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Florentia Village has opened its latest China outlet in Chongqing. Florentia Village
Commercial real estate investment company RDM Fingen Group has opened its seventh Florentia Village in China, a luxury outlet in Chongqing. The newest outlet of the Italian-Chinese group will sell fashion, sportswear and luxury brands such as Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Furla, Karl Lagerfeld, Adidas, Under Armour, New Balance, Puma and Vans.
The group has built outlets in Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Wuhan and Chengdu since 2011. The Chongqing site is the group’s second project in southwestern China, after Chengdu. In recent years, the southwestern region has become a battlefield for luxury brands and retailers due to its growing consumer spending power. RDM Fingen Group says it will invest more in second- and third-tier Chinese cities.
Domestic outlets have become increasingly popular destinations since Mainland Chinese consumers’ travel plans have been disrupted by the pandemic. In 2020, 39 outlets in China surpassed 1 billion yuan ($154.5 million) in annual sales each, totalling more than 80 billion yuan ($12.36 billion), according to a report released by Outlet Lingxiu Media Big Data Center. In 2019, the corresponding figures were 34 outlets reaching 70 billion yuan ($10.82 billion) respectively.


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It's election time in Thailand, which sees the country's media sharpen its focus on politics, parties and prime ministerial candidates. The growth in use of social media across the country has seen politicians increasingly giving platforms like Twitter and Facebook significant focus among their communications, particularly during the election.
The ins-and-outs of Thailand's tech industry.
<p>Dwight Turner is an American social media addict living in Bangkok. He especially loves gadgets, photography, and examining the ways society interacts with emerging forms of technology. </p>
It's one of the world's few markets without public 3G. Its mobile industry combines government-owned and privately-held companies.
Bangkok-based digital agency McFiva has won the rights to manage adverts for Twitter in Thailand according to the Bangkok Post.The news, which comes hot on the heels of the announcement of a Facebook ad partner for Southeast Asia, demonstrates the speed in which the country's appetite for social media has grown over the last 18 months.
The last 12 months have seen a huge increase in the usage of digital media in Thailand, and Bangkok in particular.This year, we're beginning to see a response from companies, not just big brands like Central, Nike, Starbucks and the usual suspects, but the kind of business that could genuinely benefit from the use of Twitter, Facebook, search engine optimization, social ads and other Web 2.
Back in September last year, I wrote about group-buying in Thailand for CNN Go, commenting that the industry was "set to take off in a major way".Fast forward more than six months to today, the group-buying industry has arguably yet to gain the momentum I foresaw.
Facebook has given a clear indication of its intent to monetize its vast popularity in Southeast Asia after agreeing to a deal which sees Admax Network, one of the region's most prominent online ad networks, appointed "Official Advertising Sales Representative in Southeast Asian Countries" tasked with helping brands "engage with their customers on Facebook across the region".
Tablet computers are the second biggest driver of mobile broadband in Asia according to new data from Ovum released Wednesday.Smartphones were, unsurprisingly, found to be the biggest driver while netbooks and laptops, which were the key growth driver last year, falling to third place this year.
There's no doubt that True Move stole a major march on its competition when it took the iPhone exclusively when the device first arrived on Thai shores legitimately in January 2009.Back then, True Move's chief executive Supachai Chearavanont described the response to launching the iPhone 3G as "beyond expectation", as more than 5,000 waiting customers marked the beginning of Thailand's obsession with the iPhone.
The secret of social media growth in Asia was let out of the bag in a major way last year.The popularity of Twitter in Japan, Indonesia's growing Facebook membership and China's unique digital landscape are just three subjects that gained international recognition.
Having been offline on vacation, during which I spend a fair amount of time travelling, I got thinking...a dangerous thing I know.
I'm hugely honored and excited to be here and blogging at ZDNet Asia.I'm already an avid blogger here in Thailand, covering social media, tech and digital in Asia, where I discuss my thoughts on technology and digital in the local business world.

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PowerSecure International, Inc., a provider of energy and smart grid solutions to electric utilities, and their commercial, institutional and industrial customers, has received $10 million in smart grid power system and LED lighting awards.
Officials with PowerSecure International said that the new Interactive Distributed Generation (IDG) System awards total $7 million, and include installations for a broad base of customers, including hospitals, municipal water systems, educational facilities, and retailers.
Company officials said that the new LED lighting awards total $3 million, and consist primarily of an order from a major U.S. retailer to begin retrofitting refrigerated cases with EfficientLights energy-saving fixtures.
“We are pleased to announce these new business awards for our IDG Systems and LED lighting products. We are excited to announce that a new major retailer has started installing our EfficientLights lighting in their stores, and we are very eager to prove the strong value our product can bring to their operations,” said Sidney Hinton, CEO of PowerSecure, in a statement.
Hinton said that in addition, the company’s new IDG System sales include a nice combination of turnkey and recurring revenue business, with installations for a wide range of customers.
Recently PowerSecure announced its new family of LED-based street lights is seeing strong adoption by utilities and municipalities.
Over the last several months, over 30 electric utilities and municipalities have purchased PowerSecure's new area light, called the "SecureLite.” SecureLite provides utilities and municipalities with an energy efficient, environmentally friendly, low-maintenance alternative to traditional 100 watt HID lighting.
Company officials claimed that SecureLite delivers a 67 percent reduction in energy usage compared to a traditional High Pressure Sodium area light, extends the lighting life three-fold (to approximately twelve years), and provides increased reliability to reduce utility maintenance costs.
In fact, company officials said that the light has been engineered to deliver 30-plus years of service life, including the ability to replace the LEDs in the unit. Additionally, SecureLite was engineered to deliver a better quality of light that enhances visibility, minimizes light pollution, and is Dark Sky compliant. Anil Sharma is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Tammy Wolf


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Research in Motion will add new carriers in fast growing emerging markets, and does not yet see an adverse impact from a widening global financial crisis, a Reuters report said.
The Reuters report also quoted RIM co-chief executive Jim Balsillie saying that RIM is betting that new product launches will fuel growth for the rest of the year and beyond, despite a slowdown in the US economy, and is looking at setting up manufacturing and logistics operations in India.
'No matter how much economic challenge there is, how many people do you know that have given up their mobile‾' Balsillie said at the launch of the BlackBerry Bold smartphone in India's financial hub.
'But there's clearly got to be a point where there is an impact. Macro-economic factors have gotten all the more turbulent in the last week, and maybe it will come to that tipping point,' he said, declining to say if the company stood by its guidance for the second quarter and for the rest of the year.
RIM in June posted first-quarter earnings that fell just short of analyst estimates, and provided a muted second quarter outlook. But the company expects what could be its strongest second half ever, with several new product launches.
RIM has been pushing deeper into the retail market to cut its reliance on its mainstay business customers. New applications and content in markets like India will help do that, Balsillie said.
'China's strengths are its scale and manufacturing, while India has a creative, dynamic workforce that can create wireless solutions,' said Balsillie, who was dressed in a traditional Indian tunic.
RIM was 'aggressively developing a made-in-India strategy,' he said, to make tailored products that would contribute to a less expensive manufacturing and design cycle.


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Santander just recently updated the voice recognition functionality of its SmartBank mobile application for iPhone.
First rolled out last year, the mobile banking app’s voice technology was limited in its capabilities — able to bring up a list of past transactions, for example. The latest upgrade takes inspiration from other voice-enabled technologies and allows consumers to execute a greater variety of more complex actions via voice.
Santander banking customers are now able to make payments, execute money transfers, check their account balances, report lost or stolen cards and inquire about spending patterns and particular transactions, all just by using their voice.
Ed Metzger, Santander’s head of technology innovation, was quoted as saying: “The worlds of technology and banking continue to evolve at pace, working hand in hand to deliver a friction-free user experience. We are excited to be the first U.K. high street bank to enable customers to make payments using just their voice, offering them another channel of choice in how they wish to bank.”
Santander has now joined the ranks of other banks utilizing voice technology in their products and services. While Santander has opted to begin with using the voice as a means to navigate in-app, Barclays and HSBC have both taken to using voice as part of a larger push toward biometric banking and security.
Barclays, for instance, introduced voice security technology back in August of last year to all of its customers as a way to make telephone banking more secure. The technology can identify the caller based only on their voice, removing the need for security questions and passwords. Barclays noted that each human’s voice is as unique as their fingerprints, compromised of more than 100 characteristics.
HSBC, along with U.K. bank First Direct, announced plans to deploy the use of voice biometric security technology, as well as Touch ID, for mobile banking customers across the U.K. in February of last year.


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Sony Xperia P and Xperia U coming to O2 UK in April alongside the HTC One series
The new smartphones that Sony and HTC have announced during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month are coming to O2 in the UK.
The operator has updated its Coming Soon page, and it’s now filled with lustworthy gadgets. The HTC One series – the One X, One S, and One V are all expected to be in O2’s shops next month. As are going to be the Sony Xperia P and Xperia U.
But for Nokia fans, it’s good to notice that the Asha 302 (which is already on sale at Three) as well as the Asha 201 will both be available from O2 in April too. Last but not least, the Samsung Galaxy S Advance should finally arrive sometime during that same month, hopefully for less ridiculous pricing than what we’ve seen in Germany.
So if O2 is your operator of choice, you have a lot to look forward to in April.


