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Thursday, October 17, 2019 11:41 am
By Daniels Ekugo
Preparations for the 2019 Edition of the Nigerian Auto Journalists Association (NAJA), Awards slated to hold December 12, 2019 at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Just like similar awards organised by automotive journalists in other countries, the NAJA annual awards is put together to recognise corporate stakeholders organisations and other automotive products and ancillary products like tyre brands , lubricants and individuals that are adjudged to have relatively stood out among other competitors in their respective segments in the country’s auto industry within the year.
The annual awards also remains the only authentic industry event in the country that involves all the motoring journalists in Nigeria drawn from the print, electronic and online media in the voting process. According to the organizers, one of the high points of the awards is in the Car-Of-The-Year (COTY) award category.
Other segments of awards are Luxury Car of the Year, Heavy Duty Truck of The Year, Auto Plant of the Year, CEO Of The Year, Auto Personality Of The Year and CSR Company Of The Year, Pick-up of the Year, Showroom of the Year and many others.
New additions to the awards segments this year, which include Super Luxury Car of The Year, Online Auto Marketing Platform of The Year and Motorbile Taxi Service of The Year.
According to the chairman of Nigerian Auto Journalists Association , Mike Ochonma, this year’s edition, just like the previous events will be honouring outstanding auto brands and models that have achieved extraordinary success in the last one year. He stated some award categories in the past editions may be dropped in this award due to dynamic nature of the market and present situation of Nigeria:s automotive industry.
The NAJA chairman stated that the Awards provides the opportunity for organisations to gain competitive advantage by having their projects, initiatives, contributions, products and services recognized.
Mike Ochonma said the platform provides the ultimate platform for improving brand awareness, loyalty, just as he noted that some few more categories have been added to the list of awards due to changing times.


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The utility firm said its partnership with Kony aims to expand its digital portfolio in the utility industry in both the UK and Italy.
The software firm will develop new digital applications to help Green Network Energy improve its customer services to its consumers in the UK.
The applications to be developed will allow customers of the utility firm to monitor, manage, pay their bills online.
The mobile utility applications developer will design a mobile platform to simplify communication between Green Network Energy and its field work crews.
[quote] The deal also includes the addition of new features to utility’s existing mobile applications in Italy.
Sabrina Corbo, group executive vice president, Green Network Group, said: “This agreement with Kony will allow Green Network Group to realise our ‘digital revolution’ ambition, and integrate digital platforms into our customer care offering. We are proud of this new step in the creation of an Italian energy multinational and are excited to be the first Italian energy provider to enter the British market.”
Established in 2003, Green Network Energy supplies natural gas, electricity, biogas, solar and wind energy to enterprise companies and consumers in Italy. [New mobile app launched for utility field operations]
Mobile utility applications and customer engagement
The news follow mid-May’s announcement by Glendale Water and Power (GWP) that it received an award at CS Week for its customer engagement programme aimed at digitising its services.
The utility providing water services to some 33,744 customers and 88,100 electric consumers in Glendale, California was awarded the 2016 CS Week Expanding Excellence Award in the “Best in Mobility Implementation” category.
The award is presented to utilities that develop the best innovative measure to improve its customer service through a two way communication from the metering to the bill payment stage.
In its project, Mobile My Connect App, GWP deployed Smart Utility Systems’ Smart Customer Mobile technology which provided the utility’s website with a consumer self-service functionality.
The app allowed utility consumers to view their current and historical bills including bill payment, set budget goals, submit service requests, view and report outages, send messages directly to GWP and obtain electric-vehicle and solar-panel usage information online using mobile devices.Deepak Garg, CEO of SUS said the Software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform helped the city utility in “redefining the traditional utility-customer relationship by focusing on educating, engaging and empowering their customers.”
Image credit: www.digitalisationworld.com.

domain: news


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Evergreen Packaging Equipment, a business unit of International
Paper, and AVE Industries of Spinea, Italy have developed a
long-term strategic agreement that will allow Evergreen to
manufacture, sell, and service rotary bottle filling...
Despite the failure of Cancun, it still seems likely that Europe's
sugar regime will be overhauled. Europe's farm commissioner said
that the continuation of the EU's heavily subsidy sugar industry is


