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Facebook Instant Games’ closed beta just ended and the platform is now open to all developers, product manager Michael Weingert announced in a blog post, with newcomers able to submit their HTML5 games right away via the Facebook for Developers page.
Facebook recommends 11 HTML5 game engines to work with: BabylonJS, Cocos Creator, Construct3, Egret, GameMaker, GiderosMobile, Layabox, MelonJS, Panda 2, Phaser, Pixi Js, with full details for each explained here. Facebook added that “currently, games built with cross-platform engines such as Unity3D and Unreal Engine have a WebGL export that is not optimized for mobile and are not recommended.”
Weingert also announced a handful of new features in order for developers to “monetise, measure and grow their games” on the Instant Games platform. Going forward, devs will have access to an ads API, “ads optimization and measurement tools” such as the Monetization Manager tool, cross-promotion features, dynamic ranking updates, and more. You can find all the details in the blog post.
Facebook’s Instant Games launched in November 2016, with currently 200 games available. The games are free-to-play, run in a web view and will work across Messenger and the Facebook News Feed on mobile and desktop. Soon after launch, Canadian games outfit Big Viking Games announced a $10m publishing fund for developers looking to create content for Facebook’s Instant Games.
In October last year, Facebook added monetisation options and scaling tools for developers to the platform.


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Toyota and Microsoft Design Sustainable Mobility Future
REDMOND, Washington, April 7, 2011 (ENS) – Toyota and Microsoft are partnering to build a system that links electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, people and smart center energy-management systems.
The world’s largest auto manufacturer and the world’s largest software manufacturer announced Wednesday that they will work together to build a global platform for Toyota’s telematics services using the Windows Azure cloud computing platform.
Telematics is the combination of telecommunications and information technologies in vehicles, including GPS systems, energy management and other multimedia technologies.
Cloud computing delivers easy, scalable access to computing resources and services over the Internet.
At a news conference at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond on Wednesday, officials of the two companies said they plan to participate in a one billion yen (US$12 million) investment in Toyota Media Service Co., a TMC subsidiary that offers digital information services to Toyota automotive customers.
Steve Ballmer, left, and Akio Toyoda sign the telematics partnership agreement. (Photo courtesy Microsoft)
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said, “Starting in 2012, customers who purchase one of Toyota’s electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles will be able to connect via the cloud to control and monitor their car from anywhere – safely and conveniently. For example, customers will be able to turn on the heat or AC in their car while their vehicle is plugged into the grid or dynamically monitor miles until the next charging station right from their GPS system.”
“Or a customer could use a smart phone to check battery power or maintenance information remotely,” Ballmer said.
“Customers can use these applications and services for power management as cars connect into the smart power grid,” he said. “Imagine being able to tell a car to charge at the time of day when energy demand is low and therefore, the least expensive.”
Toyota President Akio Toyoda said, “This new partnership between Microsoft and Toyota is an important step in developing greater future mobility and energy management for consumers around the world. Creating these more efficient, more environmentally advanced products will be our contribution to society.”
“To achieve this, it is important to develop a new link between vehicles, people and smart center energy-management systems,” said Toyoda.
As part of its smart grid activities, aimed at achieving a low carbon society through efficient energy use, Toyota is conducting trials in Japan of its Toyota Smart Center pilot program, to link people, automobiles and homes for integrated control of energy consumption.
“With the introduction of Toyota plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles next year,” said Toyoda, “our cars will play a big role in the global expansion of what we call smart centers – on-board systems capable of better managing overall energy consumption of cars, driving trips and homes.”
“This new system will include advanced car-telematics like virtual operators with voice recognition, management of vehicle charging to reduce stress on energy supply, and remote control of appliances, heating and lighting at home,” Toyoda said.
Ballmer said, “It further validates the power of the cloud, as the Windows Azure platform will provide the enterprise-grade, scalable platform that TMC needs to deliver telematics in its automobiles worldwide.”
Toyota’s goal is to establish a complete global cloud platform by 2015 that will provide affordable and advanced telematics services to Toyota automotive customers around the world.
“So as we enter the smart grid era,” said Toyoda, “I am confident that through our partnership we will improve our products’ contribution to sustainable mobility in which we can meet the travel needs of our customers and support a good economy, while maintaining safety and preserving the environment.”

domain: news


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Advanced Micro Devices in 2016 announced a joint venture deal with a Chinese company to create a company in that country that would license AMD’s technology to create x86 server chips, a move the promised the U.S. chip maker hundreds of millions of dollars in licensing fees and royalties and a greater foothold in the large Chinese tech market.
Two years later, that joint venture with Chinese chip maker Hygon is producing x86 processors based closely on AMD’s Epyc server chips, which are built atop its “Zen” core microarchitecture.
The new “Dhyana” systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) reportedly are extremely similar to the Epyc processors, with the only real differences being the internally stored vendor ID and family series number. The Hygon Dhyana chips are so similar to the Epyc that, according to a report by Phoronix, Linux developers needed to change fewer than 200 lines of kernel code to enable it to run on the processors.
The move to producing x86-based chips in China comes with far-reaching industry and political implications. AMD has long been in the shadow of Intel, which dominates the x86 chip space for a number of markets, including server and PC processors. AMD had made a run at Intel in the mid-2000s with its Opteron server chips, bumping up its market share before losing momentum and falling further behind.
By 2016, AMD executives under CEO Lisa Su were looking to stabilize the company’s financial situation while building PC and server chips based on the new Zen architecture. The deal that year to partner with Tianjin Hiaguang Advanced Technology Investment to create the new company in China brought with it an immediate $293 million in licensing fees to AMD and the promise of royalties on any chips developed by Hygon down the road. AMD owns 30 percent of Hygon, which will make chips only for the Chinese market.
It also gave AMD an avenue into the large processor market in China, which has been increasingly difficult for U.S. tech vendors to get into. In 2015, the Obama administration banned Intel from selling high-performance Xeon server chips to Chinese companies for such systems as Tianhe-2, at one time the world’s fastest supercomputer. The concern was that such systems could be used by China in programs to develop nuclear weapons or other products that could threaten the United States. That ban has continued.
AMD isn’t the only chip maker to make moves in China. IBM has licensed its Power8 architecture, and Via Technologies is in a joint venture with Chinese company to develop x86 PC chips.
At the same time, Chinese officials, in an effort to build up that country’s tech industry, started pouring money into homegrown companies to develop its own technologies and put restrictions on how U.S. businesses could operate in China. That forced many of them, such as AMD and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, to partner with Chinese companies and create joint ventures to keep doing business in China.
The results of China’s efforts can be seen in such systems as the Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer, which spent two years topping the Top500 list of the world’s fastest supercomputers before being dethroned this year by the IBM-based Summit system in the United States.
TaihuLight, which runs at the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi in China, delivers peak performance of 93 petaflops and is powered by homegrown Sunway SW26010 processors. It also uses a Sunway interconnect technology and operating system.
The supercomputing title is one of several areas of the tech competition between the United States and China, with others includes exascale and quantum computing. China’s efforts are part of the country’s Made in China 2025 initiative, which was announced in 2015 with the goal of pushing the country into leadership positions in nearly a dozen areas, including semiconductors, robotics and artificial intelligence.
However, diplomatic and market tensions between the two world powers has been ratcheted up in recent months by the growing trade war accelerated by the Trump administration’s imposition of tariffs on some Chinese goods and China’s retaliatory tariffs.


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SPRINGFIELD, Ill., March 17, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — The “credit repair” industry in Illinois siphons savings from people, often without improving their credit scores at all, according to testimony before the Illinois House of Representatives Financial Institutions Committee on Thursday.
Advocates, service providers, and directly-impacted Illinoisans testified on how credit repair companies prey on consumers with low credit scores. These companies typically charge Illinoisans monthly fees up to $100, promising to boost their credit scores. Many of their customers have paid $1,000 to $3,000 before giving up hope and exiting their contracts.
“Credit repair companies are just out to get peoples’ money,” says Mary Joyce Nunn, a Chicago resident who used credit repair products. “They don’t care about people who are struggling. They removed things from my credit report that belonged to my mom, but then they promised to get a bankruptcy off my report, and that’s how they really got me. They said to just to be patient. And then months rolled by, and they keep telling me the same story. You don’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late. I didn’t know how to read a credit report, and it cost me dearly.”
Credit repair companies promise to “fix your credit” by disputing negative items on their customers’ credit report, whether the items are accurate or not. Credit repair companies make false promises that their results are lasting. However, only real inaccuracies can be removed permanently, and consumers can dispute negative items on their own for free.
Credit repair companies often dispute accurate items and because of a loophole in the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970, they may come off temporarily. But when accurate items are inevitably returned to a consumer’s report (when creditors reverify the information with the credit bureaus), the consumer’s credit score will again plummet.
“When a consumer notices that an item they thought was removed is still on, they call the credit repair company to complain, and that’s when these companies engage in the most deceptive practice, as they tell consumers to “keep paying, ” so they can “get the item off for good”, says Ricki Lowitz, Founder and Co-CEO of the non-profit organization Working Credit. “Many of our clients have worked with companies over the years, and many have spent thousands of dollars on this service.”
Consumers who use credit repair services can file complaints against companies at the Office of the Illinois Attorney General and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Many of the companies operating in Illinois are violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule, which requires that credit repair companies produce documentation that the disputed items have been removed from a consumer’s report for six months. No consumers should pay up-front or monthly fees before this six-month timeline.
“The Federal Trade Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule protects consumers from credit repair organizations that ask for money they’re not entitled to receive,” said Andrew Pizor, staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. “But too many providers ignore the law. We urge the Illinois Attorney General to devote more resources to enforcing the rule.”
Financial Inclusion for All Illinois leads this advocacy effort, with membership from organizations including Illinois PIRG, Working Credit NFP, Jane Addams Resource Corporation, and more. Learn more about our work to educate consumers about credit repair here.
ValentinaPerez Botero, Heartland Alliance, 3128487384, [email protected]
Amy Eisenstein, Financial Inclusion for All Illinois (FIAI), 6308789701, [email protected]
SOURCE Financial Inclusion for All Illinois


