcast, Bonnie slams the Moto Backflip and Verizon's Palm commercials, Nicole takes us into the fascinating microcells, and we welcome back Jason Howell.Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video)
Rumor … Read more
Update: This post was last updated on March 16.
We realize it's still early in the year, but we don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that Windows Phone 7 Series is one of the biggest mobile tech stories to come out of 2010. Finally, Microsoft delivered a mobile operating system that not only looks completely new and compelling, but is also functional and competitive. However, there are still a number of unanswered questions and ever since the big reveal at Mobile World Congress 2010, we've gotten a steady stream of reader e-mails about Windows Phone 7 Series.
Instead of trying to answer each one individually, we decided to compile some of the most frequently asked questions and we sent them to the Windows Phone team in hopes of getting some more specific answers for you. We've incorporated their responses below, and included some of the latest information from MIX10 and from around the Web.
We'll be updating this FAQ regularly as more details are revealed throughout the coming weeks and months. Also, keep sending in your questions and we'll do our best to get them answered for you. Now, without further ado, your Windows Phone 7 Series FAQ. … Read more
China's second largest mobile phone company will be selling Google Android phones after all, according to a report from Reuters.
China Unicom's chairman Chang Xiaobing told Reuters Wednesday, on the sidelines of a conference in Beijing, that the carrier "recognizes that Android is a mainstream system." And he told the news service that the company "will definitely use Google's Android in our mobile handsets."
Google postponed the launch of two Android-based mobile handsets in China on Unicom's network earlier this year after Google discovered a sophisticated and targeted attack on its network … Read more
Due to arrive at T-Mobile in the coming weeks, the Nuron is a 3G touch-screen smartphone that will sell for just $69.99 with a two-year contract. For that price, you're also getting free turn-by-turn, voice-guided navigation since the device ships with Ovi Maps. The app includes maps for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico and offers pedestrian mode, weather forecasts, and Lonely Planet guides, among other things. There is no monthly subscription required to get this … Read more
On March 7, AT&T will release its first Google Android smartphone, the Motorola Backflip, for $99.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate.
The Backflip made its debut at CES 2010 where it earned our Best of CES award for the cell phones and smartphones category because of its unique design, which includes a rear-facing QWERTY keyboard and a trackpad behind the display. Unfortunately, after now spending some time with the final product, this seems to be the only real highlight of the phone.
The Backflip suffers from performance issues and runs Android 1.… Read more
As much press as smartphones like the Apple iPhone and the Nexus One get, Americans by and large still prefer to use less powerful "feature phones." For example, the LG enV Touch (just a feature phone, not a smartphone) was one of the most popular phones on Verizon for a long time- our CNET review of the enV Touch consistently made our monthly Top Five list for the most pageviews from July to October in 2009. It was even No. 1 for two of those months (August and September). There was also an NPD report last year that claimed around 72 percent of new handset sales in Q2 of 2009 were feature phones, not smartphones.
On the face of it, this is understandable. Smartphones are seen as complex and might have features that many consumers don't need or want. Feature phones are typically easier to use, and are cheaper to boot. But this field is rapidly changing--feature phones aren't so simple anymore, while smartphones are focusing much more on the consumer market. More importantly, the pricing differences aren't as clear cut as you might think. The lines between the two categories are blurrier than ever, and I'm thinking a shift in the balance might be forthcoming. … Read more


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Carlislefutsal.com can exclusively announce that Carlisle Futsal Club is set to be a feature Club on the latest release of EA Sports incredibly popular computer game FIFA.
The legendary FIFA series has been produced by EA Sports for over 20 years, and is now the largest sports video game franchise on the planet. FIFA brings the world’s game to life, letting you play with the biggest leagues, clubs, and players in world football, all with incredible detail and realism.
FIFA 20 saw EA Sports expand its game modes beyond just the 11-a-side format to include Volta mode which mixes street football and Futsal. It has been such a hit with fans that they have been calling for their favourite Clubs and players to be added and Carlisle Futsal Club Is amongst a hand full of other English Clubs that will feature in the .21 release. Our fans can now choose to play as Carlisle Futsal Club and score goals with their favourite players such as John Heyes and Rhys Graham in a quest to qualify for the Futsal Champions League.