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Venture capitalists, such as Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, which invested US$3 million in BitPay, do not purchase bitcoins themselves, but instead fund bitcoin infrastructure that provides payment systems to merchants, exchanges, wallet services, etc. In 2012, an incubator for bitcoin-focused start-ups was founded by Adam Draper, with financing help from his father, venture capitalist Tim Draper, one of the largest bitcoin holders after winning an auction of 30,000 bitcoins, at the time called "mystery buyer". The company's goal is to fund 100 bitcoin businesses within 2–3 years with $10,000 to $20,000 for a 6% stake. Investors also invest in bitcoin mining. According to a 2015 study by Paolo Tasca, bitcoin startups raised almost $1 billion in three years (Q1 2012 – Q1 2015).
Researchers have pointed out at a "trend towards centralization". Although bitcoin can be sent directly to the bitcoin network, in practice intermediaries are widely used.:220–222 Bitcoin miners join large mining pools to minimize the variance of their income.:215, 219–222:3 Because transactions on the network are confirmed by miners, decentralization of the network requires that no single miner or mining pool obtains 51% of the hashing power, which would allow them to double-spend coins, prevent certain transactions from being verified and prevent other miners from earning income. As of 2013 just six mining pools controlled 75% of overall bitcoin hashing power. In 2014 mining pool Ghash.io obtained 51% hashing power which raised significant controversies about the safety of the network. The pool has voluntarily capped their hashing power at 39.99% and requested other pools to act responsibly for the benefit of the whole network.
Numerous people have been suggested as possible Satoshi Nakamotos by major media outlets. On Oct. 10, 2011, The New Yorker published an article speculating that Nakamoto might be Irish cryptography student Michael Clear, or economic sociologist Vili Lehdonvirta. A day later, Fast Company suggested that Nakamoto could be a group of three people – Neal King, Vladimir Oksman and Charles Bry – who together appear on a patent related to secure communications that was filed two months before bitcoin.org was registered. A Vice article published in May 2013 added more suspects to the list, including Gavin Andresen, the Bitcoin project’s lead developer; Jed McCaleb, co-founder of now-defunct Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox; and famed Japanese mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki.
More recently, at a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill, global economist and New York University professor Nouriel Roubini said, "Crypto is the mother or father of all scams and bubbles." He called out "swindlers" who tapped into investors' fear of missing out and took them for a ride with "crappy assets that went into a bust and crash — in a matter of months — like you have not seen in any history of financial bubbles."
Bitcoin Trading Volume to get a Boost as Goldman Sachs Onboards Clients & with Bakkt Launch CoingapeGoldman Sachs is Signing up Customers for its Bitcoin Trading Product: Report CCNBitcoin [BTC] derivatives trading facility to be rolled out by Goldman Sachs for their clients AMBCrypto7 things to know and the best place to open a restaurant? Sorry, it's not […]
According to The New York Times, libertarians and anarchists were attracted to the idea. Early bitcoin supporter Roger Ver said: "At first, almost everyone who got involved did so for philosophical reasons. We saw bitcoin as a great idea, as a way to separate money from the state." The Economist describes bitcoin as "a techno-anarchist project to create an online version of cash, a way for people to transact without the possibility of interference from malicious governments or banks".
Bitcoin mining operations take a lot of effort and power, and the sheer amount of competition makes it difficult for newcomers to enter the race and profit. A new miner would not only need to have adequate computing power and the knowledge to use it to outcompete the competition, but would also need the extensive amount of capital necessary to fund the operations.
Though transaction fees are optional, miners can choose which transactions to process and prioritize those that pay higher fees. Miners may choose transactions based on the fee paid relative to their storage size, not the absolute amount of money paid as a fee. These fees are generally measured in satoshis per byte (sat/b). The size of transactions is dependent on the number of inputs used to create the transaction, and the number of outputs.:ch. 8
Bitcoin is a new currency that was created in 2009 by an unknown person using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. Transactions are made with no middle men – meaning, no banks! Bitcoin can be used to book hotels on Expedia, shop for furniture on Overstock and buy Xbox games. But much of the hype is about getting rich by trading it. The price of bitcoin skyrocketed into the thousands in 2017.
"While crypto markets have seen rapid growth, such trading platforms don’t seem to be well-enough prepared in terms of security," said Hong Seong-ki, head of the country's cryptocurrency response team South Services Commission. "We’re trying to legislate the most urgent and important things first, aiming for money-laundering prevention and investor protection. The bill should be passed as soon as possible."
In March 2013 the blockchain temporarily split into two independent chains with different rules. The two blockchains operated simultaneously for six hours, each with its own version of the transaction history. Normal operation was restored when the majority of the network downgraded to version 0.7 of the bitcoin software. The Mt. Gox exchange briefly halted bitcoin deposits and the price dropped by 23% to $37 before recovering to previous level of approximately $48 in the following hours. The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) established regulatory guidelines for "decentralized virtual currencies" such as bitcoin, classifying American bitcoin miners who sell their generated bitcoins as Money Service Businesses (MSBs), that are subject to registration or other legal obligations. In April, exchanges BitInstant and Mt. Gox experienced processing delays due to insufficient capacity resulting in the bitcoin price dropping from $266 to $76 before returning to $160 within six hours. The bitcoin price rose to $259 on 10 April, but then crashed by 83% to $45 over the next three days. On 15 May 2013, US authorities seized accounts associated with Mt. Gox after discovering it had not registered as a money transmitter with FinCEN in the US. On 23 June 2013, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) listed 11.02 bitcoins as a seized asset in a United States Department of Justice seizure notice pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881. This marked the first time a government agency had seized bitcoin. The FBI seized about 26,000 bitcoins in October 2013 from the dark web website Silk Road during the arrest of Ross William Ulbricht. Bitcoin's price rose to $755 on 19 November and crashed by 50% to $378 the same day. On 30 November 2013 the price reached $1,163 before starting a long-term crash, declining by 87% to $152 in January 2015. On 5 December 2013, the People's Bank of China prohibited Chinese financial institutions from using bitcoins. After the announcement, the value of bitcoins dropped, and Baidu no longer accepted bitcoins for certain services. Buying real-world goods with any virtual currency had been illegal in China since at least 2009.
Bitcoin is an increasingly popular cryptocurrency that utilizes blockchain technology to facilitate transactions. Basically, a user obtains a Bitcoin wallet that can be used for storing bitcoins and both sending and receiving of payments. The blockchain technology used by Bitcoin is really just a shared public ledger that is used by the entire public network. The technology used is secured through cryptography, a branch of mathematics that provides a highly secure means of facilitating and recording transactions on the network.
In 2014, researchers at the University of Kentucky found "robust evidence that computer programming enthusiasts and illegal activity drive interest in bitcoin, and find limited or no support for political and investment motives". Australian researchers have estimated that 25% of all bitcoin users and 44% of all bitcoin transactions are associated with illegal activity as of April 2017. There were an estimated 24 million bitcoin users primarily using bitcoin for illegal activity. They held $8 billion worth of bitcoin, and made 36 million transactions valued at $72 billion. A group of researches analyzed bitcoin transactions in 2016 and came to a conclusion that "some recent concerns regarding the use of bitcoin for illegal transactions at the present time might be overstated".
Bitcoin prices were negatively affected by several hacks or thefts from cryptocurrency exchanges, including thefts from Coincheck in January 2018, Coinrail and Bithumb in June, and Bancor in July. For the first six months of 2018, $761 million worth of cryptocurrencies was reported stolen from exchanges. Bitcoin's price was affected even though other cryptocurrencies were stolen at Coinrail and Bancor, as investors worried about the security of cryptocurrency exchanges.
Our second assumption is that the supply of bitcoin will approach 21 million as specified in the current protocol. To give some context, the current supply of bitcoin is around 17 million, the rate at which bitcoin is released decreases by half roughly every four years, and the supply should get past 19 million in the year 2022. The key part of this assumption is that the protocol will not be changed. Note that changing the protocol would require the concurrence of a majority of the computing power engaged in bitcoin mining. (Related: How Does Bitcoin Mining Work?)
We will look at bitcoin as currency and bitcoin as a store of value. In order to place a value on bitcoin we need to project what market penetration it will achieve in each sphere. This article will not make a case for what the market penetration will be, but for the sake of the evaluation, we'll pick a rather arbitrary value of 15%, both for bitcoin as a currency and bitcoin as a store of value. You are encouraged to form your own opinion for this projection and adjust the valuation accordingly.
It’s decentralized and brings power back to the people. Launched just a year after the 2008 financial crises, Bitcoin has attracted many people who see the current financial system as unsustainable. This factor has won the hearts of those who view politicians and government with suspicion. It’s no surprise there is a huge community of ideologists actively building, buying, and working in the cryptocurrency world.
On 1 August 2017, a hard fork of bitcoin was created, known as Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin Cash has a larger block size limit and had an identical blockchain at the time of fork. On 24 October 2017 another hard fork, Bitcoin Gold, was created. Bitcoin Gold changes the proof-of-work algorithm used in mining, as the developers felt that mining had become too specialized.
Because of bitcoin's decentralized nature and its trading on online exchanges located in many countries, regulation of bitcoin has been difficult. However, the use of bitcoin can be criminalized, and shutting down exchanges and the peer-to-peer economy in a given country would constitute a de facto ban. The legal status of bitcoin varies substantially from country to country and is still undefined or changing in many of them. Regulations and bans that apply to bitcoin probably extend to similar cryptocurrency systems.
In January 2014, Zynga announced it was testing bitcoin for purchasing in-game assets in seven of its games. That same month, The D Las Vegas Casino Hotel and Golden Gate Hotel & Casino properties in downtown Las Vegas announced they would also begin accepting bitcoin, according to an article by USA Today. The article also stated the currency would be accepted in five locations, including the front desk and certain restaurants. The network rate exceeded 10 petahash/sec. TigerDirect and Overstock.com started accepting bitcoin.
A fork referring to a blockchain is defined variously as a blockchain split into two paths forward, or as a change of protocol rules. Accidental forks on the bitcoin network regularly occur as part of the mining process. They happen when two miners find a block at a similar point in time. As a result, the network briefly forks. This fork is subsequently resolved by the software which automatically chooses the longest chain, thereby orphaning the extra blocks added to the shorter chain (that were dropped by the longer chain).
Bloomberg reported that the largest 17 crypto merchant-processing services handled $69 million in June 2018, down from $411 million in September 2017. Bitcoin is "not actually usable" for retail transactions because of high costs and the inability to process chargebacks, according to Nicholas Weaver, a researcher quoted by Bloomberg. High price volatility and transaction fees make paying for small retail purchases with bitcoin impractical, according to economist Kim Grauer. However, bitcoin continues to be used for large-item purchases on sites such as Overstock.com, and for cross-border payments to freelancers and other vendors.
An official investigation into bitcoin traders was reported in May 2018. The U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation into possible price manipulation, including the techniques of spoofing and wash trades. Traders in the U.S., the U.K, South Korea, and possibly other countries are being investigated. Brett Redfearn, head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Trading and Markets, had identified several manipulation techniques of concern in March 2018.
Bitcoin's origin story sounds like something out of science fiction: It was launched in 2008 on the heels of a white paper published by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, whose real identity – and country of origin – are unknown. Nakamoto conceived of Bitcoin as a currency that was 1) encrypted; 2) decentralized, i.e. it was ungoverned and did not belong to any nation; and 3) a digital "distributed ledger," such that everyone can verify online the legitimacy of transactions.
With no ties to a national economy and lofty goals, Bitcoin's price is famously volatile. Prices have soared and plummeted in the wake of various national policies, financial deals, competing cryptocurrencies, and fluctuating public opinion. On the other hand, as many sovereign nations find themselves with currencies that are also vulnerable, the citizens of countries such as China and Venezuela are turning increasingly to virtual currencies.
In June 2014 the network exceeded 100 petahash/sec. On 18 June 2014, it was announced that bitcoin payment service provider BitPay would become the new sponsor of St. Petersburg Bowl under a two-year deal, renamed the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl. Bitcoin was to be accepted for ticket and concession sales at the game as part of the sponsorship, and the sponsorship itself was also paid for using bitcoin.
Bitcoin prices saw tremendous activity during 2017, rising several thousand percent over the year. The market has seen some volatility, although many of the dips seen in the cryptocurrency have thus far proven to be good buying opportunities. This trend may or may not continue, but given the outlook for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the trend could potentially remain higher for a long time to come.
In July 2013, a project began in Kenya linking bitcoin with M-Pesa, a popular mobile payments system, in an experiment designed to spur innovative payments in Africa. During the same month the Foreign Exchange Administration and Policy Department in Thailand stated that bitcoin lacks any legal framework and would therefore be illegal, which effectively banned trading on bitcoin exchanges in the country. According to Vitalik Buterin, a writer for Bitcoin Magazine, "bitcoin's fate in Thailand may give the electronic currency more credibility in some circles", but he was concerned it didn't bode well for bitcoin in China.
In December 2013, Overstock.com announced plans to accept bitcoin in the second half of 2014. On 5 December 2013, the People's Bank of China prohibited Chinese financial institutions from using bitcoins. After the announcement, the value of bitcoins dropped, and Baidu no longer accepted bitcoins for certain services. Buying real-world goods with any virtual currency had been illegal in China since at least 2009.
If the private key is lost, the bitcoin network will not recognize any other evidence of ownership; the coins are then unusable, and effectively lost. For example, in 2013 one user claimed to have lost 7,500 bitcoins, worth $7.5 million at the time, when he accidentally discarded a hard drive containing his private key. A backup of his key(s) would have prevented this.
Bitcoin is pseudonymous, meaning that funds are not tied to real-world entities but rather bitcoin addresses. Owners of bitcoin addresses are not explicitly identified, but all transactions on the blockchain are public. In addition, transactions can be linked to individuals and companies through "idioms of use" (e.g., transactions that spend coins from multiple inputs indicate that the inputs may have a common owner) and corroborating public transaction data with known information on owners of certain addresses. Additionally, bitcoin exchanges, where bitcoins are traded for traditional currencies, may be required by law to collect personal information.


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As we already reportedThe flagship smartphones Realme GT2 and Realme GT2 Pro, which were unveiled earlier this week, went on sale today. So far, new items are available only in the homeland of the manufacturer.
Immediately after the announcement, the company confirmed that Realme GT2 and Realme GT2 Pro have set the record and become bestsellers. The company managed to generate revenue of 200 million yuan, or more than $ 31 million, within the first three minutes after the devices went on sale.
See detailed specifications Realme GT2 you can in our announcement, concerning Realme GT2 Pro, then this phone at the time of its release became the first truly flagship device of the manufacturer – it received the top-end mobile platform Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which so far is installed in only a few Xiaomi and Moto models.
The Realme GT2 is priced between $ 408 and $ 486, while the Realme GT2 Pro is priced between $ 580 and $ 753.