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China on Wednesday reported surprisingly weaker growth in industrial output and retail sales for April, reinforcing expectations that Beijing needs to roll out more stimulus measures as the trade war with the United States escalates.
Investment also stumbled unexpectedly, suggesting China's economy is still struggling for better footing even as a sharp hike in U.S. tariffs last Friday ratcheted up pressure on its exporters.
Growth in industrial output slowed more than expected to 5.4% in April from a year earlier, pulling back from a surprising strong 4-1/2 year high of 8.5% in March, which some analysts had suspected was boosted by seasonal and temporary factors.
China's exports unexpectedly shrank in April in the face of U.S. tariffs and weaker global demand, while factory surveys suggest new export orders remain sluggish. Retail sales were also worse than expected, with the headline number rising 7.2%, the slowest pace since May 2003, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.
That compared with March's 8.7% and forecasts of 8.6%, highlighting concerns that consumers are growing less confident as the economic slows and the trade war drags on. Earlier this week, industry data showed automobile sales in China fell 14.6% in April on-year, marking the 10th consecutive month of decline.
Fixed-asset investment growth slowed to 6.% in the first four months of this year. Private sector fixed-asset investment grew 5.5% in the same period, easing sharply from an increase of 6.4% in the Jan-March period. Private investment accounts for about 60% of overall investment in China.
Growth in infrastructure spending, a powerful economic driver, held steady at 4.4% year-on-year in Jan-April from the first quarter of this year.
China is trying to engineer a construction boom to rekindle demand, even as it steps up support measures to keep cash-starved smaller companies afloat, ranging from tax cuts to financial incentives for firms which do not lay off staff.
Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch believe a prolonged period of brinksmanship would drag China's growth to 6.1% this year, from a near 30-year low of 6.6% in 2018. They expect more policy easing in the short-term, further cuts in banks' reserve requirements and another surge in bank lending, as well as consumer subsidies to boost sales of products such as cars, appliances and smart-phones.


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This year, Lake County celebrated a flurry of new businesses and expansions, and nowhere was this more pronounced than in advanced manufacturing. With Lake County’s incredible streak of industry growth over the past several years, 2021 was the punctuation mark on recent record-levels of new jobs and investment.
Since 2019, manufacturers have added 520 new jobs and directly invested $180 million in land, buildings and equipment. Manufacturing is a true powerhouse when it comes to job and revenue generation as it now contributes to more than 27% of Lake County’s gross domestic product and employs 1 in 7 workers. Lake County’s talent—which is diverse, highly-skilled and TWICE the national average for a similar sized region—is certainly contributing to this success. Employers are taking note.
Lake County Partners spent the year working directly with businesses, partners like the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the College of Lake County, and public sector leaders to secure deals and land wins. From pizza to manufactured goods and the packages that they go into, you can find it all in Lake County. Here are a few of the advanced manufacturing highlights of 2021:
- AZ Polymers broke ground for a new facility in Gurnee, while Fischer Paper Products in Antioch, Belle Aire Creations in Round Lake Park and Mighty Hook in Waukegan cut ribbons to celebrate expansions.
- Fifty-year old, beloved pizza chain Lou Malnati’s consolidated its corporate offices, manufacturing and fulfillment in Buffalo Grove to respond to rapid growth.
- Amazon finished work on its third Waukegan facility, increasing the number of people working for the company in the city to 1,000 in more than 1.1 million square feet of space.
- Medline, one of the world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of medical supplies, continued to expand its Lake County footprint with three facilities, two offices and a 1.4 million sq. ft. Grayslake distribution center that is the fifth largest in the world.
- Power transmission component manufacturer HM Manufacturing looked to add a new shift in Wauconda, with the company anticipating up to 26% growth by the end of the year.
- Medical device manufacturer Medical Murray completed state-of-the-art expansions at its facilities in North Barrington and Lake Zurich.
- The College of Lake County gathered community leaders together for a beam signing to commemorate advancement on its new Advanced Technology Center that will offer in-demand manufacturing training to fortify Lake County’s strong talent pipeline.
We want to add your company to the list of next year’s success stories. Contact us here to request our support and services, all of which are free thanks to the support of our investors.


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Facebook adopts hashtag
Social notworking site Facebook has adopted the “hashtag,” one of the most recognizable features of Twitter. Facebook will begin to roll out the feature on its social network, making it easier for users and advertisers to find hot spots of user activity around specific events or topics.
The hashtag, which appears as the # symbol and was first popularized on Twitter. It enables users to follow specific topics of conversation user comments. Facebook users will now be able to group comments on the same topic by typing the hashtag alongside a keyword – such as #fudzilla.
The hashtag was good at dealing with issues like political debates, television shows and sports. The Game of Thrones series wedding scene on HBO generated 1.5 million mentions on Facebook. The company is rolling out hashtags to roughly 20 percent of its users on Wednesday, with a full global launch expected in the coming weeks.
- Facebook Messenger come uno spyware?
- Facebook sperimenta i post a tempo che si autoeliminano
- Privacy e Facebook: con chi condividiamo le informazioni?
- #Millegiorni e #Passodopopasso. La politica ormai vive solo di hashtag
- Ukraine tells Facebook CEO to tame Russian bots
- Facebook contro i siti acchiappa-click: modifica l’algoritmo ed elimina il click-baiting
- VIRUS ALERT SU FACEBOOK! Attenzione ai messaggi su “video”
- Raptr, il Facebook dei videogiochi
- Come inviare messaggi Facebook senza scaricare Messenger
- Facebook si aggiorna su iOS, riduzione dei crash del 50 %


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On 17 March, Ecommerce Europe launched a survey to assess the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak on e-commerce in Europe. Both national e-commerce associations and company members took part in the survey. “Information sharing between countries is crucial in these times, as limitations in several countries can have a strong impact on cross-border sales. Ecommerce Europe believes that these insights also constitute a useful source of information for EU and national decision-makers to adopt the best approach possible for a sector that can play a crucial role in this crisis. Therefore, we call on the European Commission and Member States to keep the borders open for cross-border trade”, declared Marlene ten Ham, Secretary General of Ecommerce Europe.
All respondents reported that the current Corona pandemic is already affecting online retail. 65% of the respondents indicated that they or their members (online merchants) expect the pandemic to lead to a decline in sales and a release of staff. This decline of sales can already be seen in sectors such as fashion, travel and other service-based sectors. In contrast, industries such as food, healthcare products, products contributing to working from home (laptops, tablets, screens etc.) and being quarantined (freezers, etc.) have seen a steep increase in sales. As a result of the focus on e-commerce in these growth sectors, some concrete effects of the crisis on online retail are already visible. While 94% of respondents indicate that it is still possible to sell and deliver products in their own country and cross-border, members did stress that there are sometimes some practical problems depending on where online shops are selling to, for instance at the border, or which products they are selling. While delivery is thus still generally possible, between 55% and 60% of the responding members is currently dealing or expects to deal with delivery delays in the future.
Around 65% of the companies and national associations currently expects a partial or complete closure of their business or that of their members during quarantine. This is also linked to whether or not a Member State is in a far-reaching lockdown. For instance, in Italy, where the outbreak in Europe first hit, the closure of activities was declared already on 13 March, leading to strict restrictions to limit the movement of people. All trade and production activities that are not strictly necessary or not connected to the food and health case supply-chain were closed. Despite this, online shops (selling all kinds of products) continue to operate. To achieve this, workers inside the warehouses are adopting very serious prevention measures. In the logistics sector, there are many difficulties. As people are only leaving their homes if strictly necessary, there has been an exponential increase in the demand for logistics services. Especially couriers for e-commerce and food deliveries are no longer able to keep up with the demand, leading to many delays and cancellations of deliveries.
The situation in Italy gives an indication of what countries going into full lockdown could expect. In this perspective, notwithstanding the importance of ensuring that citizens do not spread the virus across Europe, it is imperative to keep the borders open to allow necessary cross-border product supplies and sales. Moreover, in instances of far-reaching lockdowns, the dependency on online retail becomes significant. Delivery operators and online retailers, especially SMEs, are going to need support from governments and authorities to fulfill this important function.
Coronavirus E-commerce Info Center
Ecommerce Europe has opened a Coronavirus E-commerce Info Center. On this webpage, we collect updates on EU measures, national measures and initiatives, and relevant news. The portal is continuously updated.