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SteelSeries has announced compatibility between the Arctis 3 gaming headset and the highly-anticipated gaming console, the Nintendo Switch.
Inventive video game accessories manufacturer Nyko Technologies today unveiled a new line of game console and VR accessories at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show.
Bionik, a new designer of innovative and high quality gaming accessories, announced their upcoming product line set for release in January 2017.
SteelSeries, leader, and innovator in gaming peripherals, kicks off the holiday season with massive Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions.
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Outside of the mammoth Call of Duty series, things have been pretty rough for Activision lately.
Amidst big cancellations – including the disbanding of the once-invaluable Guitar Hero business unit – Activision now says they have "lower expectations" for this year's Call of Duty installment, which might be Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 3 . According to what Activision Chief Financial Officer Thomas Tippl said during a conference call , this is mostly due to the unbelievable popularity of Black Ops . Said Tippl:
"In order to be prudent and given the enormous success of Black Ops, at this point, we have still planned a retail release in the fall below the levels of success that we have seen with Black Ops. So that's very consistent with how we treated that last year."
It's "consistent" because the publisher said the same about Treyarch's production; they didn't expect it to top Modern Warfare 2 , so the conservative predictions continue. Of course, Black Ops did end up topping MW2 as the most popular video game of the generation, outselling MW2 by 16% its first week and raking in more money and sales in the first 4-6 weeks. Of course, and as you might expect, the conservative estimate doesn't mean Activision isn't confident.
"Now having said all of that, I think we have a blockbuster retail release lined up for the fall that we are extremely excited about, which will be hopefully again the biggest game of the year."
Well, obviously. But we still have to get official confirmation on MW3, and whatever that new CoD title is that is in development at Sledgehammer Games. Who's up for two Calls of Duty in 2011…?


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Producers of spices at home are expected to increase output as demand for Indonesian quality spices has spiked during the first eight month of 2021 according to data from the Trade Ministry.
The Indonesian government promised to keep facilitating exporters to help increase the welfare of the people through international trade. As one of spice producers in the world, Indonesia will boost export of this commodity.
One of the largest importers of Indonesian spices is India, which ranks third trailing behind the United States and China.
India is also Indonesia’s strategic trade partner, according to Trade Ministry’s National Export Development director general Didi Sumedi during a webinar titled “Amazing Spices: Accolade To The India-Indonesia’s Adamant Cohesiveness In Exotic Spices” on Wednesday (27/10).
The webinar was part of side events at Trade Expo Indonesia-Digital Edition 2021, which runs from Oct. 21 to Nov. 4, 2021. Meanwhile, the showcase will run through Dec. 20.
Present at the webinar were Indonesian Consul General in Mumbai Agus P Saptono, Odo RM Manuhutu from the Office of Coordinating Maritime and Investment Minister and Pritee Chaudhary, a director at India’s Health Ministry.
“Hopefully, business and trade between Indonesia and India will keep increasing, bringing prosperity to the people. It is also hoped thie event will expand market for both countries,” Didi said.
Indonesia’s total exports of spices in the January-August 2021 period was recorded at USD 499.1 million, increasing 12.88 percent compared to the same period in 2020. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s spice export to India in January-August 2021 period was recorded at USD74.53 million, increasing 51.22 percent compared to the same period of last year.
Indonesia’s main spice products for exports are nutmeg, clove, pepper, cinnamon and cardamom.
Meanwhile, Consul General Agus said the webinar was aimed to provide information and literacy about access to spice and spice product market that has been dominant commodities since centuries ago. Spices played important role in the bilateral relations between Indonesia and India.
The webinar, he added, can also become a source of information for strategic approach for stakeholders and small and medium business players.
“Demand for Indonesian spices has increased sharply despite the pandemic. India with a population of around 1.4 million used to consuming foods with spices. This means India is big market for Indonesian spices and spice products,” he added.
In addition, Didi added the surging demand for spices is in line with the “Indonesia Spice Up the World” program initiated by the Office of Coordinating Maritime and Investment Minister.
The Trade Ministry fully supports this program which has targeted to increase exports of spices to USD2 billion by 2024, increasing 25 percent each year. The ministry also supports “Indonesia Spice Up the World” campaign that will be launched by President Joko Widodo during Indonesian National Day at 2020 Dubai Expo scheduled for Nov. 4 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Indonesian spices and seasoning products will also be brought to the 2nd Pacific Exposition 2021, Food Africa 2021 and Trade Expo Indonesia Digital.
Odo Manuhutu meanwhile said Indonesia Spice Up the World is a campaign to increase market access to Indonesia’s traditional export market such as India and to non-traditional export market such as in African countries.
“This program will involve government agencies, private sector and academicians. This program will not only promote Indonesian spices but also improve environment quality through empowering local community,” he said.
Pritee Chaudhary said spices are important commodity for both countries. “India has invested in Indonesia and many things can be brought for cooperation. We await better bilateral cooperation in the future,” said Chaudhary. [KH]


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Intel’s big $15 billion move into self-driving cars
Intel jumps into the autonomous vehicle business with the purchase of Israel-based Mobileye for $15 billion.
Intel Corporation, a major US manufacturer of semiconductor chips, looks to seize a share of the self-driving car industry with their recent purchase of Mobileye, an Israeli maker of collision avoidance systems for cars.
Entering the stage as one of the largest acquisitions in one of the most rapidly developing sectors of the tech industry, Intel joins other Silicon Valley behemoths such as Google, Uber, and Tesla, which have led the charge in developing autonomous vehicles.
Previously, both Google and Uber had partnered with Fiat Chrysler and Volvo respectively under the expressed intention of utilizing such a collaboration to more rapidly produce safe and effective self-driving cars.
So far Google’s self-driving prototypes have covered more than 1.5 million miles nationwide while Uber has been testing a fleet of autonomous Volvos on the streets of several cities, including Pittsburgh, since October.
Meanwhile, General Motors announced early in 2016 they were making a $500-million investment in self-driving vehicles via a partnership with rideshare company Lyft. And Ford announced last September that they would have an affordable, driverless vehicle road-ready by 2025.
Intel now aims to step into the forefront of the increasingly competitive field through their high-valued purchase of Mobileye – already a major manufacturer of the sensors and collision avoidance systems used by Tesla, BMW, General Motors, and Volvo.
The deal which comes in at just over $15 billion, or $63.54 per share, stands as one of the largest investments yet made by the chipmaker, however Intel sees this as a move that will leapfrog them into a top spot in the burgeoning industry.
Intel expects the acquisition to “accelerate innovation for the automotive industry and position Intel as a leading technology provider in the fast-growing market for highly and fully autonomous vehicles,” according to a press release.
The release continued on to say that, “this acquisition will combine the best-in-class technologies from both companies, spanning connectivity, computer vision, data center, sensor fusion, high-performance computing, localization and mapping, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Together with partners and customers, Intel and Mobileye expect to deliver driving solutions that will transform the automotive industry.”
In January, BMW, Intel, and Mobileye announced a combined effort to put 40 autonomous BMW vehicles on the road in the United States and Europe as a test trial. BMW says it plans to sell fully autonomous cars by 2021.
Intel isn’t alone in seeing the potential of this purchase. According to a research note written by Akhilesh Kona, an analyst with IHS Markit, Intel will “be a one-stop-shop, offering hardware and software solutions for infotainment and automated driving applications,” according to CBS News. Acquiring Mobileye “represents a major change for the automotive supply chain and will put Intel in a prevailing position for the autonomous car market.”
But other analysts are more circumspect in their expectations, noting that Intel has lately established a history of spending a considerable amount of money without seeing much of a return on investment.
"We can recall few cases where so much has been spent (habitually) to buy so little," said Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon, according to Reuters, noting that over the past few years Intel has spent more than $30 billion while only adding $2 billion to $3 billion in revenue.
But CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino tells Reuters that “investors should be pleased with the perspective that they (Intel) are getting in on this trend fairly early,” referring to the autonomous vehicle market, after mentioning that Intel missed the explosive growth of the mobile industry in the past decade.
With the Mobileye acquisition, Intel is “paying a huge premium in order to catch up, to get into the front of the line, rather than attempt to build from scratch,” Mike Ramsey, an analyst with technology researcher Gartner told Bloomberg News.
Intel chief executive officer Brian Krzanich explained the decision to Bloomberg by saying, “we are looking beyond just the revenue it’s going to grow into. If you look at where autonomous vehicles are going, you have to make a deal in order to be there in 2021 when models hit the road.”


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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is urging US companies to completely avoid using hardware or services produced or linked to Chinese state corporate ownership because of data theft concerns.
In a business advisory published on Wednesday, the DHS said that Chinese products and services could contain backdoors or other data collection systems. It also said that data theft could occur via insider threats and business partnerships. The goal is to harvest data from western companies for use in furthering China's economic goals, the department added.
The DHS urged U.S. companies to take care when sharing data with Chinese firms; using equipment produced or maintained by Chinese companies; and even when working with companies that have Chinese citizens in "key leadership and security-focused roles."
According to the DHS, local Chinese national security laws allow the government to force domestic companies or citizens to engage in espionage or intellectual property theft.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad F. Wolf said on Wednesday that "for too long, U.S. networks and data have been exposed to cyber threats based in China which are using that data to give Chinese firms an unfair competitive advantage in the global marketplace."
On Monday, Wolf also called China a "clear and present danger" to the U.S. that it couldn't ignore.
In addition to the harvesting of data from western companies and citizens, the advisory also highlights China's "history of manipulation, misuse, and exploitation of that data to serve PRC business and economic goals."
"Any person or entity that chooses to procure data services and equipment from PRC-linked firms, or store data on software or equipment developed by such firms, should be aware of the economic, reputational, and, in certain instances, legal, risks associated with doing business with these firms," the DHS said in a press release.
The U.S. government has also taken action against specific Chinese firms because of espionage concerns. In May 2019, it levied two bans on Chinese phone maker Huawei that blocked it from using U.S. technology and blocked U.S. firms form using its hardware. Earlier in December, the Federal Communications Commission told certain U.S. carriers to remove all Huawei equipment in their infrastructure.