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Monkeys broke Ethereum!!
Bored Ape Team Yuga Labs launched their own metaverse called Otherside where they were selling virtual lands.
Otherside consists of 55,000 plots that were for sale at the time of launch. When minting started due to a huge amount of interest, It added a huge load on the Ethereum blockchain, and because the gas fees were in thousands and the worst part is if you paid gas fee it didn’t guarantee that you will be able to mint your virtual plot.
due to this huge interest, Yuga labs got around $320 million, Yes you read that right. and it was a win situation for Ethereum miners as well. because of the huge load miners earned around 80 million dollars.
During the time of this load, the Ethereum blockchain was so occupied that normal transactions were getting stuck for so much time and this created yet another concern about the scalability of the Ethereum blockchain because of this issue Bored Ape team Yuga Labs announced that they will work on creating their own blockchain (well, we will see about that).
Many people also did a quick flip of virtual plots and make big money. On Opensea.io the current floor price is around 3.6 ETH.


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The 78th edition of one of the top men’s fashion events in the world, Pitti Immagine Uomo, debuts Tuesday June 15th and will run until Friday 18th.
Pitti Uomo is a top international fashion event that attracts thousands of the fashion industry’s buyers and sellers to Florence each year.
The show is held twice a year at the Fortezza da Basso and hosts a gathering of over 790 companies and 970 brand names. The event anticipates over 30,000 visitors and will stretch 59,000 square meters.
The exhibition is divided into 14 sections:Pitti Uomo, Affinità Elettive, Pop Up Stores, Fashion At Work, Sport & Sport, Uppercasual, Ynformal, Urban Panorama, My Factory, Fashion / Design, Futuro Maschile, Touch!, l’Altro Uomo, and New Beat(s).


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Capcom has said that it would politely decline any acquisition offer from Microsoft because it prefers a partnership and organic growth. COO Haruhito Tsujimoto was quizzed about the matter after it emerged that Microsoft was eyeing several Japanese companies, including Square Enix and, more surprisingly, Nintendo.
Capcom was once an acquisition target
During an interview with Bloomberg, Tsujimoto was asked to share his thoughts on the ongoing merger and acquisition activities within the games industry, in response to which he revealed that Capcom too was a target at one point in time. However, Tsujimoto believes that Capcom is better off seeking partnerships as opposed to merger opportunities.
Tsujimoto added that Capcom itself isn’t interested in acquiring other developers either. “Rather than acquiring an outside company, we prefer organic growth,” he said. “It is important to train and develop human resources in-house in order to carry out growth strategies. I also believe we can utilize external partners, but we have no intention of acquiring companies.”
It recently emerged that despite a previous rejection, Microsoft discussed the idea of a hostile takeover of Nintendo. The suggestion was ultimately shot down by Phil Spencer, but he added that Microsoft is playing “the long game” with the Mario maker and would snag an opportunity to usurp it.


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Quite a milestone
Nov 9 2010, 10:23am CST
Poor poor PS3 owners
Oct 19 2010, 3:20am CDT
Fallout New Vegas is available at Amazon for $59.99.
Fallout New Vegas will be released on October 19, 2010 for the...
Aug 25 2010, 11:17am CDT
It's hard to improve on near-perfection. Fallout III was one of the most drop-dead entertaining games in the history of...
Jun 18 2010, 11:25am CDT


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Newsbrief: PUBG Mobile has been downloaded over 100 million times on both iOS and Android devices since first launching about five months ago.
This serves as another big milestone for the game. In the months since, PUBG Mobile has also surpassed 14 million daily active users, excluding those in Japan, China, and Korea. The title also acquired more than $30 million in revenue since it first launched in March.
As reported by Engagdet, Tencent and PUBG Corp. claim that PUBG Mobile has surpassed 100 million downloads thanks to updates including new maps and game modes.
A recent Mission Impossible film tie-in event may have also contributed in piquing the interest of prospective players, possibly helping to increase the number of downloads.


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News - Mitsubishi
Passenger cars still have a role: Mitsubishi
Possible future Mitsubishi Mirage and Lancer to share platforms with Alliance
14 Nov 2018
By TUNG NGUYEN in BANGKOK
MITSUBISHI Motors Corporation chief operating officer Trevor Mann says passenger vehicles are still vital for the car-maker’s ambitions of growth and profitability, despite the global decline in sales and the high uptake of SUVS.
Speaking to journalists in Thailand at the reveal of the facelifted Triton, Mr Mann said passenger cars were still important as an entry point to Mitsubishi.
“We are in the process of developing what we call our long-range product plan, what we are doing there is just studying the market and trying to decide where we should go,” he said.
“If you look at the car parc today there are many small hatches, there are many medium sized sedans, particularly in ASEAN and to some extent Oceania, China and the US. In Europe sedans have been dominated by the premiums I guess over recent years.
“But the general trend is to move towards SUVs, so at the moment the profitability on sedan and small-to-medium sedan vehicles is squeezed because people are trying to justify their existing capacity.
“Obviously as a brand you need entry vehicles, you need to ideally bring somebody into your brand and then walk through the brand as their lifestyle changes, be it financial or family-driven.
“We are reviewing our long-range product plan – we’re not saying yes, we’re not saying no – but obviously we’ve got some ideas in the pipeline.”
Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation corporate vice-president of product strategy Vincent Cobee said passenger vehicles still represent a large portion of the global volume, strengthening the business case for a reborn Lancer small car and next-generation Mirage light car.
“If we project ourselves five years, the total global market will be 110-115 million cars and the passenger cars will still represent 40-50 million,” he said.
“I know all of you guys write about the growth and emergence of SUVs and it’s correct, its 35-37 per cent of the total market today and it’s still growing. But that doesn’t eradicate the fact that there will be 40-50 million cars that will be traditional passenger cars.
“It is very clear … the strong (progress) of the Mitsubishi brand is four-wheel drive, SUV, ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) and all of that is supporting the development of those cars and the development of the Pajero Sport and the trilogy of Outlander, Eclipse Cross and ASX.
“What we have said is that as a complimentary offer to enable customers to enter the franchise, and to also satisfy the CO2 regulations, and to cater to those 40 million customers, we will investigate the possibility to look at passenger cars – so we have in our wish list, some intention to do passenger cars.
“We are contemplating which kinds of segments, which kinds of destinations, while acknowledging the slowly downward trend of that segment, but for sure not a disappearance.”
Mr Mann confirmed work has already begun on the successor to the Mirage light hatch, which has been in service since 2012.
“We haven’t announced anything on the next Mirage, (but) we will be converging on platforms,” he said.
“So the Alliance has a platform which it calls CMF-B, so it’s likely that the next Mirage will be on the CMF-B platform, but not decided yet.”
The aforementioned CMF-B platform is also expected to underpin the next-generation Nissan Juke, Renault Clio and Captur all due in the next few years, while the Lancer could also migrate to Alliance architecture, revealed Mr Mann.
“It (next Lancer) wouldn’t necessarily be on the Megane platform, if we are talking about passenger vehicles, depending on the size, it would be on the CMF-C platform,” he said.
Locally, Mitsubishi’s passenger cars – the Mirage hatchback and Lancer – combine to account for 6289 sales in the first 10 months of the year, or around 8.9 per cent of its total 70,685 units.
However, with Lancer production shut down last August, the Mirage will be the brand’s sole nameplate going forward.
12th of November 2018
Evolution on the back burner: Mitsubishi
Performance models a low priority for Mitsubishi as it works on profitability
12th of November 2018
Next-generation Mitsubishi ASX ‘not far’
Ageing Mitsubishi ASX to be replaced, will not be badge-engineered Alliance model
9th of November 2018
Mitsubishi Australia returning to van market
Renault Trafic-based Mitsubishi van set to launch Down Under before 2020
7th of September 2018
Mitsubishi Pajero to soldier on
No plans to to replace or drop evergreen Mitsubishi Pajero large SUV
28th of November 2017
Mitsubishi Australia hopeful Lancer will survive
Mitsubishi’s future in small-car class ‘a question of time, money, opportunities’
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Motor industry news