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13 June 2019 | News
The new milk intake forecasting tool is implemented in all Arla’s markets
image credit- dairyreporter.com
Arla Foods has developed a new artificial intelligence tool to better predict their milk intake from farmer-owners. This means that 200 million kilos of milk can now be utilised better each year making Arla’s value chain even more sustainable.
By using AI technology, Arla is able to create the milk intake forecast from a much richer data foundation. It includes things like seasonal changes, the number of farmers converting to new milk types, the farmers’ geographical characteristics as well as how much milk they produce on a daily basis.
The new milk intake forecasting tool is implemented in all Arla’s markets across Europe, including Denmark, Germany, Sweden, the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
“The better we are at predicting what our milk intake will be, the better we can plan and optimise our entire value chain, which both improves profitability for our farmer-owners and drives sustainability. The new AI tool provides us with an insight into our supply of milk that we have never had before”, says Michael Bøgh Linde Vinther, who is Director of Global Milk Planning in Arla.


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Accessible Art Fair (ACAF) Brussels decided to launch its first Digital Pop-Up on www.accessibleartfair.com from December 9 until January 10, 2021.
This year’s ACAF edition has been postponed to 2021 due to the current situation which has proven to be very harsh on the art sector in general, especially for artists who saw their exhibitions and projects cancelled or postponed.
In a moment where all cultural places and activities are shut down, organisers want to continue honouring ACAF’s mission of support and give an audience to unaffiliated artists. The idea is to recreate in a digital environment the intimate platform that this fair has been for 14 years. The ACAF website will be the link between artists and the public, and all the artworks presented will be under 500 (€/$/£).
Aim is to encourage people to buy art and support the artists – ACAF will not be taking any commission on the sale. Despite the difficulties of the lockdown and the restrictions worldwide, artists have been able to turn this situation into an opportunity to put all their effort in making new art. Many of the works that will be exhibited in the sale have been created during lockdown. ACAF Digital Pop-Up will be a great occasion to see how artists are reacting to the pandemic and perhaps give insight to interpret what is happening in the world. Now more than ever, art is here to help get through this crisis. The sale will be enriched throughout the month with live interviews to the artists and virtual visits of their studios. Spearheaded by Canadian entrepreneur in the arts and curator, Stephanie Manasseh and managed by Salvatore Costantino who joined the ACAF team more than two years ago.
The ACAF Digital Pop-Up is the result of the joint effort between ACAF and SM Art Advisory, with the graphic consulting of Okiko Studio. Find out more at www.accessibleartfair.com
LIST OF THE PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Manu De Mey
Kim De Molenaer


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For the more than 100,000 attendees expected to hit the show floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center today, NAB Show opens with new conferences, new sessions, new speakers, new ideas. The show is also welcoming major digital players like Google and Facebook, as well as members from the cable industry, sports leagues, the auto industry and even NASA.
What will stand out is the significant community that’s rallied around the media, entertainment and technology industries.
NAB has named it The M.E.T. Effect — calling this convergence of media, entertainment and technology a phenomenon cemented by integrated systems, internet connectivity and a cross-connected
“We wanted to identify a theme that communicates the transformation that has occurred and the ultimate impact that it is having both on reshaping the industry and the consumer experience,” said Chris Brown, executive vice president of Conventions & Business Operations. According to Brown, The M.E.T. Effectsm is about a future vision of media, entertainment and technology as a whole — and the nature of the change that is affecting anyone involved in these sectors.
Just look at one area — say, television. Viewers are clearly no longer bound to the TV set. That connectivity links directly to mobile, which melds into social media, which in turn converges into radio. From there, one connects to advertising, and then in turn with virtual reality.
Like spokes in a wheel, this convergence links all pieces of the media marketplace: film, mobile, gaming, TV, radio, live events, sound, social media and virtual reality.
“The convergence of media, entertainment and technology has been happening for quite some time — but it feels like 2017 has taken it to an entirely different level,” said Shira Lazar, who is serving as a digital evangelist for the show’s series of M.E.T.-themed events. She is CEO and host of the news curation site WhatsTrending.com.
By highlighting the deepening connections between mobile devices, social media and technology, “we can better understand where the industry as an entire ecosystem is headed, and how content owners and audiences alike can harness it to suit whatever their goals or needs are,” she said.
It’s a convergence circle that links and connects them all.
“Indeed, these forces are intertwined and interdependent,” added Brown. “But the enormous impact of technology has never been more evident from both the consumer perspective and from the viewpoint of the professionals who work in these industries.”
All of this means that companies must plot a future around new services and synergies. That’s leading filmmakers to consider technology that addresses augmented reality programming. It’s fueling broadcaster adoption of OTT platforms. It’s introducing advertisers to new technology opportunities like programmatic. And it’s broadening options for radio stations to expand through mobile, video, drones and podcasting.
“We are beginning to see a new ecosystem taking shape,” Brown said. “Many of the companies that participate in our show are having to change the way they do business, and they are looking to tell a different story about what they do and what problems they solve.”
“The areas of content ownership and monetization are key topics for people on both sides of the content aisle,” said Lazar. “Creators want to better monetize, and consumers want a more streamlined experience. Whether that’s paying for content or viewing ad-supported content, the overall experience needs to be a positive one.” As it has every year since its inception, NAB Show will focus closely on the technology fueling this change.
Nearly 1,800 companies are expected to exhibit across more than 1 million net square feet of floor space, highlighting the progress being made in the ongoing transition to virtualization, the cloud, 4K, IP infrastructure and drone technology. The latter in particular generated enormous headlines earlier this year when more than 300 drones flew above Super Bowl 51 in February to create a synchronized dance of lights.
It’s a perfect example of how a technology can meld and cross multiple markets: Local TV stations are looking at launching aerial newsgathering with unmanned aircraft systems; filmmakers are tapping into virtual reality, 3D and CGI; virtual reality manufacturers are targeting its technology to an expanding group that includes game developers, ad agencies and app developers.
“Technology needs to blend in and work with us seamlessly for both creatives and audiences. Capturing video should be as easy as pressing Record, and watching something should be as simple as pressing Play. The technology fades into the background, and the experience is all that matters,” said Lazar.


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VIEQUES, PR – As the world’s largest international television and broadband company rolls out new set-top boxes to facilitate addressable advertising, Liberty Global is focusing on “attention economics.” This departure from simply looking at content consumption is the outgrowth of the company’s ever-evolving data science capabilities.
“The industry has been talking about this around the fringes but hasn’t used the data in a monetizable way to either trade or to drive that value,” Liberty Global’s MD for Advanced Advertising & Data, John Paul, says in an interview at the Beet Executive Retreat 2017 titled Video Everywhere: The Transformation of Media & Advertising. “And there’s a much bigger story there.”
Paul likes the term “attention economics” because the bottom line is understanding Liberty’s customers engagement with content, or “What’s really going on behind it,” he says in response to a question from Ashley J. Swartz, CEO of Furious Corp., the inventory and supply chain management company serving premium publishers.
As CNBC reports, Liberty recently announced fourth quarter results that included a 198% increase in revenue in Latin America and the Caribbean, driving the company’s stock price up more than 15% in one day. During 2016, Liberty added 946,000 new European subscribers and 94,000 organic Latin American and Caribbean division subscribers.
While understanding data and its implications in the marketplace is a must given the current competitive environment, it’s not rocket science, according to Paul. “What we’ve learned mostly out of this is that we don’t need to be PhD data scientists to get the value out of this,” Paul says. “Most of the value that’s being generated not just within our activities but what we’ve observed in the United States, is actually fairly basic applications of data.”
The ongoing rollout of Liberty’s EOS set-top boxes will enable addressable in markets where the company…


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I’ve seen a number of 3-D scanning applications for smartphones in the past; the latest one from researchers at ETH Zurich is the most impressive however. The output looks incredibly detailed and the application couldn’t be easier to use. Essentially, you just hold your phone in front of an object and the software will create the 3-D image on the fly, adding more data points as you move your phone around the scanned object.
Take a peek at this video, found by Ubergizmo, to get a better understanding of the app:
The software, which is not available for download, taps the smartphone’s GPU to speed up the process of image creation. That’s a smart move, given that a highly detailed scan could require thousands of data points. It’s also clever for the app to simply gather those details without any on-screen interaction; it just keeps adding missing bits as the phone is moved around ever so slightly. The app also leverages the internal sensors of the smartphone to smartly determine phone movement to put the 3-D image together.
What’s the potential use case here? Apps such as this can be helpful for 3-D printing, when you want to replicate a physical object without trying to design it from scratch for example. Or, as the video explains, it could be used to later study objects seen in a museum or other location.


