text:
Bleak background but opportunity knocks for micro startups.
Most businesses, the backbone of our service economy in the UK, are “micro businesses”; the “nought to niners” (0-9 employees)* and this group is what this forecast is focussed on.
I love working with this group as these are where the real people are and some of the most unique startup stories are to be found.
Here’s what I think is in store for 2023’s entrepreneurs.
Small Business Confidence
There seems little doubt that the economy will enter recession in 2023. Opinions differ on whether this is short and shallow or a longer, deeper shock. However ignoring the lockdown shock of Covid in March 2020, small business sentiment entering into 2023 is at historic low levels
Fig 1. Graph showing CBI small business confidence 10 years to Q4 December 2022.
My view is the US will be entering a recession in 2023, and that this will be longer and deeper than policy makers are currently predicting. And as we know, what happens in the US dictates how the economy will shape here.
There is a lot of concern about the fate of smaller businesses particularly in the recreation sector (pubs/cafes restaurants).
The first 2 quarters of 2023 are likely to see continued energy costs pressures that the Government, inexplicably seem to be blind too (or maybe it’s deaf as enough people appear to be telling them.
One worrying trend I’ve observed is the number of celebrities commenting on this particular issue, who do not ordinarily get involved in, or do not platform, their politics/business.
Here’s all round nice bloke Merlin Griffiths (Barman from First Dates) not pulling any punches in this tweet:
A lot of larger retail businesses have reported strong Christmas trading. However, the full effect of autumn energy price increases and continued interest rate rises is likely to squeeze “discretionary spending”.
TREND: I see the short/mid term trend for small business confidence as likely to deteriorate until later in 2023 as cost of living pressures continue to be an issue for small business both in terms of increased costs and lower spending by customers.
As economic conditions deteriorate, larger employers historically take the opportunity to cut their human resources and determine it is more economical to make these employees redundant rather keep them on the books until conditions improve.
I see unemployment rising as jobs are cut across the board in 2023. This trend has already been evidenced in the worryingly sharp increase in youth unemployment at the end of 2023.
Fig 2: Graph showing sharp rise in youth unemployment at end of 2022.
This impacts the micro business/startup sector in two principal ways.
Individuals are forced back into the labour market or elect to take redundancy terms offered. Some of these will again, by choice or necessity start their own businesses.
TREND: There will be a rise in people starting “lifestyle” type businesses. Leaving the corporate world behind.
These businesses can be easy to start where there is high local marketability and an underserved demand.
Although the bulk of the bigger rises seem to be behind us, interest rates seem set to continue to rise as central banks grapple with inflation.
There is also a tightening of the belts making it more difficult to borrow money and more expensive if you can.
The fear for banks and policy makers here is the risk of widescale defaults on lending.
This plays into the hands of micro startups who are way more likely to “bootstrap” their business.
TREND: Access to funding and the cost of borrowing seems likely to remain high and increasing certainly until at least the end of 2023.
Since former Prime minister David Cameron’s promise to cut red tape in 2011, and the “brexit” promise to take back control etc, Red tape (and costs) have increased for small business.
Former UK Prime Minister speaking at a small business function: Photo: Crown Copyright Photographer: Paul Shaw
2022 saw the introduction of compulsory digital VAT returns for all businesses.
Software which was never going to be free, as the government claimed, has increased rapidly over the last few years and looks set to continue to do so.
As the Government looks for ways to balance the books and squeeze as much Tax revenue as possible – There could be changes to VAT rates and “under the radar” such as a decrease in the VAT threshold could be a threat forcing smaller businesses into registration.
TREND: Increased costs associated with maintaining compliance with “Red tape” for small businesses. Possible further “red tape” snuck in under the radar by the Government in their last year before a general election.
WEALTH AND TAX
2022 has already seen changes in taxation that will squeeze the entrepreneurs of 2023. Rates have gone up and allowance cut.
From April ´23 Capital gains tax annual allowance (tax free) is cut from £12,300 to £6000.
At the same time Corporation tax on company profits increase from 19% to 25%.
However the increase does not apply smaller businesses with profits of £50,000 and under who will continue to benefit for the 19% rate.
Entrepreneurs relief lifetime allowance remained unchanged at £10 million
TREND: It’s still possible to mitigate your tax liability and “pay tax like a Tory donor”, within the rules but you will need to plan ahead and be prepared to put in some work to keep your “hard earned” in your pocket.
There will be opportunities for entrepreneurs able to leverage one or more of the big 3 marketing tactics.
- Dominating weak competition in businesses with high “local marketability”;
- Leveraging the power of social media platforms for lifestyle businesses with non fixed geographic;
- Identifying and building an identifiable brand within a specific niche. (This is where searchers look for your brand name in relation to the product or service you offer).
All of these tactics require an online presence in addition to the savvy use of the best in class marketing software and apps.
Personal finance reporter Jackie Annett of the Daily Express has reported some extraordinary growth projections in the micro business sector and suggests as many as 48% of Britons are considering launching a small business/side hustle this year.
TREND: Increasing spend on marketing and marketing automation by small and startups businesses. App providers offering Freemium models will outperform in the UK market in 2023.
COMPANY REGISTRATION/ SOLE TRADER STARTUPS
After a decade of increasing registrations fuelled by the lowest registration costs in the world, I believe there are a number of factors that will see this trend stall and possibly reverse in 2023.
Changes at Companies House could see the fee charged for registering a limited company increase for the first time in over 20 years. The magnitude of any rise, should it materialise, could clearly determine the impact on “vanity” registrations if the fee were to rise to a level where people need to think twice about it. The government have already recognised that the low cost of registration in the UK poses for financial crime and a report by Matt Oliver of the Telegraph (paywall) indicates proposals to increase the filing fee to £100.
Countering this trend is the impact of higher unemployment forcing people into self employment and starting their own businesses as highlighted above.
Overall I expect tightening economic conditions to unwind the phenomenon of cheap companies being held dormant on the register of companies and dissolutions will ultimately exceed registrations during 2023.
TREND: The net number of businesses starting will remain static or decrease during 2023. Incorporation costs (Government filing fees) will rise for the first time since the introduction of online company registration in 2003.
2023 looks set to be a difficult year for the economy. However, despite the backdrop, there will always be opportunities for those who are prepared to look for them.
The greatest investment you can make is in yourself (including in your own business).
Do you agree with my trends and predictions? What do you think the outlook will be for small business in 2023?
*Most of what is written about “small business” and startups is focussed on the VC funded/ unicorn /next Whatsapp / Uber/ Chat GPT.


text:
January 20, 2011 (Source: Reuters) — South Korea aims to extract lithium from seawater as demand climbs for the rare metal used to power products ranging from mobile phones to electric cars, a government-funded research institute said on Thursday.
“We will finish building a research facility and offshore plant in the first half of this year and could start extracting lithium from next year,” said Choi Byung-gwan, spokesman at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM).
Asia’s fourth-largest economy aims to double its combined self-sufficiency rate for “new strategic materials” such as rare earth and lithium to 10 percent in 2011 from 5.5 percent in 2010.
The South Korean research institute has developed technology to draw lithium from sea water, the first to do so after Japan.
KIGAM had passed its know-how on to steelmaker POSCO to commercialise. The groups would jointly establish an offshore plant and production line to extract 30 tonnes of lithium annually by 2014 and mass produce by as early as 2015, Choi added.
Lithium is a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and other electronic devices such as mobile phones.

domain: news


text:
OnePlus 11 Pro alleged renders were reportedly leaked online. These images are believed to show OnePlus’ flagship phone in 2023. The company’s tri state alert slider and Hasselblad-branded rear camera will be featured on the handset. According to the report, images of the OnePlus 11 Pro were taken from early prototypes. According to the images, the handset will come with a triple rear camera setup that includes an LED flash and a dual-camera setup. According to renders, the OnePlus logo appears to be in the middle of the rear panel.
Tipster Steve Hemmerstoffer (@OnLeaks), in collaboration SmartPrix has shared renders of the rumoured OnePlus 11 Pro. These renders are based upon early prototypes. The OnePlus 11 Pro is expected to be the company’s flagship smartphone in 2023. Images suggest that the phone will have an alert slider located on the right spine next to the power button. A triple rear camera setup could be featured with Hasselblad branding, and an LED flash.
The camera module has a round shape with a half-pill-shaped border around it. The renders suggest that the OnePlus 11 Pro could have the OnePlus logo at the center of its rear panel. The front of the handset shows a hole-punch cutout on the left-top edge, which is expected housing the selfie camera. Images also suggest that the OnePlus 11 Pro will have thin bezels. On the left spine can be seen the volume rockers.
A recent report claims that OnePlus will launch a new smartphone at the end 2022. The OnePlus 11 Pro will be the phone. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC is expected to power the phone’s SM8550 chipset. The tipter said that the new phone will focus on “texture and performance” (Translated) As per the report.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC would be unveiled at the Qualcomm Summit 2022. According to the company, events pageThe Snapdragon Summit 2022 event is scheduled for November 15-17. After Qualcomm’s event, OnePlus could launch its next-generation phone.


text:
Internet users in the United States are dangerously ignorant about the type of data that website owners collect from them and how that data is used, making them vulnerable to fraud and misuse of their personal information, a new study finds.
For the study, titled “Open to Exploitation: American Shoppers Online and Offline,” 1,500 adult U.S. Internet users were asked true-or-false questions about topics such as website privacy policies. The survey was conducted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center and released last month.
Respondents generally failed the test, answering an average of seven out of 17 questions correctly. The study’s interviews, conducted between early February and mid-March, yielded findings the authors consider alarming, including:
49% can’t identify “phishing” scam e-mail messages, whose designs mimic the legititimate companies they purport to represent in order to lure users into entering sensitive information such as Social Security numbers.
68% can’t name any of the three credit reporting agencies that enable consumers to monitor for attempts at identity theft.