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TweakTown NewsRefine News by Category:
In an effort to help keep mobile users more secure, McAfee today announced the newest version of the McAfee Mobile Secure program that gives Google Android users a way to check apps that use data collection techniques. There is a growing need to try and keep mobile devices secure, especially with users granting access to a wide variety of personal information when installing apps.
Around 80 percent of mobile apps used today collect user location information, 82 percent know device ID information, and 57 percent track when devices are used, according to the McAfee Consumer Mobile Security Report. After a scan is complete, users are informed regarding how much information each app accesses and shares, and ranks the apps by privacy sensitivity.
"The personal data some apps collect can be beneficial to enhancing your mobile experience, however many apps are collecting more information than they need, putting your privacy and personal security at risk," noted Gary Davis, McAfee VP of consumer marketing, in a press statement. "McAfee Mobile Security is empowering users by letting them know exactly what information their apps are accessing, and helps them safeguard their identity and personal information."
No. 1 social media site Facebook and leading security vendor Trend Micro have teamed up to make Trend Micro HouseCall available to all Facebook users, giving them the chance to scan and remove malware from hijacked accounts. If an infected user is identified, Facebook will contact them and provide an option to download a free version of HouseCall.
Trend Micro is a well-known security company, while Facebook is keen to try and limit security threats that face its large user base. The service will hopefully give users the chance to operate in a more secure environment and reduce the likelihood of malware infection.
Here is what Kevin Simzer, Trend Micro CMO said: "HouseCall will give Facebook users an additional safeguard against the malicious attacks that interacting online can bring. We are pleased to partner with one of the world's leading social media networks to provide a free solution that will help protect the online security and privacy of billions of users."
Symantec has released another product designed to keep small and midsized businesses (SMBs) secure from cyberthreats, with Norton Small Business marketed for companies with less than 20 employees. The software has 100 percent virus removal assurance and a friendly user interface to make it even easier to utilize in case IT staff aren't available to lend a hand.
The Norton Small Business also has mobile security technology, providing device scanning, remote locate, locking and wiping capability to protect bring your own device (BYOD) supporters. Symantec also has the ability to scan Google Android applications to remove any malicious software, with the majority of mobile malware aimed at Android devices.
"According to the Symantec Internet Security Threat Report, small businesses were targeted in 30 percent of all cyberattacks in 2013," noted Brian Burch, Norton VP of Global Consumer and Small Business Marketing. "While the risks are real, small business owners with fewer than 20 employees often wear multiple hats and don't have the time or resources to manage IT needs. Running a small business is hard work, but Symantec wants to make securing it the easy part."
Another day, another phishing scam targeting online banking users. This time around, cybercriminals are targeting Bank of America Merrill Lynch customers, tricking users to install malware designed to steal personal information. The scam email includes a PDF attachment which has a malware link that initiates a download of a "SecureMessage.zip" file - packaged with the Spyware/Win32.Zbot Trojan.
Similar to other phishing attacks, the "secure message" includes a zip file, and users open the attachment inside of a Web browser. Users end up clicking a Dropbox download link where the malware is installed - another stark reminder for Internet users to be careful when clicking links from unknown users.
One-third of phishing attacks are aimed at financial institutions, and because of the large amount of attacks, banks have to follow new guidelines to better defend against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
Cybercriminals responsible for creating and using the "BlackShades" malware have been arrested, with police authorities in 16 different countries arresting at least 80 people reportedly involved. The custom malware was sold to thousands of clients, and led to more than 500,000 PCs being infected, giving criminals the ability to remotely access PCs.
The criminal operation has been in operation since 2010 and was responsible for the distribution of "malicious software to thousands of cybercriminals throughout the world." Attackers were able to compromise users and had the ability to "access and view documents, photographs and other files ... record all of the keystrokes entered ... steal the passwords to the victim's online accounts and even activate the victim's Web camera to spy on the victim."
International police authorities are trying to crack down on organized cybercriminals, but tend to get to those responsible after
Cisco CEO John Chambers has written a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to curtail spying by the National Security Agency (NSA), in an effort to rebuild bridges and stop eroding trust. Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden turned the security world upside down when he disclosed organized mass surveillance against U.S. and foreign citizens.
"We simply cannot operate this way, our customers trust us to be able to deliver to their doorsteps products that meet the highest standards of integrity and security," Chambers said in the letter.
Cisco believes Internet security is absolutely paramount, and wants to ensure its customers and users that nothing is being done to deceive its customers. In a previous company blog post, Mark Chandler, Cisco General Council, had this to say regarding the company's business practices, noting that Cisco does "not work with any government, including the United States government, to weaken our products. When we learn of a security vulnerability, we respond by validating it, informing our customers, and fixing it."
The U.S. Justice Department has filed charges against five members of the Chinese Army, saying they are responsible for launching cyberattacks to compromise American companies. This is a notable announcement, as it's the first time charges have been issued against foreign countries. Furthermore, industries targeted include nuclear, solar and steel companies, with hackers trying to give a competitive advantage to Chinese companies.
"The range of trade secrets and other sensitive business information stolen in this case is significant and demands an aggressive response," said Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General, during a press conference this morning. "Success in the global marketplace should be based solely on a company's ability to innovate and compete, not on a sponsor government's ability to spy and steal business secrets."
President Obama's administration has long accused the People's Liberation Army of launching cyberattacks targeting western companies, in an effort to steal intellectual property. Security experts are quick to point their fingers at China as the top foreign-based threat of organized cyberattacks against the United States.
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden made U.S. and British enemies stronger and likely provided Russia with intelligence, according to government politicians still angry at the whistleblower. Snowden reportedly has made it significantly more difficult for intelligence agencies to try and conduct surveillance against al-Qaeda and other terror groups, which have changed their tactics.
"Obviously, they wouldn't have given him asylum if they had not obtained certain information," said Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), the top ranking Republican member of the Senate intelligence company. "He has access to some information that's undoubtedly been given to the Russians and some of it is definitely something that is likely to cost the lives of Americans and the lives of some of our allies."
Meanwhile, German authorities are considering trying to arrange a video interview - or sending a delegation to Moscow - to speak with Snowden regarding U.S. spying activities against Germany. U.S. lawmakers previously showed concern that Snowden is likely under "Russian influence," as he remains somewhere in Russia, living there with temporary asylum.
Consumers have a wide variety of appealing smartphones and tablets to choose from, though must be aware of the security risks that they must deal with. Unfortunately, many users don't bother to keep their phone password-protected, and ignore any type of security risks - greatly opening up the likelihood of being infected by cybercriminals.
"Mobile devices have become an attractive target for cybercriminals," said Roberto Martinez, Kaspersky Lab researcher from the global research and analysis team, in a statement to TweakTown. "Currently, some of the greatest mobile threats are malicious applications or malware, lost or stolen devices and insecure Wi-Fi connections. These threats can cause the loss of personal or financial information."
Kaspersky Lab also gave TweakTown an inside look into basic security tips for smartphone users, trying to keep their mobile devices secure. There is a special emphasis in Google Android smartphone and tablet security, as 99 percent of mobile threats target Android-powered devices.
Email users at the University of Hawaii are being targeted by cybercriminals using phishing attacks, with the school's Information Technology Services office recently sending out a notice to current and former students. UH officials sent out a notice to email account owners, warning them to alert their credit card services if they turned over any personal information.
In an email sent to UH email users, security officials warned that "the attackers took elements from legitimate campus announcements or communications to make the messages look authentic." Specifically, the fraudulent email used a legitimate Google form, which has been removed by Google, with a warning that the university doesn't send unsolicited messages that ask for any type of user personal information.
Universities are popular targets for cybercriminals, either trying to phish users, or steal bulk amounts of personal information that can be later sold or traded. A data breach at Iowa State University could affect up to 30,000 students, and the University of California at San Francisco and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center were both hit by data breaches - with growing concern that university officials are too slow to inform students and faculty of data breaches.


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New Scientist magazine has published an in-depth investigation into the battery revolution that is currently underway globally. The article, The battery revolution that will let us all be power brokers, covers the recent history of rechargeable batteries – and the implications it will have for how we live our daily lives.
A major focus of the article is the use of batteries – particularly lithium-based batteries – for applications like electric vehicles and home energy storage. “Better batteries would enable the democratisation of electricity,” says Jeff Chamberlain of Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, who is interviewed in the article along with a number of other battery experts.
The investigation points out that lithium-ion is the battery chemistry making the greatest advances in recent years – not only in terms of efficiency, but also cost and uptake. A number of the major players in the energy space are placing their bets on lithium-ion – Tesla’s Powerwall, for example, will use Li-ion batteries produced in the company’s yet-to-be-built Gigafactory.
Much as was the case with with the use of silicon in solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, improvements to manufacturing processes and falling material costs are expected to bring significant cost reductions and efficiency gains for lithium-ion batteries in the coming years. These are just some of the reasons that investment in lithium-ion battery technology -now about about $15 billion globally – has nearly caught up with that of lead acid batteries for the first time.
Image via New Scientist.
While other battery types have yet to make such such significant strides as lithium-ion batteries have, that doesn’t mean they are not being developed or that could not possibly catch up in the next decade or so. The New Scientist article mentions flow batteries – still largely non-commercialised – as a potential future competitor with lithium-ion on cost, efficiency and longevity for home and grid energy storage applications.
Where will the battery revolution land the ordinary electricity-consuming household? Besides the obvious benefit of greater energy self-reliance, households that store energy could even end up selling it back into the grid during at premium rates during periods of high demand – effectively becoming players in the electricity market. In fact, this is already happening in California, parts of Europe and soon even here in Australia.
From New Scientist:
Chamberlain says it’s hard to predict what changes the world will undergo if the battery revolution comes off – just as the consequences of the information revolution would have been hard to predict a decade or so ago. But he expects a similar empowerment as individuals gain the ability to produce, store and use electricity at will. “Batteries are a linchpin that would enable democratisation of electricity,” he says.
And as a growing global population demands ever more energy, the next generation of batteries can’t come soon enough. “We are now at the edge of a new energy revolution,” says [Rachid] Yazami [of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore]. “We know fossil fuels are not a good solution. But without energy it’s the end of the story.”
[Philipp] Grünewald [of the University of Oxford] agrees. “If we don’t want fossil fuel based electricity in 2050, then storage will be absolutely vital,” he says. “That starts today.”
© 2015 Solar Choice Pty Ltd
- Can I add more panels to my existing solar system? - 8 August, 2023
- Expanding an existing solar system with more panels and/or batteries? Know your options - 4 August, 2023
- Solar Hot Water System: Everything You Need to Know - 31 July, 2023