The good news doesn’t end there either with Club Captain Tom Lucock in the running to feature on the cover alongside World Football Superstars Team USAs Megan Rapone and Liverpools Sadio Mane. One lucky English Futsal player will be chosen to be on the cover with Tom set to find out if he has been successful in the coming weeks.
Lucock, 28, who was recently signed by Le Coq Sportif as a brand ambassador for the UK following an incredible debut season in the Futsal National League, is delighted to be asked;
’My agent John has done an incredible job this year in promoting me. First the deal with Le Coq Sportif and now this. Its all been a bit of a whirlwind, eh. I’m a massive FIFA fan. Ive played FIFA since its first release in 1993 As a kid it was always an ambition of mine to feature on the game but I didn’t expect it to happen like this. They said they’re going to feature my infamous topless celebration on there which should be good. You’ve got to give the fans what they want like.’
The online team-based mode will be getting a serious update in FIFA 21.
EA today said they have “been working hard to incorporate community feedback and suggestions into offering increased customisation for Virtual Pro, new ways to play, and providing an overall better experience for everyone who counts Pro Clubs as one of their favourite modes.”
Club Chairman Martin Taylor believes this is just another indication that the Club is making a real impression on the National Futsal scene.
”EA Sports is a huge global company and FIFA a huge brand with massive reach around the world. On a marketing front this news is incredible For us so we cant thank them enough. We now have direct access to millions of people so its going to really boost our profile and ability to attract sponsors. To be nominated as a feature Club in the first place was an honour but to actually be chosen is a real indicator that we are doing things right as a Club.”
The FIFA 21 Release Date. FIFA 21 release date is predicted to be on September 25, 2020. The game is set to be released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PC Windows and Nintendo Switch platforms.


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THE ex-CEO of Davy who resigned due to a bond trading scandal will earn nearly €79million following the stockbrokers’ sale to Bank of Ireland.
Brian McKiernan, who ran Davy Group from 2015 until March of this year, owns roughly 13 per cent of the business, which is being sold off for €440million.
The bank is also set to pay a further €125million for excess cash on Davy’s books
Earlier this year, McKiernan and several other senior figures resigned from the firm after the Central Bank fined Davy €4.13m for breaching conflict of interest rules on a major bond transaction.
The details of the takeover show staff at the embattled stockbroker will not be subject to pay caps and bonuses bans that apply at bailed out banks
Up to 80 Bank of Ireland staff are permitted to transfer to Davy by the end-2022, followed by a dozen per annum after that.
This means they will be in line for bonuses and escape the €500,000 a year pay cap.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the acquisition was a welcome outcome for the Irish economy due to Davy’s importance as an indigenous wealth manager and capital markets firm.
He added: “This brings to an end an uncertain period for Davy and provides it with a well-capitalised owner.
"This transaction provides Bank of Ireland with growth opportunities as it expands its product range in the high net worth and mass affluent categories.
"It supports the bank’s stated strategic priority of growing the wealth and insurance business with the aim of unlocking growth opportunities in Ireland, increasing fee income, and generating sustainable profits.
“The standard remuneration arrangements in a stockbroking and wealth management business are very different to those that pertain in a retail and commercial bank such as Bank of Ireland.
DEAL TO CONCLUDE EARLY 2022
"Reflecting this, the bank sought my consent for the continuation of the current remuneration arrangements in Davy which I duly granted.”
The sale agreement comes one month after Donohoe announced the State was planning to sell its 14 per cent stake in BOI by the end of the year.
The Davy deal with BOI is expected to be concluded in early 2022, and will initially release 75 per cent of the sale price on completion.
The remaining quarter will be paid two years later subject to Davy shareholders meeting “a number of agreed criteria”.
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There is also the possibility of up to €40million of further payments from 2025, subject to the performance of the business.
Announcing the sale, BOI CEO Francesca McDonagh said: “Bringing Davy into the group represents a significant milestone which will considerably enhance our customer offerings and growth outlook for the group.”
Separately, Luxembourg-based investor services company IQ-EQ has reached an agreement to buy Davy’s Global Fund Management business.


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Whether companies plan for an Intelligent Enterprise using SAP Leonardo, want to better run business insights or use SAP HANA in a hybrid cloud scenario, at the SAP on NetApp Summit use-cases and real …
Read full article here..