text:
Apple's efforts to win an injunction blocking the sale of certain Android-based smartphones and tablets from Samsung have failed yet again. Federal Judge Lucy Koh ruled on Thursday that Apple won't get their injunction because the requirement to show irreparable harm hasn't been met.
Apple loses out on a Samsung sales ban again
Judge Koh rejected the injunction request before, and Apple appealed her ruling. The Appeals Court gave Apple some hope when it said that Judge Koh needed to reconsider her ruling and that an injunction may be warranted.
"After the partly-successful appeal, things actually looked reasonably good for Apple," said Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents. "The appeals court had not directed the district court to enter an injunction, but it had revived Apple's bid, which the same judge had originally denied in December 2012."
Judge Koh's original ruling was part of the first mobile device patent infringement trial between Apple and Samsung that wrapped up in August 2012 with a Jury awarding the iPhone and iPad maker over US$1 billion in damages. That amount was later adjusted to more than $900,000 in a damages retrial because the original amount had been improperly calculated.
Much of the argument for a possible sales ban centered on a survey conducted by Dr. John Hauser, who is an MIT professor and served as an expert witness for Apple. The survey he conducted showed that consumers were willing to pay more for iPhones because of the features they include, many of which are protected by patents. Based on those results, Apple felt it had shown it was losing sales because Samsung includes the same features in its smartphones and tablets without paying licensing fees.
In today's followup ruling, Judge Koh said the survey was too limited and didn't adequately back up Apple's assertions. She said,
Dr. Hauser's survey does not provide a way to directly compare consumers' willingness to pay for particular features to the overall value of the infringing devices. In other words, Dr. Hauser's survey measures the market demand for the patented features in a vacuum, without relation to the actual price or value of the devices.
She added that many of the selling features in the survey weren't actually patented technologies, such as battery life, text messaging, processor speed, and whether or not the device included a built-in GPS.
Judge Koh summed up the issue saying, "Apple, in other words, cannot obtain a permanent injunction merely because Samsung's lawful competition impacts Apple in a way that monetary damages cannot remedy."
That's a big blow for Apple because the survey was a keystone point in its injunction argument. It isn't, however, the end of the line because Apple can appeal today's ruling, but only if it can find a different argument to push.
Apple and Samsung are set to start their second patent infringement trial before Judge Koh at the end of March. Many of the same patents will be included by both sides, although they will target newer products than were listed in the original trial.


text:
A U.S. lobbying organization representing companies like Walmart and Amazon has asked India not to strengthen eCommerce mandates for companies outside of the country, Reuters reported on Friday (Jan. 29), citing a letter.
In response to local merchants’ complaints about U.S. eCommerce giants, India is considering revising its rules after allegations surfaced that Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart devised ways to sidestep investment regulations.
India currently permits international eCommerce platforms to link buyers and sellers. Local retailers have accused U.S. behemoths of promoting only certain sellers and offering extensive discounts.
India changed its foreign direct investment (FDI) rules in 2018 to stop international firms from selling goods from merchants they have a financial stake in. The Indian government is weighing if those mandates should be solidified to extend to merchants’ parent companies.
Amazon could suffer if the revision is made because it has indirect stakes in two of India’s largest eCommerce players — Cloudtail and Appario.
In a letter on Thursday (Jan. 28), the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC), part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, appealed to India to avoid restrictive changes to eCommerce investment rules.
“Any further changes in FDI rules would limit e-commerce firms from leveraging their scale,” USIBC said in the letter seen by Reuters.
USIBC also asked India’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to engage in substantive consultation with companies on eCommerce regulation.
In March, India revised rules to tighten Big Tech oversight and required them to turn over data in a timely manner. A new policy drafted by India’s trade ministry also requested that a new official be appointed to enforce compliance. Laws passed in 2019 have proven difficult for eCommerce companies to comply with.


text:
This Superman Comic Sold For an Astronomical Sum
Hold on to your capes, comic book fans. A copy of Superman's original comic book debut just sold on eBay for — wait for it — $3.2 million. The copy sold for just 10 cents when it first came out in June 1938 and is one of just 50 to 100 original copies said to still exist today.
Called "Action Comics No. 1" and created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the comic book, worth more than 10 trips to space, is the first time Superman ever made his debut as a crime-fighting Clark Kent.
It's not just special because of the content, though. The comic is in "pristine condition" and was awarded an extremely high and rare grade by the Certified Guaranty Company because it looks and feels new.
"It is referred to as the Holy Grail of comics and this is the finest graded copy to exist with perfect white pages," wrote the seller Darren Adams, who owns Pristine Comics. "This is . . . the Mona Lisa of comics and stands alone as the most valuable comic book ever printed."
The only other "Action Comics No. 1" copy to go for a comparable amount was sold by Nicolas Cage in 2011 for $2,161,000, but it wasn't in as good of condition.
"This comic is the best of the absolute best, and whoever wins this auction will be the envy of the entire hobby for many decades to come," Adams said during the bidding period.
Can't argue with that.


text:
Energy Future Holdings Corp. reported first-quarter profit of $355 million, a decrease from $442 million in the same period last year.
Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings reported $2.13 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2010.
"We had solid operational and safety performance in the first quarter of 2010, and results reflect colder-than-normal weather," CEO John Young said in a release. "We are seeing signs of economic recovery and continue to believe Texas is well-positioned for a strong economic rebound."
Energy Future Holdings is an energy holding company that includes TXU, its retail electric arm; Oncor, its regulated power-delivery arm; and Luminant, its power-generating company. Luminant also is one of the largest purchasers of wind-generated electricity in Texas and the United States.


text:
BCG’s fifth annual capital markets report examines how unfavorable economic conditions, escalating capital requirements, and stubbornly high costs have continued to depress the performance of many investment banks globally. Yet the same cannot be said for the capital markets industry as a whole: it is thriving.
Retail banks must develop digital capabilities that radically simplify their businesses while improving customer experience. This mandate for digital simplicity emerges from BCG’s report on global retail-banking excellence.
Superior pricing capabilities offer a potential revenue windfall for retail banks caught in the industry’s crossfire of slow growth, heightened competition, price-conscious customers, and regulatory change.


text:
on december 1, ross mayfield held a press conference inside world of warcraft. in real life, mayfield is the ceo of socialtext, a palo alto start-up offering online collaboration software for enterprise-scale businesses. in world of warcraft, a 3d game that serves as a kind of alternate online universe, he's a sword-wielding knight named kalevipoeg. more than 30 bloggers and reporters attended the press conference, using their own sword-wielding avatars, and no one was allowed to ask mayfield a question without challenging his virtual knight to a virtual duel.
when mayfield first announced this online q&a session, via his personal blog, it was no more than a joke. he was poking fun at companies like dell and sun, which had recently held press conferences inside second life, the online virtual world that has an awful lot in common with world of warcraft. much to his surprise, readers took him seriously, and more than a few asked if they could join in. so he went ahead with his world of warcraft press conference, and the press actually came, including a mainstream business reporter who soon published a story in the austin american-statesman.
companies like dell and sun aren't just holding press conferences inside this alternative universe. they're building virtual "campuses," 3d web sites where they can advertise their productsor even sell them. cisco holds interactive seminars inside second life, complete with video feeds of featured speakers, while ibm uses the service for internal communication, with far-flung employees chatting away via digital avatars. the company claims that more than 3,000 ibmers have participated in these virtual-world chats, including everyone from marketing types to software developers.
"we're at the beginning of the next evolution of the internetthe 3d internet, as we like to call it," says ibm's michael rowe, whose official title is senior manager, 3d internet and virtual worlds. "if web 2.0 is a place where everyone becomes a producer, everyone becomes a content creator, the 3d internet gives us a whole new level of social interaction in this collaborative space."
but the question remains: is second life overhyped? if you talk to companies that have set up shop in this virtual worldor if you read about second life in the pressyou're inevitably told how popular it is. "it's hugely popular," says rowe. "the growth curve is enormous." more often than not, you'll hear that second life boasts millions of users. but the truth of the matter is that no one knows how many people are using the serviceother than linden labs, the company that hosts second life. according to clay shirky, a faculty member in the interactive telecommunications program at nyu who's made a four-month study of second life's audience, the number of regular users is well under 200,000.
virtual worlds may indeed play a big role in the future of the internet. but for the moment, the talk far exceeds the actual worth of these servicesat least in business terms. if fewer than 200,000 people are regularly using second life, it's not the best marketing tool. and though virtual worlds are certainly a means of long-distance communication, it's yet to be seen whether this makes sensein the long termfor anything other than fun and games.
so many companies are entering second life because it's the thing to do, because the press gives virtual worlds so much attention. "the biggest benefit of second lifefor companiesis the media attention," says heather mcconnell, an account executive with the international pr firm hill & knowlton, who's become the in-house virtual worlds expert, educating clients on these new age services. "the media is generating so many stories about companies entering second life, and that's a real advantage." but this sort of press coverage lasts for only so long. in the end, virtual worlds aren't viable business tools unless they offer something more, and whatever the claims of cisco, ibm, or fortune, it's hard to tell if they actually will. next: the massively multiplayer online commerce engine


text:
Surat jeweller sells unique gold rakhis with engravings of Narendra Modi, Yogi Adityanath, Vijay Rupani
A jewellery store has come up with unique gold rakhis having engravings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. There is curiosity among people of Surat about these rakhis, as they flock to the jewellery store to have a look at these gold threads bearing engravings of their favourite politicians. A rakhi bearing engravings of politicians costs between Rs 30,000 to Rs 60,000, and 50 such rakhis have been made by the jewellery store. Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated on August 26 this year.
On cam: BSP leader thrashes man inside gym in UP’s Gonda Shocking! Passengers experience nose, ear bleeding on Jet Airways flight Caught on cam: Fever kills more than 60 kids in her city, Bahraich MLA dances her heart out at a Ganesh puja pandal AAP leader makes horrific remark, while condemning Haryana gang-rape