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Another busy week brought fresh funding to the B2B FinTech arena, with expense management solution providers standing out from the crowd. But as more firms aim to control how employees spend money, it was a technology startup that focused on how professionals pay those employees that took the lead in this roundup.
Supply chain management startup Chain.io has raised $5 million in new funding from Grand Ventures and Mercury, with Honeywell Ventures and Engage also participating. Based in Philadelphia, Chain.io facilitates data integration to help firms within supply chains manage operations and coordination. The company plans to use the investment to focus on growth and expand its team.
Small business B2B payments automation FinTech Plooto, based in Canada, announced $6.4 million in Series A funding led by FINTOP Capital, with participation from Luge Capital and Inovia Capital, according to reports. The company offers SMBs a cash flow management platform that combines accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) automation, while also offering its Plooto Network to streamline onboarding and enhance efficiencies of moving money between buyer and supplier. Reports said the company will invest in product development and the growth of its sales and marketing team.
With $10 million in Series A funding, Knox Financial will have new fuel for its financial automation technology designed for property managers. The company offers solutions including banking, bill payment, taxes and compliance. G20 Ventures led the funding round, while Greycroft, Pillar VC, 2LVC and Gaingels also participated, reports said.
With $20 million in new funding, B2B payments platform Candex will look to expand its offering as a so-called master vendor for organizations looking to streamline supplier payments. Investors at Altos Ventures led the round, while NFX, American Express Ventures and J.P. Morgan also participated. Based in California, Candex aims to tackle what CEO Jeremy Lappin describes as “a glaring failure in how major organizations pay their vendors.”
Corporate card and expense management startup Payhawk has announced $20 million in funding provided by QEX Investors, while Earlybird Digital East also participated, according to recent reports. The company provides a range of features, including the ability for firms to issue corporate cards to employees, manage spend and track invoices, with support for bank account integration. Reports did not reveal what Payhawk plans to do with the investment.
California’s Tribal Credit offers spend management and payment cards for small and medium-sized businesses in emerging markets to streamline B2B payments and control expenses. The technology has attracted $34.3 million in fresh funding in the form of debt and Series A venture capital provided by QED Investors and Partners for Growth. Existing backers BECO Capital, Global Ventures, OTG Ventures and Endure Capital also participated, as did new investor Endeavor Catalyst. Tribal Credit said it will use the funding to fuel growth in Mexico in particular.
One of the largest funding rounds of the week goes to Chargebee, a FinTech that helps small and medium-sized businesses manage their subscription payments. The company secured $125 million for the technology, with investors at Sapphire Ventures leading the Series G round for the California firm. Tiger Global and Insight Venture Partners, both existing backers, also participated. The company will be used to ramp up operations as more businesses embrace the Software-as-a-Service model, and will invest in global expansion and strategic partnerships.
The largest round of the week goes to payroll FinTech Deel, a company that looks to strengthen employees’ choice and control over how they receive compensation while streamlining the back-office workflow of international payroll for employers. The company announced $156 million in Series C funding this week, led by YC Continuity Fund. Andreessen Horowitz and Spark Capital, Dara Khosrowshahi, Lachy Groom, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jeff Wilke and Anthony Schiller also participated. The company will use the investment to fuel global expansion and set up 80 new entities around the globe, as well as expanding its team and enhancing its product offering.
Up Ahead: Pleo
Corporate expense management company Pleo revealed plans to raise a $100 million Series C funding round in support of its technology that combines smart payment cards with spend control features. In preparation for the new investment, the company announced the rollout of its B2B bill payment feature. The $100 million fundraise is expected to take place later this year, reports said.
Selected by EFXA


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Jim Keller, Tesla’s former head of Autopilot hardware and the designer of Tesla’s Self-Driving Computer chip, says that he is confident about solving autonomous driving after working at Tesla.
We first exclusively reported on Tesla quietly hiring Keller, a legendary chip designer, from AMD back in 2016 and we were fairly excited by the implications of Tesla hiring such an important chip architect.
At the time, we speculated that Tesla could be looking into making its own silicon at some point – speculation that was further reinforced after Keller’s hiring was followed by a team of chip architects and executives from AMD also joining Tesla.
Finally, our suspicions were confirmed two years later when Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla is working on its own new AI chip.
Keller was leading the program, along with several other hardware responsibilities at the automaker.
It eventually led to the Tesla Self-Driving Computer unveiled last year, but Keller left in 2018 after having designed the chip.
The engineer now works at Intel and he hasn’t publicly commented about his work at Tesla until now.
He was interviewed on Lex Fridman’s AI podcast and had some very interesting comments about how he thinks autonomous driving is a problem that can be solved:
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has set several timelines for Autopilot and Full Self-Driving progress and he missed almost all of them.
However, Keller had an interesting comment to put the timeline misses into perspective:
“Progress disappoints in the short run, surprises in the long run.”
The engineer appeared fairly confident in Tesla and Musk’s data-based approach to self-driving and that they will solve the problem.
Musk’s latest timeline is achieving a full self-driving system by the end of the year with driver supervision and phase out driver supervision as safety improves over the next few years.
That was a very interesting discussion. Well worth a watch, like almost all of Fridman’s podcasts. I highly recommend subscribing.
Keller and Fridman were obviously disagreeing about the timeline for self-driving and I think they both have very valid points.
Fridman is skeptical about the short-term prospects of self-driving, especially when it comes to the idea of an artificial driver, but he clearly respected Keller’s more optimistic view.
I was impressed by Keller’s answers and confidence in Tesla delivering a self-driving. I also liked his comments about working for Elon.
Like we reported when he left Tesla, there’s no point in reading too much into his departure since he has been somewhat of a mercenary in the chip business – moving from one company to the next after designing a specific chip. Aside maybe for his extended stint at PA Semi, which became part of Apple.
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The following commentary is the author’s weekly guest commentary on the Supply Chain Expert Community web site.
In previous Supply Chain Expert Community commentary, we have called attention to the fact that today’s deployment of certain global-based supply chains have added new risks for disruption caused by natural disasters. Recent research studies sponsored by insurance interests identified 10 countries where supply chains are at greatest risk from natural hazards such as flooding, earthquakes and tropical cyclones. Advisory firm Maplecroft identified the countries of Japan, China, Taiwan and Mexico as having the highest economic exposure to natural hazards in economic terms. In fact, Supply Chain Matters alerted our readers in August to unusually difficult flooding events that were impacting low-cost manufacturing areas in China and other Asian countries. A series of devastating flooding events further impacted the Manila region in early August.
Perhaps i n the past few months, your value-chain was impacted by the effects of these natural disasters.
There is yet another quantification of economic risk in these important manufacturing regions. Global reinsurance intermediary Aon Benfield compiles a monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report. The most recent September 2012 report quantified nearly $7.5 billion in economic damages across major manufacturing regions in Asia, with the majority of loss occurring in China. A six day stretch of catastrophic flooding in early September was reported to have caused more than $4.9 billion in losses alone.
August was not any better. Aon logged an overall total of nearly $8 billion in losses among incidents in China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Pakistan and Vietnam. The summer monsoon season thus delivered in excess of $16 billion in economic losses.
The implications of this continuous stream of quantified data are again reinforcement for increased risk of disruption within certain low cost manufacturing regions. Increased incidents and insurance payouts will fuel higher business interruption and loss insurance rates within these specific regions. That could add additional cost factors to a sourcing decision, and strategic sourcing and business risk teams will need to take particular note of this trending. A recent The Wall Street Journal report on the first anniversary of the 2011 floods that impacted Thailand noted how companies such as Nidec Corp., Omron Corp., Western Digital have since permanently moved certain of their production requirements to other Asian countries to offset risk. The same can be stated for certain Japanese based automotive component suppliers.
More importantly, is the need for supply chain and product management teams to have a supply chain risk identification and mitigation plan that can effectively support a response to these increasing value-chain disruptions.


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Amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and global financial gloom, China seems set to launch the world’s first digital currency in the weeks ahead.
The central bank digital currency or digital yuan, is officially referred to as the digital currency/electronic payment (DC/EP) project.
It’s not a new currency but a digitised version of the existing Chinese currency yuan, which will be disbursed via a digital wallet.
The wallet doesn’t need to be linked to any bank account or card.
Five years in development, the DC/EP project has been largely shrouded in secrecy. Until now.
A number of articles in Chinese media this month indicate that the currency could be launched as early as next month in restricted, small pilot projects.
The government-affiliated Star Market Daily reported earlier this month that China’s big four state-owned banks, the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the China Construction Bank, the Agricultural Bank of China and the Bank of China have begun testing the digital currency.
On Thursday, another state media report gave details about the upcoming cautious launch of the currency.
“The Chinese central bank’s digital currency DC/EP project will be tested in Xiongan New Area in north China’s Hebei province, with a trial run in local catering and retail industries including US coffee chain Starbucks, fast food chain McDonald’s and the Qingfeng Baozi (stuffed bun) restaurant chain,” the state-run tabloid Global Times reported.
Employees from selected companies will be allowed to open digital wallets and operate them within the Xiongan New Area, a new development coming up about 100 km from Beijing.
Three other cities — Shenzhen in southern China’s Guangdong province, Suzhou in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, and Chengdu in southwest China’s Sichuan province — will also test the central bank-backed digital currency.
The new digital currency falls in China’s way toward becoming a cashless society where hundreds of millions make payments via WeChat or Alipay, which are linked to bank cards.
“The DCEP will be powered partially by blockchain technology and dispersed through digital wallets. What sets it somewhat apart, however, are features that allow the central bank to track the movement of the currency and even supervise transactions,” the Reuters said in a report on DC/EP late last year.
The head of the Chinese central bank’s digital currency research institute, Mu Changchun, told a public forum last year that it was “almost ready”.
“However, in September, Chinese central bank chief Yi Gang said there was no timetable for its rollout and that it still needed to meet requirements, such as anti-money laundering,” the Reuters report said.