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In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats, a recent malvertising campaign has brought to light a new and troubling trend. Threat actors are capitalizing on compromised websites to promote fake versions of popular software through Google Search Ads, exploiting the unsuspecting site owners in the process. This blog will delve into the details of this alarming incident and the implications it carries for internet users and online advertising platforms.
Imagine searching for a legitimate piece of software, like PyCharm, on Google, and stumbling upon an advertisement that promises to provide what you need. Sounds harmless, right? Well, not in this case. Malwarebytes recently uncovered a malvertising campaign that used Google's Dynamic Search Ads to distribute Trojanized versions of PyCharm.
In this campaign, a compromised website, specializing in wedding planning, was unknowingly used as the conduit for the malicious ads. These malicious advertisements led unsuspecting victims to a hacked webpage, where they were prompted to download the PyCharm software. However, what they received was not the reputable Python development tool but over a dozen different pieces of malware.
Google's Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) is an advertising service that generates ads based on a website's content and the search terms entered by users. It's a powerful tool that offers a highly targeted approach to online advertising, and when used properly, it can be a boon for businesses. However, in the wrong hands, it can become a weapon for cybercriminals.
The malicious actors behind this campaign leveraged DSA to create ads on-the-fly based on the compromised website's content. This process allowed them to serve malicious ads to Google Search users who were searching for terms related to the legitimate software.
The most disturbing aspect of this campaign is the unwitting involvement of website owners who had no knowledge of the malicious activities taking place on their sites. As Google Ads dynamically generated the malicious ads, the website owners essentially became intermediaries in a scheme that cost them money while promoting malware.
- Increased Sophistication: This incident highlights the increasing sophistication of cybercriminals. They are not just relying on traditional phishing methods but are finding innovative ways to compromise online advertising channels.
- Third-Party Risks: It underscores the risks associated with third-party content on websites. Even well-intentioned website owners can become unwitting accomplices in spreading malware.
- User Vigilance: It's a reminder that users must exercise caution when downloading software, especially if they encounter it through advertisements. Verifying the source of the download and using official channels is crucial.
- Online Advertising Vulnerabilities: This incident underscores the need for stronger security measures in online advertising platforms to detect and prevent such malicious campaigns.
The trojanized PyCharm software delivered via Google Search Ads serves as a stark reminder of the evolving nature of cyber threats. As cybercriminals continue to find creative ways to exploit digital platforms, it is crucial for internet users, website owners, and advertising platforms to remain vigilant and proactive in the fight against malicious actors. The incident also highlights the need for ongoing efforts to enhance the security of online advertising channels and protect unsuspecting users from falling victim to such schemes.


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Apple announced recently that in commemoration of the Chinese New Year, it shall release two exclusive Apple Watch Sport models. These models haven’t been featured on the Apple Online Store yet, but it is expected that they will be available till the end of January. These special sports models will be available for sale in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan till mid February.
The current lineup of the Apple Watch has on offer of 12 different models, which includes the new anodized gold finished models. These models were announced last September.
Recent updates regarding the news is that Apple has made sure that no references to this upcoming product are available on the Asian sites, but reports say that the exclusive line will be out for sale from January 15th, with yellow gold aluminium and silver aluminium with red sport bands.


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Apple has patched an exploit with its Find My iPhone online service that may have been used by hackers to gain access to personal photos stored on iCloud accounts belonging to some 100 celebrities.
With approval from Europe's regulatory authorities now in the bag, Oracle's planned buyout is now approaching its conclusion.
Europe sets out how UHF spectrum in the 470-790 MHz band will be used to support future demand on 4G networks.
XP might be out of date but that doesn't mean it isn't still being used by many organisations. But research suggests another big deadline could be missed by some.
Looking for a new smartphone but aren't interested in an iPhone? Don't worry because we've got you covered. Here is a selection of the best Android phones currently available on the market (September 2014). So whether you're after a handset for personal use, or one suited to BYOD, there bound to be an Android smartphone here for you.
No IT or business leader can afford to be pushed around by their inbox. These simple steps will automatically lighten your burden of incoming email.