text:
EA will reportedly be adding the Adidas Promo to FIFA 22 Ultimate Team this week, and several of the players seemingly involved have already been leaked.
The Adidas promo will be specifically linked to real-life players who use Adidas products, specifically their boots including the iconic Predator.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Adidas Promo in FIFA 22 and which players will be part of the promo when it is released.
Noted FIFA leaker @FUTIconOK revealed some of the players expected to be involved on Twitter, noting that several players have been linked with the Adidas X Superflow boots in the game’s code.
Whilst this isn’t officially confirmed, it does appear to be content taken from datamining, so it is likely that EA will be introducing these cards as part of the Adidas promo.
Adidas X Superflow FIFA 22 Ultimate Team
@FUTIconUK noted the following with regards to the new promo: “We have checked the FUTsquads file and we found that these players are the only ones that have the Adidas X Superflow boots assigned.
“Not sure if this will be related to the promo coming this Friday. On the screen you see Diawara.”
The following players have been leaked as being part of the Adidas promo:
- Angel Di Maria (PSG)
- Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli)
- Dele Alli (Tottenham)
- Moussa Dembele (Lyon)
- Diogo Jota (Liverpool)
- Steven Bergwijn (Tottenham Hotspur)
- Amadou Diawara (Roma)
- Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid)
- Sergio Reguilón (Tottenham Hotspur)
- Giovani Reyna (Brussia Dortmund)
@FUTIconUK has already several elements of promo content over the past few months, including the ‘Deep Freeze’ content that is expected to be coming to the Ultimate Team system in December.
We will provide more information on the Adidas content as and when it is leaked, with the official launch expected to be Friday 12th November.
EA are likely to announce the beginning of the Adidas Promo shortly, with several major players set to be part of the new promo alongside some fantastic card art and the potential for cards that are used by Ultimate Team players throughout the reason of the FIFA 22 season.
You can find all of the latest gaming news right here at GiveMeSportNews Now - Sport News


text:
£31m deal is sweet music for Gabriel
ROCK star Peter Gabriel is netting up to £5.6m on the sale of his internet music group On Demand Distribution - known as OD2 - to Seattle-based tech group Loudeye.
OD2 is being sold for up to £31.3m, consisting of £11.3m in cash and Loudeye shares upfront, £9.6m over the next 18 months and up to £10.3m more over 30 months depending on performance.
Gabriel, former frontman of 1970s progressive rock band Genesis, owns 18% of OD2, which he co-founded.
He said the deal would deliver the best digital music service for consumers and labels 'that are also committed to being fair to artists'.
Chief executive Charles Grimsdale, who stays on to run the group's international business, owns 15%, worth up to £4.6m.
Set up as a counter to internet piracy, OD2 had quarterly sales of £1.4m and claims to be Europe's biggest seller of downloaded music, with content from all the main record labels and hundreds of independents.
Most watched Money videos
- Renault 5 EV prototype will look like the 1980s rally car
- Will Britain's rapid vaccine rollout boost UK shares?
- Land Rover Defender pulls transporter carrying seven SUVs
- Hyundai develops autonomous vehicle that walks across terrains
- Porsche's eFuel could dramatically cut CO2 emissions of cars
- Can Scottish Mortgage keep climbing? Tom Slater interview
- 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV sold for 11% above market value
- Nick Train interview: There's plenty to be optimistic about
- Chinese Nio ET7 electric family car costing £60,000
- All-New Dacia Sandero supermini will hit UK market later this year
- Promo shows ability of Land Rover Defender to travel rough terrain
- Mercedes announces smart home system to control home from your car


text:
Connected World.TV Awards 2013
Organised by BPL Broadcast, the ConnectedWorld.TV Awards celebrated the exciting developments in television and video at the intersection of broadcast and the internet. The awards honoured creative broadcasters as well as innovative technology companies and consumer electronics manufacturers.
Connected Consumer Awards 2013, MediaTel
Pioneers of new advertising and commercial opportunities in the connected industry were celebrated at the inaugural Connected Consumer Awards last night, hosted atop the impressive Nomura building in central London.
"The Connies", as they have come to be known, were hosted by chair of the judges, Graham Lovelace, alongside renowned media journalist Torin Douglas at the end of the two-day Connected Consumer conference and have now helped set an innovation bench-mark for the connected industry.
The Best Technology category was won by Civolution, with SyncNow, for powering "impressive, synchronised second screen experiences," and providing "multiple second screen products and a whole series of solutions to create a workable product," according to judge Stacey Anklam, managing director of Wolverine Consulting. "They have essentially created a market."
TVB Europe Best of IBC 2012 Awards
Links, Transmission and Delivery - SyncNow
IBC was bigger than ever this year and now fills 14 halls with more than 1,400 exhibitors. With lots of new products on show, the combined TVBEurope and IBC Daily teams combed the halls to pick out the most interesting innovations -- especially those that make broadcasters lives easier, cheaper and more efficient.
SMEs top 100 company innovation awards in the Netherlands
IABM Awards for Excellence in Design & Innovation 2012
Civolution SyncNow – Smart Services:
A server-side, content triggering service that provides realtime recognition of broadcast content independent from the broadcaster.
The IABM Awards for Design and Innovation recognise products that offer significant solutions or new opportunities to the broadcast supply industry.
IBC2012 Innovation Award Winner - Content Creation
Second screen app for The Walking Dead
End user: FX UK
Technology partners: Red Bee Media and Civolution
Consumers now routinely using laptops, smartphones or tablets at the same time as watching television. Broadcasters are keen to take this trend and create a new and immersive experience by synchronising a second screen app with the broadcast programme.
Broadcaster FX UK wanted to enhance its audience's experience of post-apocalyptic horror series The Walking Dead, and asked Red Bee Media to develop not just an app but, using technology from Civolution, a means of linking it to the television programme. This uses audio watermarking to keep the two in sync, whether the viewer is watching it as broadcast or on demand
The CSI Awards are one of the most comprehensive and competitive technology awards anywhere in the world, designed to reward technical and product marketing excellence in the cable, satellite, terrestrial broadcasting, mobile and IPTV sectors. They are organised by CSI magazine and usually held at IBC, Europe’s most important exhibition for the combined broadcast community.
In 2011, Civolution was awarded the best interactive TV technology or Application.
This year, Civolution has successfully been shortlisted for CSI awards, in the following categories:
Best content protection technology - NexGuard – Online Media Delivery
Best interactive TV technology or application – SyncNow
... and has been awarded the Best interactive TV technology or application – SyncNow.
The Red Herring 100 awards highlight the exciting startups from Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Since 1996, technology industry executives, investors, and strategists have valued the Red Herring 100 lists as an instrument for discovering and advocating the most promising private ventures from around the world.
Hundreds of companies are from each region are reviewed in a rigorous 3-step process that looks at all aspects of the company (financials, CAGR, innovation, customers, IP, etc.). Companies that make it past step 1 and 2 are invited to be part of the final step, the regional Top 100 Forum, where they compete for a top 100 spot.
The TV Innovation Awards are one of the premier endorsements of innovation in television and recognize the most forward- thinking companies creating products and services that are changing the way people watch television.
One of the critical issues facing the TV paradigm of virtually all video content being available anytime, anywhere on the device of choice, is the protection of that content to ensure its producers and distributors continue to receive fair revenues. The industry is cognizant of what happened to the music and video industries, and is anxious not to lose control of its programming and content.
This award category is intended for innovative solutions that help to protect content both during initial delivery and when stored locally.
The Broadband Infovision Awards ceremony provides a great networking opportunity to reinforce relationships with partners, entertain clients or reward staff. It is an opportunity for shortlisted companies and ultimate winners in each category to receive recognition from their peers. Last year’s judging panel was loaded with senior executives from some of the world’s leading operators – making entering the awards an incredibly easy and efficient way of getting technology noticed by the world’s biggest and most influential players.


text:
One of the biggest safety hazards connected to electric cars is that they don’t make enough noise, posing a threat to both pedestrians and other motorists who can’t hear them coming. As a result, Mercedes-Benz has recruited the services of sound engineer Christoph Meier to make its cars sound "more jarring."
“People expect some exterior noise from a vehicle, because we all grew up with the ‘vroom vroom’ of combustion engines,” said Meier, who oversees 250 people as head of powertrain acoustics at the German automaker.
As a result, Meier and his team has created a “sonorous purring that mimics the noise of a combustion engine by getting louder as the driver presses down on the pedal and higher as the car accelerates for Daimler’s e-Smart City cars, while giving Mercedes’s $569,600 SLS AMG Coupe Electric Drive a “huskier sound to reflect its power.” Both sounds are now standard in models sold in the U.S. and Japan. The noise, however, is optional for vehicles in Europe.
In the meantime, the European Union is considering legislation to make acoustic warning sounds mandatory, while the German auto association VDA stated that they expect to seed worldwide guidelines regarding engine noise for electric cars set sometime this year.
“If a silent electric vehicle knocks over an elderly person or a child, it’s not worth the risk,” said Neil King, an analyst with Euromonitor in London. “It happens often enough in urban areas that people are stepping into the road without looking. You can’t get around that.”
Renault SA already offers a three different tones (pure, glam and sport) on the Zoe hatchback, while Nissan Motor Co.’s Leaf, the best-selling electric car, also comes with synthetic engine noise.