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An investigation by many independent organizations and media has confirmed the suspicions of many users about how the major social networks like Facebook and MySpace delivers private and relevant information to consumers advertising company or to the CIA without the user consent.
As users generally give their real names, details, pictures, videos, messages and data... it is easy to place them next to a network. This is how Facebook provides the link between the user and a product. The CIA use this information in a way that Julian assange explain in this video, and where the advertising companies receive this valuable information that can be used to find suitable product to these individual profiles.
One of the biggest fears of social network users, especially given the high information published and the high degree of privacy that this information has, is that companies behind these platforms trading are trading with data and your information can come to anybody at any time. These companies will now know your name, taste, political view, religion, future plans, kids...
Earlier and after an internal investigation. The Wall Street Journal did officially confirmed that Facebook, MySpace and other social networks sell private and sensitive information without informing the users.
In the case of Facebook, the investigation showed that the company was going even further than its competitors because the owner not only knew who did click on what but also very detailed information such as which page was been visited and viewed at the time of the click. Unknowingly, with a short path click, the user gives the advertiser a complete profile of who he is.
In January 2008, Tom Hodgkinson published an article in The Guardian denouncing these unhealthy practices. Later it was the turn of the wikileaks founder Julian Assange who denounced these activities. At that time they were greeted with skepticism, but now they have been confirmed.


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What did Steve Jobs do for Apple?
Steve Jobs was a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer era. With Steve Wozniak, Jobs founded Apple Inc. in 1976 and transformed the company into a world leader in telecommunications. Widely considered a visionary and a genius, he oversaw the launch of such revolutionary products as the iPod and the iPhone.
How was Steve Jobs kicked out of Apple?
Steve Jobs leaves Apple in 1985 After losing a boardroom battle with John Sculley — a CEO Jobs recruited from Pepsi a couple years earlier — Jobs decided to leave Apple, feeling forced out of the company he started. E. B.
Was Steve Jobs a billionaire?
Steve Jobs’s net worth was valued at $10.2 billion at the time of his death on October 2011, reports Celebrity Net Worth. He left most of this to his wife, which included stocks in Apple and Disney. Today, Powell-Jobs is worth over $22 billion. E. B.
Who is Albert Einstein’s IQ?
Albert Einstein likely never took an IQ test but is estimated to have a 160 IQ—but even that can’t stand up to these masterminds.
Who owns Apple today?
Tim Cook Owns 950,767 Shares Tim Cook currently serves as Apple’s CEO, a position that he has held since succeeding Steve Jobs in 2011.


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REFLECTING on another busy Love Lamb Week, the Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland (LMC) and the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) say it was a great success with positive support for the industry shown throughout the week.
As part of the UK-wide campaign, LMC and the UFU hosted live cookery demonstrations and sampling sessions at Victoria Square and Belfast City Hall alongside other retail sampling sessions in Asda, with lamb supplied by ABP Food Group, and Tesco stores across Northern Ireland.
Both organisations also made use of social media to remind consumers about the benefits of purchasing Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured (NIFQA) lamb and incorporating it as part of a healthy, balanced diet.
Commenting on the initiative, LMC’s Industry Development Man-ager Colin Smith said: “It was very encouraging to receive so much positive support for the industry during the week. I’m delighted that this year’s Love Lamb Week was another great success.
“Our main aim was to show consumers how versatile, tasty and easy NIFQA lamb is to cook with. Furthermore, we wanted to educate consumers about what they should be looking for when purchasing lamb and to encourage them to support our local farmers.
“There was plenty of engagement and discussion and we were delighted to hear many consumers say they would be looking out for our logo and trying our delicious recipes at home.
“In these uncertain times, it’s very important to have those conversations with consumers and to urge them to support local farmers. We produce world class lamb here in Northern Ireland and it’s important that support from consumers continues going forward.
“Love Lamb Week may be over for this year but our support for the industry doesn’t stop there. The third year of our advertising campaign has already kicked off and until March 2020 we’ll be focusing on TV, radio, outdoor and digital platforms to encourage consumers to support our top quality lamb.”
Meanwhile UFU Beef and Lamb Chairman, Sam Chesney said: “Love Lamb Week 2019 was a great success and gave us the opportunity to meet consumers and showcase our world-class lamb products.
“Our farmers chatted to members of the public explaining how Northern Ireland lamb is farmed to the highest animal welfare standards and that lamb production is a key part of maintaining the countryside, not to mention the numerous health benefits of eating lamb. Important facts that tend to fly under the radar but are key selling points of our NIFQA lamb.”
Joe McDonald, Asda, added: “Asda was once again delighted to support Love Lamb Week and welcome LMC, UFU, ABP Food Group and local sheep farmers to our Antrim and Omagh stores.
“The Oriental Lamb Stir Fry samples were a big hit with Asda shoppers, but it remains a hugely competitive protein sector and there is much to do as a supply chain to grow lamb sales. Certainly, for local lamb producers the Brexit stakes couldn’t be higher and it was good to speak directly to some of ABP’s lamb suppliers during Love Lamb Week to hear their views first hand.”


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Lowe’s beat analysts’ expectations for fiscal third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, as the corporate obtained a bump in enterprise from house professionals and on-line gross sales.
The house enchancment retailer raised its forecast, saying it anticipates $95 billion in gross sales. It had beforehand predicted income of $92 billion.
The corporate’s shares closed up 0.4% to $245.76. They touched a 52-week excessive of $255.22 earlier within the day.
Here is what the corporate reported for the fiscal third quarter ended Oct. 29 in contrast with what Wall Avenue was anticipating, based mostly on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: $2.73 vs. $2.36 anticipated
- Income: $22.92 billion vs. $22.06 billion anticipated
Lowe’s earnings rose to $1.90 billion, or $2.73 per share, from $692 million, or 91 cents a share, a yr earlier. The outcomes outmatched the $2.36 per share anticipated by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
Web gross sales climbed to $22.92 billion from $22.31 billion final yr and had been increased than analysts’ expectations of $22.06 billion.
Lowe’s same-store gross sales grew by 2.2% within the three-month interval. That was a pointy distinction from analysts’ prediction of a 1.5% decline, in keeping with StreetAccount.
Deal with house execs
A robust housing market — and a wave of larger tasks — has lifted gross sales for Lowe’s and its rival, Home Depot. Even as prices rise for houses and construction materials, Americans have continued to buy. Homebuilder confidence surged this week, due to the big appetite for new single-family homes.
The retailers also saw customers shop for paint, throw pillows and more as they spent additional time at home and tackled do-it-yourself projects during the coronavirus pandemic.
As consumers get out and about again, Lowe’s and Home Depot are increasingly trying to woo the home professionals that homeowners hire to tackle renovations or redo their kitchens.
Home Depot’s third-quarter earnings reflected that shift, as customer transactions dropped but average tickets rose by 12.9% to $82.38. The retailer said momentum has continued into the fourth quarter, with sales starting slightly higher than third-quarter levels.
Under CEO Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s has stepped up efforts to attract pros, since they are steadier and bigger spenders. It has a loyalty program for pros and added perks like parking for larger vehicles, free phone charging stations and air stations for refilling tires.
Sales growth among pros outpaced the rate for do-it-yourself sales in the third quarter — a reflection of pandemic trends reversing. Comparable sales to pros rose over 16% in the third quarter and more than 43% on a two-year basis.
Consumer transactions declined 7.5% in the three-month period, as there were lower sales of smaller ticket, do-it-yourself customers and was a drop in lumber sales, Chief Financial Officer Dave Denton said on the earnings call.
Average ticket increased nearly 10% over the year-ago period as more consumers bought appliances and flooring and the price of some items like copper rose due to inflation, Denton said.
Digital sales jumped by 25% in the third quarter.
Lowe’s also said it plans to buy back $3 billion in shares in the fourth quarter, bringing total repurchases for the year to $12 billion. It bought back 13.7 million of its own stock for $2.9 billion during the latest quarter.
The retailer is also kicking off a new initiative, called Livable Home, to become a “one-stop shop” for baby boomers who want to age in place. It is training employees, adding resource guides and increasing inventory to cater to seniors who may have less mobility or want to add features to their homes for safety, such as grab bars in the shower. It launched the effort in collaboration with nonprofit AARP.
Ellison said that market represents about $32 million in sales.
In an interview with CNBC, Ellison said the idea was inspired by his own experience of trying to retrofit his father’s home with features like a walk-in bathtub and wheelchair ramp.
“Even as a CEO of a home improvement company, it was extremely difficult to get those things done,” he said. “It dawned on me that if my Dad is having these issues and I’m the CEO of a home improvement company, then the greater baby boomer population and caretakers must also have the same issue.”