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When Facebook introduced Graph Search in January, it was perceived as a threat to social reviewing site Yelp. Despite that — or possibly because of it — Yelp is interested in teaming up with Facebook.
Yelp Chief Financial Officer Rob Krolik told Reuters:
We are actually happy to partner with Facebook (for Graph Search) if that’s something that they’re interested in.
Facebook and Google and some other players really are attacking the local space via technology. I just don’t think people go to Facebook to find a great local business. I think they connect with their friends, see a lot of photos.
Reuters said Facebook would not comment on a possible partnership with Yelp, but it did get input from some analysts.
Macquarie Research Analyst Tom White told Reuters he didn’t feel that a partnership would happen between Facebook and Yelp, because Facebook had access to enough data to proceed on its own, adding that Yelp would benefit if a partnership did materialize:
It would mean broader distribution for their reviews, and more people reading their reviews. It’s not directly a revenue generator, but in theory, it would increase the value of advertising on Yelp, just because you’re getting it out to more people.
And Jefferies Analyst Brian Fitzgerald told Reuters the potential partnership would put Yelp in a better position to compete against Google, adding that Yelp would also represent a prime acquisition target for companies like Facebook, Google, and Apple.
Readers: Do you think Yelp and Facebook will partner up?


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USA: Everlast Inks Licensing Agreements In Hong Kong And Italy
By just-style.com | 24 October 2001
The latest two new licensing agreements signed by Everlast Worldwide Inc means that the manufacturer, marketer and licensor of sporting goods and apparel has entered into 15 similar arrangements over the past year.
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In contrast to markets in St. Jacobs or across the region, organizers hope to create a relaxed, intimate environment.
“I think a lot of people are tired of the crowds and the bustle at the bigger markets,” Pam Wideman said. “I love St. Jacobs, but who wants to drive out 20 or 30 minutes to shop, or to have to fight with tourists over apples?”
The market will take place every Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon at the Wellesley Park Pavilion, operating between June 7 and October 4.
After raising the issue via the Women of Wellesley Facebook group, Wideman was overwhelmed by the response.
“We wanted to come up with something more than just a market,” she explained. “This can be a place for neighbours to get together to connect and support each other.”
Through blogging and social media the idea picked up steam over the winter.
“It started out small, with my husband and I just wondering why the farmers around here should have to take their products out of town,” Wideman said. “But it grew because people are eager for the chance to support local businesses.”
So far, there are 10 seasonal vendors signed up to take part each week. Other specialty items, like homemade aprons, dresses and hair ribbons will be sold on a semi-regular basis.
The emphasis, of course, will be placed on the food itself, which will consist of baked goods, maple syrup, honey and a co-operative fruits and vegetables table, exclusive to Wellesley-area farmers. Given the diversity of the offerings of area farmers, the market hopes to have the expected assortment of produce, plants, crafts and baking, but does not want to be limited to that and is open to suggestions for future expansions.
“We are going to be a designated farmers’ market,” Wideman said in an interview earlier this year to promote the idea. “The majority of venders will actually be farmers growing their own – there’s no food terminal product.”
As an enhancement to the shopping experience, there will entertainment. Live music will be a staple each week, starting with the Kitchener Music Society’s 40-piece band. Opening weekend will also feature a dog agility show and balloon art by Drew Ripley.
“Saturdays are a family day, so it’s a good day to take your family out to the market and support local farmers and business,” she said. “While you’re there, you can let your kids play while you browse around, and chances are you’re going to be shopping from your neighbours, among your neighbours.”
The market’s central location, walking distance for many Wellesley residents Wideman is quick to point out, is another draw.
“I think people will enjoy being able to walk out to the market with their kids and dogs. We are fortunate to have access to such a great spot. We are so excited to finally get going after months and months of planning.”
Early birds will be treated to a small opening ceremony shortly after 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 7.
To sign up as a vendor, busker or volunteer, contact Pam Wideman at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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PAKISTAN can boost its food exports to ECO countries as it now leads this 10-nation economic bloc for next five years and as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor opens up a lot of fresh opportunities.
Afghanistan is already one of the country’s biggest food exports market. Food exports to Iran are growing after lifting of US-led international sanctions on that nation. Chances for boosting food exports to Turkey have also brightened after the establishment of Halal certification authority in Pakistan. “And, food exports to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are expected to rise as they have start realising that trading with us is easier and strategically important in the CPEC era,” says a senior official of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan. “Already 80pc of our total exports to these countries fall in foods category and demand keeps growing.”
Officials of the ministry of commerce say our food exports to ECO nations that totalled $620m or so in FY16 can hit $1bn, if not this year, maybe next year. Their optimism is rooted in the enthusiasm shown by member countries of this regional bloc during the recently-concluded summit. “But a lot depends on our relationship with Afghanistan,” one senior official conceded in an obvious reference to current unease in Pak-Afghan political ties.
According to an old study conducted by the ECO secretariat, out of the 15 top items that Pakistan can export to ECO countries, five fall in food category. These are: rice, cereals cereal preparations, animal and vegetable fats, fruits and vegetables and live animals.
In the first half of this fiscal year, out of the total $102m earnings from wheat and wheat flour exports, $97m came from Kabul
Currently hundreds of items including these five categories and even more, for example, seafood and meat and meat preparations are exported to the ECO nations.
Meat and meat preparations had long been on the list of export items to Afghanistan. But exports of seafood to Central Asian countries began when exports started diversifying export markets to reduce dependence on the Middle East, exporters say.
“Whenever Pakistan is surplus in wheat the nearest export market is Afghanistan if there is any shortfall there,” says a TDAP official. In the first half of this fiscal year, out of the total $102m earnings from wheat and wheat flour exports, $97m came from Kabul.
And in FY16, $122m, or 98pc of the total $125m earned through wheat and wheat flour exports to Afghanistan.
In the last fiscal year, $191m or more than 10pc of total rice export earnings originated from the ECO nations, chiefly from Afghanistan ($128m) but also from Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkey.
“The potential market is much larger,” says an official of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan. “But we need to boost our Basmati production (which is in more in demand in the ECO region) and we need stronger branding. Dubai-based Indian traders continue to import Pakistani rice in bulk and resell the same as Indian rice to Iran and other countries.”
In FY15, Iran had bought $9m worth of Pakistani rice mainly long-grain, aromatic super Basmati. But in the last fiscal year, rice exports to Iran fell o $2.4m due to overall inadequate local supplies of Basmati that forced buyers to cater to more permanent rice export markets first (like GCC region), leading exporters say.
Pakistan’s food exports to six ECO Central Asian countries have seen a surge since FY2010 then for two basic reasons. First, Russia began beefing up its food stocks and curbed its food exports to them. And secondly, these countries also witnessed a declining trend in food trade with each other as they started diversifying trading sources.
“In this backdrop, Pakistan entered this market aggressively and now our total food exports of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan exceeds $50m,” says an official of the Ministry of Commerce citing FY16 statistics.
“Food exports must be prioritised in all our efforts to increase overall exports to ECO countries, because except in case of Turkey and to some extent Iran our key exports to ECO falls in foods category.”
As a gesture of goodwill Iran lifted ban temporarily on imports of kinnow from Pakistan just a day before the March 1 ECO summit in Islamabad. The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry has demanded that the ban be lifted permanently.
If it is done, Pakistan will be able to export as much as 60,000 tonnes of kinnow to Iranian markets every year. But for that to happen, we’ll have to remove Iranian concerns regarding the quality of the kinnow we export there, officials say. They say that Pakistan would soon take up this issue with Iran.
Free movement of goods throughout the ECO region using road and rail transport is expected to become easier — thanks to CPEC projects.
Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, March 13th, 2017


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Food, Muay Thai and music – a vegan chef on her first book ahead of Balham Literary Festival appearance
A music-loving, vegan chef will be promoting her first book at Balham Literary Festival next Saturday.
Fun-loving Rachel Ama from Harringay says she wants to break down the scary line between vegans and non-vegans.
Once a lover of KFC, the YouTuber now uses her platform to prove to people vegan food can be delicious in its own right.
She said: “It’s not a case of: ‘you’re vegan or you’re not’.
“If your cauliflowered something doesn’t taste like chicken, say it doesn’t taste like chicken.
“Lets get over that line, call it what it is and have fun with it.”
Growing up in a house full of music, former dancer Rachel matches each recipe to a hand-picked song.
Music has become one of Rachel’s signature trademarks. Her Instagram @rachelama_ even has a story highlight devoted to videos of her dancing around her kitchen.
Not only can this vegan chef dance, she can also box.
“I absolutely fell in love with the discipline behind Muay Thai and the therapy it provides.
“As a woman, I find it very empowering to be this strong person you might see in an action movie.
“Maybe it will cancel out the ‘vegans are weak’ thing.”
Growing up in London exposed Rachel to all sorts of different foods and flavours, encouraging her to share these cuisines and make British cooking more representative of the world.
Her book takes you through her Afro-Caribbean roots, but it includes British and Welsh recipes too.
She calls it a ‘mix and blend’, offering both show-stoppers you can whip out for a dinner party and bulk meals you can make on Monday for the rest of the week.
A personal favourite of hers is the jerk sauce tacos with roasted mushrooms, plantain and mango salsa.
She said: “There’s some really delicious, flavoursome food that’s going to shock you and make you go: ‘oh my goodness, plant-based eating can be so tasty’.”
Looking to the future, Rachel is excited to expand her YouTube channel and she even hinted we might be seeing some grime artists popping up on her channel.
Chosen as The Observer’s Rising Star of Food for 2019, Rachel will be talking on June 15 at Balham Bowls Club at 12.30pm.
Hardcopies of her book can be bought for £14, or as part of a ticket to the festival.
- 'We won't compromise on quality': we meet the vegan bakery owners offering plant-based treats this festive season45Nora and Nama is a new shop offering plant-based punters vegan rarities including baklava, meringue cookies and chocolates, all handmade by the owners. The company’s founders Nora Bergman, 30, and Nama Klein, 42, both originally from Israel, had been selling their creations independently until a chance meeting at Wholefoods Market…
- 42A west London blogger-turned-author has created a platform to showcase classic Nigerian dishes that have been made vegan friendly. Tomi Makanjuola, better known online as ‘The Vegan Nigerian’, said that the pursuit of better health initially inspired her to go vegan. “I learnt to adapt traditional Nigerian recipes through experimentation. “I…
- ‘Brexit referendum was anti-democratic and advisory only’ argues professor at Balham Literary Festival39A professor and polemicist insisted Brexit is the result of centuries of democratic failings at Balham Literary Festival. Speaking at Balham Bowls Club, Professor AC Grayling was discussing his text, Democracy and its Crisis, which depicts the anti-democratic character of the Brexit referendum. Since the referendum two years ago, Britain…
- 35Summary:Allegra will talk about 'Big Table, Busy Kitchen' at the Richmond Literary Festival 2013Image:By Olivia Parish It was eight years ago that TV chef Allegra McEvedy received a phone call which still haunts her today. Standing in Shepherd’s Bush she tried to get her head around the news. The hand-made…
- 35Prolific columnist and author Chris Power will be discussing the ins and outs of the short story form for the Balham Literary Festival this Sunday, June 10. Mr Power will be joined by fellow author and columnist Tessa Hadley and founding publishing director of Indigo Press Ellah Wakatama Allfrey for…