Microsoft gets a three week deadline to come up with an explanation for "compatibility issues" in Windows and Office that could violate Chinese competition laws.
Under a new plan known as 'data embassies', duplicates of essential databases and services stored or run from secure datacentres on foreign soil.
Japan is moving to let airline passengers use smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices during flight, but only if they are switched to flight mode during take-off and landing, according to the country's transport ministry.
Melbourne's RMIT University is set to play host to what it claims will be the "world's first" rapid 3D nanoscale printer, following the launch last week of its new AU$30 million MicroNano Research Facility.
The Communications Alliance has revealed how telcos would have warned customers downloading copyright-infringing TV shows and films in a trial scheme that would have operated in Australia by now had rights holders agreed to pay their share of it.
As the Australian government looks to force telcos to retain customer data for law-enforcement investigations, the number of requests for customer data that Telstra is receiving from Australian law-enforcement agencies has risen in the last six months.
The Australian Capital Territory's new information privacy laws, which came into effect today, open the door for the appointment of an information privacy commissioner for the territory.
Customers of smaller Australian telcos are set to begin receiving the same usage alerts provided to customers of Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone.
IT professionals work in a field which is inherently susceptible to change. While bedrock concepts such as software development, administration of networks or operating systems and security...
As the unveiling of the next iPhone draws near, reports have emerged that Apple has reached an agreement with at least three major credit card companies to work together on its new NFC payments system.
LG Electronics' smartphone market share in its home country has reached near 30 percent, thanks to the success of the G3.
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Does flash memory fragmentation affect performance?
Flash memory has been used in PDAs for a long time and with PCs rumored to start shipping with flash drives instead of hard drives the question about fragmentation is a timely one. There has been a debate concerning the affect on performance that typical file fragmentation has on flash drives but until now I had not seen any definitive tests about the issue. An individual (tony72) has run tests to quantify the affect on performance using Windows Mobile devices and the results are pretty eye opening. His tests show that write performance is greatly affected when the flash drive is fragmented, dropping to half the performance of a totally defragmented drive. This will become a big issue with the large capacity flash drives that will start appearing in ultra-portables and UMPCs real soon now. (
Pocket PC Thoughts


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(PRWEB) October 08, 2013
A brand new investing guide has just been published at HowtoInvestHQ.com. The guide, which can be found here, uses an unconventional but previously successful approach to picking winning investments.
The topics and strategy discussed in the new investing guide at HowtoInvestHQ.com can be described only as unconvenitional. The crux of this new guide is professional stock analysts and financial advisors are able to crunch numbers and calculate the exact value of a company better than an individual investor is going to be able to on their own. As a result, trying to beat the market average (and hence outperform these investing companies) by looking at financials is a losing proposition. The individual investor has less tools, less skills, and less time to dedicate to finding the best stock on paper. Other data needs to be considered in order to determine top companies for investing purposes.
Rather than focusing on financials, the new guide encourages investors to focus on three factors when evaluating a company and its stock. The first is profitability: investors should only invest in profitable companies. The new guide warns that exciting ideas and concept companies that make no money often go out of business before ever materializing any profits.
The second tenet is only investing in companies that produce the best products. According to the guide, this most difficult part of executing this strategy is being a realist and not letting personal fancies and biases determine investment choices. The biggest mistake among investors picking companies based on product quality is that often an individual's preferences differ from the public at large. In order to successfully decipher which company is truly the best in a given sector, it requires putting individual preferences at side and instead using public opinion from the consumer to determine which product really is the best in its class.
Finally, the new guide encourages would-be investors to only buy into companies that are attuned to the direction in which the world is moving. Movements create great investment opportunities. For example, the green movement has created a lot of interest in sustainable and responsibly-raised food sources. Companies which sell these types of foods like Whole Foods (WFM) and Chipotle (CMG) have done very well over the last few years. By investing in profitable companies that are poised to grow due to these changing trends, yields have the potential of beating the market average.
For more details, visit http://www.howtoinvesthq.com/. A full copy of the new investment guide can be found at http://www.howtoinvesthq.com/how-to-invest-in-the-stock-market/.