text:
After 25 years, the iconic Woodward Dream Cruise in Michigan was canceled for the very first time back in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic after every effort was exhausted to keep the event rolling. The cruise – which began back in 1995 as a fundraising event – has since become one of the biggest automotive-related gatherings on earth, attracting around 1.5 million visitors and over 40,000 vehicles each year, and is known as the “world’s largest one-day celebration of classic car culture.” Ford has long been one of the main sponsors of the Woodward Dream Cruise, and once again served in that capacity for the fifth straight year at the 2022 edition of the cruise, which just took place this past Saturday. This special event also calls for a special sale on Ford Accessories, and that’s precisely what the automaker has going on right now.
From now through August 26th, 2022, shoppers can purchase official Ford Accessories from the automaker’s catalog and receive 20 percent off their purchase of up to $1,000 by using the code WOODWARD at checkout. This deal is good for one-time use only, and doesn’t including shipping or installation costs, with a maximum discount of $200. There is one other big exclusion, as folks that live in Arizona, Oklahoma, and Vermont are not eligible for the discount.
The Blue Oval also offered a 20 percent discount on Ford Performance parts following its 1-2-3 podium sweeping finish at Ultra4’s 2022 King of the Hammers event in the racing versions of the Ford Bronco. Since then, demand for off-road-related parts continues to grow, which has prompted Ford to expand its catalog in that regard. In terms of individual models, owners of the Bronco and Ford Maverick have gravitated toward these offerings more than most, as Ford Authority reported back in May.


text:
Office 365 users should be on the lookout for account takeover attacks, a rapidly-growing email security threat hitting the enterprise, according to a Thursday blog post from Barracuda. Nearly 30% of organizations studied had their Office 365 accounts compromised by hackers in March of this year, with more than 1.5 million malicious and spam emails sent from hacked accounts that month, the post said.
To execute an account takeover attack, hackers use several different methods, according to the post, including:
- Leveraging usernames and passwords acquired in previous data breaches
- Using stolen passwords to access personal email accounts, and entering business accounts that way
- Brute force attacks to guess simple passwords and take over accounts
- Web and business application attacks, including SMS
SEE: You’ve been breached: Eight steps to take within the next 48 hours (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
More than half of all global businesses now use Office 365, the post noted. Account takeover attacks can serve as an entry point into an organization and its data, leading to a big payout for the hacker.
These attacks typically begin with an infiltration stage, wherein cybercriminals impersonate Microsoft and use social engineering to try and get victims to click on a phishing website or give up their login credentials.
Once an account is compromised, hackers monitor and track activity to learn how a company does business, what email signatures they use, and the way financial transactions are handled, to successfully launch future attacks, according to the post. These attacks often target high-value accounts including executives and finance department employees.
How to prevent account takeover attacks
The post offered the following three tips to protect your business from account takeover attacks:
1. Use multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication–also known as MFA, two-factor authentication, and two-step verification–offers another layer of security beyond username and password. Often, this takes the form of an authentication code, a fingerprint scan, or a retinal scan.
2. Monitor inbox rules and suspicious logins
Find technology solutions that can identify suspicious activity, including logins from different locations and IP addresses, which are a potential sign of a compromised account, the post noted. Monitor email accounts for malicious inbox rules, which are also often part of account takeover, as criminals access an account, create forwarding rules, or hide or delete emails they send from the account to disguise their activity.
3. Train staffers to recognize and report attacks
Make spear phishing attack awareness part of security awareness training, the post said. Simulated phishing attacks for email, voicemail, and SMS can be effective training tools.
“Ensure staffers can recognize these attacks, understand their fraudulent nature, and know how to report them,” the post said.
For more, check out How to prevent spear phishing attacks: 8 tips for your business on TechRepublic.


text:
Australia’s revolutionary online slots studio, Big Time Gaming, has announced a new deal to license their famous Megaways™ game engine to software supplier, Red Tiger Gaming.
This exciting news means Red Tiger will be able to marry its own distinct slots design style and gameplay, including Daily Jackpots, tournaments and player rewards engine, Smart Spins, with one of the most original and ground breaking mechanics in the history of online slots – Megaways™.
The deal will come as no surprise to slots fans as it comes hot on the heels of the announcement of a similar partnership between Storm Gaming and Big Time Gaming, and the release of the first Blueprint Megaways™ games, including Irish Riches Megaways™ and Genie Jackpots Megaways™.
BTG’s remarkable rise to prominence has been driven largely by the high variance slots that are built on the Megaways™ engine. Title’s like Bonanza, White Rabbit and the 2018 release, Extra Chilli, are famed for the massive win potential that comes with in excess of 117,649 paylines set up by the Megaways™ expanding reels feature.
For their part, Red Tiger Gaming were not known for producing particularly big-hitting volatile slots before 2018. Of course, that all changed with the release of the epic Laser Fruit – this expanding reels slot gives over 60,000,000 win ways and a top payout in excess of 10,000x.
So the new match up with BTG makes total sense – now Red Tiger can crack on with producing awesome looking slots on the back of Megaways.
Expect the first release to come early in 2019.
CEO of Red Tiger, Gavin Hamilton, said: “Nik and his team are real innovators and have built great brand recognition around MegaWays™ games. Players know what to expect when they see a MegaWays™ branded game and we will extend this to the maximum with some twists of our own. We are very excited about the vast potential for this combination.”
Whilst Nik Robinson, CEO of BTG, had this to say: “We are thrilled to have joined forces with fellow game developer and innovator, Red Tiger Gaming.
“We are excited to see how the hugely talented team at Red Tiger combines our unique mechanic with their own formula for creating hugely popular slots, allowing even more players to experience the fun and thrill of MegaWays™.”


text:
Food supply chains are seeing the results of continuous global disruptions and the relentless impact of inflation. A new report from BSI, Supply Chain Risk and Opportunities, found a 29% increase in food supply chain thefts in 2023.
Food now constitutes a third of all hijacking incidents, indicating a significant shift in criminal targeting strategies amidst rising prices. And agricultural food products theft has risen to 10%, accounting for one in ten hijacking incidents.
The report delves into specific incidents, such as the theft of 52 tons of olive oil in Greece and the theft of 200 hams in Spain before Christmas. Notably, the report also highlights instances of high-value commodities theft, including a fraudulent diversion of $9.7 million worth of pharmaceutical shipments in Egypt.
The report identifies six imperatives to support smoother global trade.
- Willingness to collaborate can help organizations uncover the opportunity presented by today’s supply chain challenges: No one organization can accelerate progress alone.
- Recognizing the changing nature of risk has the potential to unlock huge opportunity by enabling organizations to prepare for different eventualities.
- Taking a proactive approach to risk, powered by data and actionable insights, can help manage and mitigate vulnerabilities. These insights can be a tool to answer today’s supply chain questions.
- Approaching the ever-changing global landscape with an agile and adaptable mindset is crucial in a time of geopolitical uncertainty.
- Taking a 360-degree perspective on climate]related events has the potential to help future-proof operations: A “new era” of extreme climate events requires a new approach.
- Getting ahead of rapidly-evolving legislation, including via evidenced supply chain compliance, can deliver competitive advantage.


text:
After Facebook bought 9.99% stakes in Jio by investing $5.7 billion, Microsoft has also decided to invest in one of India’s tech giants – Paytm. According to the Economic Times, after raising $1 billion last year, Paytm is looking to raise an additional $100 million, and Microsoft is going to help the company raise that amount.
According to the report, talks with Microsoft began last year when Paytm was in the middle of raising funds. Unfortunately, Microsoft couldn’t invest at that time. However, it is “likely to pump in cash now.”
For the financial year ending March 2019, Paytm reported a loss of $549 million. Almost every mobile payment firm in India is not making enough profits. So, one may think that Microsoft isn’t right to invest in India’s mobile payment giant. However, according to a study by ASSOCHAM-PWC, one of the apex trade associations in India, the country’s digital payment industry will make $135.2 billion by 2023.
Also, Microsoft isn’t a newcomer when it comes to making strategic partnerships with India’s tech companies. Before this, Microsoft made a cloud-related deal with Flipkart, an eCommerce giant owned by Walmart. In the agreement, Microsoft permitted the use of Azure as an exclusive public cloud platform by Flipkart.
Also, last year, India’s communication giant, Reliance Jio, signed a deal with Microsoft to build new custom solutions for large enterprises on Azure. In addition to that, Jio leveraged Microsoft’s language cognitive services to provide support for 13 Indian languages on its device ecosystem.


text:
Earlier this year, we kicked off a campaign for the Fair Lending Act (SB2843), which caps...Read more
About this Policy
Content related to this policy
May was a big month for consumer protection laws in DC. We won a significant victory in the fight...Read more
Get Our Updates
Sign up for e-news and policy updates.