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SingTel reported their FY2019 full year results yesterday. With it being my largest holding in my portfolio, I obviously have a vested interest in SingTel’s performance. Here are some highlights.
A Mixed Bag
Year on year
Operating Revenue is flat-ish year on year. Unfortunately, EBITDA margins have been falling and associates pre-tax earnings continue to be under pressure. Underlying net profit drops 21%. Nothing too unexpected, very much in line with guidance and past few quarter’s expectations.
As investors in SingTel, we have to be on the constant lookout for signs of a turnaround. Share of Associates’ Profits are on the rise in the past 3 quarters, but is still down year on year. Underlying profit, EBITDA and Net Profit is slightly trending down to flattish.
We’ll have to see if associate profits continue their upward trend in FY2020 or reverse the trend downwards.
Dividend remains sustainable
While dividend payout exceeds net profit by a bit, Free Cash Flow is atill able to cover the dividend for FY2019. Balance Sheet remains strong with limited debt.
Based on guidance, Free Cash Flow plus Dividends from regional associates of $3.3b will barely cover the 17.5 cent dividend.
Do note that FY2020 will be the last year SingTel will commit to a 17.5 cent dividend. If conditions do not improve, do expect a dividend cut in FY2021. This is because their traditional dividend policy is based on a 60 -75% payout of underlying earnings and it is currently paying out much more than that. Fingers crossed things at least stabilise by then.
Soundbites from Analyst call
I listened to the hour long conference call recording with analysts and here some interesting soundbites.
Potential Axiata – Telenor merger impact on regional associates
The analyst from Goldman Sachs was interested in the potential Axiata – Telenor merger impact on regional associate performance.
Management was relatively non-committal, saying that it is too early to tell and that the merger will take a few quarters to clear regulatory approvals. Management did highlight that markets that will potentially have direct impact is Thailand (AIS) and Indonesia (Telkomsel).
The analyst from HSBC was interested in the company’s 5G strategy in Singapore. CEO Chua mentioned that it is still relatively early as the regulator had just released a consultation paper on this. They are primarily more focused on developing commercial use cases for 5G like autonomous driving. With regards to consumer applications of 5G, the world is still trying to figure out use cases for consumers.
Impact of GOMO
The analyst from Maybank was interested in the impact of the launch of GOMO and if the company was stealing market share from MVNOs.
Management mentioned that GOMO is a digital only product that was launched in late March as such it is still early days. That said, numbers are encouraging and SingTel saw huge take up that was way beyond internal expectations. At the same time, they are currently seeing limited cannibalisation on SingTel’s postpaid plans, probably due to different target market segment.
MVNO market share and pricing
An analyst was interested MVNO market share and pricing impact on the market. Management made an interesting comment that based on their experience in other markets where MVNOs had entered the market with aggressive pricing. They mentioned that this is unsustainable and there comes a point where further price decreases do not affect market share. Management commented that in the past 6 months, despite strong price competition, there is minimal market share movement among the key MVNO players.
Overall nothing surprising in the quarter. With dividends likely remaining sustainable for FY2020, GOMO having indications of good uptake and MVNO market share stabilisation, I am hopeful of a SingTel recovery by FY2021. Will have to keep a close watch on this though.
In case you missed my previous article
REIT Spotlight: AIMS APAC REIT (2019)


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"What dealers want from us, and I'm sure from other shortliners, are programs more like their major line suppliers. So, we try to craft our programs to be more like them and that's been successful — but it comes at quite a cost."
— Rusty Fowler, CEO, Krone North America
The secret to shortline farm equipment manufacturers' success has always been being more inventive and staying a step ahead of their full-line ag equipment competitors when it comes to products and technology. To stay in the game, they've had to bring something different — something better — to the table to set themselves apart from the "big boys." Now they're being told to be more like the "big boys."
What this means, according to the specialty equipment manufacturers Farm Equipment interviewed for this special report, is that dealers want the same type of financial, training and customer support from their shortlines as their primary suppliers offer. But they still want the innovation, forward-thinking and personal touch that the specialty equipment manufacturers have always been known for.
It's a tall order!
But the dealers say their rising expectations for equipment suppliers only reflect what their customers are demanding of them.
Featured in this Special Report:
• Rusty Fowler, CEO, Krone North America
• Marion Calmer, CEO, Calmer Corn Heads
• Matt Hays, CEO, Equipment Technologies
• Joe Michaels, Senior Director, Forage Solutions, Vermeer Corp.
• Layton Jensen, President & CEO, Thurston Manufacturing Co.
As farm machinery becomes more complex and costly, farmers want and need more in-depth training to get every advantage that the new equipment has to offer. They need to be convinced that investing in high priced equipment translates into a lower cost per acre.
As a result, the dealer's selling process is becoming more technical and complex. In many cases, shortline manufacturers are being asked to engage farmers directly on behalf of the dealer. They're requiring their suppliers make themselves directly available to answer any questions from the farmer that they can't answer.
Product knowledge is no longer enough. Proven agronomic (bottom-line) results are what farm customers are looking for.
Five specialty equipment executives sat down with Farm Equipment editors and talked about how they're responding to their dealers' changing needs and what they see coming down the road that will impact how dealers do business.


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Equities research analysts expect Everspin Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:MRAM) to report sales of $10.10 million for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Two analysts have made estimates for Everspin Technologies’ earnings. Everspin Technologies reported sales of $7.10 million during the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year over year growth rate of 42.3%. The business is expected to issue its next quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 9th.
On average, analysts expect that Everspin Technologies will report full-year sales of $10.10 million for the current fiscal year. For the next fiscal year, analysts anticipate that the firm will report sales of $61.75 million per share, with estimates ranging from $49.20 million to $74.30 million. Zacks Investment Research’s sales averages are an average based on a survey of research analysts that follow Everspin Technologies.
Everspin Technologies (NASDAQ:MRAM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 13th. The business services provider reported ($0.43) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.45) by $0.02. Everspin Technologies had a negative net margin of 66.90% and a negative return on equity of 108.26%. The business had revenue of $8.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.90 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.7% compared to the same quarter last year.
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MRAM shares. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Everspin Technologies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. reduced their price objective on shares of Everspin Technologies from $24.00 to $17.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Everspin Technologies from $24.00 to $17.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Everspin Technologies in a research note on Thursday, October 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity reduced their price objective on shares of Everspin Technologies from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.75.
Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN bought a new position in Everspin Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $322,000. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its holdings in Everspin Technologies by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 243,825 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,167,000 after purchasing an additional 41,100 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in Everspin Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $525,000. B. Riley Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Everspin Technologies by 135.2% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Financial Inc. now owns 40,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 23,408 shares during the period. Finally, EAM Investors LLC boosted its holdings in Everspin Technologies by 223.3% in the 3rd quarter. EAM Investors LLC now owns 126,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,157,000 after purchasing an additional 87,167 shares during the period. 24.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Everspin Technologies (NASDAQ MRAM) opened at $8.35 on Friday. Everspin Technologies has a one year low of $6.69 and a one year high of $25.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.
WARNING: “Everspin Technologies Inc (MRAM) Expected to Post Quarterly Sales of $10.10 Million” was posted by Stock Observer and is the property of of Stock Observer. If you are reading this story on another publication, it was illegally copied and republished in violation of U.S. and international copyright and trademark laws. The original version of this story can be viewed at https://www.thestockobserver.com/2018/01/14/everspin-technologies-inc-mram-expected-to-post-quarterly-sales-of-10-10-million.html.
Everspin Technologies Company Profile
Everspin Technologies, Inc is a United States-based provider of magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) solutions. The Company is engaged in designing, manufacturing and shipping discrete and embedded MRAM and spin-torque MRAM (ST-MRAM) into markets and applications. The Company’s products include 8-bit/16-bit Parallel Interface MRAM, Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), Quad SPI and Double Data Rate (DDR) 3 dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) Compatible MRAM – Spin Torque Technology.
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Bob Lutz feels that Tesla will “remain a fringe brand” until the California-based automaker can release a car that will travel 300 miles a charge. However, he is in agreement with Tesla CEO Elon Musk about one thing.
“Elon Musk is right. [Tesla Motors is] grossly overvalued right now. When you look at it, their total production to date is still less than one day’s production of General Motors or Ford, so it’s filled with a lot of hype,” the former General Motors Chairman told CNBC on Wednesday.
Lutz was agreeing with Musk’s comments earlier in the month about Tesla stock being “kind of high right now.”
When Musk made the comment, Tesla stock was trading at around $286/share. On Wednesday, Tesla stock had been trading at around $250/share.


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Samsung leads the smartphone market in third quarter of 2013, where the sector has continued its growth, this time 39% year on year by selling whopping 258 million smartphones, according to the data revealed by IDC and Juniper Research. And in total mobile phone market (feature phones, smartphones and tablets together) companies shipped 467.9 million units in 3rd quarter, jumped 5.7% year on year.
In the total smartphone shipping, Samsung is in first place with 31.4 percent of its devices and Apple is in second place with 13 percent of share. Both the companies are expected to continue the dominance over the market in holiday seasons with their new lineups to lure in consumers.
Apart from these companies, Huawei, LG and Lenovo maintained the share of 4.6-4.8 percent of its devices and the other total undefined category has remaining 41.3 percent of the share. Although Nokia has sold more than 8.8 million smartphones in Q3 2013, still its in the “undefined category“. But, the Nokia might make a comeback in fourth quarter as the new smartphones released few days back in Nokia World, Abu Dhabi and even the price cut on smartphones might also help them to recover a bit and it can overtake current players in 3 to 5 positions.
Samsung itself shipped a whopping 81.2 million smartphones, up 40% yoy and further tightened its leading position. Apple also jumped 26% yoy by shipping 33.8 million iPhones but it lost some percentage of market share from 14.4 percent to 13.1 percent yoy.