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The sharp drop in U.S. factory activity overshadowed more positive news on housing.
Construction spending rose 0.9 percent in May from April, the Commerce Department said in a separate report Monday. It was the second straight monthly increase, even though the level of spending still isn't healthy.
The increase was driven by a surge in residential construction. Home sales are up from the same month last year. Mortgage rates are at the lowest levels in history. And prices have begun to stabilize in most markets.
The economy could also get a boost this summer from lower gas prices, which have tumbled more than 60 cents per gallon since peaking in April. The result is that consumers have more money to spend on other goods, from autos and furniture to electronics and vacations, that fuel economic growth.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Santander Consumer Continues Aggressive Push into Subprime
Santander Consumer USA Holdings in Dallas reported higher profits due to a spike in gains on loan sales.July 30
Santander Consumer USA Holdings named Blythe Masters nonexecutive chairman, replacing the executive who quit the post less than two weeks ago and a week after the subprime auto lender's parent company was hit with a regulatory order.July 15
WASHINGTON The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston reached a broad agreement with the U.S. affiliate of Spanish powerhouse Banco Santander calling for improvements in internal risk management, liquidity and capital adequacy controls.July 7
Santander Consumer USA Holdings isn't backing off of its aggressive play for borrowers with blemished credit, even as the company's auto lending practices remain under intense scrutiny from regulators.
The Dallas company a unit of the Spanish banking giant Banco Santander said Thursday that it plans to expand the size of its subprime auto book.
It is a move that will involve taking on increasing and ongoing credit losses, said Jason Kulas, the company's chief executive, who pointed out that there is a "very direct relationship" between higher provisions and higher profits in the subprime auto business.
"We feel like we are doing it in a way that makes sense. We are doing it with conservative structures, and we are seeing we are capitalizing on the opportunity in the market," Kulas said during the company's quarterly earnings call.
Santander Consumer increased its second-quarter estimate for loan losses by 25% from a year earlier, to $739 million. Still, the company's profits rose 16%, to $285.5 million.
The call marked a debut of sorts for Kulas, who took over as CEO earlier this month in a surprise executive shake-up.
Kulas, who previously had served as chief financial officer since 2007, succeeded Thomas Dundon, who left Santander Consumer to "pursue new opportunities," the company said in July 2 release. Dundon remains on the board.
As part of the reshuffling, Blythe Masters, a longtime JPMorgan Chase executive, took over as chairman of the company. Masters also currently serves as CEO of the blockchain technology company Digital Asset Holdings.
Kulas told investors during the call not to expect major changes now that he holds the reins.
"Many aspects of the strategy of this business were developed together with Tom and I discussing the business literally every day," he said.
The company's push to hold a higher concentration of risky loans comes as federal authorities have launched investigations into its risk-taking and consumer protections.
Santander Consumer was subpoenaed last year by the Justice Department over its underwriting and securitization practices for subprime loans. Other subprime lenders including GM Financial, Ally Financial and Consumer Portfolio Services have received subpoenas from federal regulators.
Additionally, Santander Holdings USA the auto lender's parent company has had a tumultuous year. The Federal Reserve earlier this month hit the company with an order to improve its risk management processes.
"Even though maybe the letters aren't addressed to us, we are a big part of the organization and we intend to be a part of the solution," Kulas said, addressing the issues associated with the holding company.
Expect a "continued marginal increase" in expenses related to compliance matters, Kulas said. Operating expenses rose 19% in the second quarter, to $253.4 million.
Despite those concerns, executives said that Santander Consumer is building a profitable, long-term model that includes a hefty amount of risk.
A central part of that strategy involves selling off high-quality assets and retaining lower-quality loans, Kulas said.
Asset sales to the secondary market drove the company's quarterly profits. Gains on investments including loan securitizations more than quadrupled, to $86.6 million.
Many of those gains came from the sale of prime loans, generated, in part, from the company's partnership with Chrysler. More than a third of the company's $7.6 billion in originations came from its financing relationship with the Detroit-based automaker.
"If you look at the real growth opportunity in this business over time, it will be in prime and super-prime paper through the Chrysler relationship," Kulas said.
That means there will be a "migration down market" in the company's loan book, Kulas said, pointing to lower credit scores among its borrowers.
Loans with FICO scores under 600 accounted for approximately 65% of retail installment contracts, compared with 59% a year earlier.
Rivals are following similar paths. Ally Financial, one of Santander's primary competitors, recently received approval from regulators to fund a higher portion of its car loans with deposits. Auto loans to borrowers with FICO scores of 620-660 will now be allowed into Ally Bank, the Detroit company's online deposit franchise.
Shares of Santander Consumer USA fell 2.2%, to $24.55, in trading Thursday. One reason may have been its decline in return on average equity to 28% last quarter, compared with 33% a year earlier.
The trading decline will likely be short-lived, Mark Palmer, an analyst with BTIG, wrote in a research note to clients. "We view the provision increase as benign insofar as it arose from a previously disclosed shift to a higher-margin portfolio mix," he wrote.
Kulas said the company has a handle on the subprime market, and he urged investors not to draw a comparison with the subprime mortgage bust.
There are more regulatory controls in place today than in previous bubbles, he said. Plus, many of the biggest players in the auto lending market come from the banking industry, which is highly regulated.
Santander Consumer will pull back its subprime strategy if it sees a rise in the number of competitors "willing to do things for margins and returns" that aren't sustainable over the long term, Kulas said.
"We sort of know how that story ends," he said.


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American electric vehicle maker Tesla, which has been instrumental in taking EVs mainstream in international markets, has made its first move in the Indian market by registering its office in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
The company has been registered as Tesla Motors India & Energy Pvt Ltd
Tesla’s manufacturing base in India is still unclear
Market launch sometime in 2021
Details on Tesla’s India operations
In an RoC (Registration of Company) document accessed by our sister publication Autocar Professional, Tesla has registered its office in Bengaluru. The company, registered as Tesla Motors India & Energy Pvt Ltd, has named three directors as part of its team in the country – Vaibhav Taneja, Venkatrangam Sreeram and David Jon Feinstein.
The company is registered with an authorised capital of Rs 15 lakh and paid-up capital of Rs 1 lakh. This…


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from Impact News
Retail growth is following new mobility options as Cypress pushes farther west with the opening of the new Grand Parkway Segment E. New retail developments are in the works or planned for the Fry Road corridor south of Hwy. 290, in addition to the upcoming Boardwalk at Towne Lake project in development by Caldwell Companies.
“When I arrived in Cypress there were barely any retail stores or store fonts, and now it is like gangbusters,” said Rich Guderyon, branch manager for Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene. “We still have a tremendous amount of area to build and grow with, and our infrastructure is getting better with the Hwy. 290 expansion and the Grand Parkway. It lends itself to a lot of possibilities moving down the road.”
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate opened its second Cypress location in December inside the Shops at Cypress Creek Lakes—a 30,000-square-foot retail center on Fry Road developed by Hunington Properties and Mischer Development.
“We’re really excited about the new location and feel like we are ahead of the game in regards to our positioning in the area,” Guderyon said. “The east side of Hwy. 290 is saturated with as much construction as it can almost handle, so that lends the west side of 290 open and prime for us as real estate grows in the area.”
New retail growth typically follows housing demand and growth, which has been ongoing for the latter part of the last decade in Cypress, said Alex Makris, vice president of retail brokerage services for CBRE.
“Retail always follows rooftops, and Cypress has become one of the more affluent communities in Houston, similar to what Cinco Ranch and The Woodlands were like when they started growing,” he said.
The draw for retailers has become more pronounced lately along Fry Road south of Hwy. 290.
“There’s quite a bit of retail on the north side, but momentum is starting to build going south on Fry Road where you have several large master-planned communities,” said Peter Houghton, vice president of master-planned communities for Howard Hughes, which owns Bridgeland.
One of the reasons the southwest portion of Cypress has not developed as quickly is because there were not roads to get out there, Caldwell Companies development partner Peter Barnhart said.
“Now the completion of Segment E opens that area up,” he said.
Located just off Fry Road on the way to the Grand Parkway, several new businesses are planned for House Hahl Road, including the House Hahl Center project, managed by BD Realty Advisors.
“We’ve got a physical therapy group going in there with a training field for soccer, basketball and volleyball,” principal partner Don Skipton said. “We’re also looking at a day care, hair salon and restaurant.”
Bridgeland and Towne Lake
Work is set to begin soon on Lakeland Village Center, the first retail component in the master-planned community of Bridgeland. The center will be on Fry Road across from Cypress Ranch High School.
“We are very close to finalizing an anchor tenant for that center in the next 30 to 45 days, and assuming that happens we’ll start construction in the second quarter of this year,” Houghton said.
The first phase of the center includes 32,000 square feet of proposed retail space and 30,000 square feet of proposed professional office space. The town center—a larger mixed-use concept that will bisect the Grand Parkway—will develop over a series of decades. The first phase of the larger development is expected to begin in the next three to four years.
The master-planned community of Towne Lake is primed for retail growth as well with a 120,000-square-foot Kroger scheduled to open in June at the southwest corner of Tuckerton and Barker Cypress. A new Bank of America and McDonalds are also under construction in front of the new grocery store, Barnhart said.
Plans for the Boardwalk at Towne Lake project—a waterfront mixed-use development with retail, dining and office space—are also moving forward.
“We have 60,000 square feet of retail and restaurants in the first phase that we are actively leasing and plan to begin construction on around the end of April,” Barnhart said. “We are working with five or six restaurateurs to bring some neat concepts to the Cypress area.”
Overall, there has to be a little patience with regard to retail growth in the Cypress area, Houghton said.
“It will come, but we need to see continued residential development that supplies demand for retail centers first,” he said. “It’s a bit of a chicken/egg scenario—you don’t get retail until you have consumers to shop there. Everyone wants nice restaurants and stores that deliver more than just the basic convenience, and those will come in time because we have a fantastic group of master-planned communities that will continue to supply shoppers.”
When Segment E of the Grand Parkway opened in late December, it opened up a new landscape for developers, which is just expected to expand more in the coming years.
“It’s great to have [the Grand Parkway] open from I-10 to Hwy. 290, but I think there will be a quantum leap in interest of that area once it goes to Hwy. 59 and connects to I-45 and the new ExxonMobil campus and airport,” Houghton said.
Randy Corson, vice president of residential development for Mischer—developer of the Shops at Cypress Creek Lakes and master-planned community Cypress Creek Lakes—said he expects new retail projects will continue to develop in Cypress, especially as the master-planned communities continue their build-out.
“If you look at the major epicenters across town—The Woodlands, Cinco Ranch and similar areas—homes bring the retail,” he said. “It takes a few years to get the big retail after the housing comes in, but I think in the next five to 10 years you’ll see a lot of major retail coming in along Fry Road and the Grand Parkway in the various town centers.”