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Jim Harper, global policy counsel at the Bitcoin Foundation, wants the trade group's new lobbying firm, Thorsen French Advocacy to model their government relations work to his efforts in introducing Capitol Hill to PayPal in the early 2000s.
In Ireland, credit unions are speeding up the launch of their electronic payment alternatives and working with Visa and MasterCard to offer debit cards to compete more aggressively with local banks. more »
Merchants who have been quick to complain about the cost of accepting card payments at the point of sale haven't always calculated the true cost of accepting cash in comparison, a new Aite Group study says. more »
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text: China became South Africa\'s top export destination at the end of 2010 due to strengthened bilateral trade links, according to South African ambassador Bheki Langa. Investment between the two countries surged to nearly seven billion U.S. dollars at the end of last year, the ambassador told Xinhua in a recent interview. China Customs statistics show that trade between China and South Africa totaled 25.6 billion U.S. dollars throughout 2010. Imports from South Africa reached 14.8 billion U.S. dollars during the same period. Langa said what South Africa exported to China were mainly primary products and they hope to export products with more added-value to the Chinese market in future. South Africa\'s abundant mineral resources will provide good opportunities for potential investors in China, he added. South Africa has grown into a regional hub from where Chinese investors can go further into the continent. China and South Africa have become the largest two investors in Africa, according to the ambassador. Chinese investors played a positive role in creating production capacity in South African industries. We welcome and cherish Chinese investors and believe this partnership would benefit both economies, said Langa.


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Kingfisher is revamping its Polish business to focus on higher-margin, aspirational products as the DIY group ramps up its own-brand offer in the country.
Castorama Poland, which represents the third largest source of profit for Kingfisher after the UK and France, is introducing an expanded lighting range, soft furnishings and room sets into new-format stores designed to appeal to an emerging Polish consumer seeking inspirational products.
The new style-conscious consumer differs from the tradesman that Castorama targeted in the past.
Despite previously targeting tradesmen, just 20% of Castorama’s customers are trades people, and 80% are general consumers. In addition, 47% of customers are aged 25 to 34 and 40% are female. It is these demographics that the 60-store retailer wants to tap into further.
Castorama Poland chief executive Janusz Lella said the Brico Depot business aimed at the hard end of the market – of which it has just a handful of stores – was “on hold”, as the better-known Castorama chain could serve trade customers for now.
However, Kingfisher group chief executive Ian Cheshire said that after Castorama has realigned its offering to appeal to more female consumers, “there will be an opportunity for a trade only” business again.
Kingfisher opened a distribution centre in Poland last September, allowing Castorama to sell Kingfisher group own-brand products and increase direct sourcing. Cheshire said the move had been a “game changer” for the group. “Without it we couldn’t bring an own-brand offer,” said Cheshire.
About 5% of Castorama’s products come from direct sourcing and management is targeting 50% growth this year, enabling the business to leverage economies of scale.
Own-brand lines include a basin, priced PLN476 (£107), which delivers 35% margin. The equivalent branded item sells at PLN647 (£145), delivering just 15% margin.
Nine stores have been reformatted to feature more decorative products, as well as colour-coded areas, wider aisles and more attractive displays. Lella said margin in the new stores was “better” as a result.
The Polish DIY market suffered last year due to a dampened economy, severe weather, and the death of the president. However, there
has been improvement in 2011. In its first quarter, like-for-likes rose 4.5% while retail profit increased 4.5% to £24m.
Castorama, which operates an everyday low price architecture, is the market leader with 14.4% share, and plans to have 105 stores in the medium term.
This year it will open six new stores, and Lella said the retailer would “like to do more” if the development opportunities arose.
Cheshire said not only was the Polish business “a fundamental leg of growth” for Kingfisher, but it also benefited the group by acting as a base to drive other parts of the business, such as sourcing suppliers and promoting best practice in Russia.
Cheshire said Poland was a “massive opportunity”. The country has a population of 38 million, and GDP is forecast to grow 4.4% in 2011, the highest since 2008.
Numis analyst Andy Wade, who attended an analyst trip to Krakow, Poland last week, said the insight into the country “highlighted afresh that Kingfisher is an internationally diversified market leader, with strong positions across Europe”.


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Barely a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom of California announced plans to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars in his state beginning in 2035, shares of electric vehicle (EV) charging company Blink Charging (BLNK -1.65%) are on a tear. The stock gained 13% this morning and remained up 9.6% as of 10:10 a.m. EDT.
It's not entirely clear how much Blink will benefit from California's move. According to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, the company says it had 14,778 charging stations in the U.S. as of the end of last year (a claim that has been challenged by short-sellers).
But Blink does not break down the location of these stations by state. This makes it difficult to say just how large a market share it enjoys in California, and even harder to speculate how big that share will become 15 years from now, when the California ban goes into effect.
What is apparent is that Blink is growing. Last week, for example, it announced its acquisition of Los Angeles-based BlueLA car sharing and its network of 200 EV charging stations. And the company today announced an expansion by partnering with Sustainable Westchester, a nonprofit based in Westchester County, New York, to promote the build-out of EV charging infrastructure in conjunction with the state's Energy Research and Development Authority.
Blink notes that in the entire county of Westchester, there are only about 250 charging stations to support more than 5,500 registered EVs, or 1 charging station per 22.2 EVs. The company says it will initially deploy 50 chargers there, growing the installed base of chargers (from all providers) by about 20%.
That's not an insignificant number for folks living in Westchester. I doubt, however, that adding 50 chargers to a network of roughly 15,000 is the kind of news that makes Blink Charging stock 10% more valuable today. If folks didn't bid up Blink shares on Thursday's more significant news out of California, I'm not sure why they're bidding them up on today's news out of New York.


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Lipstick Sales Just Skyrocketed 80%
There’s no way to dress this up: 2020 was a hard year for the make-up industry. Sales plummeted with people home from work, no social functions, no restaurants, no weddings, no reason to look fancy.
But 2021 is different, and people are shopping to look good again. Take this, for example: U.S. lipstick sales hit $34 million in the four weeks ending April 18, more than 80% above the same period last year, according to new data from market research firm IRI.
Masks Off, Profits Up
Last year, as mask mandates took hold, it became readily apparent that the make-up industry’s sheen was about to wear off. Sales of “lip care and color” products on Amazon fell 15% in the month leading up to April 11, 2020, according to McKinsey & Co.
Without much reason to leave the house, and every reason to cover one’s face, makeup stayed on the shelf:
- High-end makeup sales declined 34% in 2020, according to market research firm NPD. (Unsurprisingly, the one silver, smokey lining was sales of eye makeup, which surged 204% year-over-year.)
- And, as mask mandates remained in place early this year, lipstick sales fell 32% in the first quarter of 2021.
But the stellar U.S. vaccine rollout summoned a lush red rebound by April. National sales are still below pre-pandemic levels, but America’s biggest retailer Walmart said lipstick was the top performer across all segments of cosmetics in its latest quarter.
“We have been preparing for this renaissance in makeup for the last six months,” said Sam Cheow, head of makeup innovation at Estée Lauder. “As places continue to open up and we go out, lipstick is like an instant gratification, a pick-me-up that we haven’t had in the last 12 months and we miss it.”
CDC Drops a Game Changer: Analysts believe there’s cause to pucker up for a lot more makeup sales. Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control announced fully vaccinated people can stop wearing masks in most places. Now if someone could just take care of the shelves of hand sanitizer no one wants: sales are down 80% to $9.2 million for the week ended May 8.