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Column: New entrepreneurs
A group of adult students have ended 2009 on a high note and will move into the new year armed with knowledge that may one day help them make a substantial contribution to the country's economy — as small business owners.
They are the most recent graduates of the local First Step Fast Trac Entrepreneur training program. About 15 graduates recently celebrated with their families and friends the conclusion of 12 weeks of entrepreneurial training, which resulted in the development of comprehensive feasibility plans for their own businesses.
The First Step Fast Trac program was developed by the Kauffmann Foundation.
The U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy estimates there are 29.6 million small businesses in the United States. These businesses employ more than half of the country's private sector work force. They also hire 40 percent of the country's high-tech workers and include 52 percent of home-based businesses.
Participating in the First Step Fast Trac program helps potential entrepreneurs transition from generating business ideas to determining the feasibility of their ideas.
This is accomplished through the introduction of market research, pricing strategies, a break-even analysis and a cash-flow evaluation, just to name a few.
Entrepreneurship is seen as a viable employment alternative for many people. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that black-owned businesses are the fastest-growing segment of the small business sector, up 45 percent from 1997 to 2002. Women represent one-third of those involved in entrepreneurial activity, according to Global Entrepreneurial Monitor. The number of Hispanic-owned businesses grew at a rate three times the national average from 1997 to 2002, according to MSNBC.
The federal government recently disseminated information to encourage military veterans to take advantage of funds available to them for entrepreneurial training. In 2004, 22 percent of veterans were purchasing or starting a new business, according to the U.S. Census bureau.
In light of the recession, entrepreneurship appears to be a favorable alternative to enhancing our financial and economic picture.
The next First Step Fast Trac class is scheduled to being in January. To enroll or request information about the class, call Entrepreneurial Synergy at 215-8667 or the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce/DBE at 231-6000.
Even if you're not interested in starting a business, there are advantages to knowing the elements of business — marketing, pricing analysis and the cash flow.
Develop a personal resolution to become informed about what it takes to run a business.
Glenda Overstreet is an active volunteer in the Topeka community. She can be reached at email@example.com.


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Former Big Brother housemate Mimi, who recently made headlines with the launch of her clothing line, Divalish fashions by Mimi would this Saturday, the 26th hit the Trade Fair with her dazzling desings alongside other international designers.
The musician/designer who is set for other international fashion shows later in the year in the United States and London declared her excitement at the prospects of her fashion career. "I've always known that hardwork pays and it is here now."
The diva would put her numerous desings on display and for sale at the Trade Fair whiles international models hit the runway with it.
Africa's Top Model Keitta is also billed to walk down the railway runway to topple his fast accumulating reputation as one of the most sought after models in Africa.


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The Port of Vancouver — the main gateway for consumer goods entering Canada from the manufacturing powerhouses in Asia — is among the worst performers, ranking 368th out of 370 ports around the world, according to a new report.
Compiled by the World Bank and S&P Global Inc., the report brings fresh information to conversations on port performance, a subject that the authors note is notoriously difficult to evaluate due to poor data and inconsistent tracking metrics around the world.
Port efficiency has taken on a new level of urgency, given the extreme supply disruptions that have come to characterize the economic recovery from the COVID recession. The world woke up to the critical role of maritime traffic in March 2021 when a container-laden ship ran aground in the Suez Canal, clogging a key shipping passage for the better part of a week, leading to ripple effects that lasted much longer. The incident served as a harbinger of the future havoc the pandemic would inflict in the form of port congestion.
Now, as companies and countries reconfigure supply chains and economists debate what’s causing the fastest inflation in decades, ports are facing fresh scrutiny. Policymakers are parsing whether West Coast ports that experienced congestion, such as Vancouver but also Los Angeles and Long Beach in the U.S., underperformed, or were simply overwhelmed by a heightened demand for consumer goods.
The ranking is based on data gathered in 2021, an unusual year that saw global demand recover surprisingly quickly from the epic collapse caused by early waves of COVID-19. Several experts said even the most efficient ports would have struggled to cope with the surge in demand for goods that occurred during the pandemic. Nathan Strang, director of ocean trade lane management at Flexport Inc., a logistics consulting firm, said the impacts of the pandemic combined with unexpected demand for consumer goods created a one-two punch that lead to congestion at ports on the West Coast.
“If you have a cup that can hold 12 ounces of liquid, and you pour 13 ounces in, it’s going to spill over until you can reduce the volume in that cup,” said Strang.
‘Negative feedback loop’
That’s essentially what happened at North America’s West Coast ports. As the pandemic spread around the world it lead to unusual fluctuations in port traffic, creating a “negative feedback loop” as soon as West Coast ports reached capacity, Strang said. “The more congestion there was, the more desire there was to move the cargo quicker, and the more likely those ships were going to the West Coast because of that shorter transit time,” he said.
At the port of Vancouver, for example, trade publications reported in December that 60 ships were waiting to berth, even as mudslides from wildfires had severely limited rail service out of the port. But far from deterring traffic, between January and April, the port reported that inbound container laden traffic grew 30 per cent.
The “ranking in this report reflects an analysis of a unique point in time that includes impacts from last summer’s wildfires in B.C. and the severe flooding in November, which cut off the Port of Vancouver from national supply chains fully for eight days and partially for an additional nine days,” the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority said in a statement when asked for a comment on its poor showing.
A port authority spokeswoman added that more than $1 billion in infrastructure improvement projects are under construction across the Lower Mainland.
But as the country faces the highest consumer price inflation since the late 1980s, clocking in at 6.7 per cent in April, extra costs and product shortages added to by bottlenecks at any port, including many others along the West Coast of Canada and the U.S., are drawing attention.
Delivering cargo from Asia to a West Coast port is almost always faster than delivering to an East Coast port, Strang said. For example, Strang estimated that traveling through the Panama Canal to an East Coast port in New York or Virginia could add an extra 20 days to a trip.
Meanwhile, many East Coast ports received high rankings in the recent report: the Port of Halifax ranked 46th overall and third in North America, after the Port of Virginia and Miami, respectively. (Saint John was 240th overall and Montreal was 311th. The top ranked port in the world was King Abdullah Port in Saudi Arabia.)
But Strang said traffic to East Coast ports was mitigated by delays moving through the Panama Canal, in addition to being numerous and distributed as opposed to concentrated in a few places. “Once you’ve hit a limit on a port, it now compounds and what you need, and what we never had in 2021, is a period where the cargo volumes go down,” he said.
Martin Humphreys, lead transport economist for the World Bank and one of the authors of the ranking, declined to comment on any specific port, saying each location requires independent investigation. The goal of the report was to create an “indicator” that sheds light on the relative operational performance of ports and provide a reference point for “improvement,” he said.
“We tried to come up with a method that has a hard evidential base of providing a robust indication of comparative performance,” said Humphreys. “This hasn’t been done before.”
The report considers numerous variables, from the time a ship spends at various stages, the size of ships that dock at a particular port, and the size of the port itself. The report noted that a number of unseen factors, such as infrastructure quality and expertise of employees, contribute to overall efficiency.
In total, the report’s authors examined 164,500 port calls involving 257.4 million container moves at 826 container terminals at 443 ports worldwide. (The authors left the smallest ports out of the final analysis, settling on a sample of 370.) The ranking tries to estimate the efficiency of a port and provides two rankings, one that is purely statistical and one that is administrative that tries to account for missing data.
Inflation brings scrutiny
The report notes that maritime transport carries more than 80 per cent of global merchandise trade by volume and an inefficient port will result in “slower economic growth, less employment, and higher costs for importers and exporters.”
Port efficiency always affects the cost of importing and exporting to a country, said Humphreys, and depending on the wealth of the country, it can result in inflation or shortages of certain items. He estimated that in the richest countries it can cost as much $100,000 every day that a ship waits to berth at a port.
“Whether that’s significant enough to contribute substantially to inflation, I wouldn’t like to speculate at this particular point in time,” said Humphreys.
Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce’s CIBC World Markets, said port congestion has contributed to inflation, particularly earlier in the pandemic when consumer spending shifted away from services such as gyms and movies to durable goods such as exercise bikes and flatscreen televisions.
“At the height of the orgy of goods spending … those port lineups were a bigger part of the story,” said Shenfeld. “More recently, the story on inflation has clearly broadened out to wages to service prices to really an across-the-board issue.”
Still, there is little doubt that the images of ships lined up outside West Coast ports, shortages of some products and subsequent price inflation have had a cascade of consequences felt throughout the country.
Indeed, the federal government in its most recent budget allocated $450 million for its National Trade Corridors Fund to help ease the movement of goods throughout the country. Earlier this week, transport minister Omar Alghabra travelled to Saint John, N.B. to announce $42 million in upgrades at two New Brunswick Southern Railway terminals and an expansion of Port Saint John, with contributions from J.D. Irving Ltd., the New Brunswick government, and the port authority.
The funding will allow for construction of new rails that can carry double-stacked containers and other improvements designed to increase efficiency of the port there.
“This is about nation building,” Alghabra said in a video of the event.
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If you are interested in learning more about the performance of Windows 11 when compared to the older Windows 10 Microsoft operating system, this new video putting Windows 11 vs Windows 10 playing a selection of the most popular and power hungry games available such as : Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, The Witcher 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, Battlefield V, Forza Horizon 4, Cyberpunk 2077 and more, check out the video embedded below.
If you are interested in trying out Windows 11 for yourself, Microsoft has made available a Windows 11 download to all members of its Windows Insiders development program which you can register for over on the official Microsoft website. Windows 11 is expected to officially launch in a few months time during October 2021, but as yet Microsoft has not announced an official release day as yet. Microsoft is also making available free upgrades to certain Windows 10 computers, and will be rolling out the free Windows upgrades during the first half of 2022.
If you are interested in learning more about the features you can expect in the new Windows 11 operating system jump over to our previous article. A sooners more information on a Windows 11 release date is confirmed by Microsoft we will keep you up to speed as always.
Source : Testing Games
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And now, Airtel to enter direct-to-home television marketOctober 7th, 2008 - 2:40 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) Telecom operator Airtel Tuesday announced the launch of its direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service. The service will be available in 62 cities from Oct 9, a senior company official said here.
“This is a right time for Airtel to enter the market. We are very clear at Airtel and will take over as a leader of the sector as soon as possible,” Airtel chief executive officer and managing director Manoj Kohli said.
According to Kohli, the company’s DTH services will have universal remote for both set top box (STB) that receives signal from the antenna, and the television set, besides other features such as high STB memory, exclusive interactive applications, onscreen games and more efficient battery.
- Airtel set to enter direct-to-home television sector (Lead) - Oct 07, 2008
- TRAI move on STB interoperability receives mixed response - Sep 17, 2010
- Videocon d2h launches satellite LCDs - Sep 14, 2010
- Tata Sky gearing up to meet demand post-digitisation - Feb 15, 2012
- Bharti Airtel to acquire Telecom Seychelles for $62 million - Aug 11, 2010
- Bharti Airtel appoints new CEOs - Aug 10, 2011
- Airtel DTH launches digital TV recorder - Apr 07, 2010
- 'Rangbaaz' promo to release on internet (Bhojpuri movie snippets) (With Images) - Jun 17, 2011
- Indian mega satellite spins in geo transfer orbit (Second Lead) - May 21, 2011
- Bharti Airtel inks managed services deal with Ericsson - Jul 21, 2011
- Airtel digital TV launches "Magic dekho, talktime pao" offer - May 29, 2009
- India's mega satellite GSAT-8 put into transfer orbit (Lead) - May 21, 2011
- Airtel deal with Nokia Siemens for expansion in Africa - Sep 29, 2011
- India's heavy satellite GSAT-8 launched from French Guiana - May 21, 2011
- Bharti Airtel signs network expansion deal with Huawei - Jun 01, 2011