text:
Walmart recently issued a bold new set of plastic waste reduction commitments by leveraging its massive private brand program.
Announced at Walmart’s annual supplier forum, the new commitments,are expected to impact over 30,000 SKUs. The move is designed to help get to the heart of the problem by focusing on the retailer’s private brand packaging, building upon existing efforts to reduce plastic waste in Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club operations, and encouraging national brand suppliers to set similar packaging goals.
At the supplier forum, Walmart executives highlighted that the company is working with suppliers to expand efforts to improve the sustainability of its private brand product packaging, with an emphasis on increasing recyclability and making it easier for customers to recycle.
Walmart announced that it will work with its U.S. private brand suppliers on the following commitments:
> Seek to achieve 100 percent recyclable, reusable or industrially compostable packaging for its private brand packaging by 2025;
> Target at least 20 percent post-consumer recycled content in private brand packaging by 2025;
> Label 100 percent of food and consumable private brand packaging with the How2Recycle® label by 2022;
> Work with suppliers to eliminate the non-recyclable packaging material PVC in general merchandise packaging by 2020; and
> Reduce private brand plastic packaging when possible, optimizing the use to meet the need.
During the forum, Walmart encouraged it’s national brand suppliers to make similar packaging commitments through the retailer’s Project Gigaton platform. The retailer has also introduced a new recycling playbook designed to provide information to companies pursuing recyclable packaging and recycled content goals. The recycling playbook gives overviews on what type of plastic packaging is more easily recyclable and provides information on recycling challenges for certain packaging materials.
Plastic waste is a growing concern for Walmart customers, associates and other key stakeholders. Walmart’s aspiration is to achieve zero plastic waste by taking actions across its business and working with suppliers to use less plastic, recycle more and support innovations to improve plastic waste reduction systems.
Some of the retailer’s current efforts to reach this goal include:
> Offering low cost, high quality alternatives for single use plastic consumable products such as straws, cutlery and disposable tabletops;
> Recycling shrink wrap in most markets—151 million pounds of plastics were recycled globally in 2017;
> Providing access to in-store plastic bag and film recycling bins for customers; and
> Encouraging suppliers to include the How2Recycle label on pack—last year more than 800 Walmart private label suppliers participated.
The Walmart Foundation is also supporting a number of circular economy initiatives such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Beyond 34 project – a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at increasing the current 34 percent recycling rate in the U.S. by providing a scalable model to increase and improve recycling and recovery rates in local communities.
Walmart’s plastic waste reduction efforts are part of the company’s larger commitment to use its size and scale for good and do business in a way that aims to enhance economic opportunity, encourage sustainability and strengthen local communities. Read more at the Walmart Sustainability Hub.
Source: Walmart Press Release
Packaging 360 is a comprehensive knowledge sharing ecosystem for the Indian packaging industry. Our services include an online content platform to deliver news, insights and case studies; organising conferences seminars and customised training; Providing Bespoke Project Consulting, Market Research and Intelligence.


text:
The future of technology is here, and it’s going to change the way we live our lives. We’re already seeing some of these changes take place, but what will be next? Here are a few examples of technology products in 2022.
Self-driving cars are becoming more common on roads across America. Google has been testing out their own self-driving car since 2009. Their latest model, which looks almost identical to a normal car, is capable of driving itself without any help from humans. This autonomous vehicle isn’t perfect yet (it doesn’t know how to drive in heavy rain or snow) but its ability to navigate city streets makes it one of the most exciting technologies available today.
Virtual reality is another product that has been around for years, but it took a lot of time before it became popular. Today, virtual reality is used by millions of people around the world even when playing casinoroo online casino games. There are several different types of virtual reality headsets such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Playstation VR, and Google Cardboard. Many people enjoy using virtual reality because it feels like you’re actually there when you experience it.
Augmented reality is another form of technology that has been growing rapidly over the past decade. For this type of technology, images are overlaid onto the real world through a smartphone. These images may include information about a current event, a map to guide users to somewhere, or a mobile casino games where players can interact with objects in their environment. Augmented reality is quickly becoming a part of our everyday life.
Wearable tech devices are getting smaller and smaller every day. From smartwatches to fitness trackers, wearable tech has made great strides in recent years. Although these gadgets were once bulky and uncomfortable, manufacturers have worked hard to make them sleek and light weight. In addition to this, battery life has improved dramatically, allowing us to wear these devices comfortably throughout the day.


text:
The face-to-face gathering of more than 370 delegates ahead of the opening of Expo 2020 in October has been hailed as a great success by authorities in Dubai.
Caribbean Travel Marketplace will offer buyers from around the world a chance to refresh their portfolios as they prepare for the post-Covid-19 revival of travel and tourism.
On May 1st, 1851, the Great Exhibition took place in London, housed in the glittering Crystal Palace, becoming the first World Expo ever held. Nearly two centuries later, Dubai is preparing to pick up the baton.
Private and public sector tourism leaders have taken a united stand to safely restart international travel at the closure of the World Travel & Tourism Council Global Summit.
Consistent with the existing density restrictions and social distancing guidelines and regulations, there will be 11,000 people in the Dubai World Trade Centre halls at any given time.
Tourism leaders have pledged to work towards female equality and boost representation in leadership roles in an announcement before the World Travel & Tourism Council.
With the reopening of international borders on the horizon and the global vaccine rollout gathering pace, World Travel Awards has launched its #Together initiative.
Leading tourism ministers have joined together to urge the public and private sectors to work together in partnership to save travel at the World Travel & Tourism Council Global Summit.
Momentum is beginning to return to the New York hospitality market according to Fred Dixon, chief of NYC & Company. He explained: “Travel is going to be a coiled spring; it is going to rebound quickly."
Carnival Corporation was forced to halt all sailings in March last year as the Covid-19 pandemic spread around the world and has yet to return in many markets.
Gloria Guevara, chief executive of the World Travel & Tourism Council, has urged the global hospitality sector to cooperate as rebuilding from the Covid-19 pandemic begins in earnest.
Christopher Nassetta, chief executive of Hilton, has issued a rallying cry to the global hospitality sector during an optimistic opening to the World Travel & Tourism Council Global Summit in Cancun, Mexico.


text:
brand New styles and thinking that is breakthrough politics, technology, technology, company and tradition. It’s futurism at its most useful.
Copy backlink to talk about with friends
Why you ought to care
Because bold brides-to-be want dresses too.
OZY was to this whole tale, placing you prior to the bend. View More originals that are OZY
The Frequent Dose 17, 2015 december
Fashion runway programs have now been known to fall flat, compliment of trips, slips and also the publicity of the lot that is whole than simply a hip. But Susan Glick knew she had it sewn up ahead of the strut that is first her current show, and she basked in an optimistic vibe since the lights dimmed while the music started. “i recently knew we had been likely to deliver,” the vice president of women’s apparel at goods Mart claims, her New York City audience embrace a group of bold new bridal designers as she aimed to help.
Glick is talking about her first-ever collaboration presenting 10 up-and-comers during the nyc Overseas Bridal Week, at Pier 94, in a show that reflected an explosive brand new trend that is bridal the increase of Israeli movie movie movie stars. Refusing become hemmed in, developers through the state that is jewish Inbal Dror, Lihi Hod, Galia Lahav and Berta Balilti have actually recently strike the international market in stride, seeing product sales rise quite a bit in past times several years.


text:
Up until a few years ago, the words “social media” and “marketing” were never used in the same sentence. Today, marketing is not marketing without social media and networking. Brands attain more recognition and advocacy through social media platforms. Engaging followers and appealing to their personal senses are essential elements to successful social media marketing…
Google announced it will be shutting down Google Reader on July 1, 2013. Google is trying to consolidate its services. In 2011, Google rolled up Reader and Picasa under Google+. Then in 2012, Google shutdown a lot of services. Now, comes the shutdown of Google Reader. Google Search continues to be the leading revenue generator..
Pinterest’s Web Analytics is a new set of tools that will help brands analyze the effectiveness of their content and social engagement. Cat Lee, Pinterest product manager said, “The goal is really to help websites understand what content is resonating with people on Pinterest.” Businesses and marketers have been trying to figure out how to..
Are you ready to take your marketing campaign to the social world? Are you wondering where to start and what type of dashboard you will need? To implement your social media marketing strategy you will need a good dashboard. There are several key factors that need to be considered when shopping for dashboards. You need..
You need to plan and organize for your social marketing. Once you’ve established your brand and executed your social marketing well, you win the loyalty of social users. Following is a list of brands and the area of social marketing that’s worked for them:
The emergence and widespread infiltration of social media has dramatically changed the public relations industry (PR). This isn’t the first time the PR industry has had to evolve its way of doing business. Orlaith Finnegan (author) on Social Media Today remembers a PR director who relished telling his new interns how fax machines were the..


text:
Fiat-Chrysler is recalling about 100,000 Dodge Dart sedans from model year 2013 and 2014. According to the NHTSA report, in affected vehicles, engine oil from the vacuum pump might seep into the brake booster, damaging components. FCA found that this could result in a loss of brake assist, making it harder to stop.
Both 2.0-liter and 2.4-liter cars are affected, built between Feb. 27, 2012 and Jan. 23, 2014.
Chrysler will notify owners, though there is no schedule yet, and fix the problem free of charge. Technicians will inspect the booster for oil, if none is found, the shop will replace the vacuum tube assembly anyway. If oil is found, the vacuum pump, vacuum tube assembly, brake booster and master cylinder will be replaced. Parts aren’t currently ready, hence the delay in notification.
Concerned owners can contact Chrysler at (800) 853-1403 or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at (800) 327-4236.


text:
By Chris Burritt and Jeffrey McCracken, Bloomberg |
July 30, 2012
Best Buy Co. founder Richard Schulze has been recruiting executives to help lead the retailer if his attempt to take the company private is successful, according to a senior Best Buy executive.
How long will gold hold for?
Chinese demand low supply boost crude
High-frequency trading fees need transparency
Natural gas at an inflection point?
How low can corn go?
Binary fair value


text:
Sears faces class-action lawsuit by operators of its Hometown franchises
|Report an Error|
Share via Email
Sears Canada Inc. and its American counterpart are facing a class-action lawsuit by owners of its Hometown franchises, who allege the retailer has deprived them of the opportunity to make a reasonable profit.
The lawsuit was filed by the owner of a Sears Hometown store in Woodstock, Ont., on behalf of about 260 franchise operators across Canada.
It claims Hometown store dealers have seen their sales and profits erode over the past three years.
The lawsuit alleges that Sears lowered dealers’ commissions, reduced advertising for local stores and bypassed the franchises by selling directly to customers who are located within their markets.
The dealers also claim that Sears is setting their compensation and work conditions, without abiding by labour laws or franchise protection laws.
The allegations have not been proven in court.
- Educators scrambling to help students make up for lost time
- Deported Roma family wins legal battle for second chance
- Wynne, Aga Khan team up to boost educational opportunities
- Parents of toddler who died at illegal daycare can proceed with lawsuit: judge
- What size is acceptable? Air Canada cracks down on carry-ons
- Reyes, Hutchison lead Jays in shutout of White Sox
- ‘Flocked swabs’ may be key to treating diarrheal diseases in developing countries
- 'If you're not buying Italian, you're not eating Italian:' counterfeit foods scrutinized
Italian trade commissioner Pasquale Bova warns Canadian consumers to watch for misleading food labels on cheeses, cured meats and olive oil.