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CASE Construction Equipment’s European Roadshows have been hailed a roaring success by customers
CASE European Roadshows in Italy, France and Germany hailed a roaring success, having delivered customers hands-on experiences of new machines: E-Series Crawler Excavator, D-Series Mini-Excavator, G-Series Evolution Wheel Loader
CASE Construction Equipment’s European Roadshows have been hailed a roaring success by customers and the media from across Europe, who have tested CASE’s newly launched machines at events in Ettringen, Germany, Calenzano (Florence), Italy and Quilly (Nantes), France. Each event featured new CASE machines for operators to try, including E-Series Crawler Excavators, the D-Series Mini-Excavator range and the G-Series Evolution Wheel Loader. CASE experts were also on hand to answer detailed product questions, including aftermarket specialists to explain the benefits of CASE® Service Solutions and financing options.
In addition to viewing and trying the machines, customers and European media – many of whom travelled from countries across Europe to attend – enjoyed static displays alongside Rodeo Games that demonstrated the agility and versatility of the new models.
Federico Bullo, Head of Europe, Construction Equipment CNH Industrial notes: “Our customers drive everything we do, so this year our marketing approach combines traditional tailored local customer events with digital customer experience activities. Roadshows take our machines, CASE experts and our dealers to where our customers and prospects are, providing them with hands-on experience through dedicated field activities.”
Customers trial machines from three newly launched ranges
At the Roadshows, customers had plenty of newly launched products to try, including E-Series Crawler Excavator, the D-Series Mini-Excavators and the G-Series Evolution Wheel Loader.
The new CASE E-Series Crawler Excavator range launched in April 2022 includes 7 new models, with 4 models on display for customer first-drives at the roadshows. Visitors experienced the E-Series’ new features that deliver the highest levels of uptime, efficiency and productivity.
Launched in May 2022, the new D-Series Mini-Excavator range features 20 models from 1-tonne to 6-tonne, including 2 electric models. There were 7 models, including one of the electric machines, available for customer to try at the events.
Successfully launched during an online launch event in 2021, the new G-Series Evolution Wheel Loader was also available for customers to operate, the first opportunity for many visitors since COVID restrictions on travel and live events were lifted. The all-new payload system, touchscreen command centre, all-new flexible electro-hydraulic controls and simplified power management were just some of the new features that customers were able to experience to help boost their productivity, profitability and machine reliability.
The CASE Rodeo Game returns for operators
Once a pre-pandemic highlight of the European plant operators’ calendar, the CASE Rodeo Game returned to the events. As well as being great fun, enabling operators and journalists from across Europe to demonstrate their skills, the Rodeos have traditionally showcased the agility, controllability and flexibility of CASE machines.
Bullo concludes: “Our customers are facing increasing challenges, which is intensifying competition. So, they look to CASE to develop machines with the highest levels of uptime, efficiency and productivity to help them compete.
“It’s been exciting, and an important learning opportunity for us and our dealers, to spend time at focused live events with customers and their families who are experiencing for themselves the benefits of CASE machines.”


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Originally Posted on Reuters by Noor Hussain
Facebook benefits from pandemic ad spending but Apple could spoil its party
Facebook Inc beat Wall Street expectations for both quarterly revenue and profit on Wednesday but warned that growth later this year could “significantly” decline as new Apple Inc privacy policies will make it more difficult to target ads.
A surge in digital ad spending during the pandemic when consumers shopped online, along with higher ad prices, helped Facebook revenue surge 48%. Looking ahead, the world’s largest social network said it will focus on building e-commerce features to expand beyond its ad business.
Shares of Facebook rose 6.5% to $326.00 in extended trading.
“We have a long way to go to build out a full-featured commerce platform … but I am very committed to getting there,” Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told analysts on a conference call to discuss earnings…
Read at Reuters
Download PDF here


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Samsung Galaxy S5 mini Announced: Everything You Need To Know
When Samsung announced and subsequently released the flagship Galaxy S5 earlier this year, we knew that it wouldn’t be the last in the series for 2014, and that the company’s marquee release would spawn a number of spin-offs. We’ve already been treated to the likes of the camera-centric Galaxy K, or Galaxy S5 Zoom, but the one we were really waiting for was the down-sized Galaxy S5 mini. Today, the Korean company has granted our wish, officially unveiling the device by means of a press release, and below, we’ve got all of the info.
The world of smartphones is a specs-dominated business, and as such, we’ll dive straight into the internal hardware. The Galaxy S5 mini boasts a quad-core SoC clocked at 1.4 GHz, allied to a reasonable 1.5GB of RAM, and although this isn’t anything to write home about by comparison to the main Galaxy S5, it’ll satisfy the requirements of the mid-range market.
The device also packs a 4.5-inch HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1280 x 720, and although, once again, this won’t dazzle nor yield the acclaim that the full-size Galaxy S5 has managed so far in its short lifespan, it’ll still present Android 4.4 KitKat in all of its glory.
The Galaxy S5’s rear-facing camera, like its display, has also been heavily lauded by consumers and commentators alike, but while the mini’s 8-megapixel offering doesn’t come with perks like 4K video capture, it will still provide a decent enough point-and-shoot experience to ensure that you don’t miss that Kodak Moment.
From the back, Samsung describes the device’s design as a “unique perforated pattern on the back cover creating a modern and sleek look, along with a premium, soft touch grip,” while the front profile also appears fairly similar to the Galaxy S5. Indeed, as well as bearing a striking resemblance to the April release, it also carries over several of its key features, notably IP67 certification, Ultra Power Saving Mode, heart rate sensor, and that fingerprint scanner.
As for colors, you get “Charcoal” Black, “Shimmery” White, “Electric” Blue and “Copper” Gold, and as you’d expect, there’s also LTE connectivity.
The full list of specs are as follows:
The device will launch over the next couple of weeks in Russia, with expansion farther afield set to follow thereafter.
On first impression, what do you make of the Galaxy S5 mini?


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Nothing, the UK-based company owned by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, is holding a virtual event on March 23 to announce its product roadmap for the year. Although official details about the event have yet to be revealed, the company is expected to announce its plans to enter the smartphone market. Nothing also announced a new $70 million (roughly Rs. 534 crore) funding round led by venture capital firms EQT Ventures and C Ventures.
The virtual event titled “The Truth” by Nothing will take place at 2:00 pm GMT (7:30 pm EDT). Participants can register to receive notifications about the event on the company’s website.
“Our first year has been a warm up and we can’t wait to show what we’re building at Nothing during the upcoming event,” Nothing’s CEO and co-founder Carl Pei said. in a press statement.
No one is going to release their first phone with a transparent design in April. Last month, Pei teased the Nothing phone in cryptic tweets. The executive was also seen showing off Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon’s phone in a photo posted by whistleblower Evan Blass on Twitter.
The latest round of funding, which also included GV, Tony Fadell’s Future Shape, Gaorong Capital and Animoca Brands, aims to scale the product ecosystem and create the London Design Hub, the company said in a press statement.
With the latest investment, Nothing has raised a total of $144 million (roughly Rs. 1,100 crore). However, the exact value of the company has not yet been disclosed.
There was no indication that it would use the funding to create new product categories in partnership with Qualcomm Technologies and its Snapdragon platform. The San Diego-based company and its Snapdragon chips are especially known for running Android smartphones.
Last year, Nothing kicked off as a tech company with the launch of the Ear 1 True Wireless Stereo Headphones (TWS). The company said it has shipped more than 400,000 headphones to date. He caught the attention of consumers mainly due to his transparent design, which was soon seen on his phone.
Last February, Nothing acquired Essential, a smartphone brand founded by Android creator Andy Rubin that launched its only phone in 2017.
Tinder to allow US users to check backgrounds for violence by date