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Eyes up, crewmate
The official Among Us Twitter page has shared a cryptic teaser about an upcoming collaboration, and eagle-eyed fans of a particular space shooter have gathered that it could be referring to Bungie’s Destiny 2.
A message reading, “HMMM found an incoming message about some Impostors that might be hiding among a certain fireteam very soon…” was posted to the game’s Twitter account on February 21, but had no further information included. Various silhouettes were also featured in an image that accompanied the tweet and the phrase “Eyes up, crewmate.” Destiny 2‘s Commander Zavala has the catchphrase, “Eyes up, Guardian,” which fans have taken to mean the teaser definitely refers to Destiny. Add to that the original tweet’s choice of “fireteam” language, which is the term used to describe player groups of up to six in Destiny 2, and it’s almost certain that fans will see an announcement of a collaboration between the two space-themed games very soon.
HMMM found an incoming message about some Impostors that might be hiding among a certain fireteam very soon… 🤔 pic.twitter.com/yWMiwJP46P
— Among Us (@AmongUsGame) February 21, 2023
Bungie is set to release the Lightfall expansion for Destiny 2 on February 28, and there’s speculation that this new Among Us collaboration could coincide with that launch date, although this is unconfirmed at the time of writing.
That’s … only slightly sus
A collaboration with Destiny 2 certainly wouldn’t be the first time Among Us has received crossover content. It’s previously been paired with the likes of Fall Guys and Fortnite where players could select special Crewmate skins and cosmetics in-game. It’s therefore not entirely untoward to expect that players could soon be customizing their Crewmates with reimagined Destiny 2 armor. As developer Innersloth has revealed that it plans on releasing new maps in 2023, alongside the recently released Hide and Seek mode, it could also delve further into the crossover and bring some of Destiny 2‘s Crucible maps to Among Us.
Among Us is available now for mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Destiny 2 is available now for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.
Related: All Destiny 2 DLCs and expansions on Dot Esports


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Begun the revolution has
The widely-expected revolt against Google’s Android has begun with Huawei signing up for Amazon’s AI Alexa.
Followed by Debian and Ubuntu
While people might mock Microsoft’s security, it would appear that the least most secure operating systems this year were Android, Debian and Ubuntu.
Viv will be omnipotent
Samsung might be trying to install its Viv AI in all its apps.
A top Googler has denied rumours that Android and Chrome will merge into an OS that crosses platforms.
Huawei P8 and Mate S not on the list
Huawei has announced plans for its next big software rollout and bring Android Nougat to most of its phones. But two of its major recent flagships are not on the list.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fiasco did a little damage
Beancounters at Strategy Analytics have named Huawei as the world’s most profitable Android device maker – knocking Samsung off its throne.
For S7 and S7 Edge
Maker of the ever-smouldering Notes, Samsung, has launched its Android 7.0 Nougat Galaxy Beta Program for the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge.
In just 10 days
LG’s V20 is doing rather well, with more than 200,000 of them leaping off shelves worldwide.
Kent hops about
The head lawyer of Google spent some time today outlining that his company isn’t motivated by greed, or by monopolistic tendencies, but instead is contributing to the welfare of all creatures great and small.


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India’s second-largest carmaker, Hyundai, is facing a tough battle with Tata Motors for the second-place crown, but the South Korean carmaker stands strong. Tata has managed to stay ahead of Creta’s sales, but the wide portfolio Hyundai offers is keeping the carmaker ahead.
Here are the top 3 best-selling Hyundai vehicles in February 2023, along with their sales numbers and YoY growth compared to February 2022.
Hyundai Grand i10
The third-best-selling Hyundai model in February 2023 is the Grand i10, which saw a design update recently. The carmaker sold 9,635 units of the Grand i10 last month compared to 8,552 units in February 2022, registering a YoY growth of 13 percent.
As part of the update, Hyundai has discontinued the diesel engine and the 1.0-litre turbo-petrol unit as well, now offering the new Grand i10 with a sole 1.20-litre petrol engine with an optional CNG choice.
The Hyundai Venue is the carmaker’s second-best-selling product in February 2023, having sold 9,997 units. The Hyundai Venue has seen a negative YoY growth of 2 percent last month, as the carmaker sold 10,212 units in February 2022.
The Hyundai Venue also received a facelift last year and was updated again recently with added safety features and an updated diesel engine. The Hyundai Venue now gets the Creta’s 1.5-litre diesel mill that makes 113bhp.
As always, the Hyundai Creta was the best-selling product for the South Korean carmaker in February 2023. Hyundai sold 10,421 units of the Creta, compared to selling 9,606 units in February 2022, registering a YoY growth of 8 percent.
The Creta saw additions to its safety features recently with the inclusion of additional airbags. The Hyundai Creta now gets six airbags, along with a host of additional features like ESP, VSM, ABD with EBD, and more.


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Today is the second day of the plastic ban in Maharashtra wherein single-use plastic cannot be used. But this was one of the common things for food vendors as well as the online food delivery companies and now they find themselves without alternatives.
Food Soaked In Water
A lady who ordered food for her and her guests in Mumbai told the Free Press Journal, “It was a disaster for me. It was a routine get-together and I ordered some food as usual…The (delivery) boy finally reached after an hour, but what I received was shocking. There was only one thick plastic bag he was carrying but water had dripped inside and the packing box was completely wet. The boy was helpless as he could not risk himself to heavy fines by carrying a plastic bag. The restaurant from where I ordered my food was not keen on using a plastic bag. There are some types of plastic bags are allowed but they were not sure whether they can use it or not,” she told the publication.
Vendors Need Plastic
The vegetable market vendors as well as fish traders are troubled with the plastic ban. Some vendors feel that the thick plastic becomes heavy and is not good enough. “It (the thick plastic) becomes very heavy to handle but I have to cover my vegetables and other materials from getting wet. Some days back, some government officials had approached us for sensitising but they only informed us about what not to use. There was hardly any talk about the available alternatives,” Ram Prasad Yadav, a vegetable vendor in Goregaon told the Free Press Journal.
Fish and meat sellers too are facing issues as they cannot sell such food items in a cotton bag. “We are so used to plastic bags. When we decided to open our shop today, we had to struggle to find an alternative to plastic,” a meat vendor told the publication. “We will have to work out some solution as we cannot let our business get affected. Disposal of fishes is also a huge headache. A lot of fish parts have to be thrown out after cleaning and selling because it is the job of vendors to dispose them. Earlier, we used to throw the remaining parts in plastic bags. However, we will now have to think about another option,” Rashid Abdul Sattar, a meat shop owner said while speaking with the publication.