text:
Did the price of the iPhone get the better of its sales? The question arises in view of the vertiginous fall in income generated thanks to the smartphone.
Tim Cook had to take the lead and said Reuters that the price of the iPhone will drop in some countries, without giving further details, however. We therefore do not know, at the time of writing, whether France will be affected.
As a reminder, the price of the iPhone crossed the 1000 € mark with the iPhone X in 2017. The presence of the iPhone XR, released in 2018 at less than 900 € does not seem to help matters for the Californian firm , hence this questioning.


text:
Prolific Mexican columnist, novelist, poet, and former UNESCO ambassador, Homero Aridjis has just released a new collection of poetry, Solar Poems. To celebrate, Aridjis will make an appearance at City Lights Bookstore in North Beach tonight (April 6) at 7pm. But it's not just Aridjis that makes the trip worthwhile. Aridjis also produced a billingual edition of his book, WHAT IS POETRY?/¿QUÉ ES LA POESÍA?, and City Lights founder and legendary poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti will be there to read selected poems from the book.
From Our Partners


text:
Smallwood Takes Helm at Spectrum11 Jan, 2002 By: Joan Villa
Video veteran Jerry Smallwood has been around the block in nearly two decades at Coliseum Video and A-Pix Entertainment. But his newest venture as c.e.o. of New Jersey-based Spectrum Entertainment Products is a labor of love that he hopes will marry his flare for marketing with a distinctive line-up of movies.
"You're going to see a very unique way of marketing titles," Smallwood says. "That's one thing I've learned from A-Pix is innovative packaging and the importance of that to the consumer and to renting independent titles. We've taken that to the next level with an innovative presentation to the retail community."
Smallwood signed on to revitalize Spectrum domestically and internationally, while spearheading acquisitions of innovative fare and launching a new production arm that will bring a handful of films to video sometime next year. In addition, Spectrum begins this month offering its 100-title library for the first time on DVD at a budget-priced $14.98 suggested retail price, including Meet the Feebles, from Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, and Dingo, featuring jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in a rare acting role.
Also this year, he and Spectrum president Yvette Hoffman plan four new releases a month for the company's three labels: Spectrum, geared to "edgy" independent films; Dead Alive Productions, for "campy" cult horror; and the new Vision Factory line of more "mainstream, theatrical-type films," he says.
All will carry flat pricing of $54.99 suggested retail for VHS and $24.99 for DVD, with minimum purchase requirements or copy depth programs bringing retailers' VHS price to under $40 from distribution, he says.
The first Vision Factory titles, due out in March, are The Perfect Heist, a thriller, and Embalmer, an urban horror film with an African American cast touted in fanzines like Fangoria, he says. Spectrum Films will release An Intimate Friendship, an award-winning lesbian film, while Dead Alive Productions will feature Flesh Hunters, described tongue-in-cheek as a "flesh-eating alien invasion movie."
With titles like Biker Zombies from Detroit—the next installment from Dead Alive—Smallwood hopes campy tag lines such as "In Detroit, no one cares if you scream" will draw attention and build consumer brand awareness for the genre line.
"We want people when they see the product to get a little bit of a smile and say, ‘I gotta see this movie,'" he says.
Vision Factory, on the other hand, will focus on theatrical-quality films that may have niche interest or film festival notoriety. A Packing Suburbia, for example, due in April, won film festival awards and received press coverage in New York, Smallwood notes.


text:
When I do my US tech market sizing and forecasting, I start with the data on business investment in computer equipment, communications equipment, and software in the quarterly National Accounts of the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). As Forrester’s recently published report on the US tech market noted (see September 28, 2012, "US Tech Market Outlook Dims For 2012 To 2013 -- US Tech Market Spending Will Maintain A Mediocre 4% to 5% Pace"), the BEA in July revised the historic data on these categories of business investment going back to 2009, significantly reducing the size of tech investment in this period and lowering the growth rate of business tech investment to a pace not appreciably faster than the growth rate in the US economy.
While I adjusted my tech market sizings and forecasts to these lower numbers from the BEA, I have been wondering whether the BEA in their data collection is missing key segments of new technology, and thus understating the level of tech buying that is actually going on. We have no good way of answering this question since the BEA has not publicly indicated that there have been any changes in data sources and aggregation methods that would signs of undermeasurement. Still, here are the questions I would ask BEA if I had the chance.
Earlier in 2012, I was fairly bullish about the US tech market, expecting growth of 7% to 7.5% for the near depending on whether or not telecommunications services was included (see April 24, 2012, "US Tech Market Outlook For 2012 And 2013 -- Improving Economic Prospects Create Upside Potential") . But economic growth has been weaker than I assumed, coming in at 1.3% in Q2 2012 compared to my expectation that real GDP would grow by around 2-1/2%. In addition, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis revised downward its estimates for growth in business investment in computer equipment, communications equipment, and software. These revisions eliminated the evidence for my thesis that the US was in a new cycle of tech innovation and investment that was causing tech investment to grow twice as fast as the economy. Instead, the revised data showed that tech investment was growing at about the same rate as the US economy in 2010 and 2011, not faster as earlier data had shown. Tech innovation is clearly going on, but at least in the official data tech investment has not responded in kind. So, with nominal GDP growth for 2012 shaping up to be about 4%, our tech market growth outlook for 2012 in our latest US tech market forecast report (see September 28, 2012, "US Tech Market Outlook Dims For 2012 And 2013") is about the same, that is to say, in the 4.5% to 5% range.
We’d like to know what job responsibilities give CIOs insomnia, either by responding to this blog or by contacting us directly to be interviewed. The interviews will take less than an hour and go over this question as well as others including:
What decisions do you regularly make?
What sources of information do you use?
What IT decisions are made by IT versus the business?
We are in the early stages of interviews, but the initial responses to the question of what keeps CIOs up at night were very interesting. Some, as expected, focused on tactical and immediate problems. They included:
Security: “I don’t ever want to see [my company’s] name in the paper for a security problem.”
Small mistakes: “A tiny piece of code could have brought the organization to its knees.”
Turnover: “We have two people maintaining one of our ancient core systems, and both could retire soon.”
But there were unexpected responses in that they focused on the long term. Some of these long-term insomnia inducers were:
Investments: “Does the money I’m putting in now make sense for the future?”
Staff leadership: “Do I have the right mix of outsourced and internal staff?”
Reality: “I’m struggling matching reality with where we’re heading.”
Data from the Q2 2012 Forrsights Budgets And Priorities Tracker Survey shows that for nearly 70% of Australian and New Zealand organisations, the top IT management priority is to increase IT capacity or resources to drive business innovations. This focus on innovation has been reflected in numerous discussions I’ve been having with CIOs. At a panel session on innovation towards the beginning of 2012, the audience were pretty evenly split between those who believed IT has a key role to play in business innovation and those who thought innovation was not IT’s job. Now, however, innovation seems top of mind with most CIOs I speak to.
So what can your IT department do to help drive business innovation? Well – really there are lots of ways – but most importantly you can help by implementing processes that help drive “sustainable innovation”. Sustainable innovation is not small changes – and not the big changes – it is everything in the middle. I call it the “gut feel” innovation – i.e. “I have this idea and I think it could help improve the business. The thing is that I don’t have the stats to prove it can help – hence I can’t build a business case – hence we can’t put this idea through the traditional business investment process.” In a scenario like this, what you need is a process to quickly test and measure the idea to give you the data to put into the traditional business process to either move it forward or discard it as a bad idea. If fewer than 45% of your ideas move from ideation to reality you are probably testing too many “bad ideas” and you need to tighten your process to get rid of more bad ideas earlier – and on the flip side, if more than 70% of the ideas are being commercialised then you probably aren’t testing enough ideas.
It’s safe to say that the early adopters of Apple’s iPad didn’t go out and buy the device because they wanted a new gadget for work. They purchased the iPad because of what they could do in their everyday lives. But it didn’t take long for employees to bring their iPads to the office. If we mark the modern tablet era by Apple’s 2010 iPad launch then an astounding 84 million iPads and as many as 120 million tablets in total have flown off the shelves. Forrester’s global workforce and decision-maker surveys and client conversations show just how fast tablets are being adopted:
Three-quarters of a billion tablets will be in use by 2016. It took more than 20 years for the PC to reach an installed base of 750 million people. But tablets will surpass that mark in less than half the time. Global tablet sales will top 375 million in 2016 with about one-third of tablets acquired by businesses for employees. Back in 2007, we wrote that to reach the second billion users, the computer market would be driven by lower cost hardware, useful applications, and easy access to the Internet from anywhere. Tablets fit that bill to a tee.
Some 82% of firms expect to support tablets for employees. Companies are getting tablet fever as 82% of firms report interest in using tablets. According to these IT decision makers, tablets will come into the enterprise via several doors, including employees bringing their own: Our latest survey of global information workers shows that 12% use tablets and 8% paid for it themselves. And more than half of the 1,004 firms we surveyed plan to increase their spending on mobile devices and apps by at least 10% next year.
When we asked 10,000 information workers globally what brands are on the devices, operating systems, and software they use for work, it came as no surprise that Microsoft dominates. More than 90% of employees rely on something Microsoft to get their jobs done (and we didn't even ask about office productivity suites). What's interesting and new, however, is the pervasiveness of other brands besides Microsoft in the workplace.
Note: We asked about desktop, laptop, smartphone, and tablet manufacturer; PC, tablet, and smartphone operating system; web browser, email, IM, and webconferencing software.
Our data shows Apple and Google have joined tech stalwarts Dell and HP as the top five brands employees use at work. Google particularly has made major strides and is now second only to Microsoft in terms of pervasiveness in Asia Pacific and Latin American workplaces. The brand ecosystem differs outside of North America and Western Europe in other ways as well -- Lenovo is big in China, and Acer and Asus are big in Russia.
I was pretty sure that the v1 (beta?) Apple Maps would have gaps and gaffs, and of course it does. Mapping is hard to do as this excellent analysis from Adrian Covert at Gizmodo makes clear. (If Apple had it to do over again, it might have pushed harder to keep the Google Map app in place while Apple launched a beta map alongside it. Maybe it still can.)
But Apple had to do maps. It had no choice, really. The reason is simple: maps are the place where mobile matters most. Here's the logic:
First, maps are where the physical context of our daily lives and reality intersects the digital intelligence we access online. It is precisely because maps are where the physical best intersects the digital that Apple had to offer maps. Maps are extremely valuable to customers, hence to Apple. It couldn't outsource it to Google forever if it wanted to develop a unique mobile engagment experience to customers. For that matter, Microsoft has to do (and is doing) exactly the same. It's also why Nokia purchased NAVTEQ in 2008 for $8.1 billion.
Second, developers are finding fabulous ways to exploit maps in their applications. Overlaying just about anything on a map makes the map more valuable. Shoppers benefit. Cyclists benefit. City planners benefit. Even the military benefits. Anybody dealing with physical locations needs maps in their app. And that means great APIs to access the map, a way to put layers over the map to show important things, and a way to crowdsource new information. Flickr's photos on maps in a great way to explore a vacation spot before getting on an airplane. All because of great map apps.
At last week’s India analyst briefing, IBM outlined urbanization as a key factor driving “Smarter Cities” initiatives in India.
IBM expects India to invest about $1.2 trillion over the next 20 years in areas like transportation, energy, and public security. The second phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM), which covers $40 billion in infrastructure-related projects, will play a key role in improving the country’s infrastructure capacity to support urbanization over the next five years. IBM is currently working on approximately 3,000 smart city projects globally; of those, about 30 pilot projects are from India.
About a year ago, I published a report on how cities are undergoing rapid transformation and creating massive opportunities for ICT vendors across Asia Pacific. Although the urbanization rate still stands at about 30% in India, it is growing fast. Also, an increasingly Internet-savvy population is demanding better citizen services. Indian state and city governments will make investments to build infrastructure on a large scale to meet the needs of their surging urban populations, creating opportunities for vendors. —
Despite the promise and opportunities that India provides for Smarter City initiatives, IBM has to deal with key challenges:
I spent a lot of time last week thinking about public safety. What is public safety? How do you achieve it? Well, it seems to me that it could be anything and everything; but that it’s contextual and different for all cities. In fact, three different “public safety” articles jumped out at me as I was reading the International Herald Tribune one morning:
Traffic defies a revolution. According to the article, there are about 2.2 million vehicles in Cairo, where licenses are generally awarded without a road test and drivers “often shrug off stoplights and traffic rules.” Road accidents kill about 1,000 people in greater Cairo each year, with ½ of those pedestrians.
When lions roam the backyard. While North American cities have long dealt with “urban wildlife” such as coyotes, foxes, raccoons and badgers, fast growing cities in Africa increasingly face incidents such as that described in the story – a lioness and her cubs who crawled under a fence into a residential Nairobi neighborhood.
Today’s top career sites do more than list jobs available. The best ones give a glimpse of what it’s like to work at the company, communicate the company values, and introduce the company brand. These sites use multimedia to communicate messages about the company culture, the people, professional growth opportunities, and more.
Join me on Friday, September 21, 3012 at 11 am Eastern Time for the Forrester webinar, Create An Engaging Career Website To Pique Candidate Interest. In this session I will talk about the essential components to include in a career website, the effective use of video to communicate messages, and the important connections with social media sites. I’ll show many examples of effective websites.
Register now. Bring your best questions. I look forward to talking with you.