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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- The last thing Wall Street has patience for is an Amazon.com that wants to spend more without any evidence as to whether its businesses will ever make money.
If Amazon could shed its old image and give the Street some real solid guidance about the future, then its $20 billion market cap -- and maybe even more -- could be warranted.
When Amazon.com reports fourth-quarter results after the market close on Feb. 2, the prodigal e-tailer (cross our fingers) will give the world what it wants: evidence of profitability. At least in its book business.
Better yet, if the tracks to profitability are finally laid down, wouldn't it be a nice surprise if that meant that Amazon's product categories outside of books are headed toward turning a profit?
Maybe. And just maybe, some less mature product segments, like the year-old music division, are profitable already. Now, this would be a good thing.
What if Amazon announces that it generated well over $100 million in toy sales to surpass E-Toys etys ? That would be a really good thing. Unless you're an EToys shareholder, of course.
More importantly, however, are the recent developments Amazon has been pursuing to expand beyond just being an e-tailer and into becoming a destination site much like a portal.
It's taking its valuable brand cachet and its audience base of 16 million and using them as currency for future growth.
Blended portal and e-tailer
On Monday, Amazon announced a $30 million three-year marketing deal with Audible.com ADB, +1.85% It was the fifth such deal that the company has executed to leverage its huge customer base.
The other deals include last Monday's announcement with Drugstore.com dscm under which the drug e-tailer agreed to pay a handsome $105 million over three years to get real estate on Amazon's home site.
Because these revenue streams have operating margins of 90 percent, altogether the five deals result in $67 million in operating income for 2001, according to Goldman Sachs e-tailing analyst Anthony Noto. If that's true, Amazon could break even by 2001. This would be one year ahead of Noto's and other analysts' expectations for profitability.
Just be straight
But wait! Of course, this would only be true if Noto's forecast for a loss of $41.7 million in 2001 isn't blown up after Wednesday's conference call.
And blown up is what it could be, given that those projections were estimated before Amazon dropped the bomb late last year that quarterly sales would only be $650 million in the holiday quarter. That forecast was up from $253 million in the previous year, but recall, they didn't meet Street standards of a blowout holiday season.
And we haven't heard from Amazon since.
So the Street isn't quite sure what to expect for 2000, much less 2001. Given its track record, what's to stop Amazon from spending more? Maybe it will decide to enter three new countries beyond the U.K. and Germany. Or maybe it'll decide to buy a country, or a tropical island.
But if Amazon would just be reasonable and lay down the road to profitability with its current business, then even if projections are tweaked upward to account for more spending, at least investors would know that the king of e-tailing has a business plan that makes sense.
It's the path to profitability and visibility that matters to investors. We just need guidance. Besides, so many little e-tailers rely on Amazon to show them the way. And more importantly, consumers expectations of e-tailing are being set by Amazon.
Price is compelling
Noto has an interesting breakdown to justify the price of Amazon's shares. His analysis suggests that Amazon's e-tailing operations alone, which include auctions, make the company's stock worth $80 per share. That's assuming that Amazon generates $13.5 billion in sales in 2005, up from an expected $2.6 billion in 2000. It would also be up 42 percent on a compounded annual growth rate from $1.5 billion in 1999.
Noto calculates that Amazon will have 88 million customers by 2005. To put that into perspective, that's about 11 percent of the online worldwide penetration. Currently, Amazon's 16 million customers account for about 9 percent of the estimated 196 million online population around the globe.
Even if Amazon were worth $26 billion, or 30 percent more than current levels, then it would be trading at 10-times year 2000 sales. This is less than the 12-times 2000 sales a basket of e-tailers trade at. Webvan wbvn has a multiple of 42-times. Drugstore.com trades at 15-times.
And if Amazon remains a destination site portal and e-tailer, then it won't trade down to multiples of traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers, which trade anywhere from less than one-times sales to as much as four-times sales for branded names.
Amazon's a great company with a huge audience and great customer loyalty. That has to be worth something.
The stock is another story. It's volatile and that's scary. Even BancBoston Robertston Stephens' Lauren Levitan, who has a "buy" rating on the stock, is waiting.
"Given our concern that Amazon could signal that it plans to invest more in the near term and absorb wider losses, we would stay on the sidelines until after it reports," said Levitan.
Oh Amazon, give us something to cheer about.
But hey, for big believers, even if the stock dips, it'll be a good time to buy. "I'd buy this stock now. They have the Ronald Reagan strategy for winning the cold war," said Derek Reisfield, managing principal at I-Hatch ventures in Manhattan. "They'll spend the competition into the ground and they'll be the only superpower left."
Hmm. I liked Ronald Reagan.


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Applied DNA, a leader in large-scale PCR-based DNA manufacturing, has signed a collaboration agreement with Eurofins BLC to support commercial implementation of Applied DNA’s SigNature T-based leather traceability system. The signing of the agreement follows successful completion of the funded consortium research project with BLC as announced in May 2018.
“We are thrilled to enter into this mutually beneficial relationship with BLC to advance the commercial implementation of our leather tagging system. BLC’s unparalleled knowledge in all aspects of leather processing, long-standing relationships with global brands, and its history of forward-thinking innovation makes them an ideal partner,” Tony Benson, Applied DNA’s managing director with responsibility for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) said.
“This agreement with BLC significantly enhances our position for the commercial implementation of our leather tagging system. We already have keen interest in the commercial adoption of our system from several project sponsors. We are targeting a defined goal of having 300,000,000 square feet of DNA-tagged leather under contract over the next five years. BLC’s knowledge in the industry and technical expertise will be invaluable to these efforts,” James Hayward president and CEO of Applied DNA said.
“There is a strong need within the leather industry to provide a robust system of traceability for semi-processed and finished leather. This cost-effective application system provides a process for applying a unique molecular tag in a way that is impossible to counterfeit. Eurofins BLC looks forward to supporting our customers in their journey towards supply chain transparency and traceability,” Adam Hughes, managing director of Eurofins BLC leather technology said. (GK)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India


text: TCL to Start Selling BlackBerry Phones Directly Michael Kwan December 16, 2016 News I suppose one way to keep your brand alive is to sell it off to someone else. That’s what IBM did with its ThinkPad business and now it looks like BlackBerry is doing the same with its smartphones. To be fair, BlackBerry isn’t selling its smartphone business to TCL, per se; it’s just signing over global rights to use BlackBerry branding. Well, not quite global, but pretty close. With the noted exception of Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia, Chinese manufacturer TCL will soon be able to sell BlackBerry-branded smartphones directly to consumers. This presumably also means that TCL can similarly establish its own deals with wireless carriers, online stores and so forth. This almost makes sense, seeing how BlackBerry isn’t terribly interested in the hardware business anymore. We also have to remember that TCL is the company that actually makes the DTEK50 and DTEK60. Whenever the DTEK70 “Mercury” hits the market, it could be sold and marketed by TCL directly using BlackBerry branding. It’s pretty safe to say that TCL is not exactly a household name anywhere, but BlackBerry is. It’ll be interesting to see if they actually follow through and build on this, though, since they didn’t really do anything after buying the Palm name back in January 2015. That said, I think average Joe consumer is more inclined to buy a BlackBerry these days than a Palm phone, right? Share This With The World!


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In the wake of Bank of America announcing $5 monthly fees for using debit cards many consumers are searching for new options. BoA is not alone, many big banks are looking for new ways to increase revenue after Federal regulations capped the amount banks can charge merchants. But consumer backlash might force banks to think […]
Banks have been working through the loopholes to bring in the profits lost from recent regulations. As a result, the costs they have incurred are being passed more often on to the customer. Bank fees have grown in just the last few months and consumers are left confused about how to hang on to […]
Living on a budget often means cutting up your credit cards and using your debit card for most purchases. Since your debit card is linked directly to funds you already have, you won’t be tempted to overspend and rack up big bills in the future. As more and more people work toward financial independence, more […]
You may think you are being wise by relying solely on your debit card for all your purchases but what you don’t know about your debit card may be hurting you financially. It may be true that using the money you have in your bank can prevent the spending temptation of a credit card but […]
A number of banks have put a cease-and-desist on their offers for debit card incentives. In addition to the banks increasing fees for using debit cards at the ATM, customers will also be out of luck to get more from their account-linked banks. Wells-Fargo is the latest bank to jump on the no-incentive train. They […]
A lot of times you hear people use the word “credit card”and “charge card” as if they were synonyms, but they’re actually two totally different things. In a nutshell, credit cards allow you to carry debt but charge cards don’t – they require full payment every month. Thus, you can’t use them to get into debt.
Over the past few years, the number of debit card transactions have risen, while credit card transactions are declining. This isn’t shocking in the new economy where consumers are more aware of the dangers of carrying high credit card balances. In fact, using a debit card seems almost identical to using a credit card, minus […]
Getting into debt is easy, getting out of it is much harder. Being proactive with your spending habits and living within your budget is always a good game plan. Being in debt is a stressful place to be. Staying out of debt is a lifestyle choice. You can begin today working towards a life with […]


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Ever feel like you're the only one who manages to suffer through some crazy beauty disasters? Bueno, no need to feel that way because you're definitely not! Even celebrities, such as Nicole Richie, face some of
life's beauty's worst challenges.
During an interview on Wednesday with Teen Vogue at the 2013 CFDA Awards, Nicole gave fans a little insight on one of her biggest beauty blunders.


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When Waitrose opened last year in York Road, customers were initially due to be offered 100 minutes of free parking but this was altered to 90 minutes for £2, which would be reimbursed if motorists spent £20 or more in store.
It also introduced a free period of 20 minutes of car parking at the site of the former Bellerby Theatre.
The borough council has now demanded that the supermarket chain removes the 20 minute free parking offer, as it claims it was not a term agreed between the local authority and developer when planning permission was approved.
A spokesman for Guildford Borough Council (GBC), said: “In Guildford the cost of parking is structured so that it is more expensive the closer you park to the town centre.
“The Waitrose car park can be used by anyone and it was important that demand for parking was not distorted by offering cheaper parking which would lead to localised congestion.
“When planning permission was granted Waitrose signed a legal agreement, known as a Section 106 Agreement.
“One of the agreed obligations was that Waitrose would submit a car park management plan to the council.
“The agreed plan included a pricing structure comparable with other public car parks in the town centre, operating a "pay and display" system.
“The plan allowed customers of the Waitrose store to gain a refund of their car parking ticket, subject to spending a minimum amount in the store.
“The terms of the Section 106 Agreement were agreed by all parties, including Waitrose, but when the store opened Waitrose went against this agreement by offering the 20 minutes free parking.
“Following negotiations between GBC and Waitrose, Waitrose has removed the 20 minutes free parking and reinstated the agreed car parking arrangements of the car park management plan.”
A spokesman for Waitrose said that since opening, it has reduced the minimum spend to receive 90 minutes free parking.
Customers now spending £10 or more will be reimbursed by Waitrose for the parking charge for an hour and a half.
For the 2015/16 year, the borough council made £370,000 from off-street parking.
The borough council is focusing on a ‘drive to, not through’ policy, encouraging more motorists to use car parks on the edge of the town centre, as opposed to driving through the town, in an effort to reduce congestion.
It has also recently launched a trial of a mobile phone application which helps users locate parking spaces which are available.