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Mac OS X 10.4.9 to boost image import speedsApple this week dropped yet another pair of pre-release Mac OS X 10.4.9 builds on its developer crowd, inching the software closer to a public release.
The diligence with which the Cupertino-based company has been refining the software may signal that Mac OS X 10.4.9 will be the final maintenance update to Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger before attention is drawn solely to Leopard.
As was the case with prior seeds, developer notes accompanying the latest builds — 8P2132 (Intel) and 8P132 (PowerPC) — are said to reflect no known issues with the software.
People familiar with the latest pre-release say Apple notes just one significant change since builds 8P2130 and 8P130 were issued last week, specifically a bug fix to ImageIO that was affecting image import speeds.
Combo updates of Mac OS X 10.4.9, meaning those that can be applied to any Mac OS X 10.4.x installation, currently weigh in at 163.47 MB for PowerPC-based Macs and 315.45 for Intel-based Macs.
Come its release, Mac OS X 10.4.9 will represent the first update to Apple's Mac OS X operating system in nearly half a year. The last time the company offered a public update to its system software was in late September, with the release of Mac OS X 10.4.8.
On Topic: General
- Tech shuttle drivers approve Teamsters contract, Apple working with contractors to raise pay
- This week on AppleInsider: Apple Watch at Best Buy, Apple Music numbers, Apple TV news & more
- IBM reportedly plans to purchase up to 200K MacBooks for employees
- Facebook completes first full-scale drone for spreading Internet access to remote regions
- AppleInsider podcast talks Apple Watch at Best Buy, rumored iPads, Steve Jobs movies & an Apple car


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Forney Police Offer Safe Exchange Zone For Online DealsThe Forney Police Department is hoping to take the danger out of online classified ad deals.
Amazon Prime Offers Deals For AllHundreds of Amazon employees in North Texas, and almost as many robots, are gearing up for the company's annual day of deals.
FWISD Selling Grand Pianos And Other Musical InstrumentsThe Fort Worth Independent School District is giving you the chance to purchase gently used pianos and other string instruments.
Is Nike Joining The Amazon Roster?Shares in several major sports chains hit 52-week lows on word that Nike may soon be selling its gear directly on Amazon. The deal would give Nike better exposure to Amazon's huge customer base.
New Amazon Service Turns Your Home Into Dressing RoomAmazon is increasingly claiming the territory that was once held exclusively by department stores, and the company is doing so again by essentially placing a dressing room in your house.
Neiman Marcus Focuses On Exclusives & PersonalizationNeiman Marcus is on its own as it tries to turn around its weak business. The upscale department store chain confirmed Tuesday that talks for a partial sale or outright purchase of the company have ended.
Gymboree Files For Bankruptcy ProtectionChildren's clothing seller Gymboree has filed for bankruptcy protection, the latest sign of traditional retailers struggling as shoppers shun stores and buy online. Mall retailers have been hit especially hard.
Families Find Savings At Salvage Grocery StoreThe kids are home from school and they are always hungry. Making affordable meals can be a challenge. There is one unique option in Dallas, however, for families that are willing to keep an open mind.
Plano's Legacy West Opens With CelebrationThis is a big weekend for Plano as the city unveils Legacy West, the $3.2 billion development on 255 acres that is now the largest and newest mixed-use space in North Texas.
Walmart Testing Store Employee Delivery Of Online OrdersWalmart says it's testing a delivery service using its own store employees, who will deliver packages ordered online while they are driving home from their work shifts.
Google Helps Advertisers Track Spending In Physical StoresGoogle already monitors online shopping — and now it's keeping an eye on physical stores to try to sell more digital advertising.
Target Tests Restocking Program For Home EssentialsTarget is testing a program that lets customers order household essentials like laundry detergent, paper towels and peanut butter and have them delivered to their homes the next day.


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Tesco Clubcard holders 'pay an extra £200 on overseas breaks' when they book holidays through its reward scheme
- Reward cardholders found that holidays were more expensive than if they'd booked direct through travel company Cosmos Holidays
- Which? found that members of loyalty scheme paid on average 11% more for their holidays
- For one dream holiday to Florida Tesco customers paid £218 extra
Tesco Clubcard customers have unknowingly been paying more than £200 extra for dream sunshine holidays using the supermarket's reward programme.
Britain's 16 million Tesco Clubcard holders are supposed to receive discounts on everything from travel to holidays in return for loyalty to the country’s biggest retailer.
But some customers found that when they booked a well-earned winter beach break through Cosmos Holidays using their Clubcard, they would have paid less for it if they’d gone direct to Cosmos' website, according to an investigation by consumer magazine Which?.
Some customers found that booking Cosmos holidays with their Clubcard was more expensive than going directly to the travel company
Which? investigated the alleged
discrepancies in pricing last month, checking prices on 36 different
package holidays and found that 33 of them cost more when booked through
the Clubcard section of the Cosmos site than when paid for normally.
Cosmos failed to indicate that holiday costs may vary, Which? said.
booked through the Clubcard section of the site cost on average £1,285,
or 11% more than those paid for directly through Cosmos.
who sign up for Tesco’s reward scheme can turn points into vouchers
that can be used at supermarket stores and other selected outlets. Until
recently Clubcard customers were able to trade in £10 worth of points
for £30 worth of Cosmos vouchers.
magazine says the worst case was a 14-day holiday in Florida, for which
Tesco customers would have paid an extra £218. It normally cost £1,685
and, even after applying a £30 voucher, Clubcard holders would have
Angry consumers vented their frustration yesterday, with one accusing Tesco of duping its customers.
Tesco customers didn't know they were being charged more for holidays when they booked with a reputable travel company
'Clubcard savings: Lots of effort to "big up" the savings in ads and almost as much effort to sneak them back when you buy,' the consumer wrote on Which?'s website. 'Surprises me that Tesco are happy to have their brand associated with stuff that made me feel deceived.'
Which? said it had contacted Cosmos and that the travel company would change its website so that holidays prices would be equal.
“We think Cosmos should have made this clearer on its website at the time,” it said.
Tesco said the problem had occurred because Cosmos had been unable to accept Clubcard vouchers for temporary offers and discounts.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “Following customer feedback, we’ve made changes to ensure that customers will be able to take advantage of the same great offers on the Cosmos and the Tesco Clubcard websites, which means that they will always be able to get the best value deals available.”
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The latest issue of Asia Franchise & Business Opportunities magazine features an article by two of Tilleke & Gibbins’ intellectual property specialists in Bangkok. Written by Alan Adcock, partner and deputy director of the firm’s IP group, and Sher Hann Chua, a consultant in the firm’s Bangkok and Yangon offices, the article discusses the issuing in recent months of trade competition guidelines for franchises businesses in Thailand.
These guidelines, which represent the first statutory or regulatory definition of a franchise business according to Thai law, are a welcome addition for operators in the increasingly popular Thai franchising market. The article covers the guidelines’ various disclosure requirements, obligatory and prohibited business practices, and applicability to existing franchises.
To read the full article in English or Chinese, please open the PDF file below or peruse the full issue online.


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Medan, Indonesia – For civil servant Silas Sihombing, the reasons for eating dog meat could not be much simpler.
“Today I eat dog because I’m hungry,” Sihombing told Al Jazeera between mouthfuls of grilled dog meat at the Lau Dimbo Simalem restaurant in Medan, North Sumatra.
“And look, it makes me sweat. The dog will do it, the meat makes you feel warm.”
Dog meat restaurants can be found all over Medan, where the indigenous Batak people are known for their taste for the protein.
About 7 percent of Indonesians are estimated to eat dog meat, according to Dog Meat Free Indonesia, a group that campaigns against the dog meat trade.
Although 87 percent of Indonesia’s 270 million people are Muslim and view dog products as haram, or forbidden, in the same way as pork, about 9 percent of the population is Christian.
Dog meat is most often eaten in predominantly Christian parts of the country, such as North Sumatra, North Sulawesi and East Nusa Tenggara, where only 9 percent of the population is Muslim.
While animal rights groups protest the trade on the grounds that it promotes cruelty and poses public health risks such as rabies outbreaks, many Indonesians see eating dog meat as no different to eating chicken or beef and resent the suggestion that it should be banned.
Dicky Senda, a writer and food activist based in Mollo, East Nusa Tenggara, said the dog meat trade has boomed in the province in recent years, as evidenced by a mushrooming of stalls selling canines prepared with aromatic spice mixes.
“According to our research, Mollo people did not traditionally eat dogs,” Senda told Al Jazeera.
“Dogs are important animals in Mollo culture that are considered friends and relatives. Therefore, a dog paw print is a common motif in the weaving of the Mollo people. As a farming and hunting society, dogs are considered helpful animals.
“I don’t know when it started exactly, but now it has become more and more popular to eat dogs.”
The popularity of dog restaurants in East Nusa Tenggara has grown to the point where dog meat traders have struggled with supply and demand, Senda said.
This in turn has led to a trend of unscrupulous scouts poisoning dogs on the streets with food laced with potassium, which renders the animals unconscious but does not affect the meat.
“I’ve lost five or six dogs in the last few years that way,” Senda said.
As a result of such practices, which have been reported across the country, Dog Meat Free Indonesia has for years lobbied the government to ban dog meat, and a number of local authorities have made the sale of dog meat illegal in their vicinity.
Last year, a dog meat trader in Central Java became the first person to be prosecuted for his role in the trade. The trader was sentenced to 10 months in prison and fined $10,000 after more than 70 dogs were found packed in a truck for transport to dog meat cafes and restaurants.
On July 6, a letter signed by Medan’s mayor, Bobby Nasution, stating that the sale or trade of dog meat was prohibited was made public.
After an outcry, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office clarified that the letter did not ban the consumption of dog meat, but was only a “suggestion”.
Back in Medan, Sihombing, who has eaten dog since he was a child, cannot see any reason to ban the meat, which he considers delicious, not least because it usually lacks fat.
According to the dog connoisseur, the butt of the animal is the tasty part.
“You can’t kill tigers or elephants because they’re endangered and it’s hard to breed more of them, but there are a lot of dogs. When they give birth, they usually have big litters of puppies,” he said.
“What is the legal reason why you should not be allowed to kill and eat a dog if you can kill and eat other animals?”
Maria Tarigan, the owner of Lau Dimbo Simalem, said that while not all Batak people eat dog, many favor the meat for its supposed medicinal purposes, which include unproven claims that it can cure disease.
“Dog meat is supposed to be good for typhoid and dengue, and it’s even good if you have COVID,” Tarigan said. “I am proof of that. I was sick with COVID and then I drank dog soup and it made me better.”
At the height of the pandemic, the restaurant did a roaring trade in dog soup, Tarigan said, as customers flocked there and ordered bags of it for sick relatives convalescing in hospitals.
But being the owner of a dog meat restaurant also comes with its own specific challenges.
Tarigan said her application to register as a business with GoFood, a popular Indonesian online food delivery app, was rejected, although she was able to list her restaurant on GoShop, the shopping section of the app, as a compromise.
Tarigan said she suspects she was unable to register because her restaurant only serves dog meat dishes and nothing else.
“We have 20 agents that we get our dogs from,” she said. “They call me and tell me when they have dogs in stock. We collect our dogs from different places. If a dog has puppies, the owners can sell the puppies they don’t want to us.”
Tarigan said her restaurant typically kills three or four dogs per day to keep up with demand, and slaughters 21 dogs each week.
“If I had a dog and something happened to it, of course I would cry, especially if it had been with me every day and wagging its tail when I came home,” Tarigan said.
“If it was by my side all day long, of course I’d be attached to it, but really, what’s the difference with eating another animal?”