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AUSTIN -- For the week ending July 23, feeder cattle prices at Texas auctions were mostly $2 to $8 lower per hundredweight. Lower fed cattle and beef prices contributed to the decrease. The drought was also a factor as calves are being marketed earlier than normal because of the lack of grazing, which is increasing supplies and lowering prices. Fed cattle prices were $2.50 lower following a decline in wholesale beef values. Cotton cash prices fell because of continued weak exports and concerns about future demand. Corn prices were lower on forecasts for improved growing conditions in the Midwest. Wheat prices increased because of tight supplies of high protein winter wheat. . . .
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Tesla China has launched a fresh set of cash discounts for customers of select Model Y inventory units starting Thursday, Reuters reports, citing the announcement on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
According to the promotional materials, inventory Tesla Model Y buyers can benefit from a limited-time discount of RMB 8,000 ($1,125). However, Tesla did not indicate which particular trims are eligible for the incentives.
Customers can also only access the discounts until supplies last. Apart from the RMB 8,000 cash discount, Tesla also offers discounts on paid body paint options.
For context, the Tesla Model Y has five paint options. Two cost RMB 8,000, while the other three cost RMB 12,000. With the new discount, customers who take delivery of a Tesla Model Y on or before March 1 would only need to pay RMB 2,000 ($281).
HW 4.0 upgrade
Tesla also upgraded the entire lineup of the Model Y to include the Hardware 4.0, the company’s latest generation of hardware capable of supporting the Full Self-Driving (FSD) advanced autonomous driving function.
It will enable the electric crossover to view greater distances, with a maximum detection range of up to 424 meters. Despite the upgrade, Tesla did not raise the prices of the Model Y trims.
Tesla’s Chinese footprint
Tesla China currently only produces the Model 3 electric sedan and the Model Y electric crossover at Gigafactory Shanghai.
The Giga Shanghai serves as Tesla’s main electric vehicle export hub and biggest factory by volume. Impressively, it has an estimated production rate of more than 950,000 units per year.
In December 2023 alone, Tesla China’s sales reached 75,805 units. It enabled the company to record a 37.27% YoY growth to 603,664 units in the entire year, China Passenger Car Association’s data revealed. All these efforts are crucial for Tesla to maintain its dominant position in the battery-electric vehicle segment against BYD in the Chinese market.


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“We’re going to spend staggering amounts of money,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk declared last week on an earnings call. Not many CEOs would speak with as much candor about how they plan to use their shareholders’ capital. But then again not many CEOs are as bold as Elon Musk.
This comment came during an eventful earnings call during which Musk a) claimed that in a decade’s time, Tesla could be worth as much as the most highly valued company in the world, Apple, is today; and b) revealed that the company is designing a battery to power your home. And it seems to have taken even some of the company’s biggest supporters on Wall Street by surprise.
Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas has previously described Tesla as the world’s most important automaker. He was one of the first people to argue that the company’s batteries could end up being more disruptive than its cars, and said the company could be making up to $2 billion a year in additional revenue by the end of the decade from grid storage.
Following last week’s earnings call, Jonas told clients that Musk’s aggressive spending plans were “at great philosophical odds” with his forecasts for Tesla. He said he was beginning to question “whether investor appetite can keep up with Tesla’s growth journey.”
A week later, and Jonas seems to have regained his confidence in Tesla. “Who would you rather give $1.5 billion to invest in 2015: Elon Musk or your average auto company?” he asks in a note published this morning.
That $1.5 billion, Tesla’s capital spending forecast for this year, will be about a quarter of Ford’s, he writes, even though Ford has about 40 times the revenue and will probably sell 200 times as many cars. This sounds risky, but in fairness, Tesla is still in hyper-growth mode, while Ford is a 111-year-old company.
In any case, Jonas says he is comfortable with Tesla’s spending plans because he is convinced the company is best-placed to fundamentally disrupt the auto sector with its innovative vehicles. If the Model X SUV is released on time in the US this summer and is received well, he even thinks Tesla’s stock price could be back at record highs by the end of the year.
Which could be important; Tesla shares have been under a bit of pressure lately. The company is still losing money, after all. And its aggressive investment plans raise the possibility that it will burn through all its cash and need to raise more funds from investors. If it manages to fatten shareholders’ wallets in the meantime, they will be happier to stump up more cash if the company calls upon them again.