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A late October launch of the new OS would sync with Apple’s habits
Apple will release OS X Mavericks, its next edition of the Mac operating system, near the end of October, according to a report today by an Apple-centric blog.
Citing unnamed sources Friday, 9to5Mac.com said that Mavericks — also known as OS X 10.9 — will debut “at the end of October.”
Although Apple unveiled Mavericks in June at its Worldwide Developers Conference and said then that it would launch “this fall,” the company has provided no release updates since then. Nor has the Cupertino, Calif. company said anything about its pricing plans.
Apple started selling its last two versions of OS X in July — 2012 for Mountain Lion, 2011 for Lion — but Mavericks didn’t make that window. The delay may have stemmed from Apple’s shuffling of engineers to reinforce the iOS team, a move reported in May.
Coincidentally — or not — the last time Apple shipped an OS X upgrade in October was in 2007, when it delayed OS X Leopard for similar reasons in the run-up to the first iOS, called iPhone OS at the time.
A late October launch date for OS X Mavericks would sync with Apple’s habit of touting the impending release during one of the company’s quarterly earnings calls with Wall Street. Last year, for example, the company’s CFO said on a July 24 call that OS X Mountain Lion would ship the following day.
Apple has not yet announced the date of its third-quarter earnings call, which will take place in October. Apple typically hosts its earning calls on a Tuesday late in the month, and virtually always after rival Microsoft conducts its own conference call.
Microsoft executives will explain their company’s third quarter financial status in a call on Oct. 24.
If Apple keeps to its usual timeline, it will do its earnings call on Tuesday, Oct. 29, then launch Mavericks the next day, Wednesday, Oct. 30.
Pricing also remains a mystery. Apple charged $19.99 last year for the Mountain Lion upgrade, a 33% discount from the two prior versions, and it’s safe to assume that same price — or that as the maximum — for Mavericks, if only to give CEO Tim Cook future bragging rights on OS X’s adoption pace.


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Reflectiz recently signed a strategic marketing agreement with NessPRO – Ness’ software products group. According to the agreement, NessPRO will market Reflectiz’s website security platform as part of its portfolio of cyber security solutions.
Addressing risks from external components
The Reflectiz platform addresses the growing number of security and privacy risks arising from external components installed on websites. It monitors them remotely – without becoming a risk itself – using AI and big data analysis to pinpoint which external components could pose security risks.
Third- and fourth-party components – including social media elements, advertisements, analytics tools, authentication applications, accessibility mechanisms, and client-side-based development environments – may number in the tens or even hundreds across any number of corporate domains.
As these are managed by external service providers, they could undergo changes or upgrades that easily bypass an organization’s cyber protection framework – encouraging threat actors to infiltrate the site and steal sensitive business and customer data.
Idan Cohen, Reflectiz CEO and co-founder said,
« Every day, someone is adding yet another component to the corporate website – CRM, marketing automation, shopping carts, etc. – and no one has the time, resources, or control to ensure they are safe. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t a threat. Working with NessPRO helps us move closer to realizing our goal – protecting the corporate crown jewels and their client and employee data, reducing risks and accelerating digital transformation. »


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Everybody seems to be blaming massive orders of Adele’s new album for a historic backlog at vinyl manufacturers, but Nashville singer Lindsay Ell says people should go easy on the pop superstar.
Last year, as the Calgary-born country artist planned the release of her own album “Heart Theory,” she learned of supply chain delays that would make it impossible to premiere the vinyl version on the same day as digital platforms.
“In the middle of COVID, a lot of the factories making vinyl weren’t even in full operation,” Ell said.
But she didn’t want to leave fans who pre-ordered vinyl packages hanging, so she turned to modern technology for a lifeline.
“What I had to do was throw in a digital copy and say, “We’ll send your vinyl when it’s finished,’” Ell said.
By all accounts, the vinyl pressures have only intensified in 2021 — and there is little relief in sight.
Even as total album sales have fallen in Canada this year, vinyl sales are up — an astounding 53 per cent to 476,000 units in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period a year ago, according to a study by MRC Data and Billboard.
Around the world, vinyl pressing facilities are stretched to the limit with 24-hour, nearly seven-day-a-week production still not meeting demand.
Add to that smaller acts who are vying for factory bookings as major label artists dig into their back catalogues with huge pressing orders. Rihanna just issued her entire discography on vinyl while Taylor Swift released a four-vinyl re-recording of her 2012 album “Red.”
Making matters worse are shortages of key materials and concerns some retailers won’t be stocked on the hottest titles for the Christmas rush.
Adele drew attention to the overburdened vinyl industry in a recent interview when she revealed her album “30” had to be turned in six months early to ensure enough copies were ready for release this Friday.
Variety later reported that her label pressed a whopping 500,000 vinyl copies, an order that may help the British singer smash first-week sales records but only further stressed the market.
Ed Sheeran told an Australian radio show he rushed to complete his new album for July because “Adele had basically booked out all the vinyl factories.”
Neil Young griped on his website about how backed-up vinyl orders pushed the expected summer release of his album “Barn” to December.
Those complaints are familiar to Shawn Johnson, president of Precision Record Pressing in Burlington, Ont., but he said it’s not fair to blame a single artist or album for capacity woes that have existed for years.
When vinyl saw a resurgence about a decade ago, manufacturers couldn’t have predicted how quickly the market would grow, he said. They also didn’t foresee a global pandemic that would temporarily shutter facilities and inspire locked-down music lovers to invest in turntables.
“In the market right now, every unit of capacity is taken because there’s excess demand,” Johnson said.
Kinks in the supply chain made their way down to vinyl factories too. Soaring nickel prices increased the cost of making new vinyl pressing plates, while demand for plastics led to a scarcity of the PVC compound used in making records. Even cardboard album sleeves were affected by a historic lumber shortage earlier this year, Johnson said.
“The supply chain challenges are coming and going,” he added. “Something abates and something gets worse.”
More uncertainty is likely next year as a deluge of new albums arrives from artists who’ve been cooped up recording music for the past two years. Johnson said some labels are looking to head off the crush by booking vinyl production slots into late summer 2022. He isn’t confident that will ease capacity troubles.
“I don’t think it looks like there’s any chance the market will be balanced earlier than maybe the middle of 2023,” he said.
“And whether it gets balanced or not will depend on (if) demand continues to grow.”
Those gloomy predictions worry some in the Canadian music industry who picture artists hitting the road again without having vinyl for sale at the merch table.
Ontario indie label True North Records experienced that first-hand when Colin James turned in his latest album “Open Road” last summer only to learn the pressings wouldn’t be ready for the November digital and CD release. He’d have to wait until February 2022, leaving the fall leg of his tour without fresh vinyl to sell.
“We’re trying to speak with artists submitting their stuff now and say, ‘Look, if you want to have vinyl, let’s extend the (release) maybe even into the second quarter of 2022,’” said Judy Smyth, distribution and supply chain manager at True North.
“Production timelines right now are at least six months.”
Smyth suggested one risk to issuing vinyl several months after the digital release is that some potential customers might’ve moved on.
“If you’re setting up all this momentum for a huge album … you kind of lose all that,” she said.
“Then it’s only people that are really into the vinyl that get it.”
Fellow indie label Six Shooter Records started feeling the pinch earlier this year when its records started “getting bumped over and over again” from the production schedule, said digital media manager Sarah Sleeth.
Faced with a longer window, the Toronto-based company started to consider unique vinyl designs that would strike the fancy of superfans and serious collectors.
“We decided to use these unexpected lead times and make them work for us instead of against us,” Sleeth said.
Two separate albums released this year by Hamilton duo Whitehorse were among the test subjects.
“Strike Me Down” came in three different colour designs. The most elaborate version consists of two clear records moulded together. Between the layers, there’s pink liquid and a burst of gold glitter used in the music video for “Am I Just Gonna Stand Here (While You Take My Girl Away).” The special edition retails for $169.
The other Whitehorse album, “Modern Love,” features a vibrant “splatter” design that matches the vinyl’s cover. But it’s set to debut on vinyl nearly 11 months after its release on other formats, and far later than Six Shooter had originally planned.
They’re marking its anticipated arrival in early 2022 with promotions linked to Valentine’s Day and the possibility that fans who purchased a digital copy might double-dip for the vinyl.
“There’s always a bit of nervousness, like, will fans still pay attention?” Sleeth said.
“But luckily, we’re finding that they will wait … so it really works in our favour.”
—David Friend, The Canadian Press