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Lost in all the talk of consumer protection and big bank punishments surrounding the government’s push toward financial reform are the plan’s potential benefits for businesses.
The financial overhaul bill could allow business checking accounts to pay interest by lifting a ban on the practice that has been in place since the 1930s, The Wall Street Journal discovered.
Businesses Could Benefit
Businesses have obviously supported the allowance of interest checking for years.
Companies might not see much initial return from the reform considering interest rates are at super-low levels (0.29% average), but if and when rates rise businesses could see tangible money coming from their checking account interest.
Businesses that previously held money in offshore interest-earning accounts in other countries might be more likely to move their funds to a U.S. bank.
Not a Bank-Friendly Measure
Like many pieces of the financial reform bill, making interest available to businesses doesn’t help banks out much.
No bank is being forced to offer interest checking to businesses, but most will probably jump on board after one bank does in an effort to attract customers. That could be an expensive proposition for banks, considering checking accounts held $920 billion from consumer and business deposits, according to Market Rates Insight.
Small banks might benefit from the move, as it could give them an advantage over bigger banks without the flexibility or willingness to offer businesses high interest checking. Wells Fargo, Bank of America® and Citizens Financial Group all declined comment to The Wall Street Journal regarding their plans to offer business checking with interest.
Details on Glass-Steagall
The Glass-Steagall Act, put into place in 1933, established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and set in place regulations to help split banks’ investment and commercial banking units. The portion of Glass-Steagall that restricted business interest rates was originally designed to keep banks from luring customers with high interest rates.
The act was officially repealed in 1999, allowing banks more freedom, but recent financial reform ideas have actually brought back some of the key regulations included in Glass-Steagall.


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Prescribing Healthy Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices10 Jun, 2010 By: Doug McPherson Response
Drug makers are learning that persuading consumers isn’t as easy as, say, popping a pill. Their self-prescription for marketing today? A heavy dose of social media.
When federal regulators stamped their approval on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising for pharmaceutical companies several years back, it was a no-brainer for those companies to flood traditional media with their messages.
But now drug makers are learning what other industries have discovered: Finding where consumers’ eyeballs are, and getting their fingers to dial or E-mail to buy, isn’t exactly as easy as popping a pill.
“With the recession taking a bite out of budgets, we’re seeing some of the sheen wear off from traditional DTC channels like magazines and television,” says Jeff Greene, director of strategic services and social media at HealthEd Group, a health marketing company in Clark, N.J. “And the pharma industry is realizing that health care consumers are different, and changing consumers’ health behavior is not the same thing as convincing them to try a new soft drink.”
The Internet has yielded “more empowered health care consumers, consumers who want details,” Greene says. “They want to read about a medication’s clinical trials, they want to learn about the experiences of other patients.”
But part of the problem for pharma companies is self-inflicted. They’re not communicating very well with their target audiences. “You often see patient materials that appear to be written for a medical audience — they can be overly complex with technical language and confusing graphics,” Greene says.
That might explain why many pharmaceutical companies are giving themselves a prescription of social media — a medium (and medicine?) that’s a natural for letting consumers discuss drugs in their own language and in their own way.
And it’s not just a few small outfits that are dipping their toes in YouTube, Twitter, blogs, Facebook and the rest of the social media menu — the big boys are there with bells on.
Pfizer, maker of Viagra and Celebrex, is putting up a social media site to let patients confidentially post personal health information so researchers can learn from them. Johnson & Johnson has loaded several videos onto YouTube and has its own corporate blog. AstraZeneca, which makes the asthma drug Symbicort, has a blog and Facebook page. GlaxoSmithKline launched a corporate blog called “More than Medicine” that, according to a company press release, is “expressly uninterested in promoting GSK brands” but will instead focus on “creating a dialogue about the pressing issues facing the health care industry.”
And drug giant Bayer may win the creativity award. It has unveiled a new online glucose-monitoring tool for young diabetics called Didget, which works with Nintendo gaming systems and rewards users for testing their blood sugar levels. Kids can also take part in a Bayer social-network site to create their own profiles and interact with others.
Being Social is Popular
Adding social media to their repertoires may be a healthy move for pharmas — it’s attracting users in droves.
Burst, an online advertising outfit in Burlington, Mass., surveyed more than 1,900 adults 18 years and older on social media usage for a study the company released last year. Four out of five respondents ages 18 to 34 and nearly half of baby boomers ages 45 to 64 say they belong to a social-networking site. What’s more, two out of three respondents use the Internet to gather wellness info. And a third of the respondents who seek wellness data online do so at least once a week — and more than 10 percent search daily.
Epsilon, a multi-channel marketing company in Dallas, found in a survey last year that health care conversations are happening on message boards more than on any other social media venue. Nearly half of respondents say they use message boards to discuss health issues online.
But Burst also found that even though many people belong to social-networking sites, they’re still spending more time on other pursuits while on the Internet. The 18- to-34-year-olds are reading entertainment news (48.6 percent), gaming (40.5 percent), local or national news (37.3 percent) and social media (35.5 percent). Boomers are perusing national news (55.8 percent), two out of five are shopping, and 40.2 percent are viewing health information.
However, there is good news in terms of effectiveness of branded Web sites for pharma companies. ComScore Inc., a digital marketing intelligence company in Reston, Va., found in its 2009 study that pharmaceutical companies’ online advertising and branded Web sites have a significant positive impact on awareness and favorability among patients and prospects. For prospects, exposure-only to an ad increased both aided and unaided brand awareness, with increases of 4.1 and 4.2 percentage points, respectively.


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Indians look for the right occasion as well as an auspicious one to start anything new and also property purchases are no different. A key light for the festive season used to be the mega discount offers announced by the builders. As a run upto the festival season in India a slew of measures have been taken by the government of India in order to boost the housing real estate sector.
The festive season is the best time to roll out special deals, in order to enhance buyer sentiment. As stated in the report, home sales during the festive season invariably increase for a variety of reasons. In the October-December quarter of FY19, for instance, home sales increased by 30%. While sales volumes decreased in the quarters that followed, they are expected to see an upward movement during the upcoming festive season. While the liquidity crunch and a ban on subvention schemes might keep developers from launching mega festive discount offers that typically are a big attraction for buyers during the festive season, the reduction in interest rates and easy availability of ready-to-move-in affordable homes are likely to be the big drivers of demand during the festive season this year.
Mr. Pradeep Aggarwal, Chairman – ASSOCHAM National Council on Real Estate, Housing and Urban Development, Founder and Chairman – Signature Global India Pvt. Ltd. said, “There is a boost in investment decision during the festive season and most of the property purchase is also done during this point of time. As festive season will likely to boon to the real estate sector and foremost it also helps in easy availability of affordable homes which helps customers to cater their needs on affordable prices with unique offers given by the builders.”


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Apple on Thursday debuted two new iPhone ads, carrying the tagline: “If it’s not an iPhone, it’s not an iPhone.” The ads highlight what makes the iPhone unique compared to other smartphones and platforms.
Apple released public betas of both iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan on Thursday. Apple had announced at WWDC 2015 last month that public betas of both of its operating systems would be made available sometime this month.
Microsoft has officially launched its Office 2016 for Mac productivity suite, including new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
T-Mobile continues to shake up the wireless industry with its new Uncarrier Amped offering, “Mobile Without Borders.” The carrier will offer its U.S. customers free telephone roaming to and from Mexico and Canada, including voice, text, and for the first time, 4G LTE data.
Third-party accessories, featuring packaging co-designed by Apple, are starting to appear in Apple’s retail stores. The new packaging is a part of a larger initiative to give the company greater control over the presentation of products that are sold in Apple retail stores.
Beat 3 of iOS 9 adds the revamped Music app – which includes Apple Music – the long-awaited News app, a revamped two-factor authentication system, and several other tweaks and features.
Facebook is reported to be in the early planning stages of creating its own dedicated music streaming service that would compete with the likes of Apple Music, Spotify, and the other music services.
Apple on Wednesday seeded the third beta of watchOS 2 to developers for testing. The beta comes just over two weeks after the release of watch OS 2 beta 2.
Apple on Wednesday seeded the third beta of iOS 9 to developers for testing. The beta comes just over two weeks after the release of beta 2.
Apple on Wednesday seeded the third beta of OS X 10.11 El Capitan to developers for testing. The new beta seed comes just over two weeks after the second beta.
A change in strategy at Microsoft could lead to the loss of as many as 7,800 jobs in its struggling handset division.
Fans of third-party keyboard will be glad to know that Flesky has announced that it will be making its popular iOS and Android keyboard free forever, from this date forward.
A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on Tuesday dropped the $532.9 million in damages that patent licensing firm Smartflash LLC was awarded in February in an iTunes-related patent lawsuit.
Apple seems to have hit on an excellent way to drive early adoption of its iOS 8.4 update: Include a must have feature like Apple Music.
Apple sent an email to developers on Tuesday, announcing that it will be increasing prices in the App Store in Mexico, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey, while introducing new low-priced tiers in some emerging markets.
Apple released updates of all three of its iOS iWork apps on Tuesday. The update of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote returns full VoiceOver navigation and functionality to the apps. The update brings all three apps up to version 2.5.4.