text:
We’re excited to announce we’ve partnered with Oja Express to help recognize the dope mom & pop African/Caribbean grocery stores that have been holding it down for the culture for years. Oja Express is an innovative online delivery service that connects food lovers to African/Caribbean groceries from their favourite local mom & pop stores.
The founder, Boyede explains, “OjaExpress is committed to ensuring that grocery stores that serve immigrant communities, not only survive, but thrive. Most of these stores were started by immigrants, and due to a multitude of challenges, it is difficult for these stores to invest in technology that bigger chain grocery stores invest in. Many small business don’t last beyond the second generation. We want to help stem this trend. Our grocery stores are not just points of transactions, they are institutions. OjaExpress wants to help to keep these stores viable. OjaExpress provides an easy-to-use, low cost solution, that allows these stores to provide the same level of service as their bigger competitor, but with the cultural touch.”
In addition to creating the technology and infrastructure to help local African/ Caribbean grocery stores flourish and us foodies get access to the food we love, OJA Express has partnered with us at Black Foodie to launch an award to shine light on & recognize the local grocery store owners for their work in keeping the culture alive through food.
The grocery store business is no easy task, and for years our local African/ Caribbean grocers have been our only source to the foods & ingredients we grew up on. Help us show these shops the love and appreciation they deserve and nominate a store for an OJA award today.


text:
- Information for:
- Future Students
- Current Students
- Employers & Industry Partners
- Alumni & Friends
- Faculty & Staff
Auburn University’s new RFID Lab held its grand opening Wednesday, during which Amazon announced a joint project with Auburn to explore the business case for the implementation of RFID within the Amazon supply chain.
At the event, Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations and a 1996 Auburn University graduate, said, “RFID is a fascinating technology. As part of this joint project, we are excited to invent new processes and technology using RFID to enhance the experience for customers through better inventory predictability, faster delivery and, ultimately, lower cost. The collaboration presents a unique opportunity for students, faculty and industry to come together in a hands-on and fast-moving real world environment.”
Auburn University’s RFID Lab specializes in the business case and technical implementation of radio frequency identification technology in retail, supply chain and manufacturing settings. The lab draws on the expertise of faculty in Auburn University’s Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, College of Human Sciences and College of Agriculture. In moving to Auburn University in 2014, the lab was reunited with its founder, Harbert College of Business Dean Bill Hardgrave. Hardgrave helped launch the lab at the University of Arkansas in 2005.
Even though its location has changed, the lab has continued to work with leading retail, supply chain, manufacturing and technology companies.
“As the RFID industry expands, it’s important to have as many users engaged in the lab as possible as lessons from one industry often hold true for others,” Auburn University RFID Lab Director Justin Patton said. “Having unique retail partners like Amazon engaged in the lab allows us to focus on the research questions that are most crucial to many different users, and add the academic validation that helps bring maturity to the evolving market.”
Amazon has utilized RFID technology in its fulfillment centers, the massive facilities where customer orders are picked from shelves, moved on conveyers and loaded onto trucks for rapid shipping and delivery. Founded in 1994 and based in Seattle, the company’s footprint includes more than 100 fulfillment centers worldwide.
Located in a former supermarket, the 13,000-square foot Auburn University RFID Lab offers simulated retail, grocery and convenience store space, as well as warehouse and distribution center environments. The Auburn University RFID Lab established the first RFID “tagged item certification program” to assist retail product manufacturers. RFID technology utilizes computer chips smaller than a grain of sand to aid in the wireless tracking of items.


text:
Sephora Canada launches inclusivity campaign
Sephora Canada is amping up its commitment to diversity and inclusivity with the launch of a new campaign, dubbed 'We Belong To Something Beautiful'.
The campaign, launched on Wednesday, highlights well-known personalities that celebrate the theme of diversity and belonging for all Canadians, ultimately showcasing that there is no singular expression of beauty.
"Inclusion is at the core of our new campaign as we embrace and honor the personal journey of each collaborator" explained Deborah Neff, Sephora Canada's vice president of marketing, in a news statement.
"It was important for us to bring to the forefront authentic stories that will spark dialogue and open up the definition of beauty for Canadians, because at Sephora, we believe that beauty is living your truth. We hope to inspire and drive change as we look to celebrate our differences that make us so uniquely and unapologetically Canadian."
The campaign will unfold nation-wide this summer and feature eleven Canadian collaborators at the forefront of the campaign.
It launched with a first group of four collaborators including Toronto-based body positive model and actor Mina Gerges; Vancouver-based Youtube star Julie Vu; Montreal-based artist Tika; and Montreal-based writer and social worker Kai Cheng Thom.
The second set of collaborators and their stories will be unveiled in August 2019, alongside a complementary theme.
The campaign launch comes just a few weeks after the beauty chain closed all of its U.S. stores, distribution centers and corporate offices to conduct diversity training for employees. That move followed a racial incident involving Grammy-nominated singer, Sza, who said she was racially profiled at a Sephora store in Calabasas, California, earlier this year.
The 'We Belong To Something Beautiful' campaign, created in partnership with Toronto-based advertising agency Virtue Worldwide, kicked off with an anthem video. Chapter videos and campaign assets will be featured on billboards, transit stations, cinema and shelters, social media and experiential channels across urban centers throughout the summer.
Likewise, for the first time ever, the campaign will be featured on TV.
Copyright © 2023 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.