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O&M offered $13.80 per share in cash for Medical action, representing a 93% premium over the stock’s average closing price over the last year. The news sent MDCI shares soaring from a close last night at $7.07 to a new 52-week high of $13.73 today.
OMI shares saw a much more modest boost, gaining 1.4% to trade at $35.33 as of about 3:10 p.m. EST today.
O&M said the acquisition will play an integral role in a strategy the company calls "Connecting the World of Medical Products to the Point of Care."
"The acquisition of Medical Action is consistent with our strategic focus and a natural extension of Owens & Minor’s core capabilities as we look to broaden our service offering," O&M chairman & CEO Craig Smith said in prepared remarks. "It meets the needs of both our provider and manufacturer customers by providing them a more complete and cost-effective solution for the delivery of procedure-specific product kits."
Medical Action posted nearly $288 million in net sales from continuing operations last fiscal year, nearly half of which was comprised of sales to O&M, according to a press release. O&M expects the acquisition to add to its non-GAAP net income starting in fiscal 2015.
The boards of both companies have already approved the transaction, which O&M plans to pay for with existing cash on hand and borrowings under its credit facility, the company said.
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Georgetown County Council takes up big box store issue for Pawleys Island
Wed, 14 Nov 2012 04:05:05 GMT —
Georgetown County Council held a first reading of an ordinance Tuesday night that could allow a big box store in Pawleys Island.
Developer Sunbelt Industries wants to put the store in Pawleys Island Plaza on Petigru Drive and Highway 17. The ordinance would allow for the planned development.
But a lot of people in the area are fighting the store, saying it would hurt local shops.
There was no vote Tuesday night. The second reading of the ordinance is scheduled for December 11th.
In 2005, residents successfully fought off a Lowe's Home Improvement store.


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Ahead of Earth Day, Apple is debuting a new Activity Challenge for Apple Watch owners, which will become available in the Activity app on the iPhone when Thursday, April 20 rolls around.
Apple is challenging Apple Watch owners to complete a 30 minute outdoor exercise activity on Earth Day, which is Saturday, April 22. For finishing the challenge, Apple Watch owners will be rewarded with an exclusive Earth Day award and stickers that can be used in the Messages app.
Get outside and celebrate Earth Day on April 22 and earn this award. Go for a walk, run, cycle, wheelchair, or swim workout of 30 minutes or more in the Workout app or in any third party app that writes these workouts to Health. You will also earn special stickers for Messages.
This is the third public Apple Watch challenge Apple has debuted since the Apple Watch launched in 2015. On Thanksgiving, Apple challenged Apple Watch owners to run 3.1 miles as part of a Thanksgiving Day Challenge, and on New Year's, Apple encouraged Apple Watch owners to "Ring In The New Year" by closing all three Activity rings each day for a week in January.
Tag: Earth Day
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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Apple Celebrates Earth Day With New Apple Watch Activity Challenge - This Apple related article wrote by Juli Clover. To see its original version and more Apple related posts follow this link:
Original source of this article


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Chinese bitcoin market is facing up to new difficulties .
Though 15th April has gone ,whether trading platforms or normal clients ,they realize that bitcoin is facing up to bigger and bigger difficulties in China .
At the end of March ,some media said central bank of China has released a notice about strengthening bitcoin risk prevention ,demanding commercial banks to suspend providing service for bitcoin trading platforms before 15th April .The 15th April case led bitcoin price to decrease by over 10%.
However, supervision organizations haven’t given a big attack on 15th April .Meanwhile ,many people began to suspect the reality of 15th April case .
The Chinese biggest bitcoin trading platform huobi.com is one of the doubters .On 22nd March ,after 15th April case was reported ,the website has announced to send letter of attorney representating clients and give an sanction to the rumor .
Obviously ,huobi.com doesn’t believe the 15th April .Or they haven’t received the information through its ways ,
However ,within one month ,on 10th April ,Industrial and Commercial Bank of China noticed huobi.com that it will not provide any service for the website .On 11th and 17th ,April ,China Merchants Banks and Construction Bank of China also released similar notice .Huobi.com finally announced that it decided to suspend bank recharging and will adjust when the policy is clear .
Other bitcoin platforms also suffer bank ban to different degree .BTC China also released an announce on 28th April that it will close recharging service from China Merchants Banks .Previously ,two smaller websites BtcTrade and FXBTC have suspended bank recharging .
Strangely ,the bank behavior is similar to the rumor ,but 15th April is still a mystery ,even nobody can prove its existence .Central bank of China insists that the notice released on 5th December 2013is standard .
On the other hand ,some one revealed that he or her has read the 15th April document ,but it only circulates on central bank of China .While some bitcoin fans demand to open the information ,but central bank of China refused .
At the end of last year ,supervision organizations have ensured that the third-party payment cant provide bitcoin recharging service for bitcoin platforms .Now bitcoin recharging is also forbidden by banks ,that is to say ,bitcoin trading platforms will lose an important recharging ways .How to lead CNY to the platforms becomes the difficulties .
The ways to lead CNY to the platform
“What we care about most is capital inflow problem ”the united founder Dujun in huobi.com said .
Capital inflow is that how clients recharge their money to huobi.com .Previously ,clients can transfer account through banks ,and transfer money to the specific account of huobi.com .Also ,they can buy cards to recharge .
But the system has been broken last month .Many banks told huobi.com that its recharging accounts will be closed .”No formal notice or document ,only phone notice ”,Du jun said .In his opinion ,the ways from the banks are overbearing even may be illegal .Huobi.com has tried to communicate with banks ,but failed .
After banks quit ,huobi.com only reserves card recharging ways .Later ,its capital inflow speed decreases rapidly and affects its trading amount .
Du jun said ,a series of measure from banks lead trading amount and bitcoin price in huobi.com to decrease by 30%.
Huobi.com is thinking about solution .It may encourage bitcoin clients to trade online and offline directly .For example ,clients may build a QQ group themselves ,one has bitcoin or convertible code ,another has CNY ,then they can make a deal themselves .
Compared with huobi.com ,BTC China may supply less pressure .All bank accounts (except China Merchants Banks) still can be used .Additionally ,clients can buy BTCC convertible code to recharge .
Previously ,the vice CEO Lingkang in BTC China revealed on the interview that they haven’t received the notice from banks .But after two days ,China Merchants Banks phoned them to write off the accounts .However ,other banks haven’t take any similar measures .
It may be relevant to the discussion at the end of April .The participants on the discussion included commercial banks and the third-party payment organizations .
Among all of them ,China Merchants Bank was criticized .So later it announced to close all accounts from bitcoin trading platforms .Some one said central bank of China hopes to cut off bitcoin funds chain thoroughly .
Another outcome of the discussion is that Alipay announced not to provide recharging and withdrawal service for bitcoin and other virtual currency.Also ,it doesn’t allow to buy or sell bitcoin recharging code .
Thus ,BTCC recharging code of BTC China is full of risk .According to the research ,about 6 BTCC recharging code online shops set in Taobao and relative to Alipay .If Alipay ensures its latest announce ,the online shop may close .
But until now ,the online shops are still running .Alipay explained that it is checking them now .
To Chinese bitcoin ecology ,capital inflow difficulty may only last for a short time ,but lacking application future will make Chinese bitcoin market in trouble .
According to Du jun ‘s understanding ,bitcoin ecologic chain can divide into 3 parts :upstream is mining machines and mining pond ,midstream is trading platforms and downstream is different application .
In his opinion ,America is a bitcoin Holy Land .”People can use bitcoin to buy virtual goods online and pay for something there .”He said .
In fact ,with payment application on mobile phone ,bitcoin has partly blended in American daily life .For example ,a software on mobile phone called Coin For Coffee allows customers to buy coffee by bitcoin .Of course ,it first may exchange bitcoin into dollars ,the coffee shop will not accept bitcoin directly .
But in China ,even this kind trade belongs to grey area .Du jun said ,according to the 5th December notice ,merchants cant price goods by bitcoin .But bitcoin clients can exchange bitcoin into objects privately .
This leads bitcoin only can play a role in investing tool rather than payment tool .Some early bitcoin supporters even lose their patience and give up bitcoin .
Duan hong bin ,the financial columnist,began to understand bitcoin in 2012and became the virtual currency reporter rapidly .But in 2013,he suddenly disagreed with bitcoin strongly .When he accepted the interview ,he said directly that the biggest problem is that bitcoin lacks application .
Meanwhile ,Duan hong bin has sold all bitcoin and left it .Also ,bitcoin workers seem that they haven’t found a better way to develop its value .
On the interview ,the CEO Li lin of huobi.com took an interesting example :now we cant discuss bitcoin usage in China ,like we cant discuss Internet future in North Korea .”You cant use it thoroughly ,how do you discuss ?”he said .
In Li lin ‘s opinion ,judge bitcoin should attach the importance to its future .On the other hand ,the vice ceo Lingkang of BTC China said bitcoin future may be petty payment and cross-border payment .
However ,whether Lilin or Lingkang ,both of them admit that bitcoin application future is on a exploring stage .
Remaks: Due to language difference, sometimes people out of China can’t know what happened in China quickly. so we are here to make effort to change little, we will translate 3-4 bitcoin news in China to English everyday to help people out of China know what happened and what people thinks about bitcoin in China, If somewhere translate not that good, pls PM us so that we can correct it.