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As of Tuesday in San Francisco, Starbucks is available for delivery via the Uber Eats app. Starbucks plans to debut the service in New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., over the next few weeks, charging a $2.49 flat delivery fee for access to 95 percent of its menu.
You won’t find a paywall here. Come as often as you like — we’re not counting. You’ve found a like-minded tribe that cherishes what a free press stands for. If you can spend another couple of minutes making a pledge of as little as $5, you’ll feel like a superhero defending democracy for less than the cost of a month of Netflix.


text: In report 25, published in November, we evaluated public support for taking more aggressive measures to limit the spread of COVID-19. The key finding is that there is broad support for taking more steps to limit the spread of the disease. In a just completed survey, we repeated these questions, finding that opinions are virtually unchanged since November: large majorities across the 7 issue areas support taking more aggressive steps (see Figure 1). The measure with the least support, which would be the most drastic step − requiring most businesses other than grocery stores and pharmacies to close − has exactly the same level of support we observed in November: 60%. The only step that has seen statistically significant erosion in support is restricting international travel, which has edged downward from November, from 88% to a still quite high 84%.


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Alexion’s Soliris Phase 2 clinical study for aHUS meets main, secondary endpoints Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The brand new data are in keeping with a youthful interim analysis contained in the abstract of today’s demonstration and released online by ASN on October 20, 2010. Soliris is a first-in-course terminal complement inhibitor developed and discovered by Alexion. Because aHUS can be a genetic disease, patients possess a life-long threat of sudden and severe complications of uncontrolled complement activation.Because many CFNM experiences concentrate on this prideful display of the manhood, it’s important that male lovers make sure they possess something about which to boast. While many men associate ‘impressive size’ with ‘boastful member,’ what’s much more important is the health of the tool frequently. Most women are going to be more complimentary toward a rod of modest proportions that is blessed with clean, unblemished skin than with a ‘monster’ that’s covered in flaky, peeling skin and gives off an unpleasant odor. And lastly, vitamin C supports appropriate collagen production, which gives an extra boost to penile cells firmness, a plus for any male who loves strutting his stuff for an appreciative woman.
PRESS RELEASE DUBLIN, Sept. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ – – Allergan plc, , a respected global pharmaceutical business, today announced a nationwide partnership with the Caregiver Actions Network , the nation's leading family members caregiver organization, to supply thank you foods to 1 1,000 family caregivers across the country through a new initiative called Take 1 Moment.


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Find out what's going online and offline on your favorite online streaming services right here.
On a normal day, the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood is a movie theater, with the surrounding shopping complex overrun by tourists. It's hard to believe this is the home of the Oscars -- which makes the transformation even more impressive.
The company best known for its Steam online gaming platform is the latest player to enter the virtual-reality market, with a system it plans to show off at next week's Game Developers Conference.
The stereoscopic toy leaps into the 21st century as Google scopes out uses for its Cardboard virtual-reality tech.
The company's ICE software now can stitch video frames into panoramic images and fill in inevitable gaps. It shows the field of computational photography is still in its early days.
Moon Express is gunning for the $20 million Google Lunar XPrize. We went down to Florida to watch a test of the team's lunar lander and to get an early look at its historic new facility.
After making his popular "Jaws" shark baby crib, crafter Joseph Reginella tells Crave why he decided to make a bigger boat.
Bilbo bows out as the last of Peter Jackson's Middle-earth movies delivers on the battle, not so much on the hobbit.
Warner Bros. is trying to keep "Batman v Superman" secretive, but that didn't stop a New Mexico TV station from catching aerial views of an intriguing set under construction.
At the IFA electronics show, CEO Boo-Keun Yoon promised safer, healthier, and more energy-efficient homes and said the transformation will come as fast as smartphones did.


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The technology compiles companies’ data with existing data on the web and other databases in order to get insight into trends that may otherwise have been ignored. For example, Starbucks could combine their sales data with weather patterns to see if hot drinks are selling in hot weather.
The company claims to, “make it easier to gather and explore big, diverse, dispersed data for faster and more intuitive insights.”
The founders, John Cieslewicz, Vaibhav Nivargi, and Sharmila Shahani-Mulligan, along with Chief UX Architect Douglas VanderMolen, have combined experience at Netscape, Google, AOL, IBM, NetApp, Opsware, Aster Data, HP, and Teradata.
After various research internships, John Cieslewicz became a PhD Candidate, and Research assistant and Columbia University, before working as a Software Engineer at Aster Data Systems from 2008-2011. Co-founding ClearStory Data in September 2011 was his next big step.
Vaibhav Nivargi followed a similar career, working as a Research Assistant at Stanford University before becoming a Software Engineer at Aster Data in 2007, and then co-founding ClearStory Data last September.
Despite Cislewicz and Nivargi’s impressive backgrounds, none seem more valuable than Co-founder and CEO Sharmila Shahani-Mulliagan whose career in Data makes her seem incapable of failure.
The first start-up she worked on was Kiva Software, which she joined in July 1995. By November 1997, it had been sold to Netscape for $180 million. A few years later, she joined Opsware which was sold to HP in 2007 for $1.6 billion.
Her next stop was Aster Systems where she worked with John Cieslewicz and Vaibhav Nivargi. Once Aster was bought by Teradata for $263 million last year, the three began working on ClearStory Data. They wanted to create a new start-up that would solve an ever-present data problem: how do we explore diverse data easily and cost-effectively?
But will ClearStory Data solve this problem? With big names buzzing about this new start-up, it appears to be highly anticipated. The New York Times is calling it “Big Data for the Rest of Us, in One Start-Up,” and Silicon Angle is saying that it is “Greasing the Big Data integration wheels.” Fast Company has even gone so far as to call it, “Google’s Creative Destruction.”
This start-up has the potential to change the way big companies access and use big data. With reputable venture capital and successful individuals working on it, Clearstory Data could be the next big thing in data analysis.


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CatchMark Timber sees FY18 adjusted EBITDA $42M-$48M
For full-year 2018, CatchMark projects a GAAP net loss of between $12 million and $15 million. The company anticipates its Adjusted EBITDA to register between $42 million and $48 million, including $5 million to $7 million of Adjusted EBITDA generated by the unconsolidated Dawsonville Bluffs joint venture and add-backs of $26 million to $29 million of depletion expense, $10.5 million to $12 million of land sale book basis, $3.8 million of stock-based compensation expense, $12 million of interest expense and $3.5 million to $4 million of such items related to the Dawsonville Bluffs joint venture. Harvest volumes are forecast between 2.0 million and 2.3 million tons with approximately a 40% to 50% harvest mix component from sawlogs. FY18 EPS consensus (34c).


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Google's shock $12.5bn acquisition of Motorola Mobility could have huge benefits for Microsoft by forcing companies such as Samsung and HTC, which favoured the Android platform, to switch allegiance to...
Hack from Home 'virtual hackathon' aims to kickstart privacy-enhanced apps to alleviate the COVID-19 crisis
Hackathon this weekend is supported by NHSX, Samsung and a number of global universities
Merging the two companies would have brought long-term benefits for both, it insists
Testers have to be destroyers, argues Mark Wilson. But too often testers aren't trying too hard to bust the software. Rather, they are trying to show it working
Season One: Empowering the remote working revolution
Zoom denies claims that its service is a security risk


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Federal Government to fund food industry visits to China
The Federal Government is funding a new round of industry visits to China to help promote Australian agriculture to our second largest export market.
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Tony Burke said the Government would fund six industry visits to China in 2010 and 2011, under the Australia-China Agricultural Cooperation Agreement.
Under the program, which has been running for more than two decades, delegates from Australia visit China, and vice versa, to help build closer commercial ties.
Nearly 200 visits between the two countries have been funded since the agreement was signed in 1984, including representatives from the beef, dairy, wool, horticulture, forestry, fisheries, food processing and agricultural economics industries.
Australian agribusinesses, agricultural producers and researchers have until the end of this week to apply for funding under this round of the program.
Australia’s agricultural industries exported almost $3 billion worth of produce to China in 2007-08. In 2008-09, Australian delegations worked to secure new market opportunities in olive oil, low-protein soft wheat and a counter-seasonal trade in cherries.
Mr Burke said China was one of the world’s fastest growing economies and it continued to offer significant new opportunities for Australian agriculture.
“We already export 60% of the food we produce and we will continue working with industry to expand trade opportunities,” he suggested.
All visits in the next funding round must be completed by 31 December 2011. Applications close 5pm AEST, Friday, 30 October 2009.