text:
Bank Reserve Requirement Cut By PBOC
Beijing officials have elected to cut reserve requirements for the nation’s biggest banks by 50 basis points or 0.50% – the third time in the last six months. The move doesn’t come as a surprise as dour economic data last week revealed a softer than anticipated Chinese economy. Both retail sales and industrial production figures increased softer than expected, as consumer prices slowed for the third straight month, rising by only 3.4%. The new rate now leaves most major banks with a RRR of 20%.
The decision will likely bolster markets in Asia, particularly in Hong Kong and China as the move will widely be received as expansionary. It also follows suit with many other Asian economies in recent days, that have elected to lower interest rates or bolster stimulus plans in order to stem any further slowdown in the region.
More on China - China Inflation Slows For 3rd Month, More Easing?


text:
Bike CzarJan 23rd, 2015 by Dave Schlabowske
An update on all the improvements for biking both locally and state-wide.
Bike CzarJan 16th, 2015 by Dave Schlabowske
2015 agenda by Bike Federation will push city for these and other improvements.
Bike CzarJan 9th, 2015 by Dave Schlabowske
Sounds tough, but it's really possible to travel quite comfortably. Here's a guide.
Bike CzarJan 2nd, 2015 by Dave Schlabowske
Why do automobile drivers yell at legal bikers and pedestrians? Probing this ugly form of road rage.
Bike CzarDec 19th, 2014 by Dave Schlabowske
City officials pledge to work towards upgrading the city's national, bicycle-friendly ranking from bronze to gold.
Bike CzarDec 12th, 2014 by Dave Schlabowske
Milwaukee had as many as 1,000 cycling Santas, and cities like Boston, Chicago, Kansas City and Minneapolis also had rampages.
Bike CzarDec 5th, 2014 by Dave Schlabowske
The number of fatal bike crashes in Wisconsin continues to decline even as number of bicyclists increases.
Bike CzarNov 28th, 2014 by Dave Schlabowske
I went from a heavy smoking, bar-hopping photographer who might have killed himself, to a physically-fit bicycle advocate, all because I bought a bike.
Bike CzarNov 21st, 2014 by Dave Schlabowske
If you can't brave the cold, there are some fun indoor cycling programs at area bike shops.
Bike CzarNov 14th, 2014 by Dave Schlabowske
Six Wisconsin shops made the NBDA's list of top bike stores in the nation.
Bike CzarOct 31st, 2014 by Dave Schlabowske
Motorist initially charged with negligent homicide, but that has been dropped to inattentive driving, though investigation is not completed.
Bike CzarOct 24th, 2014 by Dave Schlabowske
They make busy intersections safer for bikes and cars. Will Milwaukee install some?


text:
Items tagged Victoria's Secret
- AREA NEWS: July 26th : Opening of Victoria's Secret
- AREA NEWS: Next opening of Victoria's Secret
AREA NEWS: Victoria's Secret confirms opening date for Bristol store
A spokesperson for the brand has confirmed the store is set for its grand opening on Wednesday January 27.
AREA NEWS: Victoria's Secret to open its first China flagship store in ...
The flagship store will take up an area of 1,475 square meters at Lippo Plaza on Huaihai Road, which used to be a two-story retail store of French luxury brand Louis Vuitton
AREA NEWS: Guess to open flagship store at Liverpool ONE
Guess, the lifestyle and fashion brand, is to open its first store in the North West on Liverpool ONE’s Paradise Street.


text:
JLL was a transaction advisor for the dealbetween CapitaLand India and Stryker India.
Stryker has leased1.5 lakh sq. ft office in Gurugram’s International Tech Park in Gurugram.
Strykerthe company has relocated from its existing space Gurugramat Sohna road inIndia . They are consolidating its operations. CapitaLand India has developed an International Tech Park Gurgaon (ITPG) is an IT Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
According to JLL, the leasing activity gained momentum in Q3 2021, it is yet to reach the pre-pandemic levels measured in terms of quarterly average seen in 2019 and Q1 2020,
According to JLL, Q3 2021, it is yet to reach the pre-pandemic levels measured in terms of quarterly average seen in 2019 and Q1 2020, according to JLL.
Stryker began its commercial operations in 1999 in India with its headquarters in Gurugram, and followed by regional sales offices in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
According to various expert corporates are not downsizing or leaving premium spaces which was during coving lockdown in March2020.
In this Quarter Delhi, NCR records the highest net absorption among 7 cities taken into consideration
Manufacturing sector was mostly driven by 40% of the total leasing activity


text:
Travel is back in a big way and consumers are excited to make up for lost holidays over the past two years. With a steady rise in vaccination coverage across geographies, combined with the easing of restrictions across regions, travellers have embraced the spirit of travel wholeheartedly, especially during holidays and festive long weekends in India, the US, the UK and Europe. As per OYO’s booking analysis, consumers across the world are increasingly opting for short-haul destinations and making last-minute bookings over planned trips. Across Europe, summer travel saw the highest bounce back in demand. Whereas, Americans travelled the most during the Labor Day long weekend of September 4 – 6, 2021. Closer to home, in India, the long weekends of Gandhi Jayanti and Dussehra ranked as the topmost holidays for travellers in 2021.
Indian travellers preferred spending their holidays across the country’s beautiful tourist destinations such as Jaipur, Goa, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Udaipur during the festive season. Interestingly, short-haul destinations continue to be the go-to option for travellers across the country over long weekends. Some of the top short-haul destinations are Lonavala, Pondicherry, Shimla, Mysore. All of these destinations sit close to mainstream cities of Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh, Delhi and Bangalore, indicating that city folks are looking for respite closer to home. The long weekend of Dussehra saw a hike in demand, with an increase in trips to nearby destinations for a quick break. In India, last-minute bookings continue to be on the rise. Not surprisingly, Indians travel to destinations known for their festive cheer. During a festival, the preference for destinations well-known to celebrate the festival with great vigor witnessed a spike in bookings. For instance, during Ganesh Chaturthi, locals preferred going on short-haul trips to locations like Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Lonavala, and Mumbai. The most recent long weekend of Guru Nanak Jayanti saw the majority of bookings for Varanasi, Jaipur, Goa, Puri and Alibag.


text:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Annual Costume Institute Gala may be an exclusive by-invitation-only event for Hollywood's A-listers, but even members of the general public can get in on the fun and see some of the incredible fashion on the red carpet thanks to televised coverage and an online live stream.
Jennifer Connelly and Nicolas Ghesquiere at the 2017 Met Gala.
In addition to the Met Gala, Getty Images content creators, are at every major entertainment event globally, from awards ceremonies to fashion weeks to film festivals, covering over 70,000 entertainment events a year and partnering with major brands on creative content strategy.
Rihanna's next Met Gala appearance came two years later in 2011.
Elections in Lebanon Boost Hezbollah's Clout
Faisal Karami, the son of the late pro-Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karami, won a seat for the first time. Independent candidates running against the political establishment won two seats in Beirut.
While the theme for 2011's Met Gala was "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty", we can all see that she definitely took that into consideration when choosing her outfit for the night. The theme for that year was "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations". At the time, many speculated that her undone look was in response to the Paris robbery experience from just months prior, particularly as this was one of her first red carpets since the harrowing event. This look definitely turned out stunning.
Will Rihanna dress up as a stained glass window? The fabulous gown only cemented her fashion-forward attitude; slip dresses are a huge trend today, proving the royal was clearly ahead of her time.
Princess Diana had so many iconic fashion moments - it really is the hardest of tasks to pick just one favourite.
At the 2017 event celebrating "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between", the Off-White founder and artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear took a fashion risk by wearing sneakers on the famed carpet.


text:
Apple cautiously shifts to Face ID for payments, security in iPhone X
Apple's upcoming iPhone X will ditch its fingerprint sensor in favor of a multi-camera system, but it still expects some users to opt for a PIN code.
In eliminating the fingerprint sensor to accommodate an edge-to-edge display, Apple had to redesign a lot of the ways its smartphone handles common interactions, especially payments. And while the company touted the strength of its new Face ID system, it came with a few words of caution.
"If you happen to have an evil twin, you really need to protect your sensitive data with a passcode," warned Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, in a Tuesday presentation announcing the company's newest smartphones.
When picked up by a stranger, that stranger has a one in a million chance of being able to trick the camera — a huge improvement from the one in 50,000 chance with Touch ID, which Schiller described as the "gold standard" of biometric authentication. The odds get lower when people such as family members share traits with the phone's owner, but it has protections against being unlocked by a sleeping user's face or a photo of the user.
"Face ID also works with Apple Pay," Schiller said. "You look at iphone X to authenticate and hold it near the payment terminal to pay."
Third-party financial and security apps like Mint, 1Password and E-Trade also support Face ID authentication, Schiller said. The iPhone 8, announced alongside the iPhone X, still uses Touch ID instead of Face ID.
Despite Apple's advances, the company has never felt confident enough to totally remove PIN authentication. When Touch ID launched, Apple even saw fit to strengthen its PIN security, requiring a six-digit PIN instead of the four-digit PIN it supported on previous iPhones. That change made it far less likely for a stranger to guess the user's PIN — one in a million compared to one in 10,000, Apple said at the time.
Schiller's warning is likely in response to publicity surrounding attempts to defeat biometric authentication. In May, a BBC reporter and his non-identical twin brother were able to fool HSBC's voice biometrics phone banking system. Such efforts are worrying for companies that want to advance biometric authentication, even if they are unlikely to apply to most consumers.
Apple isn't the first to support facial biometrics for smartphone authentication and payments. Samsung introduced a similar feature in its ill-fated Note 7 smartphone last year, which had an iris scanner built in. The feature survived into its Note 8 device, launched this year ahead of Apple's iPhone announcement.